"tape flags" are my right-hand man

I'm preparing author talks for this coming week (two!) and next week (another one!) - an activity for which tape flags are my right-hand man. Tape flags are excellent for marking the exact pages in Invisible Sisters that I want to read from to support each talk, because each group has different interests. Green ones for one group, red for another, and an excellent, translucent chartreuse for another.

I always have fun at author talks - I hope you do, too!

Thank heaven for Maira Kalman

This from today's New York Times. Thank heaven for Maira Kalman . (You'll get the reference when you read the piece.)

And happily, it kind of goes with the previous post. Kinda. Sort of a stretch.

Liverpool, Shanghai, Curitiba

Hi, Liverpool (UK and NY). Hi, Shanghai, Curitiba, Harrisburg, Los Angeles, Poway. Thanks for peeking in!

Google Analytics. I can't figure out most of the charts, but I love the map.

Biff, Bam, Pow!

Yesterday I wrote a fight scene. I've never done that before. It was remarkably satisfying, and called on my directorial blocking skills. The scene ended with implied human betrayal and an unexpected weather event.

Breaking Out

Read all about it at the Decatur Book Festival's website!

We have some magnificent memoirists at the festival this year, including [... ]Jessica Handler, author of the breakout Invisible Sisters, her story of living on after the loss of both of her sisters to terminal illnesses.

I'll be speaking with the terrific Kaylie Jones, author of "Lies My Mother Never Told Me" on Saturday at 4:15 at the Decatur Conference Center (Holiday Inn) stage.

Come say hello!

Some wacky things that come up in class

I don't usually blog about the classes I teach, but... this song came up in a discussion last week (and yes, it's a writing class) and has been in my head since then.

A cautionary note - when you watch the video, nothing happens but the LP spinning on the turntable, so look away after a while or betcha by golly wow, you'll be really dizzy!

"Read More Oh Yes"

You've got to give props for the sentiment. I'm kind of sorry this building is gone from my neighborhood. (The building was a "convenience" store, the kind where a person could likely buy loosies.) It got rougher looking once it was condemned.

It's not every day you see a chartreuse building.

A Man on Stilts

Just one more reason to scratch your head and say, "oh, this is why I dig Atlanta." A man on stilts at the Euclid Avenue Yacht Club, which is not anything at all like a Yacht Club, but is, at least, on Euclid Avenue. And the man on stilts wore chaps. Custom-made, no doubt.

This was because I was accidentally at a reading, which turned out to be fun, and I was intentionally with another writer, which was a relief, because I sometimes question what I see. If two writers see the same thing, is it real?

So beautiful!

Take a tour of photographic history here, courtesy of the New York Times and the National Geographic archives.

When authors and poets cover the day's news.

An interesting literary experiment earlier this summer at Ha'aretz, in Israel.

The Random Acts continue in their own mysterious ways

A box of intriguingly beautiful notecards as a lovely "thank you" gift yesterday's mail from a workshop student.

Wiped away all the tsurris of an otherwise stressful day.

Thank you, J.P.!

Drawing

I'm working on taking the time to draw more, to photograph, and generally expose my writing-brain to developing complimentary observational skills.

In other words, M. is a very talented illustrator with a unique "voice" to his work. I love to look at how he depicts the world. (He drew the piece posted here.)

There's also this - urban sketchers website - which is a great place to recharge the way you take in your surroundings. Thanks to the excellent S. for the creativity tip.

Skippy

Okay, so I downloaded Skype and learned to use it, in part because I sat next to a seventy-something year old woman at an airport lounge this summer who was happily Skyping on her laptop to her grandchildren in Europe, and in part because I'll be visiting a book club in Chicago soon - via the magic of the Interwebs!

All this to let you know that I'm loaded and ready to visit your book club in virtual form, where ever you may be! I'll be in my house, you'll be in yours, and I won't even eat your food! Which I have a tendency to do.

(Oh, and "Skippy?" I worked with a magazine editor once who offered me an international assignment, and said that I could make the phone calls in the publications office using their "Skippy." I turned the job down because the delivery date was, like, in a day, not because I didn't want to use a technology with a name like a puppy.)

So, download some Skippy and I'll drop by!

Begin anywhere - the finest writing advice

John Cage's advice on making art. Begin anywhere.

So, begin anywhere. Don't wait for the lede. Begin in the middle of your story, the end, that scene you can't shake loose but haven't written because you don't know what to do with it. Commit to it paper.

Get it out and make room for more.

Begin anywhere.

This said to myself as well as to you.

Another reason to "carry on" about the Decatur Book Fest

What a cool idea - the old banners for the Decatur Book Fest (and other banners, too) are being made into tote bags.

I think I want a messenger bag.

Reading, lately, and a peek at my writing partner

What I'm reading right now, and what's on deck:

The Bonfire, Marc Wortman
The Confederate General Rides North, Amanda Gable
The Sixkiller Chronicles, Paul Hemphill
Homer & Langely, E.L. Doctorow (on deck, pubs next month.)


History, non-fiction & fiction, anyone?

AND, here's a picture of my erstwhile writing partner!

Art Break

No, those aren't petit four. Look closely. Then click through the slide show. Welcome to my friend Stephanie's artwork. Your brain will thank you.