3-for-21

I did a year-end tally for submissions/grant applications. Out of 21 submissions, I hit on three (Dust&Fire journal out of Bemidji State, the Writer's Digest competition, and the Jerome grant). Overall 11 rejections, and I'm still waiting to hear on 7.

That is a 14% success rate (or 86% failure rate!). But I will always stand by my mantra that if you submit, submit, submit, something will stick. Who knows, maybe it will even be the big one. For this year, I would say the Jerome grant was the big one for me. I definitely had my heart set on it when I applied.

Fashion pet peeves

I don't know what it is, but I really cannot stand Uggs. Intellectually, I like them. I think they're cute. But it's the fact that I see them on most EVERYONE. At least, most everyone under the age of 22. I guess I've always revolted against trends. At the mall one night, I decided to count the number of Uggs I saw people wearing. Nine. And I was at the mall for 15 minutes.

But please, please, please, if you must wear your Uggs, please don't wear them over sweatpants. Jeans only, or some type of tight pant. Leave the baggy crap at home.

And I'm still seeing far too much fleshy skin hanging like dough over tight waistbands, skin exposed by too small, too tight tops.

And the soap I just used in the Caribou restroom smells like bad cologne that an unfashionable high school boyfriend wore. Bad memories.

Bush Foundation grant

I'm throwing my hat in the ring for the $48,000 Bush Foundation grant. With everyone else in the known world, I'm sure. But I will always say, time and again: Apply for everything and all things, no matter how far out of reach they seem. Something will stick at some point.

Weekly Reader

My Oct. 9 guest, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian/author James McPherson, was recently a guest on the New York Times Book Review podcast. The Weekly Reader leads to good things, ha ha!

Writer's Digest competition

In the mail on Monday I received a certificate for an honorable mention in the annual Writer's Digest competition. I entered "Dad Digs Uncle Davey's Grave" in the memoir/personal essay category. I entered the competition in 2007 but didn't place. This was my second attempt.

That makes four selections from the memoir that have received recognition and/or have been published. Now, I have to finish it!

Thank you, British Medical Journal

The editors at British Medical Journal have dared to point out what too many people are afraid of saying in this global-warming conversation: Fewer kids, smaller carbon footprint. No kids, really small carbon footprint. Thank you.

Read more here.

As I was doing the laundry one day, I was feeling kind of good about myself because I do three, maybe four, loads of laundry a week. In the summer, I try not to run the dryer at all, prefering to let the clothes dry outside. Then I was thinking, how many loads of laundry a week do parents with kids have to do? How many dishwasher loads? How many dirty diapers? I wondered why no one had been talking about this. Then comes the British Medical Journal article. I don't know really what I want to do with this information, since obviously the U.S. isn't going to become China anytime soon. But I like that it's being pointed out. I've made an active, conscious decision for 14 years to not have children, though global warming hasn't factored into the decision. But I like that it's a byproduct.

Great point about authors

Just read this post today (pointed out to me by the fine folks at Brevity).

What goes around, comes around in the world of literature. I guess I've been practicing this karma for years but never knew it.

Research trip

I've recently returned from my research trip to the Bay Area to investigate further the life of Camilla Hall. I'm pleased with the information I came across. I talked to a good friend of Camilla's from the Berkeley days, and I have the names of three others. Tracking them down may be another story, but I have to try.

I'm pretty excited to begin writing. In a way, I don't know where to start. I think I'll just approach it as I approached my memoir in the beginning: write a series of individual chapters and then link them when I think I have everything I need.

But before that, there's a lot more reading to do. I'm always so eager to start writing and I get impatient. Hopefully I can tell myself that it's OK to take a little time with this and complete ALL the research before getting too far into the writing.

I don't have a ton of writing time, anyway. I thought I was going to take the summer off to write! I guess June ended up being fairly free, but not really, as we threw in a quick road trip to Chicago. The week after that I had a Mentorship residency and a weekend in Duluth. Now I'm staring down a deadline for Capstone Press and I need to make a syllabus for the Bethany comp classes and retool the editing class. Aaaargh!

Junior Library Guild

I recently received word that my book for Capstone Press, MEXICAN IMMIGRANTS IN AMERICA, will be a Junior Library Guild Premier Selection for the fall.

I got the email when I was busy and just glanced at it. As I'm pretty new to the children's nonfiction world, I didn't really know what the Junior Library Guild was. This morning, I had a little more time to investigate, and I think it's kind of a big deal! A selection committee reviews more than 3,000 books, and 336 make the final cut.

You can find more information about the JLG here.

Queens of nonfiction

I came across a great article in Monday's Chronicle of Higher Education titled, "Where are the Queens of Nonfiction?" by Anne Trubek. She takes issue with a book released last fall, edited by Ira Glass, called "The New Kings of Nonfiction." You have your big names: Malcolm Gladwell, Chuck Klosterman, Dan Savage. Curiously, two women have also been dubbed "kings": Susan Orlean and Coco Henson Scales.

I have to admit that I bought the book when it came out and didn't even think twice about the title. I'm so embarrassed. Trubek puts forth a good argument about how the title basically excludes an entire gender. We should always be wary of exclusionary language.

Then I realize I didn't think twice about the title perhaps because it's so ingrained in my mind that of course the new nonfiction stars would be "kings." How sad.

Nonfiction encompasses a wide spectrum, from standard reporting to more creative ventures that push genre boundaries. In "The New Kings," Glass pointedly defines the nonfiction in the book as more reportorial instead of essay.

Trubek wonders if this particular style of reportage skews more heavily toward men. I think it does. My favorite nonfiction is this style, an immersion-type of reportage where the writer lives and breathes a subject for a certain amount of time. Good examples of this are Talese, Conover, and Krakauer. As anyone knows, to do this you need a lot of time. You most likely need to travel. Your reporting might take you around the globe. Women may be more reluctant to pursue this type of writing because of the time involved, especially if the woman has a family. So it becomes a larger issue, an issue of gender/workplace. I've seen time and again women drop out of careers that involve long and strange hours. At The Free Press, women were a distinct minority in the newsroom (and still are). Talented women would drop out of the career as soon as they had children. Why is it up to the women to drop out? Why don't men make that choice?

Women succeed in the type of nonfiction that does not call for extended periods of time away from home. The essay and memoir demand reflection and rumination, which can be done from anywhere. But I would like to see more women pursue literary journalism. Let's add some diversity to that subset of creative nonfiction.

Jerome Travel Grant

I was notified last week that I have received a Jerome Travel Grant to research the last years of Camilla Hall, a Minnesota native who was a member of the Symbionese Liberation Army in the 1970s. This research will take me to the San Francisco Bay Area, where she spent the last three years of her life before she was killed in a May 1974 shootout with police.

I plan to go out there for a couple of weeks in July.

Camilla was the subject of my master's thesis and I've always wanted to pursue it as a book project. Her story really is captivating. Her father was a Lutheran pastor and professor, she was active in anti-war protests in the 1960s and by the time she moved to California, she had come out as a lesbian. It appears she was "sucked into" the SLA through her lover, Patricia Soltysik. The dynamics of their relationship are still rather mysterious and likely will always have an air of mystery since Pat was killed in the shootout, too. Everyone who knew Camilla best is dead, which poses a challenge for me. But I'll see what I can find out in California.

Commuting by bicycle

Whoo-hoo! I commuted into Mankato by bicycle for the first time. I don't know what took me so long. It turned out to be surprisingly easy. It's only 12 miles to MSU; it took me about 50 minutes. By car it's at least 15 miles and takes me 20 minutes. When driving, from house to the moment I walk into my MSU office, it takes 30 minutes. By bike I can drive right to my building. So it's only taking me another 20 minutes to bike (but factor in 5-10 minutes to clean up, change clothes, etc.).

My goal is to do this at least once a week. I really want to continue it into the fall semester when I start teaching. It might get a little more complicated in taking a change of clothes, having papers/books, not wanting to look like crap, etc. But I think with some advanced planning I can do it.

So I saved 25 miles on my car today, 25 miles of gas. Yay!

Ace Frehley, baby!

Ace Frehley. First Ave. May 8. Flaming guitar and all. (photo not from First Ave show -- from May 2007, taken by Jerrod Vrazel of zrock.com).

I find it slightly disturbing that I've seen Ace perform more than I've seen Morrissey (six to four). If you would have told me this 15 years ago, I would have collapsed on the floor laughing. But the nice thing about being married to your opposite is that you're exposed to things you would never think of doing.

I also find it slightly disturbing that I knew the words to most of the songs.

But the show cements the fact that I really actually like Ace Frehley songs.

New issue of Brevity

The new issue of Brevity is available on the Web here. I'm such a fan. Short, sweet pieces that go down smoothly. Yet the satisfaction is inversely proportionate to their size.

Coming up for air

Whew -- my three online classes are finally finished! There were a couple of times in the past few weeks where I thought they'd sink me. I could not wait for the light at the end of the tunnel that was early May.

I have a couple of work projects going on, but the good news is that I should be able to dive into the revision process for the memoir.

I've been pecking away at it, a half-hour or an hour each morning for the past several weeks. Checking in with the other nonfiction writers from the Loft Mentorship program and my writing group has been a HUGE help. It's nice to know that I have to report to someone. It's not like there's a punishment if I don't write anything, but I like to be able to say I wrote 500 words or 800 words or worked on hour on revision.

So I think I have the first two chapters in place. Now I need to think about what chapter should be the logical next step.

Why?

Why does every famous person (or every person married to a famous person) think he/she is entitled to write a book? And why does everyone cater to these famous people? Bless the famous person who actually has literary talent -- I will not begrudge them that. But what is that -- one percent of the famous people population?

April Fool's Day

I thought what the people up in Ely did on April Fool's Day was a stroke of genius! That morning, I'm listening to 'CCO radio and hear an ad about how Canada is looking to buy Ely from Minnesota. Canada, it seems, wants the best of what Ely has to offer with tourism dollars and all. I knew full well what day it was (it would have been my dad's 64th birthday), so I figured it was a joke. But I went to the Web site the ad directed me to, www.ely.org. There it was, again, the full-blown press release about Canada wanting to acquire Ely. I could have even signed a petition to keep Ely in Minnesota.

On 'CCO again in the afternoon, Don Shelby was talking to a woman representing Ely and they had the conversation going on for about 10 minutes. Finally, at the end, Shelby announces, "April Fool's!"

This was a brilliant bit of marketing for Ely. Not only do they get the town's name out there, but if you signed the petition, it put you on a mailing list for Ely information. I bet the mailing list grew by 1,000% that day, easily!

Whoever thought of this should get a big raise.

It was the perfect April Fool's Day joke, because it was rather outlandish, yet not crazy enough to be discounted. Even though I knew what was going on, there was a tiny bit of me thinking, "Could this be for real?" They disguised it very well as a legitimate news story, with the radio ad, the Web site press release, and the Shelby interview.

Makes me want to move there even more if there's that much creativity flowing around up there! I'm thinking these are the type of people I want to surround myself with.

Vote for my friend's play!

A play written by my friend, Greg Abbott, was selected as a finalist for a national competition in Washington, D.C.

He needs votes to move on! Rate his play “Reali-TV.” It’s about a corporate station deciding to do a reality TV show in the Midwest. Their dart lands on KEYC in Mankato.

Go here to vote.

Thanks!

The impact of a thank-you note

Most every author (nay, I would say, EVERY author) that is a guest on The Weekly Reader is always so grateful and thankful for having a few minutes on the air. It's nice to get those verbal declarations. I'm happy to help out, because 1) I love interviewing people, I always have, I guess that's why I was a newspaper reporter; 2) I love talking to authors, especially authors I'm personally interested in (it's great being a volunteer host because I line up my own guests!); and 3) I hope that the favor is returned when/if I have a book someday.

But I actually got a postcard in the mail the other day from Steve McKee, again thanking me for having him on the program. What a nice gesture!

It's nice there are grateful people in this world, unlike the ungrateful author who turned me down. Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I'm a Scorpio -- we hold grudges.

Weekly Reader March 6

My guest for the upcoming Weekly Reader is none other than Geraldo Rivera. He wrote a new book called HIS-PANIC, about the fear Americans have about Hispanic immigration. I was a little intimidated to interview a guy who's had 40 years of interviewing experience, but it went really well.

So there(!) to people who turn down my requests for an interview! I'm offering you 20-25 minutes to talk about nothing but your book. Even Geraldo recognizes this. If Geraldo recognizes this, so should you.

As you can see, I don't really like to let things go. Refer to my Jan. 23 post.

Dog sledding

So it's been more than two weeks since I've come home from my dog sledding trip to Ely, Minn. Yet I haven't talked about it on the blog. There are several reasons for this:
1. I'm just catching up on work now. Being gone for five days wreaks havoc on the work schedule.
2. I'm trying to get back into the habit of writing. Mostly, though, I've been busy applying for grants and residencies. So when I'm not working, I'm doing that.
3. The trip was so wonderful I'm not sure how to describe it.

I did manage to write an article for the Mankato Free Press right after I got back. But overall, at least for a while, I think the trip is something I want to keep to myself and reflect upon. It meant that much to me. I find myself thinking about it every day. To say it was a "life-changing" event might be a little dramatic. I mean, it was just a dog sledding trip. But there was something about spending all day out in the fresh winter air. There was something about being "up North." There was something about being away from my desk and my computer and my routine. That's all given me a lot to think about. Namely, how do I move up there ASAP?

Here's a picture of Isis, the dog that stole my heart:

Submission at SmithMag.Net

I submitted a story to SmithMag.Net on "Brushes with Fame."

http://www.smithmag.net/brushes_with_fame/story.php?did=4712

Irritation, Part 2

I'm afraid I'm on a roll now -- watch out! But this is directed toward the media, not any one person in particular.

Two things are bothering me this morning:
1) The new movie, "Meet the Spartans," or whatever it's called. Have you seen previews? It's another one of those movies, a la "Scary Movie," that spoofs recent pop culture and other movies. Why, I ask? Why? A movie like this doesn't even have a plot (or so it seems). It's just a series of clips thrown together. It doesn't take any talent to write it, direct it, or act in it. Movies like this keep coming out because people are seeing them. I wish people would stop going to these types of movies. Is it too much to ask for a good story? Award-winning acting? A movie based on favorite books? A movie that touches us, forces us to ask questions, teaches us something? I'm not saying that every movie has to be heavy and serious. I like fun movies as much as the next person. However, even fun movies can have a plot and theme.

2) A commercial for a minivan or something like that. I don't know -- I was too bothered to pay attention to the actual company. Scene: three children watching "SpongeBob" on the couch. Mom says repeatedly, "C'mon, we have to go." Children don't listen; they are reluctant to turn off the TV. Finally, Mom gets tough -- it's really time to go. Children turn off TV, run as fast as they can to the minivan, grab the remote in the minivan and turn on the TV in the van to "SpongeBob." They missed maybe five seconds of their show. Everyone smiles and laughs. Is it just me, or is this what's fundamentally wrong with families today? What are we teaching our children? That it's not OK to miss even five seconds of your show? What's the worst that could happen if the kids tuned out for a little while. If, in the minivan, they all had a family conversation? Used that driving time for a little interaction?

I'm a little irritated

For those who know me and read the headline, they might ask, "What else is new?" Ha ha. But really, something has been weighing on my mind for several days. Maybe writing about it and complaining about it will help me get over it.

So I host a little radio show, "The Weekly Reader," on a little public radio station, KMSU-FM, in Mankato. I like to chat with anyone about writing -- writers, readers, anyone who loves words. Here's how I usually choose guests: I read a book, think "This author would make a great guest," shoot off an email and voila! -- a guest is born. Ninety-nine percent of everyone I contact is more than willing to do the show. In fact, until recently, I could probably say I've had 100% cooperation. What author would not be willing to say yes to someone who is willing to put them on the air and talk about their new book? I'm contacting these people out of the blue -- all they have to do is say yes, and boom -- they get a little publicity. What could be easier for them?

OK, so my show isn't the biggest show out there. I'm no Terry Gross. But if even a few people hear about your book, isn't that a good thing? Most people would say yes. I'm up front with everyone I contact -- I admit this is a small show in a small market. But no one has turned me down. I've had my fair share of local and state authors, but also a few national guests whom I consider to be big names. Susan Orlean was on my show. As was David Paterson, screenwriter for "Bridge to Terabithia" and son of author Katherine Paterson. Ariel Gore. New York Times notable author Danielle Trussoni. No one forced them to go on a small-market show, but they all said yes.

So a couple of weeks ago, I contact an author of a memoir that's doing pretty well. They've received some good attention from national markets. I love memoir, it sounded like a great story, so I offered to get them on the air.

Here's what I get in reply: "Thanks, but no thanks. We're taking a break from interviewing right now."

What???? Excuse me??? I just offered you 25 minutes of devoted, selfish attention to your book, and you're saying no? I can understand burn-out, and I can understand that doing publicity for a book can be grueling and not fun at times. But in my mind, if I had a book, I would not turn down ONE opportunity to tell people about it. I guess the thing that gets me is that I'm seeing updates from said author, and it's clear they're not taking a break! I feel a little dissed.

Oh well, at least I can take comfort in the fact that today I'm recording an interview with Pulitzer Prize nominee Susan Choi.

Six-Word Memoirs, the book

New book released

My Japanese-American internment camp "You Choose" book came in the mail on Thursday. It is published by Capstone Press and is geared toward a third-grade audience. The book is told in second person; kids get to choose what paths they want to follow, with consequences different depending on what path they choose. Man, was this a lot of work! I've not done a children's title that was this intensive. I'm now working on a similar one about the Mexican immigrant experience. That, too, is proving to be a lot of work. But it's been fun to work on something a little different.