This was after the mixer event. Matt Munoz of Bakotopia enjoyed the free drinks.
We just started shipping the Noveltown Review (TNR) around the country and to the U.K. Meanwhile, spoken word poet, Rich Ferguson sent some photos from having attended the LA Times Festival of Books. He said there were "lots of people, lots of books, and lots of good times had by all."
I asked Cindy Wathen about her time at the book festival. She said:
As the largest literary event in the nation, it's a mecca for writers and book lovers. My favorite speaker was Walter Mosley. He's amazing. I love everything about the festival. I wish more cities hosted festivals like this one.
The literary world is always in need of community-building efforts. That’s a big part of what our new magazine is all about.
One aspect I’ve learned since jumping into publishing both online and in print is there’s a spirit among literary writers, a camaraderie that is really healthy and inviting. Writers need marketing tools, outlets, and support. That’s the Noveltown Review's impact--to help writer's get the word out...
HOW TO ORDER: You can order the 32-page premiere issue of the Noveltown Review online for only $5.95. That includes shipping in the U.S. (Click here to order)
Here are samples from some of the Noveltown Review's entries followed by some photos from our recent mixer event at Benjamin’s Restaurant in downtown Bakersfield, and guest readers...
Fiction:
Susan Henderson:Ladybug - I was barred from school for the day because I’d been biting again. Whenever I bit, everyone would stop what they were doing, and my teacher would call, “Tillie, Tillie,” but I would keep pressing my teeth into the skin because I liked to see the mark...
Brad Listi:Christmas Day - MY FATHER’S FAMILY LIVED in an old petroleum town called Morgan City, an hour away from Plaquemine. We drove there every year on Christmas Day. Our route took us through the bayous and cypress trees, past field and plantation, over bridges, and along a levee. In its own way, a scenic drive. I never minded it much. I liked swamps. I spent the hour staring out the window, looking for alligators. I never saw any. Mostly I saw dead rodents on the side of the road, or an occasional crushed house pet. Sometimes I’d see pelicans or cranes perched on cypress stumps. They were bright white against the murk of the swamp. I wondered how they stayed so clean...
Conrad Romo:Clown Make-up - After the shaking stopped, we stepped out from under the safety of doorways. We climbed out of our beds and felt our way through the dark until we were outside. Power throughout the city had been knocked out. From my front yard I could barely see my neighbors, clustered together on porches, in driveways, in yards and on sidewalks. They were in various states of undress...
N. Frank Daniels:Taking the Hollows - New York loves people like us, was made for our satisfaction, the steaming guts of the world. When you were wandering the streets in a Lou Reed billowy haze, 15 dollar bags of blow that lasted through 20 tunnel visions and almost as many near-death experiences...
Articles:
Cindy Wathen: "Market Street: Navigating the Madness and Mayhem of Where to Submit Your Work" - Face it. All of us at one time or another have dreamed of writing literary fiction. We momentarily forget that genre fiction is more lucrative or that the slow, quiet novel is gradually dying and we dream the dream. We see visions of PEN awards or our pensive black-and-white photo appearing on a Poets & Writers cover. Then we remember how hard it is. We think about the difficulty, poverty and rejection potentially involved...
Robin Slick: "Psychotic Reaction: Blog Trips for the Worldly Writer" - All is not right with my world.For those who care enough to wonder why —okay, here it is. I apparently need a twelve-step program for blog addiction. Writing used to be the one thing in my life over which I exercised discipline. I woke up every morning at 5:00 a.m., a good two hours before the rest of the family, just to work on a novel in progress or a short story. The days were few and far between that I would ever stray from that routine...
Lauren Baratz-Logsted: "The Working Writer: What Kind Of Writer Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?" - When Nick first asked me to write something for Noveltown, it took me a while to realize what I now think he wants: writing tips, but not writing tips as in “How to Construct a Plot” or “How to Inject Humor into Your Serial-Killer Thriller” so much as writing tips on simply being a writer—going after that goal and hopefully having that career, or enjoying that career to the fullest if you’ve already got one. Toward that end I’m going to devote this space over the course of my columns to the entire arc of a career: getting started, juggling frustration and jealousy and success, dealing with agents and editors, networking, coping with success and failure…little stuff like that. Having spent eight years trying to get a book published, having had seven books published in the last four years, having survived six agents, having worked with four different editors in a single calendar year, and on and on… Well, let’s just say I feel as though I’m equal to the task...
N. Frank Daniels: "2006: The Year of the Lit Scandal" - The latest chapter in the ongoing O.J. debacle has been put to bed and now (temporarily anyway) sleeps with the fishes. Any serious writer must pause for at least a moment, in the wake of this latest lit-world catastrophe, and consider a few things. 2006 is, without compare, the year that Big Publishing took a fall. Never have so many scandals rocked the literary scene...
Oh yeah, there was one more reader recently of TNR: The Colonel.
You can pick up a free copy in Bakersfield at Russo's Books at the Marketplace, Metro Art Galleries, or order online (cost for online orders). **************************************** You can read about Twinkie's experience at the event here...
Looks like Korn has a new album coming out this July... They're gearing up with the release of their song, "I Will Protect You" in a big MySpace release. It's a bit tame compared to past Korn songs: sort of Nu-Metal anthemish.
I dig the percussion...
Looks like no Bakersfield concert premiere for the new album as they're not going to be in town until late August.
OK, so it might not be an actual Dorito as I thought in this first sighting last week over downtown Bakersfield. Maybe it's an inflated replica of a Rancherito sent by chip makers to manipulate the minds of the masses.
I can hear Mark Tracy from ProSoft Technology talking in the phone video. He's a manager there and a pilot from Tehachapi. I don't know if that lends any credibility to the discussion you can hear...
From the sounds on the video, several workers from ProSoft went to the roof of the Washington Mutual building for a closer look... maybe hoping the strange ship would drop free bags of goodies.
Here's the email I received from Bryan Tebow of Bakersfield:
Ok man, this is just creepy. It happened again around 8:19 this morning over the Padre. This time I got it on video, not great but I am 100% sure it's not a bird or a Dorito chip.
Whether you're a musician or a fan of music, the Dalloways blog about the making of their forthcoming album, The Distant Fairs is an interesting read. Gary Enns of the band is always a smooth writer. He should be. He teaches creative writing at Cerro Coso College and works with the Met Lit Journal...
Read as they add horns, synth, etc. to tracks. Check out Cortnie on the back-up, and read about Aaron Wall of 40 Watt Hype helping out in the mix...
Wednesday, April 25, Aaron and I worked on the "Trona" mix. This is the toughest mix of the album, it seems, but it's most likely going to be a demo track, so we wanted to attack it first. We've got a ton of tracks to deal with, so basically this session, we picked and chose which tracks to keep, which to dump, and which to quiet. We also worked some delay and Moog effects into a few of the tracks. What I like in particular are Cortnie's backing vocals and the flugalhorn and trombone tracks -- great strengths of this song. Cortnie showed up toward the tail end of the session and offered some feedback, some yea's and nay's.
Monday, Marcy 26, and Wednesday, March 28, we managed to get into the studio and finish up all the horn parts for the new album. Trombone player Adan Infante of 40 Watt and many other bands and trumpet and flugalhorn player Thomas Lake came in and tracked my parts for "Trona," "Me and Thomas Hardy," and "Josaie."
"Josaie" is standing out as the dark horse of the lot. The trumpet part is reminiscent of a sixties spaghetti western soundtrack. The song's about three minutes long - perfect for a single - and pretty catchy if we don't say so.
The other two tracks' horn parts are lending a '60s British gameshow feel to the tunes - wonderful and rich sounding. I can almost see the BBC/Thames television broadcasting logo in my mind when I close my eyes.
Ricky also tracked some great arpeggiated and strummed electric guitar tracks for "JoSaie" - a tinge of Johnny Marr in a fabulous way.
Marketing gurus, Kellyann Lamb and Scott Gagner become a visual resource to meteorologists everywhere...
Educational eye candy. I love it. When I think of flashy videos that can teach you, or that promote a marketing agenda in a fun way, I think of the stylized instructional film on the Indiana Jones Adventure ride. You walk through tunnels and ruins in a hidden archaeological dig, and, to help you buy into the idea that you are an explorer—and that you need to be safe on the ride—there’s a video about how you’re supposed to work the seatbelts on the mock jeeps. It’s a brilliant production and keeps with the theme.
Creativity in stylized films and animations aren’t new to the marketing world. It’s not just about Disneyland or Las Vegas where themes can be overbearing in a sort if Willy Wonka landscape of animated information.
Stylized marketing and creativity can even reach right into your home via the Internet. Noveltown has its own Flash intro page that we hope to expand upon. Ken Seward of Solomon Grundy Film from Savannah College is working on that. As long as you have the right kind of creative team, Flash can be a versatile tool to use when creating interfaces and productions that need some extra punch.
With the release of Acrobat 8 comes the stylized Flash piece, “The Ultimate Formula.” You can watch the instructional video on Adobe’s promotional page for their new version of Acrobat. Or you can go to the site of the marketers who developed the video: Visual Resource.
What’s the animation meant to do? Teach people that Adobe 8 can help streamline marketing processes along with Acrobat Connect. Connect documents, people, ideas…
The Adobe site reads:
Whether you're in product marketing, public relations, brand development, or corporate communications, you face pressure to work faster, juggle multiple projects simultaneously, and generate high-quality work on tight deadlines. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional software can help by streamlining and expediting many of the creative processes managed by marketing professionals, enabling you to gain control and finish projects faster.
Cool, but I wanted to know more about the creative process with Visual Resource… so I explored further.
Here’s my interview with Visual Resource President Kellyann Lamb and art director Scott Gagner:
Noveltown: Visual Resource had to create a Flash animation that captured the corporate world in a light-hearted way. Yet, this is a corporate product. How did you juggle ideas that some could deem offensive, and then storyboard those out?
Scott Gagner: When Adobe signed on they saw what we’d done was often over the top and pretty innovative. They knew what they were getting into. And that takes a lot of trust. They wanted us to have fun with our designs and were willing to take the ride.
There were subtle things along the way in the animation to make sure Adobe knew we weren’t poking fun or saying they were old fashioned. Really, those variations are barely perceptible on listener part. The character takes a specific tone in the voice-over when walking through the demo. It’s not as over the top in the wrapper section intros.
Kellyann: Adobe is pretty sophisticated in what’s going on in the marketing realm. It takes a lot to bedazzle them… from there we had a lot of creative license… We do have a relationship with Adobe brand information within their organization that was successful, so we were introduced to product marketers. Focusing on interactive media, they wanted something savvy and different. It became a great opportunity to be challenged and to wow Adobe and this vertical market…
Noveltown: Within the animation piece is the idea that PDFs have come a long way, yet the style is an overly nice 1950s science teacher caught on film. What’s the relationship with progressive knowledge and marketing style?
Scott: We were showing modern innovation with drastic contradictory old style. A juxtaposition of old and new creates something unique. We wanted something timeless and unique… The style of the piece is very rich. There are a lot of elements you can draw from and build in the humor factor. Everyone has seen these kinds of films in Driver’s Education and Heath Education classes…
Noveltown: How important is Flash? Does it revolutionize the Web, or is Flash just fancy eye candy for information?
Scott: The way we look at Flash is it’s just another tool. It comes down to the big idea, in the case of Noveltown or anybody. If you only needed three panels with an animated gif, then you don’t necessarily need Flash. There are nice advantages. Low impact as far as bandwidth and crisp edged vectors…
Kellyann: We’re innovative… it’s most important to come up with a solid concept to get clients results. It’s more of who are you trying to reach and how are they going to respond. We do Flash quite a bit, but it’s not a prerequisite.
Noveltown: Who is Doctor Arnold modeled after? Is there any secret science teacher information here, or is the doctor one of the Visual Resource staff used as a cut-out animation? Any info on the artistic process?
Scott: We didn’t make it an in-house joke. The piece needed a universal relevance. We cast it to find the right person, a guy who could fit the character, and hearken back to their old math teachers.
Artistically there are subtleties of collage and cut-out.
We tried to embody with nerdy scientific values. We used different proportions of head to body ratios to accentuate brainy. That includes the way we cut his jaw out as we used collage styles. We really associate with Terry Gilliam’s animations from Monty Python. That gave this character a stiffness—we didn’t want any fluidity. And so we sort of created our own world where physics and anatomy don’t apply: he sort of slides from side to side…
Noveltown: How will this animation be viewed culturally around the world? Will there be any problems interpreting the humor?
Scott: During the creative process the response was overwhelmingly positive regardless of cultural backgrounds. We’re internationally aware so that no offensive hand signal or anything like that was used. There’s an international universality…
Noveltown: What’s “The Ultimate Formula” going to do for Visual Resource in the long run?
Kellyann: Exposure in the marketplace about our creativity as a company. Today everyone is getting influenced by email, TV ads, and so on…We need to step out and have an outreach that is entertaining and effective. This was a great opportunity for that.
There's an apparent creative culture that exists with Visual Resource that doesn't exist in many marketing and advertising companies/departments. Oops, did I say that? It's true. Just ask Kellyann and Scott about avocado art...
Noveltown: And your company blog? When is that starting up?
Kellyann: Six months…! There’s a diverse group at Visual Resource. We want a forum where different team members can post things like what they were inspired by…
The Bakersfield Condors are down 2 games (0-2) to the Alaska Aces in the second round of the Kelly Cup playoffs.
During the first round, Bakersfield's faithful hockey birds were down 2 games to the Fresno Falcons before plucking their wings four games in a row. Talk about some bare bones Falcons by the end of that rout.
Starting tomorrow night, two Bakersfield bands will be on hand to rally the Condors back to their winning ways.
Think of the music scene as a good luck charm. It all begins Friday night at 5:45 PM with a pre-game show outside of the arena starring The Silence Club.
Saturday playoff action between the Alaska Aces and the Bakersfield Condors begins with huge pre-game festivities. Here's info direct from the Condor NEST that features Dirty Spanglish with some rousing hockey tunes and more:
Prior to Saturday’s game, the Condors will host a special Party On The Plaza featuring a live broadcast and party on Centennial Plaza in front of Rabobank Arena from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The party will include a live remote broadcast on KGEO AM 1230, starting at 7 p.m. (at the conclusion of the Angles baseball game) with the voice of the Condors, Jake Stevens, along with appearances from Condors players Scott Balan and Andrew Oke, who will also be available to chat with fans. A projection screen TV will also be on site, showing Bakersfield’s win over Fresno in Game 6 of the first round. There will also be bounce houses and inflatables from Kiddie Amusements along with a performance from the band Dirty Spanglish, who will play their hockey songs "Zebras" and "The Big No" on the plaza stage.
There will be plenty of food and drinks available for purchase as well, including: - Tri-tip sandwiches - BBQ Chicken - Hot Dogs and Sausages - Kettle Chips - Soda, water and beer
Maybe tonight we'll see the Bakerfield lights. You know, kind of like the Phoenix Lights, only better...
What's strange to me is I just submitted a memoir and somewhat humorous piece to The Nervous Breakdown website. It hasn't been posted yet, though the title is "The Mexican cowboy burial grounds, Bakersfield aliens, crashed spaceships and the giant Haus burger".
The Nervous Breakdown enjoys long titles and currently only runs creative non-fiction pieces. You should check them out. Brad Listi started the site. He's an amazing guy, wrote a decent book Attention. Deficit. Disorder. and will be featured in my review of the Noveltown mixer.
This morning I received an interesting email from Bryan Tebow. He was in downtown Bakersfield and took a photo of an object that he claims flew above the Chester and Truxton area.
He first wrote:
Hey I saw these flying over Bakersfield, took some pictures with my phone. Wonder if anyone else sighted them.
Right away I was skeptical. I mean, come on, sure I have been researching even Ronald Regan seeing a UFO over Bakersfield. But I don't actually believe... so I sorta just joked around: That's a flyin' ranch style dorito... they're light and airy.
I asked him for more info. He finally wrote back about being on top of the Washington Mutual building after someone in his office spotted the UFO:
Around 9ish this morning downtown saw this black triangle thing, a few off us went to the roof to check it out. Don't know how big it was 20 feet in length maybe, at least few hundred feet up , heading SE ish.
I should of took video but by the time it dawned on me to take pictures, it was way to small for video.
I first met Amy Wallen online. Oh wait, that's the only place I've met her, other than reading her book, Moonpies and Moviestars. You know, reading any book is like stepping right into the skull of a writer. In this case, one obviously from the South, and one who has hit the streets of Hollywood with a notepad and eye for detail.
Let's face it, if you're in Bakersfield and you're a fan of the Paperback Writer blog, then you might know someone very much like, oh, let's say, a Texan, or an Oklahoman. And, you might have observed them having a starstruck opinion of Hollywood--a mere 100 miles south of Bakersfield. You know those people. They tend to have never even been to Hollywood. C'mon admit it. And yes, there are many exceptions to this rule.
Amy Wallen, with wings made of leaves
For those of you who don't know. Hollywood is south of the agricultural and oilfield landscape of Bakersfield, an area once filled to the brim with Joads-like immigrants of the Dust Bowl. Bakersfield has since grown a teeny bit more metropolitan, though I have to say, raised monster trucks are still a daily sighting in the land of Buck Owens.
Why am I bringing all this up?
Because if you're familiar with the South and with Hollywood, then you are more apt to get the comic humor and real-life dialogue from Moonpies and Moviestars. You'll just get it. Wallen's story in turn will appear less the stereotype and more, "Hey, those characters are people from my family." Or, "Those characters I swear live right up the street from me." Or maybe even, "That is me."
I don't understand this photo, but Amy sent it to me and weird photos are cool
It's not a long stretch from the good old Okie mentality that still permeates Bakersfield. The South has forever swathed its paintbrush onto Central Valley California culture. You can't escape it. You just live with it. Or you are it.
Amy Wallen's road-trip story is pure comedy, pure fun and a psychological Winnebago voyage through characters as strange as any dysfunctionally functional Southern nuclear family.
I'm not lying.
With that said, here's a fun Noveltown interview with Amy Wallen:
Interview:
Noveltown: Ms. Wallen, you have quite the tale you have spun. It’s kind of Southern, it’s sort of Hollywood. It’s a tour de force mystery comedy literary hijinks of what happens to a runaway. Yes, did I say funny? Funny seems to be lost in many people’s vocabularies these days. Yes, a funny book that hides serious issues regarding runaway children. Now, if you’d be so bold, please, allow the real Amy Wallen to comment regarding the idea of serious issues hidden in the comedy of your novel.
Amy: I love humor to tell serious stuff because it’s a great way to trick the reader into feeling the bad feelings. You get them to laugh hard, and then you drop a real sad doozy and they start to bawl because they didn’t have their guard up. But if you are writing a serious novel, then they are waiting for the doozies and they have steel mail over their hearts. It’s about getting people to be open to their emotions.
Noveltown: Moonpies… and Moviestars… Porkchops… and Applesauce… I’m seeing a connection here. In fact, I’m guessing your subconscious behaviors are rooted in a certain episode of The Brady Bunch, quite possibly indicating a hidden love for the 1971 version of Peter Brady. Now, I’d like to cut through the crap. Do you still madly love Peter Brady, and tell us how you named your novel and the process in doing so.
Amy: I had the hots for his older brother, Greg. But I wanted to be Marsha Brady, so maybe I have some weird incestuous thing going on inside of me. My original title was DEAD ARMADILLOS AND MOONPIES. I loved that title, but I guess the word “dead” sells to a different crowd than the publisher wanted my book to sell to. My agents came up with MOONPIES AND MOVIE STARS and I think it’s pretty damn good (can I say damn here?) with the alliteration and poking fun at a couple of themes running throughout the story.
Noveltown: Of course you can say, damn. Your book is on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list and you’re going to be on a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this April. Please talk to us about your festival appearance in real terms. While you consider your answer, let me tell you I have talked considerably with my compadres here at Noveltown. We thought it would be a good idea to attend your discussion on humor dressed as Moonpies eating Moonpies. Sort of a… shall we say, cannibalistic sugary show and tell, from the audience perspective of course. Quite honestly, such a display would be meant to protest your work of prose art. And possibly to build from there, a step further, yes, as an ongoing exhibit at the Getty Museum. Your book would be suspended above an entire Moonpie carnage fracas like a swinging block of moony cheese.
Amy: Oh I’d love it!!! Please come!! There’s something quite ironic about MoonPies eating MoonPies since so many people tend to shun them. Or at least in California where they would prefer they were made with wheat germ or avocados. And if you can get some sort of carnage image that represents my book sounds quite intriguing. Don’t you love the word “carnage”? I suppose I’ll never get to use that in a title either.
I wonder if this is the only serious photo Wallen has ever taken?
I’m more than honored to be on the Fiction and Humor panel. I’ve attended as an audience member several times and it’s just so high energy, inspiring and stimulating to readers and writers alike. I’d be giddy as I frolicked around the UCLA campus to each panel. My panel is on Saturday morning at 10:30 am in Young Hall CS 24. Fellow participants are Allison Burnett, Merrill Markoe and Pamela Ribon. The moderator is Barbara De-Marco-Barrett. I hope I can contain my giddy frolicking.
Noveltown: We don’t mean any harm in our Moonpie protest and come to think of it, we don’t really have time to bother with sewing Moonpies onto our sweat jumpsuits. But I do have a question. What made you choose Moonpies rather than some other kind of preservative injected pastry or breakfast cereal for an obsession by one of your characters? I mean, consider your options: Ho-Hos and Hollywood, which really goes along with some rather naughty Hollywood behavior and risqué madam and star guestlists. Or Snowballs and Sin City. I won’t play with the humor there. So, talk to me, in a real way of course about your characters obsessions…
Amy: My grandmother owned a honky tonk on Highway 90 in South Texas. On the bar were two rounders, one with pork rinds and barbecue potato chips and the other had honey buns and MoonPies. I had honey buns for breakfast, and have to admit they were my fave, but MoonPies had a much better name. And there’s that old song, MoonPies and RC Cola.
You asked me about my characters’ obsessions. Hmmm. Well, one of them would probably have preferred to have been a book titled Snowballs and Sin City. She’s obsessed with men and having a good time. Another one is obsessed with cleanliness. Or she was during a couple of drafts, but I got tired of keeping her motor home clean when I couldn’t even keep my own house clean. And then there’s the narcissist of the bunch and she’s obsessed with herself. The little girl is obsessed with her Mrs Beasley doll (Remember Family Affair with Mr French and Jody and Buffy? Didn’t Buffy OD?). The little boy in my book is obsessed with digging the hearts out of roadkill. The roadkill has to be very fresh because he’s hoping to find a heart that’s still beating so he can hold it. Has it gotten weird enough yet? That’s probably the weirdest thing, and lots of folks wanted me to take that out, because they thought the little boy would grow up to be a serial killer. But I figured, he was being an angry little boy and if he did grow up to be a serial killer, well that would be another book to write, wouldn’t it?
Noveltown:Family Affair. Some of us at Noveltown to have to watch that because our sisters liked it. Barf. Oh the roadkill theme is magnifique! Perhaps a sequel where the obsessed kid grows up to be a weird writer guy... Speaking of weird writer guys, who is James?
Amy: I have no idea who James is. I was walking into Trader Joes grocery store one day and he kept pestering me to give him some change or to buy him some food, so I finally told him if he would push my cart, carry my groceries to my car and do an interview that sold a few million copies of my book, I’d give him a box of cereal, but only the kind with antioxidants because he has a horrible rash that runs up one side of his face.
Honestly, James Spring is one of the funniest writers you’ll ever meet. The sarcastic and insulting remarks just spill out of his mouth and pen (maybe those are just directed at me?). What I can’t figure out is how there can be so many brilliant editors out there, and they aren’t picking up his book and getting it out to the masses. www.crossingthegap.com The only answer is that they want to lose money. [Secret: I’m really sabotaging his whole book effort so that he won’t be more successful and quit helping me with all our great endeavors. But don’t tell. Shhh.]
Noveltown: What is James?
Amy:Def. 1 Noun. A type of beany that women in the 16th century wore to signify their chastity belt was chaffing. A kind of call for help.
Def. 2Verb. Being an adroit writer while writing derogatory remarks on a friend’s myspace site. www.myspace.com/jamesrspring (he needs more friends and please feel free to post rude comments).
I took this photo last night. That's my kid. We were all at Zingo's after his punk band, Dirty Spanglish performed at Studio 99. Those of you who know this truck stop cafe on Buck Owens Boulevard will understand when I say Moonpies and Moviestars is like taking your family to Zingos...
Noveltown: San Dee-ahh-go. Oh that delightful should-have-been-a-prose character, Anchorman. Such delights. Tell me, what does San Dee-ahh-go and First Friday mean to you? Only the real deal please about literary San Dee-ahh-go…
Amy: This is a hot question in San Diego now.
Someone (I won’t name any names, but a semi-newly appointed UCSD writing program professor) called San Diego’s writing community a sweet-smelling rotting corpse. She took that from the city’s namesake St. Didacus and the history she read on Wikipedia. A non-Wikiality version is that St D’s corpse was never rotting—that’s the part that got him canonized— and while his body awaited burial he emitted this sweet smell.
I won’t say that San Diego is the place where miracles happen, but I will say that the writing community is as vibrant as the freeway center-divider oleander in mid-May, and when the night blooming jasmine is wafting through the evening air, you can get a little loopy. I suspect we have to be even more disciplined as writers because we have to tell ourselves that even though it’s 80 degrees, blue sky and the orange blossoms smell sweeter than old St. Didacus, we must endure the indoors and write. Isn’t there some kind of suffering involved in that?
Whatever the reason, suffering or bliss, San Diego has some truly witty, insightful, original and poetic writers, all of which can be witnessed the first Friday of the month at First Friday Open Mic Prose reading. www.firstfridayprose.com
I started the First Friday ongoing event almost 3 years ago now at the request of San Diego Writers Ink (a writing organization extraordinaire— www.sandiegowriters.org ). The monthly event has grown stronger and wittier every month to the point we are SRO now—50-60 folks reading and/or listening. Anyone who wants to share their writing finds their way there eventually. San Diego Writers Ink sponsors the event and provides wine and cheese. But it’s the writing of the attendees that brings the crowd. That, and my stupid poodle-in-the-microwave jokes in between pieces.
It is strictly prose, no poetry (I can tell when anyone tries to sneak it in and the rest of the evening that writer will be punished by my enduring sarcastic harassment.) I added the prose-only rule because so many opportunities exist for poets to read. Hell, a poet can stand on a street corner and read. But prose readers go to an open mic and they usually feel ostracized. It’s like folks are whispering behind your back, “What, no meter?, no rhythm? No intonation? No anger?” Plus, prose writers ramble on and on. That’s why I instituted the 3-minute rule, to shut them up. It works and so does the whole fete.
I’ve limited the readings to 3 minutes each. The regulars have nicknamed me the Time Nazi because you get my black satin, spiked-heel DSW Ferragamo Knock-off in the ass if you go over 3 minutes. It’s become a competitive sport in editing, and the writing and readings have become better and better because of it. We’re soon going to have to start urine testing to see who’s been snorting Strunk and White and shooting up Liquid Paper before the event. It’s full of laughs, fast-paced and exciting to see glimpses of the great writing coming out of San Diego.
We now record the evening and post the readings as mp3s on our website for readers’ moms to listen in and any and all to download and peruse at their leisure. We also have a myspace spot we’ve just started and are looking for friends and fellow writers.
All this to say, First Friday is just one of countless writerly goings-on in this city of spic-n-span. Neither our nifty smelling corpses or the sunshine and green lawns made possible only by the man-made sprinkler systems has made San Diego alive and real with a scene. We don’t need the smog and grit of LA or the fog of London or the sludge of the Hudson River to produce art. We’re like the Nike tennis shoe of writing communities—we just do it.
Noveltown: Or the dusty smog of California's Great Central Valley. Ahem...
It’s clear the Los Angeles Times is in love with you, that Moonpies, if alive with little sugary arms, legs and noses, would be in love with you too, and that we ourselves, might be in love with you… But only if you answer our final question in a most truthful and honest way. Discuss your future and your next delving into comedy.
Amy: Viking asked me to do a series based on the characters in MOONPIES. So, that’s what’s coming next. Same characters, same bat channel, same bat cave, but new batman. The main character will be the sister named Loralva that is a major character in MOONPIES. She drives a school bus in the 2nd book. It’s due out at the beginning of 2008. I also have a couple of more book ideas swimming around in my head. James says I can’t say that because it makes people throw up. But I’m itching to get many books down on paper and out there. All I can do is do my darnedest to be a really good writer and if it makes people throw up then they need to see a gastroenterologist.
Noveltown: Thanks for being a truthful, honest, and real author with a sense of humor… We do love you.
Amy: I don’t know about real. One of my main ingredients is “cocoa processed with alkali.” At least that’s what it says on the outside of my package. Baked at Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Total Fat: 7g which is barely even 11% of your daily value though. And I have a marshmallow filling, which puts the non-fluff ranking of truthful and honest at risk. I’m not a Trans Fat and admit that I prefer to stay saturated.
Yes, they're working on a new film short. Yes, it's about zombies. Yes, I have read the script. Yes, it has potential... it's a decent plot, with some rather fun twists... and rather appropriate zombie carnage...
Noveltown: Ms. Wallen, you have quite the tale you have spun. It’s kind of Southern, it’s sort of Hollywood. It’s a tour de force mystery comedy literary hijinks of what happens to a runaway. Yes, did I say funny? Funny seems to be lost in many people’s vocabularies these days. Yes, a funny book that hides serious issues regarding runaway children. Now, if you’d be so bold, please, allow the real Amy Wallen to comment regarding the idea of serious issues hidden in the comedy of your novel.
Amy: I love humor to tell serious stuff because it’s a great way to trick the reader into feeling the bad feelings. You get them to laugh hard, and then you drop a real sad doozy and they start to bawl because they didn’t have their guard up. But if you are writing a serious novel, then they are waiting for the doozies and they have steel mail over their hearts. It’s about getting people to be open to their emotions.
Noveltown: Moonpies… and Moviestars… Porkchops… and Applesauce… I’m seeing a connection here. In fact, I’m guessing your subconscious behaviors are rooted in a certain episode of The Brady Bunch, quite possibly indicating a hidden love for the 1971 version of Peter Brady. Now, I’d like to cut through the crap. Do you still madly love Peter Brady, and tell us how you named your novel and the process in doing so.
Amy: I had the hots for his older brother, Greg. But I wanted to be Marsha Brady, so maybe I have some weird incestuous thing going on inside of me. My original title was DEAD ARMADILLOS AND MOONPIES. I loved that title, but I guess the word “dead” sells to a different crowd than the publisher wanted my book to sell to. My agents came up with MOONPIES AND MOVIE STARS and I think it’s pretty damn good (can I say damn here?) with the alliteration and poking fun at a couple of themes running throughout the story.
Noveltown: Of course you can say, damn. Your book is on the Los Angeles Times Bestseller list and you’re going to be on a panel at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books this April. Please talk to us about your festival appearance in real terms. While you consider your answer, let me tell you I have talked considerably with my compadres here at Noveltown. We thought it would be a good idea to attend your discussion on humor dressed as Moonpies eating Moonpies. Sort of a… shall we say, cannibalistic sugary show and tell, from the audience perspective of course. Quite honestly, such a display would be meant to protest your work of prose art. And possibly to build from there, a step further, yes, as an ongoing exhibit at the Getty Museum. Your book would be suspended above an entire Moonpie carnage fracas like a swinging block of moony cheese.
Amy: Oh I’d love it!!! Please come!! There’s something quite ironic about MoonPies eating MoonPies since so many people tend to shun them. Or at least in California where they would prefer they were made with wheat germ or avocados. And if you can get some sort of carnage image that represents my book sounds quite intriguing. Don’t you love the word “carnage”? I suppose I’ll never get to use that in a title either.
I’m more than honored to be on the Fiction and Humor panel. I’ve attended as an audience member several times and it’s just so high energy, inspiring and stimulating to readers and writers alike. I’d be giddy as I frolicked around the UCLA campus to each panel. My panel is on Saturday morning at 10:30 am in Young Hall CS 24. Fellow participants are Allison Burnett, Merrill Markoe and Pamela Ribon. The moderator is Barbara De-Marco-Barrett. I hope I can contain my giddy frolicking.
Noveltown: We don’t mean any harm in our Moonpie protest and come to think of it, we don’t really have time to bother with sewing Moonpies onto our sweat jumpsuits. But I do have a question. What made you choose Moonpies rather than some other kind of preservative injected pastry or breakfast cereal for an obsession by one of your characters? I mean, consider your options: Ho-Hos and Hollywood, which really goes along with some rather naughty Hollywood behavior and risqué madam and star guestlists. Or Snowballs and Sin City. I won’t play with the humor there. So, talk to me, in a real way of course about your characters obsessions…
Amy: My grandmother owned a honky tonk on Highway 90 in South Texas. On the bar were two rounders, one with pork rinds and barbecue potato chips and the other had honey buns and MoonPies. I had honey buns for breakfast, and have to admit they were my fave, but MoonPies had a much better name. And there’s that old song, MoonPies and RC Cola.
You asked me about my characters’ obsessions. Hmmm. Well, one of them would probably have preferred to have been a book titled Snowballs and Sin City. She’s obsessed with men and having a good time. Another one is obsessed with cleanliness. Or she was during a couple of drafts, but I got tired of keeping her motor home clean when I couldn’t even keep my own house clean. And then there’s the narcissist of the bunch and she’s obsessed with herself. The little girl is obsessed with her Mrs Beasley doll (Remember Family Affair with Mr French and Jody and Buffy? Didn’t Buffy OD?). The little boy in my book is obsessed with digging the hearts out of roadkill. The roadkill has to be very fresh because he’s hoping to find a heart that’s still beating so he can hold it. Has it gotten weird enough yet? That’s probably the weirdest thing, and lots of folks wanted me to take that out, because they thought the little boy would grow up to be a serial killer. But I figured, he was being an angry little boy and if he did grow up to be a serial killer, well that would be another book to write, wouldn’t it?
Noveltown:Family Affair. Some of us at Noveltown to have to watch that because our sisters liked it. Barf. Oh the roadkill theme is magnifique! Perhaps a sequel where the obsessed kid grows up to be a weird writer guy... Speaking of weird writer guys, who is James?
Amy: I have no idea who James is. I was walking into Trader Joes grocery store one day and he kept pestering me to give him some change or to buy him some food, so I finally told him if he would push my cart, carry my groceries to my car and do an interview that sold a few million copies of my book, I’d give him a box of cereal, but only the kind with antioxidants because he has a horrible rash that runs up one side of his face.
Honestly, James Spring is one of the funniest writers you’ll ever meet. The sarcastic and insulting remarks just spill out of his mouth and pen (maybe those are just directed at me?). What I can’t figure out is how there can be so many brilliant editors out there, and they aren’t picking up his book and getting it out to the masses. www.crossingthegap.com The only answer is that they want to lose money. [Secret: I’m really sabotaging his whole book effort so that he won’t be more successful and quit helping me with all our great endeavors. But don’t tell. Shhh.]
Noveltown: What is James?
Amy:Def. 1 Noun. A type of beany that women in the 16th century wore to signify their chastity belt was chaffing. A kind of call for help.
Def. 2Verb. Being an adroit writer while writing derogatory remarks on a friend’s myspace site. www.myspace.com/jamesrspring (he needs more friends and please feel free to post rude comments).
Noveltown: San Dee-ahh-go. Oh that delightful should-have-been-a-prose character, Anchorman. Such delights. Tell me, what does San Dee-ahh-go and First Friday mean to you? Only the real deal please about literary San Dee-ahh-go…
Amy: This is a hot question in San Diego now.
Someone (I won’t name any names, but a semi-newly appointed UCSD writing program professor) called San Diego’s writing community a sweet-smelling rotting corpse. She took that from the city’s namesake St. Didacus and the history she read on Wikipedia. A non-Wikiality version is that St D’s corpse was never rotting—that’s the part that got him canonized— and while his body awaited burial he emitted this sweet smell.
I won’t say that San Diego is the place where miracles happen, but I will say that the writing community is as vibrant as the freeway center-divider oleander in mid-May, and when the night blooming jasmine is wafting through the evening air, you can get a little loopy. I suspect we have to be even more disciplined as writers because we have to tell ourselves that even though it’s 80 degrees, blue sky and the orange blossoms smell sweeter than old St. Didacus, we must endure the indoors and write. Isn’t there some kind of suffering involved in that?
Whatever the reason, suffering or bliss, San Diego has some truly witty, insightful, original and poetic writers, all of which can be witnessed the first Friday of the month at First Friday Open Mic Prose reading. www.firstfridayprose.com
I started the First Friday ongoing event almost 3 years ago now at the request of San Diego Writers Ink (a writing organization extraordinaire— www.sandiegowriters.org ). The monthly event has grown stronger and wittier every month to the point we are SRO now—50-60 folks reading and/or listening. Anyone who wants to share their writing finds their way there eventually. San Diego Writers Ink sponsors the event and provides wine and cheese. But it’s the writing of the attendees that brings the crowd. That, and my stupid poodle-in-the-microwave jokes in between pieces.
It is strictly prose, no poetry (I can tell when anyone tries to sneak it in and the rest of the evening that writer will be punished by my enduring sarcastic harassment.) I added the prose-only rule because so many opportunities exist for poets to read. Hell, a poet can stand on a street corner and read. But prose readers go to an open mic and they usually feel ostracized. It’s like folks are whispering behind your back, “What, no meter?, no rhythm? No intonation? No anger?” Plus, prose writers ramble on and on. That’s why I instituted the 3-minute rule, to shut them up. It works and so does the whole fete.
I’ve limited the readings to 3 minutes each. The regulars have nicknamed me the Time Nazi because you get my black satin, spiked-heel DSW Ferragamo Knock-off in the ass if you go over 3 minutes. It’s become a competitive sport in editing, and the writing and readings have become better and better because of it. We’re soon going to have to start urine testing to see who’s been snorting Strunk and White and shooting up Liquid Paper before the event. It’s full of laughs, fast-paced and exciting to see glimpses of the great writing coming out of San Diego.
We now record the evening and post the readings as mp3s on our website for readers’ moms to listen in and any and all to download and peruse at their leisure. We also have a myspace spot we’ve just started and are looking for friends and fellow writers.
All this to say, First Friday is just one of countless writerly goings-on in this city of spic-n-span. Neither our nifty smelling corpses or the sunshine and green lawns made possible only by the man-made sprinkler systems has made San Diego alive and real with a scene. We don’t need the smog and grit of LA or the fog of London or the sludge of the Hudson River to produce art. We’re like the Nike tennis shoe of writing communities—we just do it.
Noveltown: Or the dusty smog of California's Great Central Valley. Ahem...
It’s clear the Los Angeles Times is in love with you, that Moonpies, if alive with little sugary arms, legs and noses, would be in love with you too, and that we ourselves, might be in love with you… But only if you answer our final question in a most truthful and honest way. Discuss your future and your next delving into comedy.
Amy: Viking asked me to do a series based on the characters in MOONPIES. So, that’s what’s coming next. Same characters, same bat channel, same bat cave, but new batman. The main character will be the sister named Loralva that is a major character in MOONPIES. She drives a school bus in the 2nd book. It’s due out at the beginning of 2008. I also have a couple of more book ideas swimming around in my head. James says I can’t say that because it makes people throw up. But I’m itching to get many books down on paper and out there. All I can do is do my darnedest to be a really good writer and if it makes people throw up then they need to see a gastroenterologist.
Noveltown: Thanks for being a truthful, honest, and real author with a sense of humor… We do love you.
Amy: I don’t know about real. One of my main ingredients is “cocoa processed with alkali.” At least that’s what it says on the outside of my package. Baked at Chattanooga Bakery in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Total Fat: 7g which is barely even 11% of your daily value though. And I have a marshmallow filling, which puts the non-fluff ranking of truthful and honest at risk. I’m not a Trans Fat and admit that I prefer to stay saturated.
I made a personal decision today, one that readers on this blog will either look at as foolish or brave: I resigned from my day job of four years.
Nope, no big fancy five-year Rolex for me. I just saved the company president a few grand.
But why did I do it?
Time for a change is all I can say. There are boats on the horizon and I’m going to catch one.
So, here is my resume. Pass it along. I’ve worked many jobs in my life: ditch digger, factory worker, milk bottle washer, college professor, marketing copywriter/copyeditor/creative director, and blogger…
Thanks for your support. I won’t be allowing any comments on this particular blog entry. If you would like to contact me, please send an email to nick@noveltown.net.
She is, without a doubt, the finest writer to emerge from the Oklahoma Dust Bowl exodus to California during the 1930's. --Franz Weinschenk, Valley Public Radio, Fresno/Bakersfield
Wilma E. McDaniel, 88, of Tulare died Friday, April 13, 2007. Visitation will be 2-7 p.m. Thursday at Miller's Tulare Funeral Home. Recitation of the rosary and Mass will be 10 a.m. Friday at St. Rita's Catholic Church, 954 South O St., with burial at Tulare District Cemetery. Tulare Advance-Register
All Central Valley bands should want to be a part of this historic undertaking: The Central Valley Music Archive Project. Mento Buru? Brian Jones Was Murdered? Burning Image? The list goes on and on and on...
Read all about it: Call For Submissions – Art Hop Display Show in Gallery Format (as yet untitled) – June 7, 2007
The Central Valley Music Archive Project is seeking show fliers of independent and underground bands from the years 1980-2000 for display in a gallery format.
Flier Criteria Guidelines
Flier contains at least one regional band. This band does not need to be the headlining act.
The show venue is within the Central Valley.
The performance falls within the time frame of 1980 – 2000.
The Band / Flier can be classified as part of the underground movement; i.e., punk, experimental, etc. If uncertain, please contact me. All will be considered, but not all can be included.
There are Three ways to contribute materials to the show:
1.) Donate your fliers to CVMAP for long-term appropriate care.
2.) Loan your fliers for the duration of the show, to be returned at a time of your stipulation.
Both of the above options require a simple Deed of Gift or Loan Agreement form, which I will provide.
3.) Allow me to take a digital picture of your items, to be printed and displayed at the show. You may also share a digital image of a flier for me to print with your permission.
Contributor names will be included in a Credit Line at the show if possible
All sizes will be considered, with an emphasis on 8.5" x 11."
Special consideration will be given to items containing unique artistic expression in various mediums.
To share the history your walls or closet may hold, even for a brief time, please contact Mark at:
The Central Valley Music Archive Project (CVMAP) is dedicated to the preservation, collection and display of vintage concert fliers and posters from various local independent music scenes. CVMAP will highlight the unique artistic and musical history our valley holds with a Summer Art Hop exhibit of concert fliers spanning the years 1980 - 2000. This exhibit will feature fliers from numerous underground local bands active during this time, showing a wide range of the traditional media used to create band flier artwork.
CVMAP is brought to you by Mark Halvorsen, a guy who still buys demo tapes off ebay. Arriving in Fresno late in 1986, he was fortunate enough to catch the tail-end of an era and experience the beginning of another. A graduate student in Archival Studies, he convinced a professor to let him design this gallery show instead of writing research papers.
Dirty Spanglish posing with Aaron Novak from The Silence Club right before their performance outside game 3 between the Fresno Falcons and the Bakersfield Condors
I just got done listening to streaming media radio: The Bakersfield Condors defeated the Fresno Falcons... again!
Fresno has officially fallen flatter than a Fresnoid grape. Talk about frustration. Maybe it's just luck?
Hockey luck? I once wore the same pair of lucky fish boxers 13 roller hockey games in a row. My team went 16-0. Sports jocks grow mohawks, beards, and wear lucky socks. It's part of the game: superstition...
The moment of luck quite possibly began when Lando from Dirty Spanglish, performing outside the Rabobank Arena said, "This is an oncore of our song 'The Big No' we played earlier dedicated to all you Fresno Falcons fans. This time we're dedicating this song to that fan over there..."
Watch Dirty Spanglish perform in Aaron Novak's video about Noveltown, Dirty Spanglish, ice hockey and lunchtime:
Matt Munoz poses with the Condor Claw giveaway, presented by Noveltown
Jordo from Black Dog takes a grab with the claw. He captures the essence of Bakersfield fans down 2-0 in a playoff series: frustration. Who would have guessed that by the time I posted this, the Bakersfield Condors would be up 3-2 in the series?
It was the second time Dirty Spanglish performed their song "The Big No" to the fans passing through to the arena. One Fresno Falcon fan said, "Fresno has Bakersfield's number. Bakersfield is a good team, but Fresno is just way better." He had the song dedicated to him. Later in the game, he got into a bit of a shouting match with Bakersfield fans.
Not sure if he was arrested like other Fresno fans: too confident.
I could see why Fresno Falcons and their fans likely had swollen egos. They had been winning big.
But now Bakersfield was about to deflate them. And that started with Dirty Spanglish blasting their hit "The Big No," as part of Noveltown bringing Bakersfield music to the Bakersfield Condors, who up to that moment were on a two game losing streak to the nasty Falcons from the Big No...
Aaron Novak, Squirrley, Matt Munoz, chingpea and Matildakay were on hand to watch one of Bakersfield's cool kid punk rock bands. Hey, where are The Pants? I haven't seen them in a while.
The show was great. Fans lined up by the front doors, hung out on benches, by the fountain, and generally enjoyed the festive pre-game air. It was the perfect moment to have youth on punk fire. Especially since Puck passed by, clearly deflated and depressed since the Condors had just lost two games straight, even trying to arrest Fresno fans to help out with a win. Less fans means more Bakersfield support, right?
Lando dedicates "The Big No" to all Fresno Falcon Fans, especially those listening to the band
Baby Cal comes out and dances to the song, "Electric".
...while Emily Tebow runs like the dickens to win her Condor claw!!
Game three itself was just as great as games four and five were over streaming media. The Condors simply manhandled the Falcons, and the Fresno Falcons fans who all arrived with inflated egos were left deflated. Believe me, that's how I felt after games one and two. Those were decimations. I wasn't sure if the Condors could pull out a game three victory after losing 7-3 and 9-3. Ouch.
I was nervous before the game. Until I donned this paper helmet.
The Fresno Falcons fans? What can I say? Mike Seay has got to be eating his hat right now. Show him some love.
Condors are back in Bakersfield for game six on Thursday.
Fresno? They're The Big No. They better hope Dirty Spanglish doesn't pass out CDs with their song on it.
