Book Publishers are [R]E-tailers are Publishers

Wired reports that Book publishers have "quietly" started selling books on their websites, putting them into competition with the likes of Amazon.com. But retailers like Barnes & Noble have also started publishing...

The Not So Desperate Side of Novel Writing

Have been following along Jim's progress on his novel (he seems to move along at a much quicker pace than I do), and am reminded that this is FUN.

Joan, over at Bookblog, is also gearing up for National Novel Writing Month Marathon and is attempting her first novel-in-a-month.

Lorna Dee Cervantes is also participating in the same Marathon....

Hmmm. It just occurred to me that perhaps one can "run" a novel writing marathon in a way similar to running a marathon for a charity.

In any case, Good luck to them!

Control Issues

It seems that the more professional editing I do, the more typos I make in my own writing, on my blog, or in other types of personal writing. I've never been so wrapt in words in my life, and its a strange feeling, teetering between obsessive control for the words of others, and the loss of constrol of my own words (which is not a bad feeling, allowing that loss of control). Funny -- I just now noticed the typo in "constrol" (control) above. Freud is laughing at me. It seems a combination of control and console. Maybe it's time to take a stroll...

Me and La Cosa Nostra

So in between editing other people's books, I try to sneak in an hour here and there working on my book, a novel that takes place in San Francisco in the 1930s. What a fascinating era in that city! I especially enjoy reconstructing the various social milieus. I start out writing about labor and newspapers, but everything is so interconnected. Today I began learning about the San Francisco branch of La Cosa Nostra; indirectly, I'm learning about shipbuilding, the fishing industry, bootlegging, Upton Sinclair's campaign to run for the governor of California, prostitution, taxi-dancing, city boosterism, and building of two of the world's biggest and most beautiful bridges!

This is the "hard" part, because I'm in the early phase of writing, and still not sure exactly what's going to happen. Maybe "hard" is not the right word. More like suspensful, because I don't know exactly what's going to happen. But also fascinating, because there are so many options, so many ways for my characters to go. I've never been much good at outlining things, but because there are so many levels to this story, I know that I'm going to have to draw up an historical timeline pretty soon. The characters are just starting to get fleshed about -- I'm beginning to care about them, but just a little. I don't know them that well, yet.

The Rhetoric of Civilized Head-butting

Mark Kaplan's notes on rhetoric.

"Emotion – [you say that] your opponent is necessarily and invariably ‘excitable” “agitated’ “animated”; you, by contrast, are immobile, impassive, devoid of emotion - a computer imbued with consciousness."

Drezner's Blog

Regarding the post below, I have found Daniel Drezner's blog. Check out his posts of Oct. 4, and 6, for recent comments on blogging. See also the Comments to yesterday's post, for a discussion between Gladys & myself.

Denied Tenure Because of Blogging?

Niraj, the Curry Man points to an article in the NY Sun about a professor who was recently denied tenure, possibly for blogging....

The thing about blogging is this -- after awhile, one becomes so used to the relative freedom to say what one wants, that it actually starts to feel "natural." And I think that for me, this is what has become so "addictive" about blogging. By comparison, the life of careful and circumscript communication that takes place in institutions, whether in academia or business, sometimes seems stifling. I suspect that this isn't such an issue for those who are used to being in powerful positions, or who have been raised to speak with immediacy, but for a shy person, the (again, relative) freedom to speak in the blogging world can be an epiphany.

But then, I suppose that a big part of the problem is not just in saying what you mean -- but in the fact that one is putting it in writing, documenting it. While in face to face conversations, off-the-cuff remarks can be ignored, and can be passed off as hearsay, the blogging venue encourages such spontaneity -- but it also documents it for all to see.

Rising Gas Prices and Making a Living

So I was going to mention briefly that, as gas prices have risen I've tried my best to stay close to home; thank goodness for editing work -- which I'm able to do out of my house, except for the occasional expedition to the big city (San Francisco) to meet with a client. Every once in awhile, however, some invitations are too tempting to turn down. For example, I just accepted an invitation to talk on KPFA radio in SF, for Annabelle Udo's show for Philippine Heritage Day. Will be hangin' out with some of my favorite people, Tony Robles and Barbara Jane Reyes (and of course, Annabelle).

On Giving Back To the Oil Industry

Tempers flared recently in the House of Representatives, as the Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005 bill was passed. Check out the video. Thanks to fellow novelist, Chris Wilson, for the Think Progress URL.

Blurbs

I've mentioned this in my other blog, but I think it's even more pertinent to this one -- and really, anyone who has contributed a blurb for the back matter of a book, or has asked for a blurb, or solicited blurbs for a book will appreciate the Blurb Project, in which the author, Eileen Tabios, asks for blurbs prior to conceiving the book, and then attempts to create a book to fit the blurbs received. Truly, this is the kind of project that makes the Devil rub his hands in glee. There are a number of notable contributors, including Bob Dylan, as channeled through the poetic psyche of Chris Stroffolino, Bino Realuyo's blurb, "L'Ennui Chateau" accompanied by a cartoon of our heroine-in-distress, and then there's me - my blurb notes that the foreword was written by Viggo Mortensen (hey, let's make this really challenging!), and many more blurbsthat should keep you in stitches for awhile.

Neighborhood

In my other blog recently, I posted this lovely pic of Oscar, Barbara Jane, and Ver attacking some locomoco and Mexican chocoloco ice cream, which started me thinking about carnitas, and then Oscar mentioned horchata, and before you know it, I was at my local fave taquería, eating and drinking exactly just that, while reading Eileen's Winepoetics manuscript. (See also her current Winepoetix blog). Said manuscript is my current editing project, which has me salivating much of the time over the poetics of wine, tapey (rice wine), eggplants and various roasted meats, and -- yes, above all, poetry, and the routes by which poetry, and wine get to one's table (whether it's your writing table, or your dining table).

One thing I've noticed, is that I tend to see the world around me through the lenses of the books I'm editing at the moment. Lately, I've been feeling like I'm swirling around in a goblet of halo-halo, and I'm not even going to try to describe the scrumptious but mystifyingly mixed-up ingredients of that Filipino dessert.

Anyway, I was sitting there, munching on my soft tacos carnítas, and thinking about why, with all the other decent places to eat in town, I picked this place. I think I really wanted a plate of chicken adobo with rice, frankly. But there are no Filipino restaurants in this town. So I went to the Taquería. Here's why: There's a TV in the corner, the restaurant is pleasantly (but not overly) packed, and every one is watching soccer. There are families, and there are surfers wearing hoodies. There are a couple of noisy kids who (thankfully) quiet down after a bit. There are two very large brown guys with shaved heads, wearing cut-offs and sandals. There's a portrait of Frida staring down at me. There are a few tacky Aztec knicknacks hung on the walls, and a poster for the local joyería. The food is good, good, good. So, even though I'm not Mexican, every once in awhile I need an infusion of the "extended family" feeling that I get from eating in a Filipino restaurant -- it's the "neighborhood" thing. It's the halo-halo thang.