|
Saturday, July 24, 2010
First Readers
He took the first page of his draft and read it in a whisper. The words caught in his throat, and he sighed, exhausted,
when he finished the page. There he stood, his naked soul cringing in the cold of a stranger’s eyes. The thought of
his agent being his first reader sickened him, or even his longtime editor who predictably gushed over every new book. Gushed
over dollar signs, but that was beside the point.
It would take a special reader to make his cold soul warm. Someone
who—he didn’t know how—would give him the courage to keep writing the story. Or someone who would convince
him the book would be a mistake, and atonement could not be earned through confession. (Out of Sync, chapter 3)
My work in progress is the story of a writer who has lived his life in regret, and an artist who is afraid
to get close enough to others to feel alive. Although authors do it all the time, I haven’t written about a writer before,
and the excerpt above is a sensation all writers, to some degree, face—the moment when work formed in solitude is placed
in the hands of a reader. A difficult moment, whether it’s the first novel or third or twentieth.
A writer cannot and should not be expected to view her work objectively. How could we? Why should we? If I didn’t
love it, I wouldn’t write it. Those first readers are more important than they realize, and their impressions will influence
the story.
I have so much gratitude for
my first readers. I don’t need effusive gush. I gush about my work enough. I need an honest, thoughtful impression.
So I’m sending a huge thank-you to my early readers who help me shape my work. And thank you for keeping my soul safe
in the process.
8:10 pm
Monday, January 11, 2010
Seduced by the Muse
While afternoon rays played across the fireplace, she watched the somber image of Dionysus on the bricks.
His eyes seemed to zero in on her. He wasn’t real. Muses and gods never
were. They were internal, collective wisdom locked up in human cells—aspects of the soul hidden in
the subconscious. People externalized them to reach their latent genius. (Dionysus,
Act I, Scene 2)
When Kristen, the
main character in my book—DIONYSUS, a woman, a man, and the god of wine—contemplates the effect a stranger has
had on her psyche, she sees a shadow on her fireplace bricks and names it after the God of Theatre. She
uses this image to try to understand why her life has changed, when reality tells her nothing has changed at all.
In other words, she discovers the seminal effect of the muse.
Later, she will discover that her muse is much more than a subconscious aspect of her soul. He’s
real. She will also realize that the muse is no magic genie, and by entering into a relationship with a
muse, she loses the control she had over her life in exchange for…for what?
Bliss. Desire fulfilled. Seeing the world as
she’s never seen it before. Music, color, fragrance, touch—all sensations change under the
dominion of the muse. She turns over the burden of normalcy in exchange for euphoria.
Following the muse is taking a journey into the unknown.
It is a world of drama and uncertainty, where our spacial markers dissolve. Following the muse is
exhausting. Frustrating. Irreconcilable to our common sense.
But once you’ve tasted the sweet wine of your muse, you’ll
never want to return to a predictable life. You’ve been seduced. Smitten.
7:56 pm
|
|
|
2010.07.01 |
2010.01.01
|
Welcome to Upper West Side Stories. I love my neighborhood. Manhattan's Upper West Side, much of it a Landmarked Historical District, makes an ideal setting
for my books. From Central Park to Riverside Park, the neighborhood is rich in culture, history, and...a
bit of magic. Whether you'd prefer the seduction of god Dionysus or the rumblings of the Spirit-Gates
in Central Park, the Upper West Side will come alive to you in a new way through these stories. I hope you'll enjoy samples of my three novels. None are yet available in print,
but I will post publishing details when I have them. Also, check out Shorts and Recommendations, where I will
feature contributions from some of my favorite colleagues. If you have a short-story or novel excerpt that you'd like
to submit, please email me.
|
