Sunday, April 6, 2008
SO there were some ridiculously interesting writers at the Conversations and Connections conference. It was especially great to meet and talk to editors who were also writers, particularly given the fact that they were writers who were getting rejected (and published) at the same time I'm getting rejected (and published).
For those of you who aren't writers, you might wonder why the negativity.
It's because there's a lot more rejection than there is publishing.
It's very similar to dating. There's generally a lot more bad dates than great dates. Generally a lot more first dates than actual relationships.
If you're the Pollyanna-palooza who only had first dates that led to relationships that only led to marriage proposals then please don't tell us. We don't want to like you. Even though we're basically nice people.
Basically nice people who had too many first dates that led to nothing.
Well, that's not true. They led to a crapload of bad art.
:-)
SO anyway, I met some folks I'm seriously in awe of and soon-to-be stalking.
These are in no particular order. The key to stalking is to leave them guessing.
The first is Eric Nuzum. Here is his offical bio:
Eric is a pop culture critic and the author of The Dead Travel Fast: Stalking Vampires from Nosferatu to Count Chocula (a Barnes and Noble 2007 “Discover Great New Writers” pick) and 2001’s Parental Advisory: Music Censorship in America. He is the winner of the 2002 Edward R. Murrow Award for News Writing and has been a pundit on VH1 shows such as Behind the Music. Nuzum writes a lot of inane stuff that falls somewhere between the styles of Ted Kaczynski and Robert Frost, with a dash of inappropriate jokes thrown in for good measure. He has written for a number of publications you’ve heard of and many more that you haven’t. An Ohio native, Nuzum is a programming executive for National Public Radio in Washington, D.C.
NOW it's difficult to put into words how in awe of Eric I truly am. Eric is one of those people who walks out of the house with the intention of going to 7-11 for coffee and ends up in Australia by accident and it's all good and he knows every single detail of how and why it happened.
Eric is me. With better t-shirts. And a more aggressive approach to gum-chewing.
I love Eric.
I suspect that there are a lot of people who love Eric and that the wait from the back of the line is fore-e-e-e-ver.
:-(
I ALSO love Nancy Naomi Carlson, who brought me back to poetry in about two minutes.
It's been years since I read poetry.
I can't say for sure, but the last poetry I read may well have been Adrienne Rich when I was a raging feminist-wannabe and lesbian-wannabe and Sylvia Plath failure.
Let's just say it's been a few lifetimes.
SO I heard Nancy speak and something about her words really drew me in.
I guess that's some good poeting right there, huh?
So I bought her first book of poetry and I am now officially back to reading poetry.
Thank you, Nancy. I love your words. I really love your words. I might even want to try my hand sometime.
Maybe.
Here is Nancy's official bio:
Nancy Naomi Carlson is author of Kings Highway (WWPH), Complications of the Heart (Texas Review Press), and Imperfect Seal of Lips (Poems & Plays), is an associate editor for Tupelo Press and an instructor at the Bethesda Writer’s Center. Her work has appeared in such journals as Poetry, Prairie Schooner, and Shenandoah.
Check out some of Nancy's beautiful words here.
AND NOW, the man to whom I will owe many dinners.
I can't tell you why, but I think I will be paying for a dinner or two for David Taylor, who provided me with a huge, huge, HUGE brainstorm.
David Taylor is a cool dude. A seriously cool dude.
Here's his official:
David Taylor is author of Ginseng, the Divine Root (Algonquin), which received awards from the North American Travel Journalists Association and Peace Corps Writers. He writes for Smithsonian, The Village Voice, The Washington Post and Outside, as well as for documentaries. He teaches at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.
Go check out David's website immediately. You'll notice that David reminds you of a million different people. I spent about three minutes listing all of the men he reminded me of. Then I realized there were just too many. I suspect he gets stopped on the street all the time with "Are you....?"
I hope he just says yes.
Peace and a pause, d
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