Ello Novel Launched by Writer of First Twitter Novel In April of 2008, I began an experiment to write the first Twitter novel, “Small Places.” Now I’m fusing technology and literature in the first Ello novel, “So Long,” illustrated by New York artist Siyi Chen. I’m actually now in PHASE […]
Sure, She’s Inflatable, But Look At Those Eyes: Self-Publishing And Art
AFTER SELF-PUBLISHING MY FIRST NOVEL Stuck Outside of Phoenix in 2003, I spent some time online trying to find other self-published writers who wanted to form a community. I wasn’t looking for anyone trying to catch on to a genre trend, or those taking advantage of the brand new print-on-demand technology because they wanted to see […]
A Little Help From My Comrades: Reflections On My Experience In Writers Groups
I STARTED DAYDREAMING a couple of years ago about dialing down my advertising work and, eventually, writing fiction full-time. To have more success getting published I knew had to write with more rigor and intention. A writers group seemed a logical step. Kindred spirits. Constructive critique. Insights on craft. Positive peer pressure to stick with […]
Reflecting On The Reflection: A Personal Reaction To Student Experience And Writing
THE ASSIGNMENT WAS SIMPLE–a reflection about our seniors’ changing relationship with the Spanish major–which made for one of my best weeks as a teacher. Not necessarily because of my own classroom performance, but because of what the students’ writing revealed about their development. I spent a couple of days checking my computer every ten […]
Pakatelas Episode 1: Steve Pacheco
Steve Pacheco is the guest with Pakatelas host Michael Medrano. Pacheco is from the Lower Sioux Indian Community, a small reservation in southwestern Minnesota, where he currently resides. He is the co-author of Shedding Skins: Four Sioux Poets (Michigan State University Press, 2008), and has recently been a guest editor for the literary journal Yellow Medicine […]
The 185-Page Hipster Accessory
WHEN FRIENDS ASK TO READ the manuscript they’ve been hearing me talk about for so long, I find myself filling with white-hot shame. It’s wonderful they ask, but I’m certain they’re just being polite. “Are you sure?” I respond, implying they should seriously consider this for a few more weeks. But they always say yes. […]
Mile 10
AS I RUN THROUGH THE WOODS in Hell, Michigan, I am conscious of only three things: The horizontal blue ribbons marking the trail, My beautiful, brand-new sparkling engagement ring, And the fact that, aside from my lime-green running shoes, I am completely naked. It is the first time I’ve ever really thanked god that I […]
Transmedia: Who Invited the Lobsters Anyway?
This is a screed (Google it you lazy so and so). This is not a glass half empty, whine from the nether regions. This is a glass done been drained empty by slant drilling moisture pirates manifesto. This is me warming up in the bullpen for a series of missives about missed opportunities and what […]
Tiny Fire: The Eastside Years
1 MOTHER CHASING ME THROUGH the apartment parking lot, pregnant. Her belly, round like a basketball, my sister in it. Me looking back and running, finger pointing at my mother, her stern eyes, wet with anger, the small me laughing out loud, Kassandra cursing me from the womb, years later I would put her in […]
Conversation With An Immigration Reform Protestor
GONZALO SANTOS WAS TIRED, EXCITED, passionate when he called me about the Wednesday’s immigration reform protests in Bakersfield, Calif. He and other demonstrators followed several U.S. Congressmen to a country club, and then to a farmer’s dirt field, as continued pressure on lawmakers to re-write a system of immigration laws, Santos says are “woefully outdated.” […]
En Route To Fiction Writing
ADVERTISING, WHERE I COME FROM, is fast-paced, challenging and stimulating. Ad people tend to be infectious, out-there types with quick, fertile minds and eclectic interests. Everyone is constantly in motion, juggling multiple projects that involve different industries, target audiences and media, and is racing to meet the next tight deadline. Success depends on knowing and […]
The Art Of Resemblance In Nonfiction
When I walked into the apartment of memoirist Alan Kaufman in Lower Nob Hill around 2011, I noticed paintings covering his walls. I’d already read his nearly 500-page memoir, Drunken Angel. The book chronicles how he became a writer and drunk (and how he recovered from alcoholism). There was nothing about him being a painter. How could he […]
The Stones, The Beasties, and My Daughter’s Voice: A Poet’s Favorite Live Bands
GRANDADDY PLAYED TO A CROWD of friends and loyal fans in Modesto, California sometime before Jason Lytle dismantled the band. It was a tiny bar on south Ninth Street. Some very happy people were treated to hits from Sumday and gems from Earlimart, who were on hand for the party. A favorite lyric, from “The Group Who Couldn’t […]