Austin Aslan's Blog, page 3
October 3, 2017
Fall 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt!
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Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Spring 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You may have arrived here via JENNIFER DIGIOVANNI. Awesome. (And my Team Gold #YASH host is Jillian Dodd. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.
So, here’s the deal. I actually have some very exciting book related news to share. But… I can’t share it yet. This is STILL true! I will be able to share more very soon, so stay posted. Meanwhile, instead of slowing down your blog hunt with a fluffy, superfluous blog post (which you’d just skim anyway), I’ll get on with the show.
144 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR)
You’re welcome.
AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Chanda Stafford!
Chanda has provided me with a deleted excerpt from her YA dystopian, First. This novel takes place in a world where the elite can live forever if they transfer their minds into a younger person’s body. This works out great for the adults, but has tragic consequences for the kids.
In this deleted scene, one of the main characters, Socrates, is on his way to view potential candidates for his next Exchange procedure.
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“Do you really think you’re going to find someone at Chesaning?” Ed stares out the blimp’s window, his hands clasped behind his back. “It’s in the middle of nowhere. They’re all hicks. No one’s been chosen from there in years.” The sun glistens off of the wispy gray hairs stretching across his head.
“Frost picked a boy from there not too long ago.” I settle back into my seat and let the soft synthetic material caress my skin. Ben whines at my feet, his ears pressed tight against his skull. He hates flying. I stroke his head until the brown and black shepherd mix settles at my feet. “Good boy.”
Ed harrumphs. “We should go back to Darson, or that one outside of Nashville…” He snaps his fingers, trying to remember the name. “Presley. That’s it. I heard three kids got picked from there last year.”
“I’m not going back. The candidates aren’t going to change enough in a few months for me to change my mind. You know whoever I pick has got to be special.”
“Yes, well,” Ed grumbles, but he doesn’t continue his argument. He knows choosing the perfect candidate for this delicate procedure is extremely important. My life depends on it. I haven’t lived for five hundred years just to take risks with my own mortality now.
He turns to me, and now he stands silhouetted against the light. I can’t make out the stern set to his thin lips or the way he squints his eyes, as if that’ll help him see better, but I know it’s there. That’s what happens when you’ve known someone most of their lives.
“As your advisor, I feel that I need to remind you that we don’t have much time left. You need to make a decision.”
“Duly noted,” I reply, my voice dry.
Sunlight streams through the oval-shaped windows, right onto my dry, wrinkled hands. The paper thin skin sags around veins and bones barely pumping blood. I’ve never been this old before. There’s a kind of tragic beauty to it. The ending of a life, the decomposition of a body, while its heart is still beating. Still, I’ll be relieved after I’ve found a Surrogate. Ed’s right, I’m cutting it close this time.
The intercom beeps, and the pilot announces that we’ve reached our destination and are about to land.
“I have a good feeling about Chesaning, my old friend. I’m sure we’ll find the right candidate here.” We have to. With cancer eating at my body and my mind, I have to act fast or I won’t have much of a soul left for the procedure.
###
Exciting stuff, Chanda! All right, fearless hunter, off you go… But before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, Margo Kelly, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. And please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!
And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!
MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT A FEW DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!
Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: Margo Kelly. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!
August 30, 2017
On the rebranding of hurtful names
I know a little about this debate. In 2007 I successfully organized a grassroots campaign to rename a Sacramento middle school and county park. Charles Goethe was a rich American eugenicist who helped fund the involuntary sterilization of over 20,000 black women throughout CA in the 1920s. A group of school administrators in low-income inner-city Goethe Middle School, which served a majority black local population, were outraged when they learned of the namesake’s history. We got the school’s name changed to Rosa Parks, and later changed Goethe County Park to River Bend Park. [image error]
These efforts were popular and received very little push back. But the opposing forces employed a familiar argument: the slippery slope. Where does the madness stop? Are Washington and Jefferson next? It’s a ridiculous argument on every level. In point of fact, our effort stopped with Goethe. There was zero appetite among any of the activists to target larger historical figures. Anyway, I’m proud of the ridicule I personally received from right-wing radio on account of this worthy campaign to make public spaces less oppressive and hurtful for significant portions of local citizens. Listen to the idiotic rant of the talk show host, as he calls me a “thin-skinned candy ass” by name, and then blithely makes the argument that Goethe was only caught up in something that was “popular” during his day, so, bankrolling a eugenics experiment not his fault? (I think he was poorly trying to equate Goethe with Washington, et al, who owned slaves when it was “socially acceptable” to do so. That comparison is strained, of course, as Washington and Jefferson, et al, are known historically for so much more than tossing big sums of money around Sacramento and doing experiments on vulnerable women.) Also, I’ll link to a Wall Street Journal article that was written about our effort. Tamara Keith, who’s now big on national NPR, also did a ten minute story on this campaign when she worked at KQED. So, it got plenty of coverage. This whole debate is certainly nothing new.
WSJ article: “The point is to close these hurtful chapters in this country’s past” said Austin Aslan, a community organizer who campaigned against the Goethe name. “It’s part of the great reconciliation this nation is going through.”
(PS. The efforts to wipe away Goethe’s name from Sacramento are some of my proudest campaigns back when I was a professional community organizer. Of course, these efforts were only successful b/c of the passionate activism of several dozens of local community leaders and churches.)
April 4, 2017
Spring 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt
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Hi! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Spring 2017 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You may have arrived here via Kat Ellis. Awesome. (And my Team Gold #YASH host is Corrinne O’Flynn. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.
So, here’s the deal. I actually have some very exciting book related news to share. But… I can’t share it yet. This is STILL true! I will be able to share more very soon, so stay posted. Meanwhile, instead of slowing down your blog hunt with a fluffy, superfluous blog post (which you’d just skim anyway), I’ll get on with the show.
144 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR)
You’re welcome.
AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Amy Christine Parker!
I’m very excited for Amy Christine Parker, the YA author I’m hosting for this scavenger hunt.
Amy has provided me with some real gems of bonus material for you to study.
Seven Smash & Grab “Behind the Scenes” Secrets
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While researching the book, I toured a local bank and spent time in the vault, handing cash with dye packs inside, investigating the teller stations, and looking over the paperwork all bank employees fill out when a robbery occurs. Weird fact: Nearly every teller in that bank had witnessed a robbery while on the job.
Side note: Dye packs are put into certain stacks of cash so that if a robbery occurs, they will detonate and mark the robber with dye, making it easier for police to find them. This picture shows a detonated pack.
I got the idea for the movie dumbwaiter that leads to the basement where the bank vault is from the bank manager during my tour. She worked in an historical bank that had one to transport cash from the bank’s main floor to the vault.
I choose one main song for every book that I write. It represents the thoughts and feelings of my characters and so I play this song over and over obsessively. For Smash & Grab that song was Dangerous by Big Data.
Music Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8b4xYbEugo
I rewrote the opening scene eleven times before getting it right.
The original opening scene involved a motorcycle race down the same spillway used for a chase scene in Terminator 2. If you’ve read Gated, you know I reference Terminator in the first chapter. What can I say? I’m a fan. Also, I had an intense teenage crush on Michael Biehn (Kyle in original Terminator).
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The book was loosely inspired by actual teen bank robbers. You can learn more about them here.
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Lexi’s group of friends is a nicer, more likeable, less spoiled version of the real life kids in the Bling Ring—a group of LA kids who snuck into famous actors’ homes and successfully stole their stuff and later became the subjects of a movie made by Sofia Coppola.
Real Life Bling Ring:
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Best of luck, Amy! And best of luck to you, fearless hunter. Before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, LH Nicole, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. And please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!
And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!
MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT FOUR DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!
Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: L.H. Nicole. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!
January 29, 2017
Speechless
I’m usually good with words. I make a living formulating written sentences, at any rate. So when I shamefully admit that President Trump holds this bizarre power to render me speechless, I’m being somewhat rhetorical, yes, but I want you to pick up on my full meaning.
I’ve spent the past three months avoiding politics the way I might avoid the physical location of a loved one’s murder. It was too painful, too raw. I couldn’t, wouldn’t, talk or think about it. Period. I think I was in a clinical state of shock. I mean that literally. I knew what was coming and I knew to be petrified. From the moment I switched off the television on election night all the way up through inauguration, I understood in my marrow how frightening the reality of a Trump Administration would be. My news black-out wasn’t a failure of citizenship. My knowledge of Donald Trump and of American party politics was more than sufficient on its own to carry me, like gravity pulling a car running on fumes toward the gas station at the bottom of a hill, beyond the event horizon of election night to glimpse what an epic cataclysm the next four years could become. From Trump’s relationship with the press to his unscrupulous ties to foreign interests in conflict with our nation’s security to his psychopathic narcissism to the joy he takes in first making enemies and then casually ripping them to shreds, it has always been clear to me that we’d be entering a horrific, scary-as-hell moment in history.
We had literally handed over the White House to Heath Ledger’s Joker. Why would I want to watch that train wreck?
Days before the inauguration I tried very, very hard to strike a hopeful tone. I genuinely wanted our nation to succeed and to communicate that I was open to being surprised and even challenged by this fresh start. I offered the Trump Administration the benefit of the doubt. What in God’s sullied name was I thinking?
My fellow Americans of all stripes and creeds, it’s only been ONE WEEK. Trump has far exceeded the horrors of my imagination. This is where I get tongue-tied. I don’t even know where to begin: his calculated and diabolical campaign against facts and media dispersal? His willingness to stop scientific communication dead in its tracks, even when it concerns data that could help CHILDREN suffering from asthma? Actually moving forward on building a ridiculously expensive symbol that has zero functionality along our borders? Green-lighting RAIDS to tear our nation’s families in two? Actually making religious litmus tests for entry, much less membership, a real thing? IT’S BEEN ONE WEEK. I’m beginning to truly wonder which countries we’ll be at war with by this summer.
Here’s the rub, and what I should be leading with: What I’m most frightened of is the background radiation of Trump’s approach to governing. It’s not supposed to work, and the very fact that he won the Oval Office demonstrates that he’s capable of defying political gravity. But, conventionally, he can’t get away with what he’s doing. It’s not supposed to be possible. What literally keeps me up at night is the fear that he proves this convention wrong. American politics has always been an august and disciplined exercise in building consensus, adding friends and allies. Politics by the very definition of the word is an additive pursuit. You build coalitions and you find clever ways to create conduits of inclusion. You make your tent bigger. Trump has been in office for one week and every single action he has taken has been some form of kicking people out, punching them while their down, slamming the door in their face, and lighting fuses in people’s pockets. Name ONE action he’s taken that’s remotely reconciliatory to his political foes—who outnumber him, by the way.
Unless our politics is really THAT broken, by November of 2020 Trump should be polling in the low decimals. I HAVE to have faith that our nation won’t forget this past week. I need to believe we’ll hold Trump and his pack of wolves accountable for their simple breach of decorum–of this past week alone! Politics of Napalm can’t be allowed to work. It can’t last. It can’t be allowed to stand. If Trump’s legacy includes any victories whatsoever from JUST THIS PAST WEEK, the United States of America has lost something lasting in its heretofore noble fiber. We experience a very real degradation of our moral righteousness and our sacred code. The shining beacon of light on the hill that President Reagan once spoke of will have gone out. We’ve never been perfect, but we will now utterly lose the authority to point fingers and declare injustice in the rest of the world. That is a very real loss of righteous power. If this is God’s chosen nation, then we have undeniably failed Him. It’s an absolutely horrible, terrifying outcome. We’ve never been closer to failing the American Experiment. These are the stakes. After ONE WEEK, this is where Heath Ledger’s Joker has drawn the line in the sand.
After what happened in November, I don’t know whether or not we collectively have what it takes to win our moral high ground back. This is the question that keeps me sleepless and speechless. And I don’t even think we can wait four years to see what the answer is.
January 22, 2017
A Trump-era data point for your consideration
She took her assigned seat in front of a high school guy who’s proven himself to be crass and obnoxious time and again. Two Navajo middle school girls boarded the bus, and the older boy behind Ariel called out loudly for all to hear, “Get off of here, this is a white bus!” Then he turned to his laughing friends and said–and this is dead true: “Are y’all ready for Trump’s inauguration?” Ariel says that she was clenching her fists and in shock the whole way home, but didn’t know what else to do. She said they joked about the bus being for “white people only” much of the ride.
This is clearly and incontrovertibly a data point that echoes a growing narrative to suggest that Donald Trump is re-normalizing overt racism in our very neighborhoods. This is really happening, folks. Poo-pooing it as Thin-Skinnery is an act of complicity. But I trust my broad social network to show solidarity, here; I really do. What are your thoughts/reactions? And keep it real; no trolling, please.
January 19, 2017
My take on the next four years
Here’s my take on the next four years: I’m hoping for the best, but I’ll not rest. I’ll end this on a surprising note to some friends on the right, but let’s be clear: In many aspects, Trump is a known quantity and we can expect epic disasters out of him. I think he’ll forever tarnish the majesty of our nation’s presidency with dangerous and reckless new precedents. This absolutely weakens America for the next generation, and it’ll be disappointing to live through. I think Trump poisons the Republican brand moving forward, the party will rue the day it allowed him to define Conservatism. He’s a tax-evading, helicopter-commuting, serial rapist who considers being peed on by prostitutes as a fun way to blow inherited riches. If you’re cool with him making headlines in front of your kids for the next four years, then you’re willing to compromise more for partisan politics than I am. We’re not going to have much in common on that front. Personally, my long, dark winter of a pity party is over. The circus show of the transition era is behind us. President Trump is now a reality. I will be present and engaged in my duty as a concerned citizen opposing horrible policies. BUT…here’s the pivot. Here’s the honest truth: I’m genuinely interested to see how this forced experiment plays out. I’m genuinely curious to see how an Exxon-Mobil exec does as Secretary of State. I’d like to give a conservative Iowa governor a chance to go to China and surprise us. I think Nikki Haley will do her job at the UN in good faith and that it may result in unpredictable positive outcomes long term. Our Democracy is a study in compromise, and balance arises out of the push back from all corners of our national debate. I authentically celebrate that, with pride and patriotism. I’m rooting for, and open to, good results from Trump’s never-before-tried brand of directorship. There are too many facets to this to name them all, but the bottom line is that I’m adopting a wait-and-see approach before casting judgement. This isn’t to say I’m oblivious to Trump’s mortal flaws and his selfish pomposity, or the insidious motives of numerous members of his team. But if you and I can’t approach this experiment in a spirit of authentic curiosity, then we’ve completely blown the lesson of November’s brutal schlacking by a vigorous minority of real, good faith Americans who used the system to send a message. If that message turns out to have traveled through a vacuum, then nothing moves forward at all, and I, for one, am not willing to cut off my nose to spite my face and the faces of my children who are the ones who really inherit this quagmire our nation is in. It bears mentioning, though, that this spirit of curiosity and hopeful citizenship should flow both ways. Those who elected Trump should work tirelessly to keep him acting in middle-America’s best interests (he will stray). You forfeit your gains if you let your guard down and blindly praise everything he’ll do while mocking the concern and anger of progressives. You, too, have an obligation to reject the absurd notion that things you don’t like to hear must not be valid or true. Facts exist. Science merits an august and enlightened place in our debates. You’re a damned fool if you dismiss out-of-hand the wisdom of our nation’s educated class, our scholars. Elites are athletes who run marathons in less than two-and-a-half hours. Stop vilifying me and my wife and our closest friends. We sit in your pews. We also live paycheck to paycheck. Those of us with higher education were born in the same trenches as you, and we don’t gather on the weekends to conspire to oppress the masses with pagan heresies. It’s a grave and terrible mistake to wantonly misunderstand the rigorous discipline of the Scientific Method, and to falsely perceive it as an enemy or a threat to your value system. That said, I full well understand that many liberals take the most cynical and pretentious position possible when it comes to looking down on rural Americans, small town Americans, Christianity, and other belief systems. These people need to shut their stupid pieholes and sit on their hands for a spell, imagine their lives in the shoes of an Oklahoma farmer as much as they haughtily demand the farmer do the same of an inner-city minority mother. And all of us–ALL of us–need to turn of the goddamned tv and passionately reject the 24-hour “news” culture. We need to stop forwarding political links to each other and pretending we’re somehow advancing the ball. Reject news as entertainment. This behavior does more harm to our collective soul than anyone in the Oval Office ever could. Anyway, these have been my thoughts during my silence over the past few months. I present them for your consumption out of dumb habit. But don’t expect me to weigh in very often on these matters via Facebook moving forward. We need to be showing up in real life in our local communities if we’re to heal. Meanwhile, I really do wish our country the best as we approach 2020. Wish but verify. I’ll be there, old school, pushing for my ideals in ways that are not boasted of on social media. I hope to see you with your bootstraps on, too. We’re all in this together.
October 4, 2016
Welcome, Fall’16 YA Scavenger Hunters!
WOOT! You found your way over to Austin Aslan during the Fall 2016 YA Scavenger Hunt! Congratulations. You may have arrived here via Christina Farley. Awesome. (And my Team Blue #YASH host is J. Keller Ford. Check it out!) If you happen to not know what the heck I’m talking about, Go to the YA Scavenger Hunt page to find out all about the hunt. And if you’re experiencing any technical glitches, don’t worry, Glitch Happens. Go here for some tasty medicine.
So, here’s the deal. I actually have some very exciting book related news to share. But… I can’t share it yet. This is true! I wish I could say more, but you’re very welcome to check in with me over the next little while to see if I’m able to shed any light on what’s brewing. Meanwhile, instead of slowing down your blog hunt with a fluffy, superfluous blog post (which you’d just skim anyway), I’ll get on with the show.
144 (ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FOUR)
You’re welcome.
AND NOW FOR THE MAIN EVENT! I’M HOSTING Mary Elizabeth Sumner!
I’m very excited for Mary Elizabeth Sumner, the YA author I’m hosting for this scavenger hunt.
Elizabeth has provided me with some real gems of bonus material for you to study.
SCAVENGER HUNT POST
Mary Elizabeth Summer contributes to the delinquency of minors by writing books about unruly teenagers with criminal leanings. She has a BA in creative writing from Wells College, and her philosophy on life is “you can never go wrong with sriracha sauce.” She lives in Portland Oregon with her wife, their daughter, their scaredy-dog lab/pitbull mix, and their evil overlor—er, cat. She is represented by the incomparable Laura Bradford of the Bradford Literary Agency.
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Trust Me, I’m TroubleIn this action-packed sequel to Trust Me, I’m Lying, Julep takes a shady case that requires her to infiltrate a secretive organization that her long-gone mother and the enigmatic blue fairy may be connected to. Her best friend, Sam, isn’t around to help her, and Dani, her one true confidante, is a mob enforcer with a moral compass as questionable as Julep’s. But there’s not much time to worry about right and wrong—or to save your falling heart—when people are trying to kill you.
Buy Links: Amazon | Book Despository | Powell’s | B&N
Annotated Scene from TRUST ME, I’M TROUBLE
For this excerpt, I wanted to pick a scene that gave a good flavor of both the plot and Julep’s character without giving too much of the story away. In the end, I chose this scene, because it was a fun one to write, and because it’s one of the few scenes for which I used something I already knew versus something I had to research.
If you’ve read Trust Me, I’m Lying, then you probably already know that I like to set as many scenes as possible in unusual places. This scene is no exception. You’ll see once you start reading it.
Each page of the excerpt is its own image. Click each thumbnail to read the margin notes. Then click your browser’s back button to return to the post.
Remember…the most dangerous lie is the one you want to believe…
Best of luck, Elizabeth, with the upcoming new novel! And best of luck to you, fearless hunter. Before you scurry off to visit the next author on the hunt, Tobie Easton, please feel free to peek around my entire site for a while and follow the links to my two YA survival-disaster sci fi novels, THE ISLANDS AT THE END OF THE WORLD and THE GIRL AT THE CENTER OF THE WORLD. And please leave a comment below, let me know you stopped by!
And please check out my recent photo essays for Gore-Tex(R) chronicling my epic two-month, 800-mile Arizona Trail thru hike. And be sure to follow me on twitter, tumblr, instagram and facebook to follow my adventures in real time!
MOVE ALONG FOLKS, YOU’VE ONLY GOT FOUR DAYS TO GET THROUGH THIS!
Please continue your delectable YA Scavenger Hunt by visiting the next lovely author: Tobie Easton. Go! Do it! DO IT NOW!!!
July 19, 2016
Let the #PitchWars begin!
amaste!
To all you hopeful, prospective #PitchWars contestants out there: welcome! May you find all that you’re looking for—and all that you never knew you needed—through this wonderful platform. I’m excited to participate this year, to pair up with the perfect match through this process, and I’m as eager as you are to find out who that will be!
I am the author of the highly-acclaimed sci-fi eco-thriller The Islands at the End of the World and its sequel, The Girl at the Center of the World, published by the incomparable and preeminent Wendy Lamb at Random House. The Guardian recently ranked my debut novel as a top-ten read in the awakening genre of climate fiction, and Kirkus Reviews hailed the series opener as a “Best Book of 2014.” I earned a master’s degree in tropical conservation biology while living with my wife and two children on the Big Island of Hawai`i. A Northern Arizona native and long-distance backpacker, I can often be found exploring the world’s last wild places while sleeping on a punctured air mattress. Follow my globetrotting and outdoor adventures on both Facebook and Twitter at “Laustinspace,” and PLEASE CHECK OUT MY ESSAYS on the Gore-Tex® “Experience More” blog.
I’m naturally attracted to a wide variety of material. But I think my mentee will best be served if I strive to focus my mentoring in the direction of what I’ve proven to be best at writing myself, namely: YA oriented toward survival/disaster, dystopia, and/or eco-thriller. Your novel can be set in any time period: past, present day, the near future, or the far future—the key is that it feels gritty and grounded and sensual (note: that’s sensual, not sexual). The material should have a redeeming undercurrent to it, without feeling at all preachy or smelling too strongly of an agenda.
I’m going to gravitate toward material that comes with a compelling initial hook (the elevator pitch has to impress me and make me curious). Make sure you have an original idea! The genres I mentioned above all suffer from too much of the same.
I need the author to have a sense of voice. (What does that mean? I don’t know. I know it when I see it. If that doesn’t make any sense to you, you should be concerned. Voice is the DNA of your novel.)
The sample must showcase well-drawn characters who act logically and who pop out at me. I preach that plot is what gets in the way of what characters want. What is happening in a novel should primarily be a function of who your characters are and how they uniquely effect the world around them. What fingerprint does your main character indelibly leave in your world? The days of books being interesting simply on the merits of their new gimmick are far behind us (ex: (and not to bag on Clarke, but…2001: Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End), and natural disaster-y movie violators which rely only of FX to carry their weight: Transformers, Dante’s Peak, Armageddon, Twister, Day After Tomorrow etc.)
In terms of story and narrative, I’ll forgive a lot as I scan initial pages, but a generally-clean edit is elemental (I don’t have time to fix punctuation and spelling errors–if you’re proud and serious about your material, that will have been taken care of long before your ms reaches the likes of me). A really sloppy voice or little command of sentence structure will quickly earn a pass. The story has to feel anchored immediately. I need to be grounded, know where I am, what’s going on, and why I should care.
I’m an okay copy editor, but I notice trends in errors and understand how grammar is supposed to work. There will likely be repeated errors in any ms, and I’ll address these with a few examples and lessons for how to fix the problem, then expect the author to weed all similar incidents out during the next revision. I’m far more interested in troubleshooting the content of the story, the elements that are lacking or weak, of discussing how to make plot and characters stronger and more vibrant, and how to tighten, tighten, tighten. I suspect there will be room for three rounds of revision in the two months. I personally work fast. You as the author should take more time, really try on what we discuss, and create distance between revisions for the sake of clarity.
I have no favorite child, and the best books I’ve read are all unique enough to defy direct ranking against each other. But for what it’s worth, my best reads have all been somehow transcendental, somewhat epic in form, and illuminate something profound of the Human condition. 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera fit the bill. LOTR does, too. Brothers Karamozov. 
The Gunslinger and The Shining. Cloud Atlas, for its sheer versatility. And one of the few series I read over and over again: Ursula K. LeGuin’s Earthsea books. Simply sublime. I don’t know what these books do to my own writing, except to humble me, and ignite my love for the written word. I will be most enthusiastic about a match that does the same. Forget the fact that I got published first; I have every reason to hope that your project will humble me and teach me. I firmly believe that I’m likely to get as much out of this collaborative experience as you will!
1.
Phil Stamper
2.
Jenni L. Walsh
3.
Linsey Miller
4.
Jennifer Blackwood
5.
Amy Trueblood
6.
Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
7.
Kelly Ann Hopkins
8.
Kip Wilson Rechea
9.
Kristin Wright
10.
Amanda Foody
11.
Fiona McLaren & Dionne McCulloch
12.
Karen Fortunati
13.
Marty Mayberry
14.
Sarah Glenn Marsh & Shana Silver
15.
Monica M. Hoffman
16.
Heather Ezell
17.
Kate Karyus Quinn and Demitria Lunetta
18.
Erin Summerill & Rosalyn Eves
19.
Jamie Howard
20.
Ashley Hearn
21.
Charlie N. Holmberg
22.
Isabel Ibañez Davis
23.
Pintip Dunn
24.
Rachel Solomon & Kit Frick
25.
Mara Rutherford & Joan He
26.
Cat Scully & Kim Graff
27.
Lynnette Labelle and Destiny Cole
28.
Natasha Neagle
29.
Sonia Hartl
30.
Trisha Leaver & Kelly Calabrese
31.
Jessie Devine
32.
Ayesha Patel
33.
Helene Dunbar & Beth Hull
34.
Emily Martin
35.
Karen McManus
36.
Marie Meyer
37.
Jeanmarie Anaya
38.
Sharon Johnston
39.
Naomi Hughes
40.
Summer Spence
41.
Nikki Roberti
42.
McKelle George
43.
Monica B. Wagner & Kerbie Addis
44.
Rebecca Sky & Stacey Trombley
45.
M.K. England and Jamie Pacton
46.
Tabitha Martin
47.
Brian Palmer
48.
Brianna Shrum
49.
Molly E. Lee
50.
L.L. McKinney
51.
RuthAnne Snow
52.
Chelsea Bobulski
53.
Janella Angeles & Axie Oh
54.
Megan Lally & Katie Bucklein
55.
Kes Trester & Jen Hawkins
56.
Dannie Morin
57.
Stephanie Scott
58.
Sarah Nicolas & Leigh Mar
59.
Lizzy Charles
60.
Tobie Easton
61.
Lisa Amowitz
62.
Diana Gallagher
63.
Katherine Webber
64.
Judi Lauren
65.
Austin Aslan
66.
Dawn Ius
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July 13, 2016
New Arizona Trail essay published on Gore-Tex®…
I’m thrilled with the reception my latest Arizona Trail essay is receiving on the Gore-Tex® “Experience More” online platform. Link to it through the Gore-Tex® Facebook page, and if you “like” what you read, let them know! Thanks!
June 24, 2016
Brexit indigestion
So, if you’re like me, you probably have been curious about the Brexit but not all that invested in thinking about it, because, let’s face it, the referendum was bound to fail and everyone would stop talking about it the next day, and, really, what they decide to do over there is their business. But I listened to the results coming in on the BBC last night gathering a dawning realization that history was in the works. And not in a good way. Forget the short term drama playing out in the markets. In my opinion, what we’re seeing here is a populist and nativist movement throwing facts aside and celebrating destabilization over stabilization for the sheer gut pleasure of wrecking havoc and chaos, fueled mostly by racism and protectionist tendencies in the wake of a migrant crisis, and also a genuine frustration at always having one’s fringe opinions (BUT ALSO one’s very mainstream kitchen table finances) marginalized and scoffed at. If that sounds familiar, it should. Trump and Bernie have both tapped into that same discontent and attraction to “burn it all down” as response to having your fringe ideas and your real money troubles constantly ignored. This is a dangerous and scary sentiment, and the strength of it out there in the world is cause for great concern. It’s 2016. Really? How disappointing and regrettable. But there it is. That this can go down in the UK is a serious wake up call that it can go down anywhere, even here. Our political system needs to adopt a way to make political minorities feel valued and respected, and quickly. This is a problem we all need to solve, on both sides of the aisle. I remain convinced that Trump is such a buffoon and pathological narcissist as to squander his chance to properly channel this thread in the US into real power, but that’s not going to kill the movement, and we’re in for a series of even scarier, more savvy candidates down the line who will learn how to really harness racial fear and nativism and isolationalism, and create higher and higher stakes for every successive election, until the dominance of ration and reason even in our own nation finally does snap and the high wire act plummets to its tragic and inevitable conclusion. And this is the world my kids will have to raise their kids in. I’m so disappointed in how cyclical our worst societal tendencies are proving to be. 2020 is the new 1930. WTF, world? I can only hope we learn from Britain’s mistake, and we avoid the dog’s temptation to chase down the car and actually catch it. Because, Jesus, you’re a dog and you just caught a car. Congratulations–now what?
