Support My Upper Lip...Errr...Literacy

The time has finally come, and now you can finally donate to my upper lip.  Clean shaven on February 15th, and furry through March.  Please show your support by clicking the image below.

NaNoWriMo - Week One

Today is the seventh day of NaNoWriMo 2009 and there have been some hits and misses thus far.  I've just his 10,000 word (1/5 way there) and have finally fleshed out my main character enough to know how he reacts to being abducted and kicked in the ribs.

So I've go that going for me.

In the meantime I'm occasionally keeping track of what's going on in #NaNoWriMo land on twitter.  A small selection of my favorite posts so far:

I think my MC might just have decided he's got a tattoo I didn't know of. #nanowrimo
@lyonza

#nanowrimo excuse no.84: My characters have taken out a restraining order against me.
@namott

I just figured out how to NOT write a sex scene XD #nanowrimo
@darknessdescend

I kind of hate all my characters... #NaNoWriMo
@yabtest

heh. Trying to write while feeling sick leads to some rather, um It-made-sense-at-the-time ideas.
@snazel

1K op een uurtje, ik ben tevreden. Straks verder schrijven #nanowrimo nu "even" eten maken, spaghettisaus voor drie dagen - @lilkim8

Now? I have the ghost of a dead headmistress haunting my MC because they doodled a phallus on her portrait in school #nanowrimo #nanolondon - @jayintheclouds

Back to the grind.  For all you out there looking to hit 15,000 words by Monday - good luck.

Happy Friday

It is that day at the end of the week that causes much fantastic frolicking across this great land of ours, and I have a sneaking suspicion I should have a post here consisting of various whatnot I like.

Maybe you'll like it too.


Acme Cocktail Company

My friend Marty is back from his summer hiatus and the Acme Cocktail Company is now in full swing. Check back often to see what he's got to say on everything from health care reform to mint juleps.

Still wondering what he thinks of who Legal Seafoods hired to shake out drinks at the Harborside location that may be built by 2020. Marty?


Island Creek Oysterfest

I will be attending this event tomorrow afternoon and will update you on the food and fun.


Taxidermy

Because sometimes a stuffed squirrel says it all.


Drunk Man Throws Jellyfish at Teenagers

Without a doubt the best news story I have found. You have no idea how pissed I am I didn't think this one up.


Boston Book Festival

It's the first. Hopefully the first annual. John Hodgman and Tom Perrotta are MCing this shindig. I'm glad I have a month and a half to figure out my guerrilla marketing tactics for Rubes, Rakes, Rogues & Roustabouts. There is a possibility that it will have a juggling monkey, so be sure not to miss it.

If you are interested and will be in Boston on October 24th, the event is free, so contact me and we can storm the gates in proper fashion.


Writing

You know - that thing I should do more of. Well...looks like I have no immediate plans for Sunday, so I will finally site down after too long and make time to make up stuff.


Final Word

As always, if you are looking for a project to collaborate on, or have an idea you feel is pretty kickass and want to pursue it further, shoot me a line.

Bits and More Bits

Rubes, Rakes, Roges & Roustabouts available for purchase. Several copies sold so far - working on wholesale marketing.

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Working on rereading McSweeney's 16. I really love Mudder Tongue by Brian Evenson and There Is No Real Name for Where We Live by Hannah Pitard. Two stories with (for entirely different reasons) fabulous words woven together.

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Just tonight I have signed up to collaborate with ACME Cocktail on a new project that will, for now, be untitled. Once we flesh the little bugger out, that may change.

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Even though I made fun of it at first, I must admit I have consumed more than one Budlight Lime this evening.

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I'm excited about a new publisher in Brookline launching in October. Madras Press. Can't wait to see what they have to bring to the party.

Ways I Keep From Writing

Over the past few weeks I've been telling myself to get up, get out and get writing. Hasn't worked out too well for me lately though, so in an effort to procrastinate even more I have compiled a short list of ways I keep from writing.


Planning

Possibly my biggest downfall. I should have figured out by now that planning to write is like thinking about jogging (which I will expound more upon in my next post: Ways I Keep From Exercising).

I wonder if there is a way to calculate all of the mental energy I put into planning about writing?

In the end, all I have succeeded to do is rename the curse of 'procrastination' into the chore of 'planning'.
Note: I'm really good at this one.


I Got Stuff To Do

What a steaming pile of dung this one is. But to be honest, I'm a busy person. I mean, c'mon - I stop at the grocery store, I go to work, I gas up the car, I do the laundry, I was the dishes, I go out to dinner with my wife. Then again, so is everyone else.

I guess I just need to get the fuck over it.

I'm always telling myself to to keep writing down all of the characters and events that pop into my head, like the top heavy woman I saw at the grocery store who wore a D.A.R.E. t-shirt and tasselled leather booties who was pushing a shopping cart full of eggplants and chocolate chips and the whole time I'm praying she drives the Prius in the parking lot with the flame paint job.


Writer's Block

See: Planning


Blogging

I know, you're shouting at me from over top your frothing cappomochalattegrande and you're saying that writing a blog post still counts as writing. In the back of my head where the little people are constantly muttering at me to get off my duff and just put pen to paper already, blogging doesn't entirely count. It's something to do, the way flipping through the channels for an hour looking for something to watch is something to do.


Surfing

A lot of time is spent investigating the interwebs for ways to keep from writing. For the most part I succeed at this. I find insane grilled bacon-wrapped-bacon recipes or videos of kids dancing in a hilarious way on the rug in their den.

Once in a great while I come up with something that thwarts my procrastination and gives me quality ideas that edge me in the right direction.

Like this.