Artist’s Statement: If my photos have a mission, it is this: to capture common scenes and environments and present them in an interesting way. It may be underneath a highway overpass or the dark interior of an abandoned building. Whatever the locale, these images present the viewer with a unique view of the commonplace. Please click on each image for a larger view. In Armstrong Grove Armstrong Grove, Guerneville, Sonoma County *** Lily in the Woods Armstrong Grove, Sonoma County *** The Laguna Laguna Wetlands Preserve, Sonoma County *** March Madness *** onthewaytojenner *** Underneath the 101 “Underneath the 101, Sonoma County. I love to photograph the benign and show you what I see. This is underneath an overpass at night. When lit up by car headlights, it looks like a cathedral to me.” *** Abandonedtothedarkness California Packing Company’s Plant No….
Peter Pan Kitsune, a Novel by Kyla Goulet
Editors Note: We’re very proud to introduce a talented new writer, Kyla Goulet. At seventeen, she is also our youngest contributor. We asked how she came up with the idea of Peter Pan as a Kitsune, the mythological Japanese creature. She wrote: “Some powers of Kitsune are that they’re immortal and can fly, so…bingo. Peter Pan as a Kitsune? Telling his backstory and a life full of adventure, the ups and downs of being this mythical being? It sounded absolutely brilliant in my eyes.” Her writing is absolutely brilliant in our eyes. Here is the Preface and Chapter One from her novel-in-progress, Peter Pan Kitsune. * * * Preface The strain had just been too difficult, as if pins and needles were purposely launching themselves into his skin. He winced, and—by the looks of it—his stomach…
Willamette Writers Conference Just A Week Away!
One of the leading writing conferences in the country, the Willamette Writers Conference convenes next Friday, August 1, and runs through Sunday, August 3. Launched in 1969, in recent years attendance has topped 1,000 writing and publishing mavens from around the world. If you’re anywhere close to Portland, Oregon, or would like to see what Portlandia is really like, I hope you’ll attend. There are over 60 workshops and special events. I’m particularly flattered to be presenting three workshops in the Master’s Series in Business Writing: Your Professional Writing Career, Writing Your First Book, and Ghostwriting. But more than that, I’m excited to have the chance to meet so many fellow (male and female) writers and presenters. I thought you might like to meet a few of them yourself. My colleague Jason Brick, who has worked…
Kickstarting Your Next Book Advance with April Huneycutt
Once upon a time, the process for getting published worked like this: Step One: Write a book Step Two: Beg an agent to represent that book Step Three: The agent begs a publisher to publish the book Step Four: Wait (a long time) Step Five: Publish These days, self-publishing, e-publishing and independent publishing give lots of alternatives to the traditional path. For more authors every year, the DIY model of publishing is superior to the old ways. You get a higher commission. The lag between finishing your book and seeing it in print is shorter. You get more artistic control. On the other hand, new publishing has one serious disadvantage as compared to the traditional route: no advance. In fact, it usually requires you to put out some of your own money to hire a professional editor, get the…
Alice’s Bar and Grill by Col. Jon D. Marsh
“And just WHAT the hell do you think you’re lookin at?” Eddy doesn’t answer. He doesn’t say a word. Eddy knows what is going to happen next and it doesn’t matter if he speaks or not. It wouldn’t matter if he were the world’s greatest orator and philosopher since Forrest Gump. This blowhard is out to impress upon the world that he’s important and hell-bent on doing it as physically as possible to anyone who can’t get out of the way fast enough. “Hey asshole, I’m talking to YOU! You ooglin’ Brenda?” Eddy finishes his water with lime and lays another buck on the bar as a goodnight tip to Brenda. He knows she is going to have to put up with this stupid drunk until his buddies convince him to leave or until he’s…
Innisfree Bookshop is the First to Stock "Madrone"
Meredith, New Hampshire, July 7th, 2014: Madrone, Jack B. Rochester’s second novel about Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers, joined Wild Blue Yonder on the shelves at Innisfree Bookshop today. Pictured beside Jack, Fictional Cafe’s Head Barista, is Kyla Goulet, an Innisfree bookseller and aspiring author in her own right. “There is no feeling to compare with seeing a book you wrote on the shelves in a bookstore,” said Jack. “I can’t wait to see mine there, too,” Kyla said, grinning. “You’re a gifted writer,” Jack replied, “and I’m certain that will happen.” All this quipping while Innisfree manager Beverly Newton snapped photos. “We can’t wait to have you do a reading,” she said. Wild Blue Yonder, published in 2012, is the first installment in the story of Nathaniel Hawthorne Flowers, a 1960s college dropout who joins the…
Celebrating the Bicycle as The Tour de France Begins
Gregg Rochester is a very successful painter of large canvases depicting nature scenes that are an amalgam of reality and his imagination. People have bought his work in galleries from coast to coast. He lives in Wisconsin and like me, loves to cycle through the farm country where he lives. While out for a ride one afternoon, the idea of painting bicycles struck him. He began buying bicycle parts and building the bikes he would paint upon. The idea was a huge success, and before long he had enough bikes for a gallery showing: Gregg’s “Le Tour d’Art” was born and began exhibiting in a number of Midwest galleries. He began painting canvases with bicycle themes, too. “My original concept was to encourage my patrons to use the painted bicycle as a sculptural piece, hanging it on the wall…
Three Things I Learned Last Summer, by Jason Brick
I learned three things last summer. The first thing I learned was: don’t get drunk on margaritas with your best friend’s wife when it’s just the two of you alone on the deck looking out at a once-in-a-lifetime drop-dead perfect June sunset and the air is warm and clean with a caressing wind coming in off the desert with the scent of spice and the promise of your heart’s desire. It wasn’t as if we hadn’t been drunk together before. Or alone together. Or even drunk together all alone. When it’s your best friend’s wife, and she’s been married to him eight years, you wind up doing most things together at one time or another. The four of us had gotten hammered together with fair regularity, and to say we were comfortable with one another…
What are you reading this summer?
To hear the book marketers, books and beaches go together. Never much thought so myself; lots more fun to people-watch and play in the water. Besides, it’s dangerous; I was reading a book on a beach in Puerto Rico – fell asleep and woke up with the worst sunburn I’ve ever had. But all that aside, we usually get a raft [sic] of new books for summer. I’m reading Joshua Ferris’ new epic, To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. It’s not light reading, but the premise is interesting: someone is stalking a dentist by creating a phony website for him. What are you reading? Drop us a comment and let us know. Tell us a little of your reading experience with it. And grab a cuppa creativity while you’re here over in Member Writing.
Reading, Writing and Reviewing
Zounds! I’ve been reading like crazy but haven’t written a review in quite a while. Here are some capsule reviews, highlights from the past two months. All links are to Amazon. Alex Berenson’s The Night Ranger I discovered Alex Berenson a few years ago with his debut novel, The Faithful Spy and then The Silent Man. I think he’s taken a top slot in international espionage thrillers with his compelling character, John Wells, who is far more interesting than the stick-figure Jason Bourne character in the post-Ludlum series. Berenson creates scenes you can see in your mind’s eye and believable characters and situations. I also respect the fact that he answers every single email he receives. Sleep Donation by Karen Russell Breakout novelist Karen Russell knocked our literary socks off a few years back with…