Where the hell have you been?

I've been a slacker.

It's been months since my last entry here at MUSE. That's horrible. I need to get more regular, you know? I'll get better. Really.

But meantime - an update...

ANY ROAD WILL TAKE YOU THERE, my road trip memoir, has been accepted at Prairie Lights bookstore in Iowa City. I'm thrilled. This is a wonderful, historic bookshop in the middle of the campus city and blocks from the Iowa Writer's Workshop, the church of literary writing. In June, I'll be at the Chicago Writers Association booth at Printers Row Lit Fest in Chicago. Nice.

I'm also waiting to hear from publishers on two manuscripts. I won't talk about it in depth, as not to jinx the whole thing. But - one is a collection of stories about being a lifelong pet owner, and the other is fiction about a young, rock-n-roll radio announcer who loses his way and believes facing his demons on the air in a special New Year's Even broadcast will get him back in balance.

But enough about me...

Questions:

Are you a poetry person? It seems to me you either are or are not. If so, why? What's your favorite line from a poem? Why?

I consider myself a quasi-poet guy. Love Billy Collins, Keat, Dylan Thomas. My favorite at the moment is Colins' "Love." Gorgeous.

Tell me about your love of poetry...or your dislike...why?

Until next time...

David

Haiku in the New Year

When I was privileged to be the writer-in-residence at the Jack Kerouac House in Florida a couple of years ago, I tried writing haiku from time to time. It seemed appropriate. Kerouac wrote haiku, and sometimes very good ones. It wasn't always traditional, the 5-7-5 syllables, the mention of season, the juxtaposition of thought. But it was interesting, sometimes poignant, sometimes even funny, and always, it seemed Kerouacian cool.

My haiku? Well, the poems seemed amateurish. But they got better, I thought. It was fun to write them, at least.

So in this new year, I've been trying to get back into some semblance of meditation. Simple stuff. Just a way to clear my head and ground my thoughts. And from time to time, jotting down a haiku or two. Not as a writing process really, but more as a "moment in time." Just something to add to my meditation.

I worked on a standing meditation this morning, breathing and soft, light movement. The 15-minute meditation produced this:

I follow my breath
    the icicle hangs from high
In a silent day

And, in a more modern approach...

I stand and move
    a slow silence
The dog sleeps

Any good? Hell, I don't know. Really don't care. It was just an exercise in thought, in emotion. I offer this as a suggestion. When you're approaching something new, something creative, set no bars to jump. Just do the thing. Let it be. Let it happen. No goals. No judgement.

Somehow this seems appropriate for writing haiku, and for the New Year.

David

Have I Bit Off Too Much?

I'm not much of a resolution guy, at least when it comes to the New Year. I think of it more as a refresh or a reawakening. 

This year I began several new initiatives and I'm concerned I may have given myself too much to consider. Well, maybe not. Honestly, I don't know. 

I started meditation. Light stuff. Something I had done, and done poorly, before. But I found a new book - "Mindfulness" - that is helping. We'll see. 

I also started a new food plan to lose a few pounds. That, has been, so far, going incredibly well. I actually started this a day BEFORE the New Year. All so cliche, right? 

And today, I also began a new story, one that was inspired by several storylines in movies I've seen lately. Inspiration from other stories is not unusual (and not copying, by the way). These storylines and my own life experiences have been bubbling on this one for some time. It's about a banished professor who returns to the English countryside where he wrote his first and only book to be confronted by a young woman who insists he has written about her life. She is compelled to meet him. He is reluctant and impatient with her, considering her a bit of a nutcase. But when she begins to reveal her story, he is haunted by its precise detail, details from his book and his life. Well, at least I think that's where it's going. You know how that is...the story will ultimately tell itself. 

I also returned to my work on pet stories, a group of essays I hope to complete this winter. 

All too much? 

Maybe. But, if all of it doesn't stick, some of it will, right? 

David 

Resolutions...No, Really.

Not much of  New Year's resolution guy. Not much of a New Year's guy. Not because it's "for amateurs" as some say, but because it seems strange to me to resolve to be better, eat less, drink less, smoke less, get healthy, blah-blah-blah at the beginning of a new year. Why not make it, say, February 12 or June 1? It doesn't really matter, does it? If you want to resolve, why focus on the new year? But I guess if a long-standing tradition helps you resolve something worthwhile, then have at it.

But if you do resolve anything this New Year, I'm asking you to consider including a different category of resolve.

Yes, health, friends and family issues are certainly good subjects for resolutions. But I suggest you include the category of "creativity." How do you resolve to further your creative side in 2014?

If you write, write more, be more disciplined. If you paint, paint more or take on a new project. If you dance, dance with purpose. And if you simply just keep a nightly or daily journal - stick to it. Buy yourself a nice leather journal and a good pen and have it at. Make the time for yourself. Creativity is really about discipline. You have to have a plan. Make a time and place for your creativity and don't waver. It's like working out - set a time, a place, and a plan and then JUST DO IT!

It's nice to think that creativity begins from some magical place, is sparked by a muse, or a spiritual moment. And part of that may be true. But don't wait for that "moment" or your muse to speak to you. Get to it. Resolve to nurture your creative side, but do it with purpose.

David B

It never really ends...

I like rewrites and edits and that whole process. I enjoy the refining and fixing. Lisa, who has done a lot of a my draft editing and has not only found my stupid grammatical mistakes, but also has made some astute, keen observations about story and plot. She's taken a hard look–actually a couple of hard looks–at a draft of a fiction work entitled NIGHT RADIO. As usual, she's pointed out some matters that need my attention. And that's what has consumed me over the last couple of weeks. Thanks, Lisa. No, really, thanks.

The reason I bring this up is to celebrate the process. If you write–any kind of writing–learn to enjoy this part of the work; the fixing, cleaning-up, the readjustments. This is where the work really starts to come alive. Think of it as waxing after you've done the hard work of washing the car. As you move your soft cloth over the car's finish in smooth circular motions, the shine begins to emerge, the true beauty of the automobile's exterior comes alive. This is what you are doing with your story–giving it shine, luster. This is not work, this is the remarkable last steps before you release your baby–your story–into the world. Don't rush it. Don't curse it. Take the time to savor this,  embrace your words and massage their meaning.

If you write, this process is inevitable. Don't dread it. Instead, give it a big hug.

Pets and Literature: Who Says They Don't Mix?

I started working on a collection of pet stories. All creative nonfiction pieces about my experiences as a pet owner; all kinds of pets: dogs, cats, gerbils, hamsters, fish, lizards, even a squirrel. Oh yeah, there were some turtles in there. I have had many pets as a child, a parent, and as an adult. And why wouldn't  owning them generate great stories? They do. But many times pet stories just aren't taken seriously.

Pet stories tend to fall is the basket of "not so serious literature." Light stuff, overly sentimentalized. Not serious works of prose.

But for many of us, pets are our mirrors in life, aren't they? How we treat them, interact with them, live with them reflects on how we live our lives, how we conduct ourselves, how we interact with our fellow humans, our lovers, our kids, our friends. Good pet stories are not really about the pets, are they? They are about something bigger, bolder, richer.

I hope I can shed a light on that. I hope I can begin, in some small way, to change the way the book world–that world of literature–looks at pet stories.

Here's an early draft of a piece for the collection. It's called "MIKE." How am I doing?

Blessed

I have been privileged in a lot of ways in my life. I have great kids, people to care about, a love that is like no other, and the incredible delight to be able to tell stories–on the radio, in print, online, in ebooks, and in live-lit performances. I do see it as a privilege. I've been blessed.

From time to time in my career, I have been blessed to win some awards–big and small. But recently I was awarded the 2013 Chicago Writers Association BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD for nontraditional nonfiction for my memoir ANY ROAD WILL TAKE YOU THERE. And this was particularly special. 

Not only was the award presented after wonderful writers read and reviewed the book, which is special in and of itself, but this story, this book, is so incredibly close to my heart. It's a story of fathers and sons–my father, my sons. And there is nothing more intimate than a man's relationship with his father, no matter how imperfect it may be. 

Yes, I am privileged to tell stories. But I am even more privileged to tell the stories of my life. They–and this award–are precious. 

David