Writing, BlogTalking, Coolwalking, Smoothtalking...Yeah, Right!

Well, let’s try a new font while I sort through a bunch of activities, things, semi-accomplishments and observations, as I come out of realizing that my body is growing old.

Not me, mind. Just the vehicle I’m traveling around in. As the parts start to age, I find I’m dealing with the realization that upgrades and tune-ups may no longer be an option.

My hands are definitely becoming an issue. My touch-typing is not what it once was, and I feel like my brain and body need to be in tune and in sync in order to work. If not, my fingers are all over the place, and the muscle memory is not quite as good.

Finding out also that I have to really focus to keep on point. Certain tasks require it, and I’ve been able to focus my mind on them, and accomplish them pretty well.

Other things, not so much. I have too many things, interests, and I have to figure out how to manage them.

Case in point: I end up doing a lot of small projects, such as writing for Broadwayworld.com, PopImpressKA Journal (more on that in a bit), and now contributing to Plaisted Publishing House.

Okay, have I namedropped enough?

Then we have the radio fun and merriment. Radio PA continues apace, and going well; my stability is pretty much predicated on that. Not a job, again; but also my last stop in the business.

Now I’ve gone on at length about The Music Club, on Radio-Airwaves Station, which is still a hell of a lot of fun, and keeps me up on the new music that interests me.

I have also been tabbed by my publisher, Brown Posey Press to host a talk show.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bookspeak/2018/04/13/brown-posey-press-show--tory-gates-interviews-author-sharon-marchisello

My first show...here on the site you will find shows from the varied imprints of Sunbury Press Books, and it’s getting easier for me to get back into to swing of hosting such a program.

Now, getting my fellow authors to do the show...well, it’s a help and a boost to the sales, believe me.

I made a trip to Carlisle today in honor of the Indie Bookshop recognition day. Whistlestop Bookshop is right in town, a neat little place with exceptional taste.

The cat's name is Mulan. 

I’ve spent the past several months working the owner to get my books in there...or a signing, or something.

You have to keep working it...Jeff promises to check my work out.

I was there today as my old friend T.M. Becker celebrated the release of her book, Full Moon Rising, on Prospective Press.

Tsiph (her full name is Tshipuneah) is a lady I met eight years ago through a writer’s group. She was working on this story way back then. I know the feeling of working, editing, writing, rewriting, and waiting years for your opportunity. Very happy for her.

Can’t wait to start reading this. And you know, reading other people’s books is a must as an author. Been trying to expand out on that, and I have to with the Blog Talk program. Sharon Marchisello’s work is out of my field, Going Home was not unlike my latest work, Live from the Cafe. Going back to the hometown, to find what’s changed and what has not was Luc and Emily’s MO, but for different reasons, and two people not expecting to see one another again.

I’ll be interviewing Robert Barsky, author of Hatched, also of the Brown Posey imprint next week. I think that will be a fun interview. I try to make them fun, two people talking about books and stuff, and that makes it work.

I am also open to those from outside the imprint. Tsiph wants to do it.

      

We also talked about finding places to sign and sell, and it gets harder than ever. Even indie bookstores aren’t always so interested...to be fair, time, space, resource, I get it.

But like Tsiph, I can do a signing and not be in your face and in the way. Damn thing works, and you can make it work.

It has boosted interest in this, HINT HINT HINT...

https://www.sunburypressstore.com/Live-from-the-Cafe-9781620067147.htm

I guess for me I am still finding my audience. I know my voice is finding its way to the page, and in a manner that is necessary.

Three books down, and the first of the Sweet Dreams Series will go later in the year. Searching for Roy Buchanan is the subtitle, and I’ve talked a lot and at length about it.

More editing, and I’ll be seeing my cover artist in May, hopefully; more legal stuff to do, more of too many things to do, and the knowledge we cannot quit this thing.

I do not quit.

Notice that yet? Yeah, I’m stubborn as fuck, but if it’s worth doing, you do it.

This is.

Now, back to health briefly...spending a bit more time at home, partly due to feeling like I have to get back to it. Lived here two years; not much has changed in the home, but I will be making a few minor changes as time goes by. It’s most comfy here; and regardless of where I live, I prefer and can handle it.

Also have to decide whether or not a certain Rx is gonna keep being used. I did something to my back over a week ago, and spasms were pretty bad.

I have seen the chiro, seen the doc, changed my sleeping position, etc. Now I do have a lovely muscle relaxant, but I can’t use it before work.

But two days of it, and I know what it’s done. I am alert, but it drops me back a gear, and I do not like it. I think the rest for a couple days outside the job was good, but I’m feeling better, and I just don’t want to go a full month of this shit.

People who really need it? I get you. The opioid epidemic here in PA is pretty bad, but I think we know where we can point the finger. Not at the victims of this, either.

And for those of you who ask:

Kao is adjusting well. She is a little monster. She “garbages,” which my mother used to castigate our old Beagle Rufus for doing. I’ve made it so she can’t really do that, and Kao has managed to get along with the others.

She is a quirky cat; doesn’t like getting picked up, and petting her is when she damn well feels like it.

Now what else?

Well, the feeling I have of not being able to relax, yet knowing I need to. I have a string of books that while not ready, are close to it. I could put one out a year for a very long time, but I think a bunch won’t see the light of day in my lifetime.

But I plan to hang out in this body for a while, so...get used to it.

I think as an excuse, I find other things to finish, or do, to avoid whatever unidentified thing exists that I don’t want to do. I still have no idea what that is.

Oh yes...I have a photo shoot tomorrow, courtesy of my longtime friend Alice. These are for this little publication:

https://popimpresskajournal.org/

Pretty cool, eh? Well, I have written a short piece on my good friend Gene Dante for the upcoming magazine, which can be picked up physically or online...the art world collides with fashion and so much more.

So much more to do...reading...been working on a number of books, and getting through them. Isabelle Allende’s The Japanese Lover was interesting; not a fan of hers, but this one worked out nicely.

The Gift of Rain...this is fucking brilliant. Tan Twan Eng’s historical novel of pre, during and postwar Malaya from a British mixed-race young man (and old man’s view). Detailed, graphic, violent, and unflinching.

We can only hope to write like this.

Not sure why, but I gave Amy Tan another chance. The Bonesetter’s Daughter was not as great as many made it out to be, just hard to follow. But The Joy Luck Club, despite jokes some have made...not done yet, good, but still a focus thing I have not been able to figure out. But the characters are very well done, and crafted nicely.

Tsiph’s book goes up top with all these others. As for the SDS, I am slowly probing the areas that need to be, to get it a bit better, and to also figure out how to promote again, and to do it right.

I also finished a manuscript, or the second draft, of a YA work, The Feels. It’s got a way to go; but I am now seeing there is a real, dual line of my writing.

The SDS is one line, and that contains, ready for this, two other trilogies written, and a book that could be three!

WTF, right?

And...the string of stories that are of a different vein. Serious ones, but also stories that find a way to celebrating a youth that I never celebrated.

So we’ll see where we go.

As usual, I’m a man in a hurry, but whatever. It’s how I’ve always been.

Peace, Out. 

A Reading of Book 1 of the SDS

Here is a quick one...a while back, I submitted the first chapter of my book, "Sweet Dreams: Searching for Roy Buchanan" to the Wildsound Festival in Canada.

Here is a reading of Chapter 1:

How about that?

One of the things I've been looking for, for quite some time, are actors or others to "read" the characters as they might see them in their own minds. That presentation has always been of interest to me, and I recently have been talking with theatrical friends about that possibility.

It's down the road, but worth looking at.

Does this make you want to read it? I hope so.

The Sweet Dreams Series is a multi-volume work that I began in 2007. Here is the Wildsound link that tells you about the story, and a bit about me:

https://novelwritingfestival.com/2017/12/16/novel-reading-of-sweet-dreams-searching-for-roy-buchanan-by-tory-gates/

Now I am still pushing and promoting my latest, "Live from the Cafe," on Brown Posey Press. BPP will do the SDS next year, and we'll be working up till then on this.

I got a really nice bit of validation yesterday from someone who knows what's what in theater. I gave the pitch, and explained this idea...

"You have quite a universe going on there," or something like that.

That's kinda cool. I have to really expand it, though. So much more to do.

Anyway, I thought Rachel did a very nice job on the read...I like hearing different voices, and it intrigues me to hear how others interpret the work.

Anyway, I don't know if I'm going to be back before X-day, but either way, have a good one.

Peace, Out.

"Parasite Girls" -- A Small Taste...

Well, here we are...approaching Memorial Day Weekend, and I come face to face with numerous matters.

Regular readers of my blog will note I don't blog very much anymore. Back in the day of Myspace (soooo 2006, right?) I used to do it fairly often. Right now, I don't have the time to speak of. 

I have to admire regular bloggers, like my old college friend Joanne (Tahoma Beadworks & Photography), who can do so fairly often. How Amanda Palmer has time to do voluminous blogs on her site, with her touring, music, this and that. She must not sleep.

Sylvia Plath's journals, especially those of her high school/college years are incredibly descriptive. Her ability to recall subtle details and put them in at the end of the day was remarkable. 

But we're here to talk about "Parasite Girls." My first book is ready to go; we'll be putting it out to the e-Reader market this summer, and I am hopeful that this is a good enough story, touches on enough issues that need to be done, and make for a beginning.

I have a lot more in the can, believe you me. Recently my agent and I parted ways after a four-year relationship. Just didn't work out. Add to it, the six-volume "Sweet Dreams Series," a young adult/anime/time travel series is too big a step for a first-time author. It needs more work, and I need to show the world what I am capable of before bringing it out.

Anyway...here is the beginning...while this may not be word for word, here's the proof of Chapter 1 of "Parasite Girls." It's short, hopefully to the point and gives enough of an idea to make you want to keep going.

Do let me know what you think...

Chapter 1  •  Mima’s World

     “So you need to tell me,” Mima said, “just why you’re here.”

     Aidan lit a Gitanes and leaned against the apartment deck rail. The sounds and smells of Tokyo drifted up to the second floor, but he did not take them in. Instead, he smiled and gazed through the French tobacco smoke at his host.

     Mima regarded Aidan through the bangs of her short hair and rimless glasses. She wore an old sweatshirt, the cuffs frayed from years of wear and washing; the logo was not of a university from Japan, but an American one. Black tights wrapped themselves snugly about her muscular thighs and calves; Mima’s girth was wider than the norm when it came to Japanese women. That mattered not at all to Aidan and even less to Mima, who danced to the beat of her own internal drum machine.

     “Well,” Aidan replied as he carefully flicked the cinders into a smokeless ashtray, “I have a layout in mind for the book as we discussed earlier. I also felt a change of pace was in order.” He hoped that would be enough. 

     “Whatever you have in mind,” Mima replied as she took a step closer to Aidan, a smile on her face, “you’re welcome here for as long you need. I am so grateful to see you again.”

     “I appreciate that.” Mima, he knew was appraising him behind her sun-darkened lenses. They’d not seen one another in years, and his long-lost friend was taking stock: Aidan’s brown hair remained, but there were now streaks of grey, far too soon. His blue eyes were the same, but Mima detected the changes around them. Aidan was not himself, and while Mima picked up on that, she didn’t ask.

     Mima had changed too, but in her these things were subtle. Only months younger than himself, Mima appeared ageless. She was a little heavier, chunkier perhaps than Aidan recalled, but from what he saw pass through the apartment earlier that morning Mima was in shape in more ways than one.

      “Anyway,” she said, “I must get back to work. Got a project to deliver this week.”

      “No worries.” Mima ambled barefoot into the main room of her apartment while Aidan took his time with his guilty pleasure from the first Paris assignment. Skyward, Aidan’s eyes passed over the high rises that surrounded Mima’s apartment building.

      Aidan had experienced many worlds, but Japan was still unfamiliar territory. As in any other foreign land, he would immerse himself in it, become part of it and yet remain Aidan Connor.

      His cigarette finished, Aidan carefully stubbed it out and slid the butt inside the blue pack. He stuffed this in the breast pocket of his shirt, switched off the curious device Mima provided him and brought it through the sliding door.

      “You can leave that out there,” Mima commented from his right. “The rain never comes in; it’s cool.”

      “Okay.” Aidan set the ashtray on the black wire table between the matching chairs, and slid the door closed. He turned and again found himself inside Mima’s world—or was this her universe?

      The apartment was small, even by Tokyo standards. It was one room with a cramped kitchen to the far left, plus a door that led to a tinier bathroom. Against the far wall, just to the right of the door was Mima’s futon, unmade with a nightstand next to it to hold her lamp and clock radio. Before this, a TV rested beside an Xbox with about twenty game discs scattered around the console.             

      There were also other odd gadgets of the kind that could only be dreamed up in this land, including a robotic toy dog. The floor was bare, hardwood and without rugs.

      On the other side of the door was Mima’s workspace. Beneath an overhead light was a large table that doubled as a desk and drafting board. Mima’s Gateway and Toshiba Satellite laptop were linked by a USB hub; also attached was a laser printer, scanner, router and two external hard drives. The power cords for all of these snaked off behind the table into not one, but two surge protection strips, the plugs attached to the only power outlets on this side of the room. Two file cabinets and a wall-mounted rack for discs made up the rest of Mima’s “office.” Mima was hunched over on the high stool, focused on the ad design she’d talked of nonstop since meeting Aidan at the airport the night before.

      To Aidan’s left was the low couch that became his “guest room,” beside which lay his open suitcase. His Sony Walkman, jean jacket and the case that held his ancient Minolta camera rested atop the jumbled pile of clothes.

      Aidan sat here now, looking at the wall above the bed. Mima adorned the pale blue walls with her original artworks, sketches, doujinshi and anime creations.  There also was a pair of wildly colored abstract canvases, not of Mima’s hand.

      “Those are Sora’s,” Mima commented. She did not look up as she guided the cursor across the screen.  “We’ll be seeing her tonight,” Mima added. “Sora is very excited to meet you; I’ve told her so much about you.”

      “Oh, God,” Aidan joked as he unclipped the battered leather case that held his camera, “just what have you told her?”

      “Only the good things.” Mima turned and giggled; this and the screwed-up facial expression that accompanied the sound never failed to make Aidan laugh. “There is nothing bad about you, Aidan,” she went on as she turned back to the screen, “but considering some of the scrapes you’ve been in, I would imagine you’ve acquired a few habits.”

      “Yeah.” Aidan tried not to let his voice change, but he failed.

      Mima turned again. “You okay?” 

      “There’s a lot of stuff to talk about,” Aidan admitted as he drew out the Minolta, “but I still need to piece it together before I can really explain.” 

      “No,” Mima said, “I am sorry. I get the idea what happened in Kabul was pretty rough. You don’t have to talk about it unless you want to.”

      “It’s all right,” Aidan replied, “I will soon enough. The main reason I’m here I think is to get away from that. Not run from it, mind, but to think about from it from a distance. Then maybe I can go back, you know?”

      “I do.” Mima slid off the stool and came over to sit beside Aidan. She watched as he broke down the camera for cleaning, and noted the care with which he handled the instrument. “Like I told you,” she said, “you’re welcome here, Aidan. You were dear to me back then; you still are.”

      Aidan set the pieces down in his clothes. “You were,” he replied, “and are too, Mima. Stuff has to change, and some of it is me; I’m working on it.”

      Mima slid her arms around Aidan’s shoulders. “Take all the time you need, Aidan.”

      He reached up and felt his friend’s thick arm, and the hidden strength within as Mima gave him a squeeze. “Thank you,” Aidan said. “I’ll try not to be too depressed during my stay; you’re good for changing that.”           

      Mima grinned, made an odd but cute, “Nyah” sound before rising and heading back to her table. “I am flattered,” she replied as she resumed her work. “Unfortunately, that does not get this finished. I’d like to see the outline down before we hit the streets.  We’ll go see Sora this evening and find if we can get her out. That cool?”

      “It is.” Aidan drew out the camera’s cleaning kit. “I’m not exactly sure what you mean by getting Sora ‘out,’ though.”

      “That will depend,” Mima explained, “on which one of Sora is available when we get there.” She continued to sketch across the extra-large mouse pad with a slow, deliberate hand, and said no more.

      The statement made Aidan pause. Mima’s comment about Sora was a fleeting one and sounded like she said it fairly often.

      As he carefully wiped the Minolta’s lens, Aidan wondered what was up with Sora. She was a talented artist, easy to see by the depth and originality of those paintings. 

      Aidan then reminded himself that when it came to people, everyone had a story, and there was always much more than what they thought they saw.

###

Well, there you have it...hope you liked it...the rest is coming this summer...

Screech. Dharma Fools, New England, and Writing Update

The first Dresden Dolls album is coursing through my brain at a non-syncopated gait this morning.  I have again crawled from the wreckage of last night, and I'll probably end up working backwards on this missive to the universe.

I have caught my first cold in like three or four years.  Being vegetarian does that...since going meatless back in 2001, really, I've rarely been sick.  It's not a bad one, either; no real symptoms, but that it goes straight for the throat.  Doesn't hurt, but it feels like I fronted a Screamo band.

That's the least of my worries.  Well, good things to start with:  the Dharma Fools returned to the stage last night for the first time in over a year.

http://www.reverbnation.com/thedharmafools?profile_view_source=header_icon_nav

Our new page is there, recent video and some old tracks.  Got a nice "love it" from a musician named Tim Caudill last night...thanks, Tim!

Yeah, last night...slightly new lineup.  Those who know of the history of The Band Formerly Known As Ahltyrra know that the Dharma Fools were to be a side project, and they became the project.

From the original lineup is myself, Dan Shearer and Merryiad.  Jim Hooker has joined us on harp, vocals and djembe; the former he mostly does and Jim brought us a wonderful djembe player named Mari up to Harrisburg for the event.

A fixture in Harrisburg's music scene is the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center, or HMAC.  Wednesday night's Open Mic Night, hosted by Mike Banks.  He opened up with more of his blazing acoustic guitar pyro action, and an amazing voice that can do Leon Redbone stuff, and then with a more conventional, but exceptional voice.  Great guy, and we appreciate his support.

Well, wouldn't you know?  We had to follow his blazing set!  But we've done it before.  The set list:

Black Ambition (one of mine, an Ahltyrra standby and opener)
Keep on Truckin' (the product of Dan's grooving bass line, Jim's harp and words I quickly brought together)...smoked for not playing it ever.
Dead Flowers (yeah, we had to)

Got an awesome hand, thank you all for doing that!  Some old friends and fans turned up, and a couple of my radio friends turned up as well.  Wonderful time...we still got it.

Dunno what's next, but we'll keep at it.  Hopefully I'll have some new rehearsal or live tracks up on the ReverbNation site.

Good work last night by a lot of artists...Piano & Cocktail Murders (I think that's the right name), Cameron Malloy, Yellow Day, and Octavia all did great...the latter is a blues lady, find her music!!!

Doing some TV work this week for WITF...nice to get a chance to do some behind the scenes work, and I'm not averse to much of anything right about now.

NEXT...Radio-Airwaves is back on the air!

http://radio-airwaves.co.uk/index.html

I return to the air tonight at 11 pm Eastern time, as DJ Riff.  Got a bunch of new tracks to thrown down for you...some odd, some obscure, and some local stuff.

I was in New England last week.  Business and pleasure it all turned out to be.  Spent a few days in Maine with family, which was fun.  Also zoomed up the Midcoast to see my former boss and owner of a couple of interesting little stations.  

Turned out I had a job interview with a start-up AM.  Radio 9 WCME, on 900 AM in Brunswick has been an odd little station with a long past.  The new owner is a radio pro who has been making things happen on his own pace, and I had a nice chat.  Not much there right now, but worth staying in touch with the gentleman.

Also saw my old XM Radio friend Joe in Portland, and ran into another of his regular buddies, a good time.  Very good indeed.

Boston for two days...saw my old friend TJ Welch from Saint Joe's days.  The one year he was there shaped my musical vision in a big way.  He was the host of "Sonic Lobotomy," a punk show that for that one year defined a lot of things for me.

He introduced me to Dead Kennedys.  TJ's band The Welch Boys will support DK's in Cambridge, MA and in NYC and Washington this month.  Great to see him again, and I sold him a Telecaster. 

A wonderful time, I must say.  Spent a couple days at my friend Riz's house, and then it was back down here for the action.

Okay...writing time.

I have not written or edited much lately.  But I'm coming up with ideas again. Right now, I have to get "Parasite Girls" re-read as a book and ready for the self-publishing steps.  

My agent, Jeanie Loiacono has left Sullivan-Maxx and is forging ahead on her own.  LLA will be out of Irving, TX and I will likely re-up with her.  Jeanie has been kicking open doors and I feel she can help with the Sweet Dreams Series and get this into the hands it must go to.

It is that big to me, that some kind of help is required.  The SDS is the best thing I've ever written; it must get out there.

Now...not to diminish "Parasite Girls."  It's a good story, and I hope it will be received well.  Better to fail by trying than to not, eh?

My friend Nick Bento once said, "Even if it flops, at least you did it."  Something like that, and he's right.  Gotta go there.

Now...two new ideas have been slowly cooking in my head, and they have to stay there because they are not ready to come out of the oven yet.  I have to edit SDS-4, and do rewrites, because that's not what it should be.

"Time the Healer" needs a go-over...so much to do.

But I'd not have it another way; it's good like this.  Stuff ahead of me gives me incentive.

Okay, off to the mad world I've created for myself.  Peace, out.

Why Do I Write...and taking One Tiger at a Time!

Every now and then I ask myself, just why I do I do this?  Here I am, sitting in the Morebucks trying to gather some sort of wakefulness, considering what I've been doing the past several days, weeks, whatever...

In case you don't know, when I blog I generally do it in a stream of consciousness and I do tend to sidetrack myself.  A mental multi-tasking, as long as the tendons in my wrists allow me.

And I listen to my iTunes...a lot.

"Life is Just a Tire Swing," Jimmy Buffett...how appropriate.

So anyway...my last blog post was the announcement that I will put out my first novel, "Parasite Girls" later this year as an e-book, through Amazon.com and Kindle.

The first order of business was to get the manuscript ready.  It was not.  I had taken this rather strange, knocked out story with few characters and settings that are more familiar to American audiences.  Seemed the best and easiest one to get out there, and I feel it's a good story.

"My God," Jethro Tull, from Aqualung Live...

This is very different from what you will find if you page back through this blog.  I do not consider myself a great writer, nor do I consider myself cutting edge.  I just choose to write something different, and I like being different.  It's easy to make up silly stories based on whatever came before.  

I've made that mistake in the past.  It does not work, though it may for a short-term ego and checkbook fix.  

It is not cool to walk into a bookshop (there are no such things it feels to me around here) and see shelf upon shelf upon shelf of alleged original works that are nothing but knock-offs of Stephanie Meyer and whatever else.  It bores the shit out of me.

Because I know I can do better; but can I make myself do it.

"Parasite Girls" is not a great novel, but it is a good story.  About remaking oneself, finding oneself again, and realizing that no matter how many years pass and how many miles pass under you that there are still people that matter in your life.  Not always your family, either.

Not that I know much of what that's about...but I suppose it's what I wanted to see, and perhaps others will experience that.

As usual I tackle too many issues at once, but the issues become secondary I hope to the people that are living them.

So, why do I write?  I have always enjoyed it.  To me, it's fun.  I enjoy creating a world within the real world, and making characters up that are like those I see around me, but also those who are just a bit off-kilter, and even, yes, fucked up.  We all are.

That said...I'm nearly done with it.  I discovered through a friend an interesting software called Grammarly.  It's a trick to use, and you have to be patient with it and make it work to your advantage.  

The best way for me is to use it chapter by chapter.  It offers grammatical help, way beyond what spellcheckers do.  You also get a lot more in the way of alternatives to words you use too much. 

I did not realize how much I used certain words to the point of madness.  I feel incredibly illiterate now.  What the fuck happened there?

At this point, I am down to the final chapters, but even then I need to really read it over...the more I read, the more I realize it does not always flow.  Getting there, though.

Either way, should be a good read.  Once it's ready, then I'll worry about the next step of navigating the mad world of getting it formatted for online.  And every other damned thing.

--

That's what I do most days...not a lot of work, and time on my hands, better do something with it.  

"Caress Me Baby," by Omar Dykes & Lou Ann Barton...old Jimmy Reed stuff with Jimmie Vaughan on guitar.

My several months without medication has turned out okay.  I still feel periods of nervousness and my mind jumps ahead to things before I have to rein it in.  

When it comes to the writing, I find myself planning out ideas well ahead.  I have at least two more story ideas, one of which is good but it does not make enough sense to go anywhere.  You can't start something if you don't have a good timeline and plan in place.

And I have too much to do right now; so thinking about it is all I can do.

Idea to turn another story from my past into a first-person narrative...and then I have to get back to something else.

--

I am off to New England tomorrow, for a week to visit my sister and bro-in-law up in Maine; a couple days there, see some friends, and then to Boston where I'll sell a guitar to an old friend, and meet up with more friends.

Cool thing, here:

https://pinterest.com/pin/553168766700477254/

That's me, one of my agent's charges on Pinterest.  I think it's a good idea to get us out there, but I wonder how it will work.  Gotta wait and see.

"I Wish Lunch Could Last Forever."  Back to Buffett I see...great song from "Off to See the Lizard."

So yeah...the first book in that thing called the Sweet Dreams Series.  I am taking on an old and dear friend as my "Japan Advisor."  Sara may be interested in helping me plow through some of this, and give me some good insights on the land I've not been to yet.

I will eventually get back to that...as my friend Alice says, "One Tiger at a Time."  I think this comes from taming the tiger or something.

So I'm trying to do that...feel more and more like a person in a hurry.  Is this my lack of meds, so I am now foot to the floor?  No idea.

I also did get a bit of write-up in Front Row Literary, the online version.  A portion of the first book was put up, and the who I am bit.  Very nice.

Now...I will get the chance to take my new ride on a good long run, which should be enjoyable.  The Silver Saturn finally was retired in December, after just under a quarter million miles.  I have an '06 Honda Civic with few miles.  Nice ride, and I'm enjoying it.

I have to consider so many things, and a nice long ride will help with that.  

To answer that question again...this is something I love very much.  I enjoy coming up with these stories, ideas and things, and I want to see them in the hands of others.  I just hope very much that a larger circle beyond my friends can read these, and get something good out of them.

"I Cover the Waterfront," old version of the John Lee Hooker track...

So do I do this for the money?  Well, I've never made any as a writer; would be nice.  Could I make enough to do just that?  At this point, no.  But I also am first and foremost a broadcaster.  Radio is my first love, and I wish to stay in it, despite my just being a jobber the past four years out of the 29 I've invested in it.

It's how it goes.  You do what you can, and I still do.

I know that my ego would love to see some of these in book form.  I would strongly hope I don't let shit go to my head, but we're human.  I don't want it to be that way.  So I do it; cool, what's next?

I will eventually get "Parasite Girls" ready and it will get out there.  I just hope I can be patient enough to do it right, get it set right, get the right everything in place, without taking too long.  My goal is by the spring, and that I believe is in reach.

My recent examination of the story has shown it to be a good one.  I don't think much more is needed.  Other stories?  We'll see.

The one thing I will tell others who say, "Oh, I've always wanted to write a story about..." and then they tell me all about it.

Well...do it.

My old and dear artist friend Sunny said it over 20 years ago...you just have to do it.

Make the time, take it and fucking do it.

I'm outta here...Peace.

Putting the First Book Out...A New Step Forward!

Here we are, just a day or two from 2013, and in the wake of the End of the World As We Know It (yeah, right), Yule, Xmas, and whatever else, I find myself at the crossroads.  Time to make a step I was not ready to make, until now.

It's been brought home to me that I have spent an awful long time regaling fellow bloggers, blurkers and the rest about my alleged exploits in writing.  My Facebook posts often go on about my edits of this, and my writing of that.

It's time to set one of those projects free.

I am going to test the waters of electronic publishing next year, via Amazon.com, Kindle and whatever those other devices are people use to "e-read."

My aim is to release my fiction novel, "Parasite Girls" through this medium.  It's time to get some of my work out there, make a name for myself and see what people think of it.

I have decided not to put out (at least not yet, mind) any of my YA Fiction/Anime type stuff.  There are some reasons for this:  first of all, my agent at Sullivan-Maxx is contracted to push the first book of the "Sweet Dreams Series."  I'm not sure putting out similar work is a good idea, because I'm afraid that will detract from the SDS.  It might be seen as a knock-off, or wrongly perceived.

I also wanted to put "Parasite Girls" out because I can actually write in a different genre, and I need to show I can do different stuff.

Another reason, and this may either cause me to do some rewriting, or make changes I'm not certain about:  song lyrics that are not my own weave their way through a lot of the work.  Under Fair Use, you can get some leeway, but...out of respect for copyrighted works, you need permission.

That permission can take a very long time; you have to do it properly, because I know I'd be pissed off if somebody quoted my song lyrics in a book, and I didn't at least get a footnote that states it's mine.

A legal expert has told me the best way is to request formal permission, if you really need them.  If not, either eliminate the lyrics or write your own.

One interesting interpretation, and you might not have known this.  I sure didn't:  if suppose, you have a character speak a line from a song (he used "I Saw Her Standing There" from the Beatles), that is not enough to infringe on Lennon/McCartney (or Michael Jackson's decsendants, urgh), in terms of the copyright.

If the character sang those lyrics?  Then it's infringement.

Stephen King wrote out lyrics from CCR's "Bad Moon Rising" in "The Shining," but gave a footnote and proper credit.  Easy to do; but again, permission required.  That's part of the dilemma.

"Parasite Girls" has very little of other people's stuff, so not a lot to worry about.  I have applied for a couple of permissions; if I get them, fine.  If not, no big deal.

I appreciate the insights given me by Don Chase and Dori Hartley, regarding e-publishing.  I still have a lot to walk through to get there.

This is as much a job as it was the editing.  Writing is not a job to me, but the rest of it is.

I'm telling you this, because as another friend of mine pointed out, I'll be editing until the day I die and SDS might never go up.  I still believe it will, but yeah, I'm not getting any younger.

I want to do this; the world has changed, and I have had to disabuse myself of the notion that an actual book-in-hand is the greatest thing.  It could be, sure; but if not, the next best thing is the future.

I read somewhere 21% of the world's books are read by Kindles, Nooks and whatever those other things are.  I don't own one, clearly; but I suppose I will get one.

Andrei Codrescu (I don't know how to spell his last name) is a writer and commentator on NPR now and again.  He sounds like a curmudgeonly old Eastern European guy (I think he is from Romania, but I do not know); he recently talked about how he got one of those things, and had something like 40 books on it.  He said what it let him do was indulge his love of books and reading without killing his back!

The number is gonna go up, in terms of that readership.  It might even save reading, when you think about it.  I felt behind the times when vinyl gave way to tapes and CD's; I still love the compact disc, but now I've finally started to realize the future is in audio downloads and stuff like that.  The book and record stores will soon be things of the past.

That is sad, really.  It is the way of our times, though.

So back to this:  "Parasite Girls" will take some time, and it is just a beginning.  I have another fiction novel of the type that I might also do, but that will come later.

This one?  Well, I think it's good as a story goes; I've tried to touch on different things that have hit me over the years.

What's the plot?  Well, w/o giving it all away...we follow a photo-journalist named Aidan; he has traveled the world in search of its stories but yet never really seen that world at all.  He lands in Japan, at the apartment of an old friend, seeking refuge in the wake of a terrorist attack, and the resulting intrigue has soured him on the business and life in general.

Aidan discovers what past he has in common with the old friend runs deeper than the things he saw in college.  That past again becomes present in the form of her family, and an old love.

Her two best friends are studies all their own:  one battles mental illness, and the other is the "Parasite Girl" herself.  

What does Aidan find out about himself?  Can he reconcile his own past, and remake himself?  Will he be able to help his friends, as they each struggle with their own issues?  What decisions does each one make?

This could be an interesting film, when you think about it.  It's not a romantic comedy, not at all.  Drama, yeah...I hope I convey it well enough.

Anyway, it is a beginning...while we are at it, I will be doing some remaking of things.  My website eventually will rise from the ashes, and as I've mentioned I may well move my blog either to there or to another site.  

Either way, I'm taking a step on a new road, as a wise man once said.  I have to do it; at the very least, it is not a failure but a learning experience.  At best, I'll be closer to what I really want.

Thanks for reading; I hope you can support what I do.  Enjoy 2013; it's gonna be a better one for us all, I hope.

Peace, Out.