Zadie Smith and her two children

"Are four children a problem for the writer Michael Chabon – or just for his wife, the writer Ayelet Waldman?"

Smith, who has two children, pours scorn on suggestion that a small family is the secret to success as a writer

Copy Schmopy

16 Reasons Why Copy Editors Aren’t Always The Worst

"From stray typos to fact-checking, attention to detail is important as ever in this world that turns on a “need-to-know” basis. Communicating the right message is never an issue when you take just a little more time and Dare2GoDeep. These reasons for oversight prove that these soldiers of language are always essential."





16 Reasons Why Copy Editors Aren't Always The Worst

Oh, Fury....You crazy thing, you!

Dear Fury #6: “Too often writers can fall into a bad pattern of circle jerking and that’s really unproductive for everyone.”

Tough Shit! Now, pass the snacks!

They Say

This video is a final project one of my students, Chase Kinsella, did this semester. I really enjoyed it, so I thought I would share. He is a film major, and I think we will hear his name again soon.

Enjoy.

Like a Fox

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer's Liberation Front
By Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise, vacation with pay. Want more of everything ready-made. Be afraid to know your neighbors and to die. And you will have a window in your head. Not even your future will be a mystery any more. Your mind will be punched in a card and shut away in a little drawer.  When they want you to buy something they will call you. When they want you to die for profit they will let you know. So, friends, every day do something that won't compute. Love the Lord. Love the world. Work for nothing. Take all that you have and be poor. Love someone who does not deserve it.  Denounce the government and embrace the flag. Hope to live in that free republic for which it stands. Give your approval to all you cannot understand. Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.  Ask the questions that have no answers. Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias. Say that your main crop is the forest that you did not plant, that you will not live to harvest.  Say that the leaves are harvested when they have rotted into the mold. Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.  Put your faith in the two inches of humus that will build under the trees every thousand years.  Listen to carrion -- put your ear close, and hear the faint chattering of the songs that are to come. Expect the end of the world. Laugh. Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful though you have considered all the facts. So long as women do not go cheap for power, please women more than men.  Ask yourself: Will this satisfy a woman satisfied to bear a child? Will this disturb the sleep of a woman near to giving birth?  Go with your love to the fields. Lie down in the shade. Rest your head in her lap. Swear allegiance to what is nighest your thoughts.  As soon as the generals and the politicos can predict the motions of your mind, lose it. Leave it as a sign to mark the false trail, the way you didn't go.  Be like the fox who makes more tracks than necessary, some in the wrong direction. Practice resurrection.

Eric Smith of Quirk Books sent me yet another fantastic book to review. And I do mean fantastic, as in fantastical. Quirk is quickly becoming one of my top tiered publishing houses. You should check them out. The Resurrectionist, by E.B. Hudspath immediately reminds me of Neil Gaiman. OK, maybe a mixture of Poe and Gaiman, which is a great thing. Everything from the wording to the layout stand out as strikingly different, in a good way. The Resurrectionist packs a punch, as it is actually two stories wrapped together in one book, complete with detailed illustrations. You get hell hounds, dragons, centaurs, and even sirens. But you also get the story of Dr. Spencer Black, spurned on by his grave digging fathers life lessons,  gives Dr. Frankenstein a run for his money, to be sure.

You can check out the book here at Quirk Books and you can get it here. Also, check out the authors webpage here.
In the meantime, here is a trailer (I love trailers!):

Nick Cave and the Creative Seed

On why creativity necessitates eclecticism.