Sbr Martin's Blog - Posts Tagged "steelers"
"Pittsburgh Poise & Presence: A Peek at the Particulars of 'pig'” - Guest Post on the dzsreview Blog
Read on to see some of the ways Pittsburgh has influenced yours truly.
http://dzsreviews.wordpress.com/2012/...
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Repost:
Pittsburgh Poise & Presence: A Peek at the Particulars of “pig”
One Yinzer’s Exploration of the Power of Pittsburgh—Beyond Alliteration
by sbr martin
There’s a song I remember learning in elementary school, the refrain of which went something like this: “Pittsburgh is a jolly old town. … Pittsburgh. … Three rivers meet at the Point downtown. … Pittsburgh.” This tune is still caught in my head some 20 years after I first heard it; and, while the lyrics have not changed, they’ve taken on an additional, very personal meaning.
I was bred, born, and raised in Pittsburgh, where I continue to live and work. Every time I end up at the Point, or hear comment of the Three Rivers meeting, I am reminded of that little ditty from grade school.
But it seems to me that this song has a newfound importance in my life these days. I celebrate Pittsburgh not only as a place of the convergence of three distinct rivers, but also as the place of the convergence of three distinct talents, of which I am one.
My most recent novel, “pig,” features cover art by Jenn Wertz, a Pittsburgh musician/artist best known for being an original member of multi-platinum recording artists Rusted Root, also based out of Pittsburgh. Though Wertz’s cover piece, “Catwoman,” was in her portfolio long before we made any cover art arrangements, the work is so perfectly fitted to my novel. It seems as if the two were created for each other, though neither was predicated upon the existence of the other.
“Pig” was published by The Artists’ Orchard, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based indie microhouse in its toddler years. Behind The Artists’ Orchard is head honcho Sherry Linger Kaier, whose hard work and skill brought “pig” to its current commercial format.
Like the Three Rivers, Wertz, Kaier, and I are the Three Talents, who joined forces to generate something unique and memorable, something that flowed together in a natural, seamless manner.
And the Pittsburgh presence doesn’t stop there!
Author photography for “pig” was provided by PicChick Photography by Lizzy Bittner, a Pittsburgh gal who I’ve known for the majority of my life. Bittner also provided cover and author photography for my first book, “in wake of water.”
Without the talent of these Pittsburgh geniuses, “pig” would not be all that it is. True, the story would be the same, but the phenomenal final product would be fundamentally different. It wouldn’t have such cutting edge art, such meticulous publishing, and such vivid photography. It would not have the legacy of Pittsburgh talent permeating its full body; nor would it stand as a symbol of my integrity as a Pittsburgh artist supporting other Pittsburgh artists.
There’s also a little bit of Pittsburgh in the pages of “pig.” The story itself is set in Pittsburgh, though I so set it mostly out of convenience. I wanted the story to focus on the story—on the unnerving, yet inspiring, fictional account of domestic abuse, sexuality, reflection, and loss that unravels—and not so much on the location that serves as the backdrop. I, therefore, did not want to exhaust effort and page space making up a fictitious city. Pittsburgh was familiar. I didn’t have to think about what the streets looked like, or with what they were paved. It came to me as a matter of instinct. Use of the city name was more easily typed, more fully embraced, than any other city name I could have ever come up with.
Since I selected Pittsburgh as the setting, I tossed the word “yinzer” in there for good measure. Also, I reference a jitney in my tome—which many locals may be shocked to learn is actually a regional term.
And, hey, while we’re at it, let’s not overlook another way Pittsburgh has influenced my work. Allow me to reiterate: I was bred, born, and raised in Pittsburgh, where I continue to live and work. For me, one of the benefits of being raised in Pittsburgh was taking advantage of a few of the outstanding academic institutions the ‘burgh has to offer.
I was awarded the Marjorie A. Tilley Scholarship to The Ellis School, where I received an excellent high school education that would well prepare me for my college studies at the University of Pittsburgh and, later, for my juris doctorate studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. From each of these fabulous, globally-recognized schools, I gleaned countless skills, facts, opinions, experiences, and other gifts which indubitably shaped my writing style and contributed to my creativity basin. It should come as no surprise that my Pittsburgh job history could likewise be credited with nurturing my evolution as a wordsmith.
So how’s all that for the presence of Pittsburgh in my writing!
Now if only I could’ve found a way to incorporate the Steelers into my fiction… Oh well, there’s always next time, right?
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http://dzsreviews.wordpress.com/2012/...
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Repost:
Pittsburgh Poise & Presence: A Peek at the Particulars of “pig”
One Yinzer’s Exploration of the Power of Pittsburgh—Beyond Alliteration
by sbr martin
There’s a song I remember learning in elementary school, the refrain of which went something like this: “Pittsburgh is a jolly old town. … Pittsburgh. … Three rivers meet at the Point downtown. … Pittsburgh.” This tune is still caught in my head some 20 years after I first heard it; and, while the lyrics have not changed, they’ve taken on an additional, very personal meaning.
I was bred, born, and raised in Pittsburgh, where I continue to live and work. Every time I end up at the Point, or hear comment of the Three Rivers meeting, I am reminded of that little ditty from grade school.
But it seems to me that this song has a newfound importance in my life these days. I celebrate Pittsburgh not only as a place of the convergence of three distinct rivers, but also as the place of the convergence of three distinct talents, of which I am one.
My most recent novel, “pig,” features cover art by Jenn Wertz, a Pittsburgh musician/artist best known for being an original member of multi-platinum recording artists Rusted Root, also based out of Pittsburgh. Though Wertz’s cover piece, “Catwoman,” was in her portfolio long before we made any cover art arrangements, the work is so perfectly fitted to my novel. It seems as if the two were created for each other, though neither was predicated upon the existence of the other.
“Pig” was published by The Artists’ Orchard, LLC, a Pittsburgh-based indie microhouse in its toddler years. Behind The Artists’ Orchard is head honcho Sherry Linger Kaier, whose hard work and skill brought “pig” to its current commercial format.
Like the Three Rivers, Wertz, Kaier, and I are the Three Talents, who joined forces to generate something unique and memorable, something that flowed together in a natural, seamless manner.
And the Pittsburgh presence doesn’t stop there!
Author photography for “pig” was provided by PicChick Photography by Lizzy Bittner, a Pittsburgh gal who I’ve known for the majority of my life. Bittner also provided cover and author photography for my first book, “in wake of water.”
Without the talent of these Pittsburgh geniuses, “pig” would not be all that it is. True, the story would be the same, but the phenomenal final product would be fundamentally different. It wouldn’t have such cutting edge art, such meticulous publishing, and such vivid photography. It would not have the legacy of Pittsburgh talent permeating its full body; nor would it stand as a symbol of my integrity as a Pittsburgh artist supporting other Pittsburgh artists.
There’s also a little bit of Pittsburgh in the pages of “pig.” The story itself is set in Pittsburgh, though I so set it mostly out of convenience. I wanted the story to focus on the story—on the unnerving, yet inspiring, fictional account of domestic abuse, sexuality, reflection, and loss that unravels—and not so much on the location that serves as the backdrop. I, therefore, did not want to exhaust effort and page space making up a fictitious city. Pittsburgh was familiar. I didn’t have to think about what the streets looked like, or with what they were paved. It came to me as a matter of instinct. Use of the city name was more easily typed, more fully embraced, than any other city name I could have ever come up with.
Since I selected Pittsburgh as the setting, I tossed the word “yinzer” in there for good measure. Also, I reference a jitney in my tome—which many locals may be shocked to learn is actually a regional term.
And, hey, while we’re at it, let’s not overlook another way Pittsburgh has influenced my work. Allow me to reiterate: I was bred, born, and raised in Pittsburgh, where I continue to live and work. For me, one of the benefits of being raised in Pittsburgh was taking advantage of a few of the outstanding academic institutions the ‘burgh has to offer.
I was awarded the Marjorie A. Tilley Scholarship to The Ellis School, where I received an excellent high school education that would well prepare me for my college studies at the University of Pittsburgh and, later, for my juris doctorate studies at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. From each of these fabulous, globally-recognized schools, I gleaned countless skills, facts, opinions, experiences, and other gifts which indubitably shaped my writing style and contributed to my creativity basin. It should come as no surprise that my Pittsburgh job history could likewise be credited with nurturing my evolution as a wordsmith.
So how’s all that for the presence of Pittsburgh in my writing!
Now if only I could’ve found a way to incorporate the Steelers into my fiction… Oh well, there’s always next time, right?
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Interview with SBR Martin on StoryHack.com
I made another virtual stop today, at Bryce Beattie's StoryHack. This time, my guest appearance consisted of an interview. Bryce asked some really good questions, and I revealed some pretty interesting personal information. Click below to read or e-exchange.
http://www.storyhack.com/2012/07/13/i...
Bryce's site features a lot of cool stuff for writers and readers alike. He also built and maintains http://blogtour.org/, where writers and bloggers can find each other to plan the very best virtual tours - for free.
Check it out.
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Repost:
What are three things about yourself that everybody should know?
My email signature reads:
sbr martin
author, journalist, and mother
So I guess these are the three things everybody should know about me. I am an author. I am a journalist. I am a mother. I’m a lot of other things, too, but let’s not get into all that right now. I list these three things in my signature because they are my callings. They are the three things I was meant to be, the three things I am.
What is one thing that almost nobody knows?
Well, I’m a married lady. Everybody knows that. What a lot of people don’t know is that it was I who popped the question.
I proposed to my husband when we were partying like rockstars at Thunder in the Valley, an annual biker rally held in Johnstown, PA. I don’t know many married couples who started out this way, where the lady got down on her knees. I thought it was an interesting occurrence, a twist on the common approach. So I tossed this fact into my fiction.
In “pig,” the main female character proposes to her man, much like I proposed to mine. But the circumstances surrounding their storybook engagement are entirely different than those surrounding mine.
Incorporating a real life event into my work is something I do from time to time. Where fact is stranger than fiction, I use it to my advantage. I take a tiny bit or reality and spin it into an elaborate, exaggerated, fictitious yarn.
What’s the best part about living in Pittsburgh?
My home. Believe it or not, I’ve lived in the same house since I was born. When I went to the University of Pittsburgh for undergrad, I stayed in the dorms for a while, shacked up with a fellow for a year or so, but those places were just rest-stops on my life’s road, a road which always led back to where I’m sitting right now.
Once upon a time, I was the little kid running around this house, breaking all the rules, tearing everything apart. Now I’m the parent here, the one trying to exercise control—raising my voice, making the rules, and cleaning up all the messes. At times, it’s somewhat surreal.
My father had a heart attack in this house—the heart attack that killed him. My mother’s heart failed here as well, when she fell on the basement floor, attacked by sickness inside her body. Congestive heart failure. Our Chihuahua crawled to sit atop her distended belly as we bustled to call the paramedics. Several hours later my Mama was dead.
It was in this home that I took care of my grandmother as she was dying, and it was in this home that I woke up at 4:15 a.m. on a June morning to find her dead. She’d died that exact moment, the moment I woke up.
But it was also in this home that I had oodles of birthday parties and found excessive amounts of presents under the Christmas tree. My mother left me notes and poems on the bathroom mirror, one of which I included in my first novel, “in wake of water.” My father sang me lullabies. My sister and I played on the front porch. And, here, right here, is where I brought my newborn babies home as an adult. I walked through the door with my children the exact same way my parents must’ve walked through the door with me.
This house is alive with what life is. It’s seen loss. It’s seen gain. It has become an accessory to my existence, a brick box that stores all of my memories and holds a future yet untold.
As per Pittsburgh itself, it’s a great city, and it’s all I know. I live close to the heart of the ‘Burgh—20 minutes from this, that, and the other place. I know the streets, the neighborhoods, and the personalities they hold. Living here is familiar and convenient for me. And, hey, we got a stellar football team. Go Steelers!
Do you have any strange writing practices or quirks?
Indeed, I do. I read most of what I write… out loud. I like my writing to have a certain rhythm or meter to it; it has to sound a certain way when recited or I won’t use it.
I’ve been told before that I speak this way, that there’s some type of tempo to my talk. And I try to put that into my work. I imagine myself as the narrator. I am the one telling you the secrets, the one letting you know what’s really going on. My voice reveals what’s between the lines.
Grammar and punctuation are the tools I use to bring my talk to my text. Those commas? That’s where I pause. Those complex sentence structures? That’s where I shift the speed of my conversational machine. I break some conventional rules of syntax here and there—and it’s all for the sake of semantics, my friend. I want my books to be lively and have a spirit that cannot be overlooked. So I try to put as much of myself into each book as I can, in hopes that my readers will read more than mere words.
And, for the record, I just read my response to this question aloud. I think it sounded pretty good.
What are a couple of your favorite novels? (Doesn’t have to be the top two per se)
My favorite book of all time (so far) is “Grendel” by John Gardner. I love the story, but love the writing even more. Another favorite is “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire. The story is so intense. The plot is so thick. I really enjoyed every aspect of that novel.
These two books, my two favorites, share a common theme. They both reinvent antagonists from other works. “Grendel” is written from the perspective of the beast in the 8th century epic poem, “Beowulf.” And “Wicked” centers on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz.” Both works look at characters who were dismissed as “bad guys” in the original works in which they appeared. They were characters who didn’t get a lot of attention in the first place—all that was shown was the trouble they caused. But each of these books steps into an already-established literary world and takes a closer look. As you read these masterpieces, you discover that these “bad guys” aren’t really all that bad after all. They have redeeming qualities, extenuating circumstances, and struggles of their own. You get a full picture, a well-rounded perspective.
This is something that I have carried into my own writing. There are some flawed characters in my tomes. But, just as they are flawed, so too they are gifted with some good. I try to make my characters as believable and sincere as possible. To do so, I must tell the whole story. Humans have peaks and pits in their personalities and behaviors. We are heroes and villains alike. I want my readers to see both of these sides in my characters, to feel compassion for the antagonist once in a while, or to feel disgust at the protagonist when she steps out of line. My books don’t have “good guys” and “bad guys.” They have characters that will strike you as surprisingly real.
I see on your many pages around the net that you went to law school. Were you ever a lawyer?
Nope. I realized, at some point in my second year of law school, that I did not want to practice law. But I finished school, mostly to finish something I’d started.
I had the degree, but nothing to do with it. Then life stepped in. My Gramma was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and I spent my time caring for her. After that horrific ordeal, I found a man, got married, and had two precious babies who’ve brought me tremendous joy.
I learned a lot from law school about reading and writing, and it was my experiences as an editor and contributor to Pitt Law’s Journal of Law and Commerce that got me hired for freelance writing gigs. I soon developed a fat portfolio of articles with media outlets such as AOL’s Patch Network and CBS Local Media Pittsburgh.
So I ain’t a lawyer, but the law school thing helped me get where I am. I’m grateful for the time I spent there, not so much for the money though.
Tell everybody a bit about your book, Pig.
“Pig” is a cross-genre novel of contemporary psychological fiction. It’s the story of a woman named Lily who’s lived a life filled with ups and downs. From domestic abuse and alcohol addiction to motherhood and amazing sexual encounters, she’s seen it all and bore both misery and redemption each in her own special way.
The entire novel takes place at her husband Bender’s funeral, where she sits alone on a couch in the corner, desperately clinging to a scrap of paper she refuses to reveal. It’s that same scrap of paper that holds the truth about what really happened the night her husband suffered his fatal “accident.” And it is through flashbacks invoked by the familiar faces of funeral home patrons that the rest of Lily’s story and secrets unfold—including a very big secret that’ll make your jaw drop.
What should I have asked you about, if only I knew you well enough to ask?
You don’t have to know me well to ask about this. All you’d have to do is read through my answers to the previous questions to see that I’m partial to something that’s nowadays disfavored.
The serial comma—I love it! I’m a strong proponent of its perpetual use.
I employ the serial comma in my fiction, and in my multi-site online presence. I do not, however, use it in my journalism assignments. I’m not allowed to, as the Associated Press Stylebook condemns its usage except where why-so used for clarity in a complex series.
Kinda irks me a little, having to change something that I consider an integral part of my style so that I can conform to an official Style. But I gotta follow the rules sometimes to get that paycheck, right? I don’t think that’s selling out. It’s just making ends meet by doing what’s expected. Rest assured though, when I’m not under somebody else’s thumb, I stick that puppy in there every chance I get!
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
http://www.storyhack.com/2012/07/13/i...
Bryce's site features a lot of cool stuff for writers and readers alike. He also built and maintains http://blogtour.org/, where writers and bloggers can find each other to plan the very best virtual tours - for free.
Check it out.
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
Repost:
What are three things about yourself that everybody should know?
My email signature reads:
sbr martin
author, journalist, and mother
So I guess these are the three things everybody should know about me. I am an author. I am a journalist. I am a mother. I’m a lot of other things, too, but let’s not get into all that right now. I list these three things in my signature because they are my callings. They are the three things I was meant to be, the three things I am.
What is one thing that almost nobody knows?
Well, I’m a married lady. Everybody knows that. What a lot of people don’t know is that it was I who popped the question.
I proposed to my husband when we were partying like rockstars at Thunder in the Valley, an annual biker rally held in Johnstown, PA. I don’t know many married couples who started out this way, where the lady got down on her knees. I thought it was an interesting occurrence, a twist on the common approach. So I tossed this fact into my fiction.
In “pig,” the main female character proposes to her man, much like I proposed to mine. But the circumstances surrounding their storybook engagement are entirely different than those surrounding mine.
Incorporating a real life event into my work is something I do from time to time. Where fact is stranger than fiction, I use it to my advantage. I take a tiny bit or reality and spin it into an elaborate, exaggerated, fictitious yarn.
What’s the best part about living in Pittsburgh?
My home. Believe it or not, I’ve lived in the same house since I was born. When I went to the University of Pittsburgh for undergrad, I stayed in the dorms for a while, shacked up with a fellow for a year or so, but those places were just rest-stops on my life’s road, a road which always led back to where I’m sitting right now.
Once upon a time, I was the little kid running around this house, breaking all the rules, tearing everything apart. Now I’m the parent here, the one trying to exercise control—raising my voice, making the rules, and cleaning up all the messes. At times, it’s somewhat surreal.
My father had a heart attack in this house—the heart attack that killed him. My mother’s heart failed here as well, when she fell on the basement floor, attacked by sickness inside her body. Congestive heart failure. Our Chihuahua crawled to sit atop her distended belly as we bustled to call the paramedics. Several hours later my Mama was dead.
It was in this home that I took care of my grandmother as she was dying, and it was in this home that I woke up at 4:15 a.m. on a June morning to find her dead. She’d died that exact moment, the moment I woke up.
But it was also in this home that I had oodles of birthday parties and found excessive amounts of presents under the Christmas tree. My mother left me notes and poems on the bathroom mirror, one of which I included in my first novel, “in wake of water.” My father sang me lullabies. My sister and I played on the front porch. And, here, right here, is where I brought my newborn babies home as an adult. I walked through the door with my children the exact same way my parents must’ve walked through the door with me.
This house is alive with what life is. It’s seen loss. It’s seen gain. It has become an accessory to my existence, a brick box that stores all of my memories and holds a future yet untold.
As per Pittsburgh itself, it’s a great city, and it’s all I know. I live close to the heart of the ‘Burgh—20 minutes from this, that, and the other place. I know the streets, the neighborhoods, and the personalities they hold. Living here is familiar and convenient for me. And, hey, we got a stellar football team. Go Steelers!
Do you have any strange writing practices or quirks?
Indeed, I do. I read most of what I write… out loud. I like my writing to have a certain rhythm or meter to it; it has to sound a certain way when recited or I won’t use it.
I’ve been told before that I speak this way, that there’s some type of tempo to my talk. And I try to put that into my work. I imagine myself as the narrator. I am the one telling you the secrets, the one letting you know what’s really going on. My voice reveals what’s between the lines.
Grammar and punctuation are the tools I use to bring my talk to my text. Those commas? That’s where I pause. Those complex sentence structures? That’s where I shift the speed of my conversational machine. I break some conventional rules of syntax here and there—and it’s all for the sake of semantics, my friend. I want my books to be lively and have a spirit that cannot be overlooked. So I try to put as much of myself into each book as I can, in hopes that my readers will read more than mere words.
And, for the record, I just read my response to this question aloud. I think it sounded pretty good.
What are a couple of your favorite novels? (Doesn’t have to be the top two per se)
My favorite book of all time (so far) is “Grendel” by John Gardner. I love the story, but love the writing even more. Another favorite is “Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West” by Gregory Maguire. The story is so intense. The plot is so thick. I really enjoyed every aspect of that novel.
These two books, my two favorites, share a common theme. They both reinvent antagonists from other works. “Grendel” is written from the perspective of the beast in the 8th century epic poem, “Beowulf.” And “Wicked” centers on Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West in “The Wizard of Oz.” Both works look at characters who were dismissed as “bad guys” in the original works in which they appeared. They were characters who didn’t get a lot of attention in the first place—all that was shown was the trouble they caused. But each of these books steps into an already-established literary world and takes a closer look. As you read these masterpieces, you discover that these “bad guys” aren’t really all that bad after all. They have redeeming qualities, extenuating circumstances, and struggles of their own. You get a full picture, a well-rounded perspective.
This is something that I have carried into my own writing. There are some flawed characters in my tomes. But, just as they are flawed, so too they are gifted with some good. I try to make my characters as believable and sincere as possible. To do so, I must tell the whole story. Humans have peaks and pits in their personalities and behaviors. We are heroes and villains alike. I want my readers to see both of these sides in my characters, to feel compassion for the antagonist once in a while, or to feel disgust at the protagonist when she steps out of line. My books don’t have “good guys” and “bad guys.” They have characters that will strike you as surprisingly real.
I see on your many pages around the net that you went to law school. Were you ever a lawyer?
Nope. I realized, at some point in my second year of law school, that I did not want to practice law. But I finished school, mostly to finish something I’d started.
I had the degree, but nothing to do with it. Then life stepped in. My Gramma was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and I spent my time caring for her. After that horrific ordeal, I found a man, got married, and had two precious babies who’ve brought me tremendous joy.
I learned a lot from law school about reading and writing, and it was my experiences as an editor and contributor to Pitt Law’s Journal of Law and Commerce that got me hired for freelance writing gigs. I soon developed a fat portfolio of articles with media outlets such as AOL’s Patch Network and CBS Local Media Pittsburgh.
So I ain’t a lawyer, but the law school thing helped me get where I am. I’m grateful for the time I spent there, not so much for the money though.
Tell everybody a bit about your book, Pig.
“Pig” is a cross-genre novel of contemporary psychological fiction. It’s the story of a woman named Lily who’s lived a life filled with ups and downs. From domestic abuse and alcohol addiction to motherhood and amazing sexual encounters, she’s seen it all and bore both misery and redemption each in her own special way.
The entire novel takes place at her husband Bender’s funeral, where she sits alone on a couch in the corner, desperately clinging to a scrap of paper she refuses to reveal. It’s that same scrap of paper that holds the truth about what really happened the night her husband suffered his fatal “accident.” And it is through flashbacks invoked by the familiar faces of funeral home patrons that the rest of Lily’s story and secrets unfold—including a very big secret that’ll make your jaw drop.
What should I have asked you about, if only I knew you well enough to ask?
You don’t have to know me well to ask about this. All you’d have to do is read through my answers to the previous questions to see that I’m partial to something that’s nowadays disfavored.
The serial comma—I love it! I’m a strong proponent of its perpetual use.
I employ the serial comma in my fiction, and in my multi-site online presence. I do not, however, use it in my journalism assignments. I’m not allowed to, as the Associated Press Stylebook condemns its usage except where why-so used for clarity in a complex series.
Kinda irks me a little, having to change something that I consider an integral part of my style so that I can conform to an official Style. But I gotta follow the rules sometimes to get that paycheck, right? I don’t think that’s selling out. It’s just making ends meet by doing what’s expected. Rest assured though, when I’m not under somebody else’s thumb, I stick that puppy in there every chance I get!
~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~~~~~
