The Little Book that could, and did, get big

Rounding out our special guest speakers is none other than Selden Edwards, whose rousingly delectable time-skipping debut novel, The Little Book, took only 30 years to get published and made him an overnight success at the age of 67. NPR’s Maureen Corrigan called the book, “A soaring thing of joy whose only purpose—and I mean this as a compliment—is to delight and entertain.” Bestselling author Pat Conroy declared it, “wonderful…I’ve never read a novel like it. I felt like my life was changing forever as I savored its many delights and mysteries.” Selden will be with us Sunday night, Feb. 14, and the story of his journey to publication guarantees to inform and entertain. Consider it the SCWC’s especially wet Valentine smooch to you!

–msg

Thriller Writers advocate The Advocate

Author and SCWCer Teresa Burrell’s debut novel, “The Advocate,” is a finalist for the International Thriller Writers Best First Novel Award. Teresa will conduct a workshop at SD24, “Legally Speaking–Is There an Attorney in the Room?” and sitting on the “Debut Authors: What I Wish I Knew Before Being Published” panel. Be sure to checkout this interview with her at ITW.

–msg

Help Haiti now. Write.

If ever you needed a reason to write, or doubted the merit of what you’re writing in the overall scheme of purposeful being and personal affirmation, visit HopeForHaitiNow.org. At the very least your can write a check.

–msg

Happy Rumpus Day

Happy first birthday, anniversary, or whatever we’re supposed to call it, to The Rumpus.

For those not acquainted with TheRumpus.net, it is a site devoted to issues artistic, including reviews and criticism, comic strips, interviews, and even original fiction. They even cover some news. There is much there that suggests their content outline is whatever catches the staff’s fancy. And as one who has spent far too much time roving the webpages of The New York Times, Salon.com, and even my beloved hometown alternative weekly, The Stranger, it’s a welcome addition to my RSS feed.

So if you haven’t yet, give it a read. It’s certainly more enlightening than I am, and there’s no reason I should be the only one having fun.

-bd

“Avatar” Depression: A response I wrote to something someone said somewhere else

“Avatar Depression”, such as it is, should not be ridiculed. No, I’m not going to argue that these people actually have lives and such; rather, I would point to the tragic implications. Life in these modern times is basically unsatisfactory for almost everyone. Neuroses are a bit like sins; if you claim to be without any, you’re enacting it.

But what if life is so unsatisfactory that people seek escapist cures? Now, wait; this isn’t so odd in and of itself—what do you think religion is? One could easily, and somewhat soundly, theorize that modern life is so challenging to the primal instinct that people really don’t have much for an outlet. Yes, Avatar is dazzling and full of hope and promise; yes, it reflects much we wish could be true about this world, and if it was we probably wouldn’t be the defiantly moronic species we are.

Happy New Year: Here’s some stuff to read

Two weeks in … hey, here’s something to read. Er … yeah. Something like that.

• The greatest challenge facing authors in the new digital era? Signing autographs.
• A blast from the past: short fiction by Neil Gaiman, circa 1986.
• Books, money, and shopping in the twenty-first century. (And Paul Constant responds.)
• Copyright and public domain, or, why nothing is entering the public domain this year. Via Duke University’s Center for the Study of the Public Domain.
• Children’s novelist, Newberry winner, and National Book Award recipient becomes national ambassador for young people’s literature, offers time-tested advice.
• What was the cliché catch-phrase of the year decade? I don’t know, either, but Ron Rosenbaum has given it some thought.
• Politics, psychology, and art, with Charles Mudede.
• Katie Roiphe ushered in the new year with a consideration of sex and literature; Seth Colter Walls and Steve Almond seem to think this was a bad idea. Oh, and Sonya Chung would seem to disagree with the disagreement. And that pink graphic above? That’s apparently a big part of what Roiphe was talking about.

Go figure.

Anyway, Happy New Year to all those who lived through it. And my condolences to those who didn’t. And, of course, the grieving … er … yeah. Foresight. I’m sure my father taught me a thing or two about that when I was a wee ‘tard to a swami junebug, but I have no idea right now what that is. I’m pretty sure, though, he never took the time to lecture me on the dangers of a joke going south well before you reach the punch line. Or maybe it’s something about leading off with the punch line.

So … yeah. I guess that’s where we are.

-bd

New agent added

From Fountain Literary, agent Jennifer de la Fuente has been added to the SD24 program. Formerly with the Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, The Gersh Agency, and Venture Literary, Jennifer formed Fountain last year and she’s looking to expand her client list. She’s interested in literary and commercial fiction and everything in between (except sci-fi, fantasy, mystery and romance), health, parenting, memoir, pop culture, humor, self-help, food and wine, pop science, current events, women’s issues, and big “think” books. She is not looking for spirituality, new age, finance, or sports. Because of the late addition, the advance submissions deadline for those seeking one-on-one consultation with her, specifically, will be Feb. 1.

–msg

Meet the man, be the media

David Mathison will join us at SD24. And with all things publishing 3.0 overwhelming writers everywhere in their effort to understand and “establish a platform” by feeding their tweets, increasing their Facebook & Friendster followers, blogging relentlessly, podcasting incessantly, post-baiting ad nauseam, and, somewhere in between, among and around all this time-suck devoted to promoting their work actually write books, who better to address the issues. An internationally recognized media consultant, publisher, radio host, hi-tech entrepreneur, and former vice president with Reuters — the world’s largest news agency — where he pioneered online content syndication, after more than 25 years experience in content distribution, David’s new book, Be The Media, provides an encyclopedic volume of information, online strategies and tactics every author needs to know to succeed. As Friday night’s special guest speaker, you’ll want to take notes.

–msg

Write now you, and win!

Promoting fine writing by publishing both new writers and fully established literary figures such as Luis Alberto Urrea and Daniel Olivas, The Hummingbird Review, America’s newest literary journal, will debut its premier edition at the February conference. Publisher Charlie Redner and managing editor Robert Yehling will be joining us, and to celebrate they’re sponsoring a writing contest for all those attending SCWC*SD24. The prize for the winning submission is $100 and possible publication in The Hummingbird Review. While the work may indeed be hard, the rules are simple: Submit a previously unpublished essay, story or poem of no more than 1000 words by 4PM Sunday, Feb. 14th at the conference, based on the subject, “An Impact of Another” — meaning, whether positive or not, personal or fictional, addressing the theme of consequence in one’s life perpetrated by the act or acts of another — and you’re in.

The winner will be announced upon the decision of the judges, soon after the conference. Ready. Set. Write!

–msg