Literally One of My Favorite Local News Stories of the Year

This is the headline over at local political blog 4&20 blackbirds:

School Board Member Nancy Pickhardt Resigns, Blames Missoulian Reporter

You must realize any story that's got an elected official leaving a "You can go fuck yourselves!" voice mail on the home telephone of a citizen is going to be right in my wheelhouse, don't you? Go check the story out for yourself!

Ah, school board members. Delusions of grandeur a little bit now and then? This stuff just kills me.

An Evening with an Established Writer Adapting to Change

Last night Julia and I went to my favorite local independent bookstore to attend a reading by one of my favorite writers, Rick Bass. Reflecting after the reading, I realized I've read more of his work than just about any other author; certainly among contemporary writers anyway. I've read a number of his essays in magazines I buy, and I've read several of his nonfiction books. Beyond a couple short stories, though, I am not familiar with his fiction, so this reading would be something different.

Rick was promoting, and reading from, his new (and 3rd) novel, Nashville Chrome. Here is the synopsis from the Amazon listing for the book:

Late in 1959, the Brown siblings--Maxine, Bonnie, and Jim Ed--were enjoying unprecedented international success, rivaled only by their longtime friend Elvis Presley. They had a bona fide megahit on their hands, which topped both the country and pop charts and gave rise to the polished sound of the multibillion dollar country music industry we know today. Mesmerized by the Browns' haunting harmonies, the Beatles even tried to learn their secret. Their unique harmony, however, was only achievable through shared blood, and the trio's perfect pitch was honed by a childhood spent listening for the elusive pulse and tone of an impeccably tempered blade at their parent's Arkansas sawmill.

But the Browns' celebrity couldn't survive the world changing around them, and the bonds of family began to fray along with the fame. Heartbreakingly, the novel jumps between the Browns' promising past and the present, which finds Maxine--once supremely confident and ravenous in her pursuit of applause--ailing and alone. As her world increasingly narrows, her hunger for just one more chance to secure her legacy only grows, as does her need for human connection.

Lyrical and nuanced, Nashville Chrome hits all the right grace notes with its vivid evocation of an era in American music, while at its heart it is a wrenching meditation on the complexities of fame and of one family--forgotten yet utterly unforgettable when reclaimed by Bass--who experienced them firsthand.

I definitely recommend checking out that Amazon link, if only to read the short essay Rick wrote about how the book came to be, all as the result of him trying to track down a means to contact Keith Urban on behalf of his daughters:

The Browns were the first group to have a number one hit on both the country and the pop charts (and later on the folk charts--pioneers in the phenomenon of crossover hits) and were the number one selling group in England in 1957.

By the 1960s, however, they had practically vanished, and today, hardly anyone has heard of them or knows who they are--who they were. The novel quickly became an examination about the costs and nature of fame in America. I was particularly struck by how one sister, Bonnie, accepted the return of anonymity with grace and even what seemed to me like relief, while Maxine, the older sister, burned--and still burns, dreaming of fame's return. And I was fascinated, too, by the way the greatness of the era--Johnny Cash, Elvis, the Beatles, Chet Atkins, etc.--was drawn to the Browns, as if to a source or wellspring. What such springs exist today, and will they dry up, and if so, why?

Fires, floods, bars, and the heartbreak of betrayals--all the stuff of country music, then and now, was braided throughout the Browns' lives, occurring often and with great drama. It's a miracle they survived. In so many ways they were pioneers who blazed a way for the easy road, the silk road of wealth that would attend to talent in subsequent generations. Yet the burden of fame would become no easier--the Browns struggled with it then as entertainers of today still do.

Although I didn't get the story I initially went after (though I haven't given up; what kind of lesson would that be for the girls?), at least there was something that came out of the Keith Urban wild goose chase. A novel doesn’t just come along every day.

What surprised me is that Julia, who is something of an expert in this kind of music, hadn't heard of The Browns. That alone, and Rick's reading, made it clear that this book will likely be a big hit in our house. I also realized, based on his hints, that I'd like to get Mr. Bass a little tuned up so I could hear all the juicy stories that aren't in the book.

At one point during the Q&A portion of the reading, Rick mentioned the "troubled publishing industry." Getting back to that, I asked him how the current environment, with writers encouraged (if not forced) into self-promotional enterprises that don't have a lot to do with getting words on the page -- personal websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, etc. -- had affected his career/life as a writer.

Without really answering my question directly, Rick responded that publishing isn't the only industry going through hard times. He rattled off a number of industries struggling, and made the point that one either adapts to change or falls by the wayside. In his personal life and career, he said he has gone from what was basically an upper middle class lifestyle to whatever it is you call the class just below what has typically been labeled middle class. Then he shrugged and smiled, if a bit wry. He said he has had to seek out writing work of a nature he doesn't really like at all, whether it is reviews or articles and essays on topics he really doesn't care about, to maintain his income. However, he concluded by saying he still gets to spend most of his time doing the writing that he most loves, and that as a writer he still doesn't have to have "a real job" and for that he is grateful.

I thought that was a telling, and honest, answer from a guy who is essentially a perfect example of a "mid list" writer. The guy has written several books, mostly nonfiction, with a couple other novels and story collections. He's been nominated for, and won, various awards. He continues to make his living, but not as well as he was a few years ago. Sounds like just about everyone I know, writers or not.

It also made me feel kind of guilty. Some months ago I decided to stop writing for the local weekly paper, the Independent. I was pretty much only doing music reviews to the tune of 200 words with payment totaling roughly the cost of a CD. My decision was based mainly on the time involved, that the money wasn't really worth the effort of trying to find things to say about music I usually didn't care much for. The other feature-writing opportunities were nice, where I could write longer pieces that would pay closer to a c-note, or even 3-digits for the one cover story I did. Those opportunities were fewer and farther between given the Indy's freelance budget had been reduced, but it was still nice to sit on an invoice for a while until I'd written four or five reviews, then get a check for enough to take the family out for dinner or something.

I stopped because I wanted to devote more time to my fiction writing. Nothing wrong with that, in theory. In reality, though, as a writer who wants to generate a little income to ultimately (and hopefully) make at least part of my living over the next few years from my work, it was a mistake. I can write a 5000 or 6000 word short story, and, if I am lucky, it might land in a paying market that will probably get me $15 - $20. Yeah, there are better paying markets out there, sure, but I'm not likely to land in one any time soon. Hell, the one short article I landed in Vintage Guitar magazine paid more than a year's worth of stories will (especially considering everything I've done so far with my fiction, both already published or soon to be, pays nothing at all).

I'm not complaining. It is just a hard realization of a "career mistake" made that can hopefully be rectified with a little more effort. Sure, it would be nice to devote all my writing time to my fiction, but that is probably short-sighted, at least for the purpose of my goals. And I have some fiction opportunities on the near horizon that may generate income as well. The proper thing as an artist is to say, "it ain't about money," and really it isn't. But for art sometimes one must make a few sacrifices here and there, at least if one wants it to put a little food on the table.

Two Paragraphs that Prove the Awesomeness of Daniel Woodrell

The first two chapters of Chapter 6, from Daniel Woodrell's Tomato Red:

Venus Holler was the most low-life part of town, so I already knew where it was. I stalled until late afternoon before I let myself drive down there. I felt instantly at home.

What I came to know: Venus Holler as a name was one of those cruel country jokes that sticks. It was a holler of small, square homes that leaned sideways a bit like a bunch of drunks who can't quite hear each other. The holler naturally lay across the tracks from the decent citizens of West Table, but so barely across the tracks that trains made these joints quiver. If a train passed at breakfast time, all the eggs ended up scrambled. There was an awful chunky road through the holler, a road that had been paved out of pity once back in the bygones but had busted up over the years and lain unrepaired and become forever rugged. The houses have their roofs pulled down low over the front stoops, like hats worn at a sulky angle over hungry stubbled faces. Back in the heydays this was where the whores all had to live, the whores who serviced all the cattlemen and pig farmers who shipped their stock from West Table and went on toots during their visits, as well as the local lovelorn. The name got to be Venus Holler, I'm told, precisely because a goddess is the very last dame you'd ever expect to find there -- but if you ever did, for three bucks you could fuck her too.

I've been griping about my inability to see the movie version of Woodrell's Winter's Bone because our local theaters are LAME. Tomato Red was originally published in 1998, but was recently reissued by Busted Flush Press. I highly recommend it, and I haven't even finished reading it yet (which I hope to rectify either tonight or tomorrow). BFP is also reissuing Woodrell's 2001 novel, The Death of Sweet Mister, in March of next year. I can't wait for that! I've loved everything I've read that has come out of BFP; David knows his stuff, make no mistake about it!

My Life as a Book, 2010

So after a week of being kind of grouchy and lame (which explains the lack of posts), I am bouncing back with this little exercise in time wasting that was actually pretty fun to do. It came to my attention via blogger/book reviewer Elizabeth A. White's Musings of an All Purpose Monkey blog. She says:

Ok, you can blame this one on PopCultureNerd from Twitter. She has come up with a very clever meme in which you describe yourself by completing a set of sentences using only the titles of books you’ve read in 2010.

So here's my list:

In high school I was: The Wheelman (Duane Swierczynski)

People might be surprised I'm: Nobody's Angel (Jack Clark)

I will never be: Queenpin (Megan Abbott)

My fantasy job is to: Hunt Beyond the Frozen Fire (Christa Faust)

At the end of a long day I need: Food Rules (Michael Pollan)

I hate it when I: Go to Helena Handbasket (Donna Moore)

Wish I had: The Art of Manliness (Brett and Kate McKay)

My family reunions are: A Bad Day for Pretty (Sophie Littlefield)

At a party you’d find me with: Savages (Don Winslow)

I’ve never been to: The Lost City of Z (David Grann)

A happy day includes: The Open Road (Pico Iyer)

Motto I live by: Be Ready When the Shit Goes Down (Forrest Griffin and Erich Krauss)

On my bucket list: True Grit (Charles Portis)

In my next life, I want to be: A Fistful of Legends (Various)


You can check out Elizabeth's list HERE, and the one who started it all, Popculturenerd's list, HERE.

Camera Challenged at the Roller Derby

Last Friday was the first bout of Missoula's new roller derby squad, The Hellgate Rollergirls, and Julia and I made sure to be in attendance. We had gone to bouts in Tucson, and I have to say this sport is about the best live sporting event I've ever attended. It's high octane and the DIY energy is unmatched. I had my camera along and took pictures, though I didn't expect to get many worth a damn, as the light wasn't that great and my little point-and-shoot just isn't up to this type of thing.

The night didn't get started so well. The Big Dipper Ice Cream truck was out front, and we definitely indulged. Julia was working through her cone with her usual professional efficiency, but I was struggling to get more in my mouth than in my beard and mustache (I was well overdue a trim, you see). Plus it was melting all over me. I finally had had enough and tossed it. Julia was near distraught. She said, "I can't believe what I just saw. Some day I am going to make you watch me throw away half a pizza just so you know what it feels like." I told her that I've seen the stuff she puts on pizza to ruin it, so I already knew the feeling.

Luckily that little interlude was a mere speed bump on the way to a fun evening. We made our way inside the big warehouse the Rollergirls are using and scored seats right on the edge of the track. Which was luckily, because people started arriving shortly after that in droves; turnout was fantastic.

This dude played the national anthem on his trombone. It was awesome.

The bout was between two teams made up of Hellgate Rollergirls, the Angels vs. the Devils. The warehouse was really hot. So were the derby girls.

My camera was as challenged as I knew it would be, so I would just aim for a spot and press the button, hoping to get an image that didn't suck. The action was fast and furious!

I was pulling for the Devils, but the Angels pretty much handed them their asses.

I was thinking how battered and sore these athletes would all be the next day after battling for two 30 minute periods. The Missoulian printed an article on the event, and a few bruises were displayed.

All in all it was a great event. Everyone seemed to be having a blast! I hope the Rollergirls keep up the momentum and have tons of success. I can't wait for the next bout!

Thank You, August!

Two straight weeks now of "So Bad, It's GOT to be Good!" cinema!

Opening this week:



Opening next week:



Hopefully these movies will soothe the sting of Winter's Bone not having arrived within a couple hundred friggin' miles of us yet.

The Nook: One Week In, Part Two

I'm an avid reader, have been my entire life. I've had stretches where I read less than others, but I would have to say that right now I probably read more than I ever have. I read for entertainment, education and enlightenment. I love the sense of cracking into a new book. I love that closing stretch when I've almost finished one. I love the anticipation of jumping into the next one. I like seeing books on my shelves, and I love the stack of books next to my desk downstairs that is my upcoming "queue" to pull from. I enjoy putting books up on my Goodreads page; I love finishing a great book and passing it along to my friends and family. These are all emotions tied very much to the physical manifestation of a book that can be looked at, held in the hand, and shared among readers.

At the same time, I don't keep a lot of books, and I'm really not a fan of hardbacks. I give books away, or exchange them for credit at the used bookstore, etc. I keep ones I either think I'll use again as reference, or that I really love and will want to lend or re-read at some point. So even though I keep my collection culled, it still grows. Just not as fast as it would if I were one of those types who never give up a book once it comes into my possession.

My love affair with printed books, even ones I don't keep, more than justified in my mind why I didn't think I'd ever buy into the whole ePublishing thing. I've said before: if books only become available electronically, I'll stop buying new books. There are plenty of used books out there that I haven't read yet, and I'm old enough to be able to draw a line in the sand like that and probably, maybe, stick to it. Theoretically, of course.

So that's the attitude I approached my first eBook with -- doubt. I didn't expect to enjoy the experience. Didn't stop me from digging in, though.

Reading Savages

It certainly helped that I picked such a great book to start with! This Don Winslow dude can friggin' write. It only took a few minutes for me to adapt to reading a book in this format, and I quickly learned that a smoking page turner is every bit as compelling on an eReader as it is in book form. Having fewer words on the page may challenge some -- at times it feels like reading a book printed on post-it notes, tearing a page off every minute or less -- but pushing the "next page" button wasn't a big deal, and there wasn't any electronic lag to speak of between pages.

One of the things I've always wondered about is knowing how much farther I had to go. In a book, I like feeling the width of pages on the right decline as the end looms closer. On the Nook, there is a little meter at the bottom that slowly moves from left to right, and the page count also increases; page 122 of 415, for example. I enjoyed tracking progress like that. Sometimes I'll dog ear a page in a book if there is a line or quote I want to refer back to; the Nook allowed me to do that via setting a bookmark. Cool.

I was also unable to cheat and look ahead to the back of the book. I mean, I probably could have, but I would have had to figure out how. I didn't try. I've also wondered what holding an eReader instead of a book would be like. In my case, Mom also bought me a leather case/cover for my Nook, so I was holding it open just like I would a regular book. If there was a difference, I didn't notice. In fact, it always remained flat when I opened it on the surface of my desk or the kitchen table, which was nice. Hell, the only thing that kept me from knocking Savages out in one sitting was that I had other stuff to do; I still finished it in a day. The upside is I was able to read it while it's only available in hardback for about half the price. Now, if I decide I want a physical copy, I can pull the trigger anyway or wait for the trade without feeling like I'm behind the curve of everyone else loving this story.

Reading The Nation has been fine too, as that is a "reading" magazine. Other magazines that I appreciate for photography may not be as good, because the reading pane is not in color. Now I like me some black and white photography, but you know what I mean. I downloaded the user manual from the Barnes & Noble website and learned how to do other things, like transfer my PDF of Crimefactory #4 onto the Nook for reading. It was easy, and looks great. In fact, I probably prefer reading it on the Nook to reading it on my computer (I can't imagine reading Savages on my computer either, for that matter; I just don't dig reading on the computer beyond blogs and things like that). I also learned how to personalize the Nook; things like using my own images for wallpaper and screensaver. Yeah it turns color images black and white, but I still enjoy seeing what random images comes up based on the ones I transferred onto the thing. It's fun, and I'm a fan of fun.

There are other features on it too that I haven't dug into; a couple games (chess and sudoku), some thing called "The Daily," stuff like that. I can even listen to audio books on it, which is cool. Haven't done that either, but I might, who knows.

As far as a new way to read books, I think the Nook is great. I've had fun with it, and I'm more happy now that my mom got it for me than I was when she first handed it to me.

Of Course it Ain't All Awesome

There are a few things I don't like about it, though. For example:

• I still can't get used to the reading pane not being touchscreen. That's on me, but I keep stabbing it with my finger trying to make something happen, or select something.
• The instructions say that when using the touchscreen panel, one should only use fingers; no stylus, nothing. I wish it had a stylus, because my fingers are too goddamn fat, not to mention my limited dexterity (probably about a 7), and I struggle navigating. Especially when searching titles in the store, it takes forever because I keep hitting the wrong button, or more than one at a time, things like that. I'm not a fan of this at all.
• One of the things people don't like about the iPad is that it is backlit, and they feel that staring at the screen will be too much like staring at a computer monitor. Well, the Nook isn't lit at all. If one is reading in the dark, one needs a lamp. I understand the backlight argument, but it would be nice to have a light option built in. Mom has a clip-on reading light she likes, but I'd rather have the device be self-contained. Of course that would drain battery, so who knows.
  
• I'm concerned about its durability, especially after reading THIS POST my friend Naomi Johnson wrote about her own bad experience with a Nook. I drop stuff, and I fear this thing will face gravity and go down before it. I don't know that I will read in bed with it much, because the sound of a book whap!ping to the floor as I doze off with it in my hand has brought me lurching back to wakefulness more than once.
  
• I hope B&N isn't being left behind when it comes to what is available for the Nook. For example, three items came up this past week that I looked to see if they were in the B&N eStore: John Scalzi's The God Engines, the short Bye Bye Baby by Alan Guthrie, and A Policeman's Lot by Gary M. Dobbs (who also has a great post about eBooks right HERE). Amazon seems to be doing a better job of making it easy to publish books for its Kindle reader. I've never messed with a Kindle at all, so I don't know what it's like . . . I just know people like them. There really aren't that many magazines available yet either. I was made more nervous yesterday when it was announced that Barnes & Noble is up for sale, but it seems some see that as a good thing, that they are embracing the whole eThing. Who knows. It still makes me a little nervous.
• Finally, I'd happily buy and read monthly comics electronically, then buy the physical copy trade collections. Nook ain't something I'm going to read comics on. Too small, too black & white. For that, I'd need an iPad. Magazines would be great on an iPad too. That gadget can do a lot of other cool things as well . . . but it also costs 4x as much. Down the road maybe I'd get one, but do I really need both? Hard to say. It would be nice if the Nook could play in that space, but it's not going to happen. At least not in a way I would want to see it.
  

All in all, I like my Nook. I'll buy and read more eBooks with it. I have such a backlog of printed books on hand that it will be a long time before it threatens the dominance of print in my house, and probably never will, but it's a nice addition to my arsenal of options. I still prefer regular books, just like I prefer vinyl records to MP3s. As long as compensation for writers and all that entails can be worked out favorably, there's room in my heart for both.

The Nook: One Week In, Part One

Last week I revealed that after all of my huffing and puffing about how I'm against eBooks and eReaders and eVerything else along those lines, my mom actually bought me a Barnes & Noble Nook device. I was pretty blown away by her gesture, and I resolved to take full advantage of it. I enjoy the occasional gadget, even though I'm one of those people who doesn't have the patience to get the most out of what any given little doohickey is capable of, which is probably why I have a pretty simple cell phone. Let's just say I'm not a "gadgets for gadget's sake" kind of guy. But as a writer, and an avid reader, I felt I owed it to myself -- and to my mom's generosity -- to give this thing an honest effort and keep an open mind about it.

I took it home, busted it out of the box and got it charging. The device may be charged one of two ways, either via AC or via direct connection to a computer. The USB cable serves both functions; for AC charging the Nook comes with an adapter the USB connects to that then plugs into the wall. I thought that was kind of cool, as I've never seen it before. Nice and simple, really.

No real documentation, just a skimpy little Quick Start Guide that was sufficient to get me up and running. I've been irked ever since companies started directing people online for documentation, but I don't see that changing. Makes sense, and probably keeps the cost down significantly (while also spawning an entire side industry of user friendly 3rd party user manuals), but I still feel the need to shake my fist at the sky every time I encounter it. Nonetheless, once I fired the sucker up I ran through the little tutorial that explains how everything works (the reading pane is not touch screen, only the little color icons at the bottom are, and they are for navigation), and I was off and running. I quickly configured the wireless and it had no problem connecting to my dlink router. This was so easy that I was able to help my mom over the phone to connect her Nook to the wireless router at their house, and it took all of about 2 minutes. As any child who has ever done telephone support for a parent knows, this is no mean feat!

Maybe 5 minutes in I was browsing the online store, and quickly made my first purchase: Savages by Don Winslow, a book I've heard nothing but raves about. I also scored a subscription to The Nation, a magazine I enjoy and read online, but have never subscribed to because it's a weekly and I didn't want to have that much paper added to the recycling already generated by a subscription (a yearly, and most welcome, gift from Julia's dad) to The New Yorker (another great magazine also available for subscription on the Nook). This is one of those areas where I've thought eReaders would really shine, at least for me and my reading tastes -- periodicals. Meanwhile, later that day, super author Reed Farrel Coleman posted that his first three Moe Prager novels are now available as eBooks, and the Nook is one of the supported formats. Timely announcement, Mr. Coleman! I quickly grabbed the first one, Walking the Perfect Square, and almost got all three. Christ, even as I write this I'm thinking of going back to get the other two. I can see right now where this Nook downloading-books-on-a-whim thing could be very dangerous in the hands of someone like me! Anyway, Reed is co-author of one of the best books from last year, Tower, which I've mentioned before. It's been nominated for a bunch of awards too, and deservedly so!

Not that I needed to order any books to try it out, mind you. It came with samples of the novels A Vintage Affair by Isabel Wolff and The Passage by Justin Cronin, neither of which really interest me. However, it also came with Little Women, Pride and Prejudice, and Dracula. I'll eventually get to all three of those (I haven't looked into it personally, but Mom tells me that a lot of classic novels can be picked up for free; that's cool). Having books loaded was no reason to not order more, though. It was for research, after all!

So, new toy in hand, all that remained was for me to finish the book I'd already started before Mom gave me the thing (Body, by Harry Crews, in case you're wondering), then I'd dig into some Savages.

Did I pull it off? Did I get through an entire book without feeding the Nook to Velcro the Eating Machine? Did I load anything directly onto it, like, say, Issue #4 of Crimefactory, which just so happens to be available in PDF, a Nook-supported format, and includes my March interview with Hard Case Crime founder Charles Ardai about his Gabriel Hunt books? Would I be able to change the wallpaper or screensaver? Would I even bother to try? Answers to those questions, and more, in part two!