Category: Projects

So I'm working on a book. It's a collection of essays called "Practical Classics: Rereading your Favorite Books from High School English Class" 50 essays, each one arguing for why a book from high school can be useful to you as a grownup. It'll be published by Prometheus Books and will be available in early 2013. I'm to hand the thing in on June 1. 

I've finished 16 essays which means a) I'm 32% done and b) I have a heckuva lot left to go. And not much time left to do it.

Of course I could turn in the book late (my friend Katie actually said "You'd be the first writer to hand in a manuscript on time. Probably ever." But "Practical Classics" is my first book where every word is written by me. I hope to write about a dozen more before I die and I'd like to set good habbits now. The thought of being 60 and still approaching writing with the dread of an eighth grader completing an essay on "Lord of The Flies" horrifies me.

I know its going to take me a long time to feel comfortable producing words as regularly as brushing my teeth. I'd like to start now.   

I fear this means a lot of long days, nights in and work on the weekends between now and June. I hate this idea. But I don't really see another way. At least from where I stand, about 16 miles from the finish line. 

Between now and then, I'm slated to be a writer-in-residence at two separate programs–The Ragdale Colony in Lake Forrest, Illinois (for 1 week) and the Vermont Studio Center in just-outside-of-Beijing, Vermont (for 1 month). I leave for Ragdale tomorrow (!) and am scheduled to spent April in Vermont. I figure I'll see how well I do at Ragdale and decide on Vermont when I get home in February. 

I am not someone who sees Middle-of-Nowhere as an artistic blessing. Not sleeping in my own bed, not going to the office each morning, being far from wife and friends, scares me. I know it allows me time to just focus on my writing. That's probably what scares me. I've never had that kind of mandate-from-fate to just write before. 

But a blessing it is. There's about 3 perks you get when working on a book and this is one (the other two? Eh, bragging rights and, something I haven't found). It's up to me to take the opportunity and sprint. 

So I won't be on the social media channels much for the rest of this month. I'll be here…

But with snow on the ground. 

Wish me warmth. And focus. 

Wherein we discuss creative and professional drought. And renewal.

MP3 File

If you were to begin a blog that featured all things great and small about the 1980s, what would you call it? Remember, the name has to be small enough to fit a URL. Memorable would be good too.

Leave your ideas in the comments or email me. S/He who provides the winning name will receive this box set.

Names are good. Like greed.

Magazine: New York Times Magazine

Issue Date: Unkown ( I threw it away before I could record it)

Cover Story: Long piece about Bono and his African relief work.

What I learned:

1) The difference between “bilateral debt” and “multilateral debt.”

2) That Bono is still married to his high school sweetheart.

3) Dr. Abraham Verghese is still writing. His book My Own Country is one of my favorites.

Getting Things Done is the closest I’ve ever come to getting organized and even that is a little to all consuming for me. Yes, I found it gave me piece of mind and time to think. Time to think about what else I should be worrying about getting done.

Let me said that the only reason I’ve even tried is 43 Folders and To-Done and that’s only because I’ve hung out with their proprietors. Organization for me is a state best achieved by peer pressure.

It is that kind of lemming-like trust in friends and their recommendations that brought me to this organizational system which I’m going to give a shot. Wish me luck. Or look out below because the cliff edge is already over my shoulders.

The Virtual Book Tour rides again today.

I would love to blog about Ireland but right now, every once of free time I have has been swallowed up by the book and our impending Sept. 1 deadline. So Ireland will have to wait until after that. Whatever blogging I am able to do between now and next Wednesday will be relatively minor.

I hope you understand.

Because Martha Stewart appears to be knee deep in trouble (despite what she says), why not throw off her shackles and send your crafty self over to Not Martha, an infintely more humane version of cool-stuff-to-do-around-the-house run by the very real and very lovely (she’s my friend. I admit it) Megan Reardon.

Everybody probably gets asked this question a lot and, until recently, I’ve a hard time saying I’m a writer. I got paid to write something when I was 16, nearly 15 years ago and have contributed to a number of newspapers, magazines and journals since. But it was usually a hobby activity, a quiet talent I pulled out when I had to that also helped me in the jobs I found myself in.

For the last four years, I ran a non-profit online community for book lovers called Central Booking. I retired from doing CB in February of 2003, because the pull of greater opportunities was too strong to resist. Strongest of al was the chance to write professionally in a way that I defined for myself, to call my self a writer and like the sound of it.

Below is a list of my current projects…