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?

Catching Up; Under a Blameless Moon by Anne McCrady, Bits and Pieces

OOF! Happy New Year, I guess, since I haven't posted since last year. Let me give you a little rundown of how 2008 has started.

That writing marathon I wrote about? Well, two days, before the event, I came down with the flu. Fevers, shakes, aches, all of those symptoms. Knocked me down low. There was no way I could have done the marathon. In my fevered panic, I wondered if I could contact everyone to let them know the event was canceled. Then I remembered that writer, performer, humorist, and Fieldwork colleague Margo Toombs had signed up for the marathon. She's the adventuresome type and I figured she would have the enthusiasm and energy I was hoping to promote with this marathon. So I typed at her, she typed back, I typed an outline of what I had planned, and the marathon went on! About 20 people gathered at the Montrose library and from what I can tell, a good time was had by all. Perhaps best of all, two trashcan bags full of canned foods were collected for the Braes Interfaith Ministries food pantry! Just goes to show that you can throw a successful event without showing up!

Many thanks to Margo and her "can do" attitude. It's good to have colleagues.

Since I last wrote, I was contacted by Becky Haigler, one of the authors in Able to..., and asked if I would come to Shreveport to run a marathon there. I hesitated and said, I could send the outline and she could run it, but she and her co-conspirators said they would like a guest from outside Shreveport, which would make for more participation. So, I thought, okay, it's a nice drive up to Shreveport. And then we typed at each other some more and decided that since I was driving 5 hours north, I could do another workshop, and so a session of my Creative Crosstraining workshop was scheduled as well.

I'll let someone else give the report on that day. Go to:

http://anchorpoet.blogspot.com/

for a report with pictures.

Otherwise, January felt a little lost to the flu. Even though I made the Shreveport trip, I was still low on energy and a tickle in my throat would give me coughing fits for most of the month. I seem to be back on track (or as on track as I get) and moving forward. It seems like a million things are going on but I won't put it all in this one blog entry. I do want to tell you about one thing more in detail . . .

Under a Blameless Moon by Anne McCrady

Part of my trip to Shreveport included a stop on the way back at the East Texas home of Anne McCrady, poet, storyteller, exceptional human being. I had known she'd won a poetry chapbook competition, but had not yet seen it. Let me tell you about it.

Under a Blameless Moon by Anne McCrady broke my heart several times before I was halfway through it. These are poems that look at the violence and injustice of the world with a direct but compassionate stare. Indictments are few as Anne doesn't look to blame but looks at the human lives in the midst of violence, looks at the sad, crushing results of war and terror and helps the reader ask the "why?" or the "how?" and the "how long?" questions. Perhaps most importantly, Anne looks at the rubble she sees on the TV and the comfort of her pine woods home and wonders what role she plays in world events, helps the reader ask "what now?" and "how can I?" questions. The world needs these poems.

Order yourself a signed copy of this book via Anne's website. Tell her neoNuma sent you: http://www.inspiritry.com

You can also read sample poems from the book on her page. (I had to read "Just War" to my adult Sunday school class. I've been thinking along similar lines the last year and Anne beat me to expressing this thought while at the same time inspiring me to find my own voice on the subject . . . )

Bits and Pieces

Okay, that's enough for this blog. Otherwise, I'll just say I continue to write book reviews for OutSmart Magazine (with some other opportunities coming up---stay tuned!) and I've begun writing a little bit for Whosoever webzine again , where I used to publish a lot but took a few years vacation. Fieldwork starts up February 19 and I'm facilitating again---Houston artists, come join us for 10 weeks of creating new work! http://severaldancerscore.org/flyers/field/houfieldspring08.htm

Next time, I'll make a couple of new neoNuma announcements. Hopefully, it'll before the month is out . . .

-Neil