This, That, and (mostly) The Other Thing

Candace Chellew-Hodge and Bulletproof Faith

For my semi-regular gig at OutSmart, I got to interview Candace Chellew-Hodge, author of the new book, Bulletproof Faith. I've "known" Candace for a decade or more at this point---I've written several things for her webzine, Whosoever, and I've participated in her listserv, but I've never met her and until this interview, I've never spoken with her on the phone for longer than maybe 5 minutes (and maybe twice at that).

I had a good time talking to her. Listening to the recording, I was suprised to hear how much we laughed. Of course, as I'm editing the conversation for the magazine, we're going to lose a lot of that laughter, I'm afraid. I only have space for about 750 words and the point of the interview is her book, so as I focus the interview, I'm losing some of the fun stuff.

This is a hard lesson to learn as I'm doing more interviews for OutSmart. When I interviewed Tony Kushner, I felt like some of the fun we had got lost in the interest of space and focus. Perhaps this is how it is in this biz, to which I'm new. Maybe someday, I'll get to do one of those sprawling, ten page interviews you see in national magazines, but I guess every form has it's limitations.

But while I'm on Candace, I'm excited that I will finally get to meet her in November (the same month her interview will run in OutSmart). She'll be in Houston doing a workshop at Grace Lutheran Church on November 8. I hope we'll laugh as much (and more) in person as we did on the phone.

I've Been Quoted!

One of the first books I reviewed for OutSmart was Robin Lippincott's In the Meantime, which was just released in paperback. I picked up the paperback at the store where I work the other day, just to see the new cover that is on it. I then flipped to the first few pages of the book, just inside the front cover, where there were a couple of pages of reviews for the hardcover edition. Lo and behold, there's my review from OutSmart! My name isn't mentioned, just the magazine, but this is the first time this has happened. It feels like some sort of validation of my existence. I mean, I write these reviews and I sort of expect no one sees them. But someone saw this one and quoted it! I literally jumped and down and clapped my hands.

It takes so little, I know . . .

Nick Cave and Necroplis

For those of you who have gotten your copy of Necropolis, you'll note that it is dedicated to Nick Cave. Poet Jill Alexander Essbaum is a bit of a Cave groupie, which is to say she's seen him in concert so often that he's started dedicating songs to her from the stage. Deadheads have nothing on Jillie's devotion to Cave.

So I had a message on my voicemail from Jill, telling me that she was able to put a copy of Necropolis into Nick Cave's hands at a recent concert somewhere in North America (I can't keep up with Jill's travels anymore).

All of which is very cool. Maybe Nick will start to endorse it in his travels . . .

Nighthawks in November

Nighthawks by Evan Guilford-Blake looks on target for a November release. I suppose it's time to offer a pre-pub special. It's going to retail at $14.95, so let's say that if you order it before the end of October, you can get it directly from me for $10.00. It's a lovely piece of theater, hard and compassionate. Issues of prejudice of all sorts permeate a cast of oh-so-human characters, as their hopes and dreams are exposed and sometimes crushed before our eyes. If you ever wondered what those four people were doing in that all-night diner in Edward Hopper's painting, this is the play for you. Email me at neo (at) neonuma.com for more information about pre-pub orders.

October Writing Marathon

It's nearly time for another Writing Marathon. It'll again be at the Montrose Library here in Houston, on October 25, 10:30am-1:30pm. I'll write more abou that in a week or so. I think I'm calling it The Post-Ike, Pre-Spook Writing Marathon.

December Holiday Salon

I mentioned it some time back. I should mention it again. And I have tons to do on it . . . but it will be December 6, 3:00pm-6:00pm, at Sauté, 2303 Richmond, here in Houston. Jill Alexander Essbaum will be there reading, as will be Alan Berecka, another poet I'll be publishing soon (that reminds me, I need to make an official announcement about that). I'm talking to other artists, but nothing set in stone at this date. But put it on your calendar. It's going to be a good time and a chance to get some autographs and deals on neoNuma books.

(y)IKE(s)!

Oh, yeah, you may have heard about this hurricane, Ike? It's still a bit of a mess here in Houston three weeks later. I can't imagine what it's like farther down I-45 in Galveston. We're slowly getting back to normal here, but I think most of Galveston is going to be looking for a new normal. And then I would hear from people in Chicago who were experiencing flooding due to Ike a couple of days after it passed us here. That was one mean mother of a storm. Keep the coast in thoughts and prayers. The recovery isn't going to all happen at once.

That's enough for tonight. Maybe if I blogged more often, I wouldn't have to write so much at one time, eh? But hey, I've been doing better than once a month lately. Baby steps, you know?

Houstonians, Mark Your Calendars

December 6, 2008
3:00-6:00 p.m.
The First Annual neoNuma Arts Holiday Salon

Other details being hammered out, but the point being, it will be like a big book signing. Not all neoNuma authors will be there, but some will and they'll be reading and signing books, and I'm looking into other attractions (maybe some music?). It should be a fun, artsy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

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In other news . . . I'm working away on Nighthawks, now that Necropolis is out in the world. (have you secured your copy?) It's only been a year since The Fatal Gift of Beauty was published (have you secured your copy?), but I'm being reminded how much work goes into formatting a play. I haven't done that many kinds of books yet, but short of heavy graphics, I have to say that plays win the tedium race. Not that I'm complaining. I wouldn't do it if I didn't think it was worth it. It's just that there are a lot more elements to play layouts than a straight ahead prose or poetry book. Speakers, stage directions, all kinds of little cues to help the reader (especially the non-theater professional reader) see the script on stage, hear the actors, get the rhythm of a scene. The playwright does some of this, of course, but my task as editor is to make sure it all translates to a general audience.

What is fun about the process is how much time I get to spend with the words. When I first read Evan Guilford-Blake's play (based upon the Edward Hopper painting), of course I liked it. I wouldn't be telling you about it now if I hadn't. But now that I have to go through the play line by line, it's fun to see the craft of playwriting up close.

Playwriting is all about the sound, of course. In that sense, it's not all that different from poetry, except the sound has to sound like speech, and what's more, each character has to sound like an individual speaker. There can be heightened language, as in poetry, but it has to fit a character. Evan does that nicely with these characters. I can tell he heard these characters in his head and he worked hard to make sure we could hear them, too. Now, that means there's some dialect in this script. Conventional wisdom says (at least among prose fiction writers) that if you can avoid dialect, do so. Convey education or regionalism with speech patterns or other descriptive words, but avoid the contractions and misspellings that can make a reader go crazy trying to decipher words.

Evan uses dialect. He conveys characters with misspelled words. And I don't think you could get the sound he has in his head without it. "Okay" doesn't tell me the same thing about a character that "Ah-kay." does. I think (and I hope casual readers will agree) that Evan gives us these clues to the characters' speech patterns without making our eyes stumble---or if we stumble, we re-read it, get it, and get more than the simple words on the page tell us.

There's much work to be done on this book, but I'm finding it very enjoyable labor. This is going to be a fine addition to the neoNuma catalog. Keep watching this blog for announcements about availability.

-Neil