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Daily Hotsheet: |
August 27, 1999
Last week I went to the hair dresser for a "little trim." It's a good thing she doesn't do circumcisions; she lopped off 3 inches.For the curious: I've posted an excerpt from The Lost Boys, which will be appearing in Quantum SF, winter 1999 issue.
August 24, 1999
Write what you know ....
If you haven't read Steve's fabulous 8/23 entry on write what you know, please do so now. I'll wait. Ready? Good. Because I'm going to be agree and disagree with what he says, and try to expand on it a little.
The "autobiographical" question is something romance writers field constantly, more from reporters than readers, usually asked with a knowing smile (female) or leer (male). "Bet your husband loves helping with the research, huh huh huh." After years of that crap, you'd be hard-pressed to find a rom writer who will say publically that there's anything AT ALL of herself in what she writes. A great many of them believe it, too -- as if they're channeling a spirit from the Great Beyond rather than creating from the gut. (for more on that, see this past entry.)
I do write what I know, even though my stories have been set anywhere from medieval England to 1850 Minnesota Territory to turn-of-the-century Appalachia to 2040 Tacoma, WA. My characters have been male, female; Norman, Romani, African-American, Melungeon, Metis, swans, trolls; who have been orphans, parents, children parenting parents; professional organ donors, coal miners, talkshow producers, blacksmiths, counterfeiters, farmers, military officers, KKK members, truck drivers and dancers, to name a few. They've been Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists and agnostics. They've been straight, and they've been gay. They've been the hunter, and they've been the hunted.
They're all what I know. All threads out of my experience. Of me.
Pain, fear, joy, stupidity, shame, betrayal, Other-ness... the desire for revenge, self-determination, love ... these are universal things. Peoples Is Peoples.
Someone once said that maturity was realizing your life story doesn't make a good novel. Whoever it said it was right. (If someone has the quote, please email it to me?) To me, "write what you know" has a lot more to do with emotional truth than with physical details. I think this is what Steve means by "write what strikes passion in you." That's emotional truth, something you care enough about to invest yourself and your energy in.
Maybe the best way to say it is "write what your heart knows."
August 22, 1999
Last night I saw Deep Blue Sea. It's a bad movie. A very bad movie. A very bad movie with logic and plot holes big enough to drive a 45 foot genetically-engineered mako shark through. And I loved it! Sorta like Hudson Hawk -- so bad it's great. Every close up of the gigantic killers had me chanting "but it can swim through the kitchen door!" That was just one of the maddening inconsistencies, but after I couple of occurrences it had me roaring. Fun movie.August 20, 1999
Rest in peace ....
from the Blues Traveler homepage today:BLUES TRAVELER BASSIST BOBBY SHEEHAN FOUND DEAD AT THIRTY-ONE
August 20, 1999New York -- Blues Traveler bassist Bobby Sheehan was found dead in his New Orleans apartment this morning. He was 31 years old. Since the band's early days in Princeton, NJ, Sheehan had always been one of the four cornerstones of the highly successful and loved quartet. He was there for every tour date, and had performed on all six of the band's albums. He will be missed by the artistic community to which he gave so much.
Most recently, Sheehan had begun to work on his first solo album. His plans for the fall included a return to the studio with the surviving members of Blues Traveler - John Popper, Brendan Hill and Chan Kinchla - as they were set to begin pre-production of BT's sixth studio recording.
John Popper commented, "Despite the fact that Bob Sheehan was respected, loved and revered by all who knew him, or knew of his music, he was easily the most underestimated member of the band. The best friend I've had in the world just died and I don't want to talk about it."
August 19, 1999
Heads up to all Blues Traveler/John Popper fans: new tour dates for The John Popper Band are out, including shows in Portland (Oct. 26, The Roseland Theater), Vancouver, BC (The Starfish, Oct. 29) and Seattle (Oct. 30, The Showbox).On the writing front, I'm actually doing a little -- it's just an essay, but it's writing.
August 18, 1999
This photo was taken at the foot of Dunn's River Falls, near Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Today I found out my reprieve doesn't come as soon as I thought it did -- school doesn't start until Sept 8. I'd thought it was Sept. 2. *sigh* But the good news is, it gives me an extra week for back-to-school shopping.
Along with the start of school, it's time to remember your local food banks and other charitable organizations. All of you with kids know how expensive outfitting them is; clothes, shoes, jackets, backpacks and school supplies really add up. Particularly in districts which open their doors prior to Sept. 1 (first of the month being payday for many), the need for donated supplies outstrips donations. The good news is that many Shopko, Target, K-Mart, and Walmart stores are set up to accept donations on the spot. So if you can afford an extra dollar or two, pick up a pack of pencils, a couple of notebooks or whatever you would have liked to have as a kid, and drop them in the barrel. If you feel particularly generous, or received lifelong benefits from your own science and math education, consider giving a calculator. It will be appreciated so much.
August 16, 1999
I'm back! After many adventures I'm back home in Spokane and completely exhausted. The old saw "I need a vacation to recover from my vacation" is so true. BUT ... there was something very nice waiting for me when I picked up mail today. My copy of the contract and a check from QuantumSF!
This last week has once again made me ashamed to admit I'm from Washington State. As I feared, the terrorist who attacked the Jewish Community Center in California was connected to the spider web (no offense meant to honest spiders) of racist/survivalist cults which hide in our mountains, and bought his weapons at a local (unregulated) gun show. This loophole--that no background checks are required by non-registered dealers at gun shows--is one we've been trying to attack for several years, and it's been exploited again, with horrific results. So once again we in the Spokane/Coeur d'Alene area grieve for what someone who claims to be one of our own has done, and bear the weight of guilt by geography.
Spokane itself is no stranger to domestic terrorism. The Order, The Phineas Priesthood, and Richard Butler's Aryan Nations live in our shadow. Several years ago, the valley office of the Spokesman-Review was bombed just as I turned into Shopko, half a block away. The courthouse, Planned Parenthood office, several banks and other facilities have also felt the shrapnel of their presence. In the past year Coeur d'Alene has been afflicted by two "parades" of Richard Butler's neo-nazis. The last time several weeks ago, Coeur d' Alene issued their permit (as required by law) but banned them to marching by the old landfill. Justly--I say with distaste but respect--a judge overruled that as infringement of free speech and assembly. So they marched down the main street to the boos of country-wide crowd.
The press has speculated that the LA shooting was designed as revenge against the Jewish activists who came to protest that last march. Rightly or wrongly, I don't know. The workings of such a hate filled mind are beyond me.
Here is where I step out on a limb, and prepare to have it sawed off behind me. Bear in mind that I have the greatest respect for those who have made it their life's work to fight anti-Semitism whenever and wherever it rears it's ugly head. I applaud them, and support them in my prayers. BUT...
I wish they would not come to Coeur d' Alene when Butler's Bigots make their publicity bids. Not because they bring media attention with them. Not because they tend to tar us all with the same brush. Not because I fear the guaranteed ensuing violence. Not even because I fear for their safety, which I do.
Because they let the locals off the hook.
Given a chance to speak with them, this is what' I'd say. How can we keep building the fight when the responsibility to fight is taken out of our hands? Why should locals show up to protest and make things difficult when it's already been publicized that outsiders will be here to do it for us? They do this full time, so they must be better at it -- more effective than we could possibly be, right? So the community fades into the background to become just another piece of the scenery, and an assumed part of the problem. And when the Big Guys go home, our problems remain, compounded by a new dose of guilt and impotence.
Fighting for peace and justice is, of necessity, a grassroots struggle. It goes on quietly, day by day, within local churches and community organizations, person to person. The network is growing and becoming stronger with each fight. This isn't about being "upstaged" by those from around the country, but about being given the wrong kind of help, irregardless of how good the intentions are. Send us representatives to serve on our human rights councils. Fly in to attend planning meetings and to host workshops. Give us the benefit of your experience gained over decades of work in the trenches. and support us as we deal with it every day of the year, not just at major events.
But please don't assume that we are passively approving bystanders who will roll over quietly and pretend it's not happening. We are not, and will not. This is our fight--one we MUST fight--and it is a part of our daily lives. As long as someone else steps in, we don't have to, and without that imperative, too many are allowed to keep it at a distance.
End of the sermon of the day.
Past months:
July, 1999
June, 1999
May, 1999
April, 1999
March, 1999
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