Are You a Yankee or a Reb?

Ever watched Gone with the Wind for the hundredth time, but still press rewind to see it again? Or have you visited the Lincoln Memorial in D.C. and wondered what it might have been like to hear the Gettysburg Address in person? Perhaps you’ve got an inner voice that sympathizes with one side or the other in the never ending American struggle between North and South.

This year marks the 150^th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, which dovetails nicely with the writing of my historical novel set during the Civil War entitled The Long Defeat. I’m halfway through another draft, and have gotten great feedback and support from fellow readers and writers out there over the past year as I continue to sharpen and rewrite my story. But during my writings and research I continually find myself asking what side of the line would I fall onto if I found myself embroiled in that American conflict 150 years ago.

I know some of you hail from states today that would have been either in the North or South, and some of you live in different countries altogether, but today Rebs and Yankees can come from anywhere. So if you found yourself living in America back in 1861, where would your sympathies lie? Do you see yourself as a Southern Belle/Gentleman turned Rebel or do you identify more with the Underground Railroad/Preservers of the Union?

Writing for the Examiner.com

So I took the plunge and started writing articles for the Examiner.com online. A friend of mine referred me to them and they hired me as a “San Francisco Adventure Traveler” writer responsible for creating articles regarding travel to and from the SF Bay Area to other parts abroad. It’s not a job that I’ll really get paid for, and so it’s more like a hobby on the side, but it’s nonetheless an opportunity to connect with other people on the world wide web via my writing. 

You can check out my newest articles here, and even if you’re not from the Bay Area you’ll probably still find some useful backpacking ideas if you choose to visit Europe or some other place I write about.  I have to confess, however, that I’m still on the fence regarding this Examiner.com opportunity, and am not entirely sure how it will all pan out. After all, I’ve already got enough to write between my fiction writing, my blog, and my day job as a Technical Writer. But a writer writes…right?

Anyhow, let me know if any of you frequent the Examainer.com or perhaps you or someone you know has written articles for them in the past. I’d be curious to know your thoughts on them as a website and organization. In the meantime, checkout a couple of my articles and let me know what you think, thanks! 

High Art vs. Low Art

We often learn the classics in school, from Homer to Shakespeare, and few would debate their uncontested value today. At the same time, less entertaining writers like Pope, Dryden, and Spencer appear in many a college curriculum, much to many students' dismay, but nothing from Tolkien or J. K. Rowling ever gets mentioned. So why is some art considered just popular tripe, whereas others are deemed literary masterpieces?

Understandably, most authors are canonized once they're no longer alive and their work has stood the test of time, but this is changing. Living authors like Toni Morrison are anthologized now as well as many others that even the most well-read haven't heard about or read. Needless to say, books ought to be judged by merit and not book sales, but it seems odd that such renowned authors get left out simply due to their genre.

Think about it, when was the last time you heard of a course in school that covered a fantasy, sci-fi, or even a more recently penned historical novel? Plenty of exceptions abound, by it seems the establishment turns its nose to novels that don't deal with some esoteric form of absurdism or talk about some psychologically deranged character in order to describe our “modern” times. What do you think, is there a real difference between high and low art or is this all just a case of the emperor's new clothes?    

Rocking Out with U2

Last night I saw U2 live at the Coliseum in Oakland, CA where they preformed a 20 song set, complete with massive electric screens, awesome instrumentals, soaring vocals, and even a conversation with an astronaut on the International Space Station singing “Beautiful Day.” An eclectic mix of some of their many, many awesome hits, they played a couple songs from each of their numerous albums, giving the crowd an energetic rush as they rocked out anthems such as “Mysterious Ways,” “Pride,” and “Until the End of the World” just to name a few. Opening bands included the hippie-esk group Moonalice, and the ever-cool Lenny Kravitz, who played a half dozen of his best known tunes.

Ever socially conscious songwriters, Bono, the Edge, Adam, and Larry, provided heartfelt moments where they showed video on the interactive big screens of speeches by Bishop Desmond Tutu, Burmese Activist (and former political prisoner) Aung San Suu Kyi, and astronaut Mark Kelly on the Endeavor space shuttle. Seeing Mark Kelly’s view of Earth from space was an eye opener, showing that the real world has no political boundaries and we share one big planet. Bono and the band of course rocked out to world peace for a while after that, much to the crowd’s enjoyment. 

Aung San Suu Kyi, just recently released from 20 years house arrest in Burma where she was democratically elected president before the military took over in her country, spoke about being an activist for human rights as well as being a big U2 fan. Even though she was released, much to social pressure from within and outside of Burma, she said that over 2,000 pro-democracy/human rights Burmese colleagues of hers still remain in military prisons after 20 years. U2 and the band gave a touching salute as the crowd prayed for those still suffering all in the name of love and freedom and peace. Needless to say, it was a moving evening spiritually, emotionally, and musically. As always, U2 continues to be the best band ever!  

Is Plot Passé?

Famous Modernist author, T.S. Eliot, called plot out of date, out of style, a remnant of a bygone era, or as he liked to put it…passé. Of course, the guy was practically a Fascist and a snob to boot, but that didn’t stop him from writing tours de force like The Lovesong of J. Alfred Pruefrock and The Wasteland. Did this avant-garde guy know what he was talking about (yes, I’m using French words today), or was he just puffing smoke?

He and many of his contemporaries emphasized form over the general story-line, as anyone who has read through James Joyce or Virginia Woolf knows. But today writers seem to have rebelled against this concept, including everyone from Thomas Pynchon to J.K. Rowling. However, I’m not debating whether plot sells, it always has in bookstores, but whether it still provides the primary means of conveying a novel in terms of art for art’s sake.

As time goes by I find myself believing less and less in the difference between high art and low art, but that’s another topic for perhaps another post.  In terms of plot, what do you think? Is it truly as passé as Eliot says or have we got some romantics out there still willing to defend the role of plot in the books we read today?

Make $10,000 for Collecting Books?

I rather randomly stumbled across the wide world of book collecting the other day and was astounded by how much hardcore book collectors will pay for rare and valuable books. First editions in hardbacks top the list for classic authors and bestsellers from the past century and beyond. So why was I looking into collectors items in the first place? It is soon told.

My father-in-law lent me his books from the Dune series to read a while back and I noticed that the cover of his hardbacks matched the image versions on wikipedia and wouldn't you know it...they're first edition hardbacks. In the world of book collecting, an original Dune hardback, first edition, sells at auction for over ten grand. Not too shabby for a novel that cost $5.95 back in the sixties.

So what possible gems might you have sitting on your dusty shelves at home? I'm not saying you'll have the most sought after sci-fi or literary book of the last century, but if you indulge in hardbacks you might surprise yourself with what you find. Of course, we all love books intrinsically for their own enjoyment, but just out of curiosity, what possibly valuable old hardbacks are on your bookshelves?

Genre Jinx

It seems anything written today with a vampire in it makes it to publication, but for those of us who prefer not to turn Abe Lincoln or Jane Austen into a bloodsucker, what are the best selling alternative genres out there? I get a lot of conflicting impressions from agents, as some prefer to go with genres that are popular right now, whereas others shy away from the current flavor of the month as they believe the market is already too saturated.

Regardless of what sells or not, what are your favorite genres to read and write? Literary, historical, sci-fi, fantasy, westerns, thrillers, mysteries, young-adult, children's, chick-lit, and romance are all pretty widespread genres from which to choose. More quirky genres have also taken center stage in the last few years, such as steampunk and teen-specific just to name a few.

Obviously, there's too much out there to describe, especially if we get into the realms of non-fiction, memoir, biography, poetry, etc. etc. So what are your favorite genres? What subject do you prefer to write about and what types of books are the ones you just can't put down?