Inspiration Board for the [Untitled] Short Story I am Writing

In my world, complex stories call for physical inspiration boards. The five-part short story I am writing has been in the planning stages for 3 years. In fact, the first part was written in January 2010. I’m finally ready to move ahead with the rest of the project (more details on that later). After completing it, I plan on adapting it into a play. Ambitious, much? Always! Before starting on the second segment, I decided it would be wise to pull together the disjointed bits of inspiration that have been living in my head for so many months. This collective of images lives on one of the glass blocks that divide my studio from the bedroom I share with The Chef. One glance to the left from where I type this, and ta-da!

I fancied up the photos so that you have a better idea of how things look inside my head!

Inspiration Board for Untitled Short Story

Inspiration Board for Untitled Short Story

Yes, it is set in the 1920s. Why do you ask?

Inspiration Board, alternate treatment

Inspiration Board, alternate treatment

I will add images to the board as needed.

 

[A Small Press Life’s Irregular Index of Literary Facts] Debut Novels, Dead Writers Edition: Part One

Welcome to A Small Press Life’s Irregular Index of Literary Facts, a new feature designed to give lovely order to the random bookish trivia traveling around my brain. If you like lists, mental organization, random facts, or useless trivia about authors famous and obscure, you will definitely want to keep reading.

DEBUT NOVELS, DEAD WRITERS EDITION: PART ONE

The following books represent the first published novels of their respective authors, which were not always the first to be written. All novels are readily available in both traditional and e-reader versions.

  • Louisa May Alcott: Moods
  • Sherwood Anderson: Windy McPherson’s Son
  • Gertrude Atherton: What Dreams May Come
Gertrude Atherton

Gertrude Atherton

  • Jane Austen: Sense and Sensibility
  • James Baldwin: Go Tell it on the Mountain
  • Djuna Barnes: Ryder
  • Arna Bontemps: God Sends Sunday: A Novel
  • Elizabeth Bowen: The Hotel
  • Paul Bowles: The Sheltering Sky
  • Kay Boyle: Plagued by the Nightingale
  • Louis Bromfield: The Green Bay Tree
  • Anne Brontë: Agnes Grey
  • Charlotte Brontë: Jane Eyre
  • Emily Brontë: Wuthering Heights
  • Pearl S. Buck: East Wind: West Wind
  • Fanny Burney: Evelina: Or the History of a Young Lady’s Entrance into the World
  • James M. Cain: The Postman Always Rings Twice
  • Truman Capote: Other Voices, Other Rooms
  • Willa Cather: Alexander’s Bridge
  • Kate Chopin: At Fault
  • Agatha Christie: The Mysterious Affair at Styles
  • Colette: Claudine at School
  • Wilkie Collins: Antonina
  • Ivy Compton-Burnett: Dolores
  • Stephen Crane: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets
  • Philip K. Dick: Solar Lottery
  • Charles Dickens: The Pickwick Papers
  • Fyodor Dostoyevsky: Poor Folk
  • Theodore Dreiser: Sister Carrie
  • George Eliot: Adam Bede
George Eliot

George Eliot

  • William Faulkner: Soldier’s Pay
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald: This Side of Paradise
  • Zelda Fitzgerald: Save Me the Waltz
  • Gustave Flaubert: Madame Bovary
  • Ford Madox Ford: The Shifting of the Fire
  • Zona Gale: Romance Island
  • Mrs. Elizabeth Gaskell: Mary Barton
  • Andre Gidé: The Notebooks of André Walter
  • Ellen Glasgow: The Descendant
  • Susan Glaspell: The Glory of the Conquered

Happy 185th Birthday, Henrik Ibsen!

The determined-looking Henrik Ibsen, one of my favourite playwrights, was born on 20 March 1828.

Henrik Ibsen, circa 1870

Henrik Ibsen, circa 1870

QUOTE: “It is the very mark of the spirit of rebellion to crave for happiness in this life.”

SOME WORKS: Peer Gynt; A Doll’s House; Ghosts; The Wild Duck; The Lady from the Sea; Hedda Gabler.

A KEEPSAKE:

Henrik Ibsen quote mug by Marthe Pinaire

Henrik Ibsen quote mug by Marthe Pinaire. $12.00

The Splendiferously Bearded Writers Social Club: Walt Whitman

  • Name: Walt Whitman
  • DOB: 5/13/1819
  • Member Since: 1863
  • Status: Charter Member
  • Important Role: Taking tickets at club functions.
  • Hobbies: Going to the library; teaching; writing barrier-smashing poetry; keeping us guessing.
Walt Whitman by G. Frank E. Pearsall, 1872

Walt Whitman by G. Frank E. Pearsall, 1872

Shopping for the Bookworm: Irish Writers Edition, Part One

Enjoy these Irish writer-themed goodies in preparation for St. Patrick’s Day!

Samuel Beckett Tea Towel by Miss Fruitfly

Samuel Beckett Tea Towel by Miss Fruitfly. $10.00

William Butler Yeats Canvas Tote Bag by Nice Day Designs

William Butler Yeats Canvas Tote Bag by Nice Day Designs. $6.71

Continue reading

[Update] Legends of Steragos Has Been Funded

This happened last night.

Legends of Steragos

Legends of Steragos Kickstarter

Kevin’s project deserves every penny pledged by these 19 magnificent people. The book is set for a May release. If you’ll excuse me, I have a manuscript to edit.

If you missed my first Legends of Steragos post, go here.

 

[Book Nerd Nonsense] E.L. James, Writing Advisor?

Any aspiring professional willing to take writing advice from E.L. James is an idiot. Although her bank account is inspirational, her ability is not. The opposite direction is this way. —————> You are welcome.

E.L. James’ ‘Shades of Grey: Inner Goddess’: a writer’s journal [courtesy Los Angeles Times Books]

A Quick Note to Jack Kerouac on His Birthday

Oh, Jean-Louis. You problematic, magnetic SOB. Ninety-one years to the day after your birth, and we-the writers, readers, and open souls of the world-still cannot escape your torturous orbit. As for me: my heart is willing, but my mind is not quite able to sprint the final few yards into your embrace. I promise to try again, like I always do. You know how it goes. It’s not you, it’s me. It’s not me, it’s you. It’s the two of us, together. I love you and hate you and love-hate-hate-love you. This dance we do will never end; the steps and the rhythm will change, but the tune will echo to eternity. Until next time.

Love and kisses and shrugs,

Maedez

On the Road

On the Road

“I was surprised, as always, by how easy the act of leaving was, and how good it felt. The world was suddenly rich with possibility.”-Jack Kerouac, On the Road