Haunted by Grief
Edvard Munch was Norwegian. Perhaps, that’s why he said, “Disease, insanity and death were the black angels that guarded my cradle, and … followed me throughout my life.” Obit Magazine has a piece on his painting, Death in the Sickroom, and a little about his life.
With apologies
I intended to write a long book review tonight, but it’s been a crazy evening. I had to spend a considerable amount of time, both on the phone and by e-mail, discussing final tweaks on the book cover. The artist is a little like an author in that he doesn’t much cotton to criticism of his aesthetic vision. But apparently the editor and the publisher are going to lean on him a little tonight.
This is a new experience in publishing for me. Baen Books, which had many virtues, did not bother giving authors much input on covers (I did get some, but nobody ever sent me a .pdf and asked for my input as Nordskog is doing). I think this will turn out to be a pretty effective cover when all’s done, but it’s a sweat.
And I’ve still got to make a phone call and pay my bills tonight. Not to mention watching CSI and checking my Facebook page. I’ll see you tomorrow.
Stories Influence Us
Top 10 Forgotten
Top 10 Forgotten Pulitzer Prize-Winning Novels. Check your library or bookstore. Have you read any Pulitzer winners over the years and noted their overall strength or beauty? I could say some things about Beloved, but not right now.
Walking the walk again
It’s a highlight of the spring every year—my first constitutional walk down by Crystal Lake. It was too warm at the beginning for the sweatshirt and cap I wore, but I was glad I had them when I got down by the water. Spring isn’t actually spronging yet—we haven’t gotten enough rain—but the sun was shining, the air was mild, and it all made even Hugh Hewitt’s relentless optimism on the radio seem not entirely delusional.
What else is going on? We’re near finalizing the cover for the new book. I think. It will not, as I’d been given to understand earlier, resemble the cover of The Year of the Warrior in any way. They fired that artist. The new guy has put together a yellow-dominated cover with a misty Viking ship under sail in the center, and the title done in an Anglo-Saxon/Book of Kells sort of font. My name will be in a runic font, which is just fine.
I’ll keep you posted as the process crawls on.
You Too May Be a Right-Wing Extremist
As Lars pointed out yesterday, today could be dangerous. In fact, you could be a danger to yourself and the entire country without even knowing it. I’m not talking about being a carrier for a disease or a polluter. Friends, I’m talking about right-wingism.
The Federal Government, may it live forever, has raised the warning we all should heed. “Rightwing extremist activity,” as defined by the Feds, could be in your city; it could be in your heart. The Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis (DHS/I&A) has issued a report saying that while they have no evidence of an impending threat any in our country, “rightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.”
Now before you start shaking your head, saying you may be conservative, you may agree with Rush Limbaugh and Victor Davis Hanson, but you aren’t an extremist by any stretch, let me quote the report from the DHS/I&A: Continue reading You Too May Be a Right-Wing Extremist
Library book returned, 145 years overdue
A book stolen from the Washington College library by a Union soldier in 1864 has been returned by a descendant of the pilferer.
A note Gates inscribed in the book reads: “This book was taken from the Military Institute at Lexington Virginia in June 1864 when General Hunter was on his Lynchburg raid. The Institution was burned by the order of Gen. Hunter. The remains of Gen. Stonewall Jackson rest in the cemetery at this place.”
The rest is here.
Speaking as a librarian, when a book’s been gone a few years, I’m just glad to get it back without quibbling about fines.
When the Writer Gets in the Way
Frank links to short story blogger Charles May, who reviews a book by Robert Boswell in a post called, “Robert Boswell, Heyday of the Insensitive Bastards and The Half-Known World.” Charles notes that author Boswell teaches writing and that fact seems to come through in this book of stories.
In the story “A Sketch of Highway on the Nap of a Mountain,” Boswell uses the point of view of a woman who seems to have had a stroke, or maybe she is just a modern Mrs. Malaprop” who makes numerous language errors, such as “I get irrigated with my life,” “He begins happily dissembling our past,” “I’m at the car, divulging a black boom box.”
They are funny, and Boswell seems to be having a great time inventing them, but the story seems to be mainly an excuse for demonstrating his cleverness in inventing them.
Poetry Winners and Sci-Fi Nominees
The Poetry Foundation is praising more poets this month (via Books, Inq.)
Also, The Nebula Awards are later this month. Here are the nominees.