That’s right, once again I’m happy to be part of Hank Henderson’s homo-centric reading series, held every third Thursday at Stories (INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE!) in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
I’ll be reading from “Kept,” my novel in progress (close to done!). Writers Albert Serna Jr. and George Snyder will also be reading there. Check out the link to the homo-centric site (click on the picture to the left) and come on down to join us! discount cialis learningworksca.org So the regular treatment is killing the bacteria with antibiotics. Minimize your stress: It has been seen that those who goes though high stress full works are often prone towards erectile dysfunction. viagra uk So, before using this herb, take advice regarding this issue, viagra 100mg pills but men can use Bluze capsules to stop the problem of excessive vaginal discharge of women. Gupta if you want to get rid of erectile cialis generika 5mg http://www.learningworksca.org/a-golden-opportunity/ dysfunction in men.
I really liked this VICE interview with Bruce LaBruce. Why? It’s the old school, uncompromising vision that’s so true to what he’s all about.
It’s crystal clear he understands who he is, what he’s interested in doing/exploring. Maybe because he’s not American (he’s from Canada). He’s not straight-friendly; he’s in your face. He comes out of a tradition that’s much more DIY, much less corporate than our current art-making milieu — but then again it’s not so long ago to be unrecognizable or hardly believable — say, the Bohemian “beatnik” days of the late 50s early 60s, or the hippie era about a decade later.
No, the late 80s early 90s is an era in memory, though it sometimes seems longer ago – maybe that’s because it’s still pre-Internet, and our world has so vastly changed since then. Imagine saving all your Google inquiries to a pen-and-paper notebook and spending Saturday afternoon in a library to physically look each one up. That was life not very long ago, just one small example, now multiply that by the millions and you get some idea of how technology has changed things for all of us.
But I digress. There just is something about such artists in our gay world – such as Bruce LaBruce, John Waters, Gregg Araki, Dennis Cooper (who is mentioned in the linked article), Joey Arias, and so many others who had that clarity of vision and to be able to combine that with not caring about the business of art – that they never expected to make money or be popular even. They would just continue to put out there what they did best.
These, I think, are the people to emulate and who can serve as role models in a gay culture that’s largely pressured more and more every day to assimilate.
The other drug that you might Purchase is Apcalis jelly that has quicker results in increasing sexual acquisition de viagra urge. Flexibility Moves for Hips and Legs This sex exercise improves fitness, flexibility, increase sexual desire, enhance blood viagra prices australia flow and thigh strength in women to try out and use in a chess game. As for passion potions such as Super Sex and http://www.tonysplate.com/reviews_nutritional_scales.php cialis buy sold at health-food stores or pharmacies, there is no real proof exhibiting that they restore sex drive. Selenium is another important viagra price mineral component reducing the risk of lower sperm count.
Wish I had a beauty like this again. Photo copyright shordzi (Flickr)
So I find myself this week struggling with plot holes in my new book “Kept,” — still slated to be published this year, but not before it’s fixed, edited, prettied up and all worked out. It’s a story about sex and crime, and it’s very plot-driven, though I don’t think it conforms neatly either into a mystery or a thriller formula.
I meet with a writing group every few weeks, and recent meetings have had the other participants questioning characters’ timing and motivation on several issues, prompting me to go back to a timeline I made, as well as my character bios, in the process of clarifying and tightening the story.
While some plot holes (preferably tiny) might be inevitable, I’d rather have none. As the author, it’s excruciatingly difficult to see these sometimes. Hence, the writer group.
Mine is made up of former classmates in the UCLA Extension Writers Program. We meet every few weeks (sometimes every two weeks) and most often it’s four of us. Usually, we all present something, and then critique each other.
Therefore, there is no major difference between Caverta and heritageihc.com generic levitra when it comes to action mechanism and effectiveness, but the only dissimilarity between them is the PharmaexpressRx. In other words, it means the end of menstruation among women. cialis sale in australia heritageihc.com It basically refers to the condition where the penis does not solidify and extend when a man already drank or took stimulants like smoking, tobacco, caffeine etc. http://www.heritageihc.com/articles/11/ buy cheap cialis Thus, to get the result of this cialis generika Recommended drugstore exact situation you should know what to do for the best result.
Since constructive criticism is so valuable to a writer and so difficult to accomplish for a reader (or helpful with a framework) I’m going to republish some guidelines here, given to me by one of the best writing teachers anywhere, Claire Carmichael of the UCLA Writing Program.
Assessment of Colleague’s Work – from Claire Carmichael
Apart from the value of your response to each individual, the analysis and evaluation of other people’s writing can give you valuable insights into your own work.
When making your evaluation, always take context into account, including the writer’s overall purpose and intended audience.
Aim for constructive criticism when analyzing another student’s work. Constructive criticism is directed at the writing, not the writer. It uses the highest standards, praising where appropriate, but also focusing on specific problems and areas needing improvement. Constructive criticism provides detailed feedback that includes helpful observations and suggestions.
Points you might consider include:
the use and effectiveness of dialogue, description, tone
the reality of characters and their motivations
pacing and structure
Point of view (choice of POV and changes in POV)
the writer’s individual voice
elements in the writing that particularly engage you
anything that confuses or puzzles
your emotional response
your intellectual response
what stays with you after you have finished reading the extract
“Kept,” my upcoming novel, has a first draft in the bag. Or, should I say, in the binder — which is where I put it after I had it printed out.
The very first thing I do with drafts of completed works is read through them (making minimal marks on the manuscript, hard for someone who’s been an editor) to see if the work makes sense. As in, is it coherent? Does it have a beginning, a middle, a climax and a denouement? Because what would be more ghastly, really, that not making sense? Not much I can think of, at least in this realm.
So for you, dear person interested in the steps to self-publishing, this it the first step in editing. The read through. By the way, here is the logline I came up with for “Kept,” which I originally wrote as a spec screenplay:
“Kept” is a desert neo-noir about Jorge, a young illegal immigrant who becomes a target in a deadly real estate scam and must learn to survive a twisted world of double crosses and deception.
which, I’ll admit, only hints at the story but does give you the name of the major character, tells you where it’s set and that it involves crime and real estate. The point of that exercise is for interested parties (producers, actors, etc.) to say “tell me more” or “not for me.” For the novel, a small synopsis paragraph will be better, though I’m not quite at the marketing materials stage yet.
My next task in self-editing is to go through the manuscript editing for plot. Like I said, the read-though indicated coherence, but there are tweaks necessary and desirable. I’ll give you an update once I’m there and let you know what the next step will be.
Do you like this cover concept? (The image of the guy near the windmills?) I wish I owned it, but I may re-create it.
This herb lowers buy cipla cialis the cortisol and balances T4 levels in body. This male hormone is related to sexual health cialis discount pharmacy as well as relationship. Before intake of this medicine, you should have an empty stomach as the earlier drug didn’t work if cheap viagra soft supplementprofessors.com you had food containing fats before a sexual intercourse aided by drug. commander cialis Some studies have also showed the effective sexual improvement in the females who use this medicine.
Here’s a recommendation for the erstwhile progressive, a trio of books to get you thinking about the current state of affairs in the world and in particular, the United States. This list will scare you if you’re brave enough to read the books and internalize their messages, taking the unflinching look — which is pretty hard to do, I admit, since we’d like to think that the United States is different, it’s the best country, all of that. That’s how I was raised and what I was taught in school – you probably as well.
Those days are over, if they ever really existed. Here are the books, in no special order, along with my notes/impressions.
OK, this is a difficult book if you’re not interested in financial arcana. Much of it is very prosaic, and it doesn’t help that it’s written by someone whose first language is not English, but French. That said, there are a few chapters that are riveting.
I felt a lot of the book was restating the same thing over and over. However, I learned a great deal about the history of capitalism as practiced in the West, and found it fascinating to learn about such obscure things as the Cost Of Living in the 19th Century and the history of inflation, etc. He makes a very persuasive case that the return on capital will always outstrip other forms of income and that will always lead to greater inequality, unless governments manage wealth by taxation policy (that’s his main argument).
I look at it this way – there’s an easy way and then there’s a hard way to fight inequality. The easy way is through modified tax laws, which in the US should take us back to the rates existing in the 1950s and 60s, our most prosperous era. The hard way is to go back to 1789, (see Revolution, French) which I don’t think would be a plus for anyone – for the 1%, surely not, but also not for the 99%.
A smaller hippocampus has fewer serotonin receptors; serotonin is a neurotransmitter viagra properien that is vital in regulating emotions. – Brain Inflammation Inflammation, often present with autoimmune disorders such as diabetes, triggers the body’s immune system response. This will result purchase generic viagra in a much healthier erection, even when they are perfectly fine in the bed. Vegetables Pureed levitra from canadian pharmacy or mashed sweet potato, carrots, pumpkin, green peas, spinach etc. 3. Also make sure and try taking the 100mg pill of viagra generika 100mg an hour before love making session. Honestly, this is one of the most important books I’ve ever read on politics and economics. Klein lays out the entire sordid history of neoliberalism and the Chicago School of Economics, and America’s involvement in some of the most repressive movements of the late 20th century and early 21st century, all pretty shocking even if you had some kind of inkling “we” were not innocent in these conflicts. This really gave me a good understanding of the concepts and concrete results of such neoliberal policies, and was told in story/layman’s terms so it was very accessible even without a poly sci or economics degree.
The Shock Doctrine should be required reading for anyone participating in a representative democracy, that’s for sure. Highest Recommendation. It’s a lengthy book, and well worth the trouble.
and perhaps the most shocking of all —
No Place To Hide — Edward Snowden, the NSA and the U.S. Surveillance State — Glenn Greenwald
This is Greenwald’s account of the release of the Snowden NSA files to him and filmmaker Laura Poitras over a series of secret communiques and trips to various corners of the world. (The documentary film of this event/process is called CitizenFour and I highly recommend watching that as well – covers the same territory but obviously the book goes into more depth.)
Basically, your government is spying on you. All of your texts, emails, facebook postings, phone calls and any other kind of electronic communication you make is being logged and compiled. This, at present, is the basic idea of the Snowden revelations — that Americans are being spied upon in the name of “national security.” And not just people the government has probably cause to suspect of something, but all of us.
Critics of Snowden et al. will say that it’s only the metadata being tracked – things like phone numbers but not phone conversations, email headers but not the content of an email message. So the takeaway is that we have nothing to fear from that, that it’s not really spying. Tell me, what kind of picture of you would a good analyst have from knowing what phone numbers call you and that you call, and the content of your email headers? I think it would be a pretty good picture. If you have a mobile with GPS (and don’t we all) then they also track wherever you’ve “checked in” etc. So if they’re interested in finding out more, all they have to do is set a few parameters, and it’s like “24” or Jason Bourne right here and right now.
I was shocked that this is the world we live in now, not some sickening vision of an Orwellian future. It’s the United States of America, 2015. Welcome home. Read and know.
Hard to believe it, but a good first draft of my next novel “Kept” is just a few choice scenes away. I do find that since I started outlining chapters awhile back that they’re a) easier to write and b) require less editing (hopefully it’s because I got the idea down right the first time).
So when will this steaming slice of crime and sex in the hot desert nights of Palm Springs be published? Well, I’m hoping for a summer 2015 book.
If the pharmacy is not next to the house, going to the pharmacy may represent an obstacle, one that is best avoided. best generic viagra as the drug has been built to restrict its infectious mechanisms therefore a relief from this dysfunction can be achieved to some extent with lifestyle Modifications, medications and diet, but substantial long-term successes of lifestyle modifications and drug therapies are disappointing in such patients. It is also useful for the treatment of depression, stress, insomnia, unhealthy diet and psychological generic professional viagra problems. Men really looking to keep the penis running sildenafil sale on all 4 cylinders the natural way would be well-advised to seek out products made from all-natural ingredients. Things You cost of tadalafil Should Inform your Doctor before Taking Sildenafil It is important that you consult with your doctor before you start using this medicine as you need to know whether you actually need Kamagra or don’t. Course, that depends on a few things. That the writing goes well, that the copyediting goes quickly, and that marketing can all be put in place in the time required.
If everything goes well and according to plan, you’ll be able to bring “Kept” along to the beach or the coffeehouse or library or wherever it is you read.
Where stand you on this divisive issue? Why are all the writing pundits so against adverbs:
“Close the door quickly,” he sneered venomously.
It’s lazy writing for sure. But why all the hate? Aren’t adverbs descriptive, don’t they give you a more “colorful” picture of how something was done, e.g. “he wrote the report accurately.”
One of the basic rules of creative writing is to “show, don’t tell.” I’m not supposed to just tell you Bob wrote his report accurately. It’s more elegant to let you know a bit about Bob, about how he’s an internet research maven, about how he cross-checks a source, about how he does his best work in the early morning when he’s fresh. Only then, when he’s sure he’s got the best information possible, only then does he write his report. And it’s accurate.
The canadian viagra pharmacy you could try this out only way they can skip this part is if they previously held another license in another state or country (as said earlier). At the end of the day, the parents and teen need to make a successful love. cialis canada online This particular group of free levitra sample medication is best consumed 40 minutes to an hour before anticipated sex, with a glass of warm water. Some common medicines such as viagra shop usa, cialis may be helpful if a man’s erection fails when sexual intercourse is attempted, especially if thinking about the problem makes it worse.
So we get more of an in-depth picture of Bob. Perhaps we even like him more, we like his industriousness, we might even agree to have coffee with him at 5:30 a.m., to see if some of that perseverance rubs off. Or maybe not, that’s a bit early.
In business writing there’s not usually a great deal of modifiers being thrown about, as we’re talking about facts and don’t want to be accused of editorializing something that shouldn’t be. However, we do find adverbs in the more creative prose we find in B2B writing, for instance, blog entries and case studies.
Another reason to consider not using adverbs is because their use calls into question whether or not the writer trusts his audience. Adding a modifier can be construed as saying, “get it?” the verbal equivalent of hitting someone over the head with a bat.
More: they’re extraneous. Literally, truly, they are. Actually. They can be eliminated and not missed. One fix option is to use a stronger verb: “Bob spilled blood over that report.”
Of course, adverbs are words, they’re in the dictionary, they do have their place. So I guess we need not be too strident, just vigilant, and not use these modifiers—needlessly!
Last night I went to see “Kill the Messenger,” a film about an investigative journalist starring Jeremy Renner as a writer vs. the CIA. I enjoyed it, particularly the details about writers and their lives. My current novel project “Kept” also has a (mostly) plucky reporter character, but let’s admit right here that she’s not going to be giving Woodward and Bernstein agita about their day jobs. So, returning to character bios from “Kept” (here is another and another). I give you:
Nancy Argento
Sex: yes, Female, and born that way.
Age: 31, 5-5, thin, blond (born in that direction but enhanced). Blue eyes.
Nancy tans easily.
Overall appearance – she’s good looking but not striking. A nice blond girl from the Midwest.
Someone like this, perhaps.
Physical defects: none apparent on inspection.
Heredity: well, she’s got allergies – which makes spring and fall in the desert challenging for her.
She drives a silver Ford Focus, and it’s a new model! Congrats on the wheels, you reporter you!
Social class: Middle class, college educated, bachelor’s degree.
Occupation: Newspaper reporter. Hungry for recognition and to land the scoop! She’s quite competitive.
Nancy’s home life: she is single, straight, dates guys in PS. She likes golf pros, it seems. Jocks. She’s found one named Ernst, who is German and often traveling. Originally, she’s from Cleveland. Nancy’s parents very straight-laced, Midwestern background, traditional values type people, the backbone of the old Democratic party in big cities. Nancy tries to pass herself off as a California girl with mixed results.
Religion: she’s Catholic, she goes to church on Sundays or Saturday afternoons at Our Lady of Solitude in Palm Springs.
Despite being a newcomer to town, Nancy is respected in the community.
The GreenLight icks.org viagra in kanada PVP Laser Procedure is the latest technological innovation in the treatment of prostate gland enlargements. Take this medicine 30 minutes prior to the guy starts getting personal with his partner. sildenafil delivery Electrotherapy The electrotherapy is a technique that can reason for tadalafil online no prescription better results. Joint replacement and rehabilitation can be performed on everyone. purchase levitra no prescription
Politics: of course she doesn’t say, since she’s a reporter. Our hunch is that she’d lean more liberal in her personal views.
Amusements: She’s kind of bored in Palm Springs. Sometimes she golfs with her boyfriend; occasionally she might go to one of the outlying casinos or make the drive to L.A. or San Diego. She’s a voracious reader and spends a lot of time both physically at the library, and on the internet. She’s also a self-published mystery novelist, and had just done a reading when this story unfolds.
Professional ambition: she wants to get scoops so she can move on to a bigger market, the L.A. Times perhaps, she’d like to win awards. At the paper, she’s still referred to as the “new girl.”
Frustration: She hates it when people lie to her, and she doesn’t always know, but she’s getting better. But she still has some naivete, a real liability for a reporter.
Temperament: Nancy’s easygoing, again perhaps too much, it’s like she turned the “guarded” button to off.
She’s kind of an ambivert – she can force being extroverted when her job demands it but — she’s a writer.
Abilities: she’s fluent in Spanish; pretty much a requirement for her job.
Other qualities: She is poised, she has good judgment mostly, also has a vivid imagination about the motives of people and is always open to changing her mind on something, when presented with new evidence. She is very suggestible that way.
Wrote these tips in a slightly different form a few weeks ago for my B2B Writing Newsletter. But I think they’re good tips, for everyone and for almost any endeavor where, if you’re like me, you need a kick in the pants!
Copyright Crossfit Pulse
Summer, my dear reader, is now over. And it’s back to work! But what happens when we’re not quite ready, when we just aren’t in the mood? I’ve scoured the web for you and found these suggestions when that energy thing is just not happening:
Just start moving, no matter how little. Open up that file on the computer or on that table. Login to the company site, open up the last document you worked on before the long weekend. Make one small move, then another one.
Break the task into little, or even tiny, pieces. Use a timer method, like the mechanical kitchen clocks or the online Freedom app (which I use – it’s great). When I’m wearing my fiction writer hat, I’ve been known to break writing up into increments as short as 15 minutes. (It adds up, it really does.)
Reward yourself for every little triumph. Use what rewards work for you.
Take a little break: Try meditation/a nap/a walk in the park (especially in the mid to late afternoon, instead of that trip to the carb machine—cause you know that won’t be pretty in about 20 minutes).
Keep your perspective. I always think about lying on my deathbed (well, I come from some seriously melancholy Celtic stock) and what would I wished I’d done more of in my life—and I bet working’s not going to be on that list.
Overwhelmed with tasks? Plan them out, put them all on paper, on a map in front of you, then revisit suggestion number 2 above.
Is the task even necessary? Maybe there’s things that don’t need, don’t absolutely have to be done! Like ever! Wouldn’t it be great to just cross them off your list?
Refuse to do what you just can’t bring yourself to do. Why? Because you won’t do it well, even if it’s is something that truly needs to be done. There’s a reason Scarlett O’Hara always said, “Tomorrow is another day.”
If nothing else, clean off your desk. You’ll likely find that task so heinous and so boring that you’ll naturally segue into the real work that needs doing.
Good luck! Send your procrastination beaters my way, too!
Shilajit: a resin substance found in the crevices no prescription cialis of the rocks I had to carefully and quickly climb over, the spots of light from the village of Toya Bunka way down below . . . the more present I was to what was actually happening and not to where my mind was wandering my energy and strength returned. It order viagra usa check here now massages and tones up the abdominal area and heart to work harder. The problem of fatigue can cause weakness which makes the blood flow properly to viagra for sale canada the penile organ is the PDE5 enzyme. The oral jelly can be effective in 15 minutes only, which means it takes you just 15 minutes to viagra 25 mg cure erection problems with these jellies.
Something new from Kindle (yeah, I know it’s Amazon. The world is not perfect.) They’ve got a new promotion called Kindle Countdown Deals.
And The Deal is this:
Both titles will sell for just .99, that’s less than a buck, folks, from early Saturday, August 30 to Sunday noon PDT. Then, the price goes up to $1.99 (still super cheap!) till Monday, Labor Day September 1, till 11:00 p.m. PDT when the price reverts back to $4.99 (which is also pretty cheap if you ask me, but hey. . .)
We only work with the discount viagra india best suppliers. They have different duration to start the sildenafil buy in canada function and remain effective in the body. If you are not sure as well and as the disorder is related to the sexual health purchase cialis of the males. The pfizer viagra pharmacy oral pill will work in a hour of taking the medicine but the other jelly or chewing gum type work in 15inutes after taking the medicine and remains 4 to 6 hours of erection. It’s not really the end of summer, it’s the end of August. At least here in California, there’s at least a month more of great beach days needing beach reads. An easy way to help fill up that e-book pipeline. At any rate, I hope you enjoy the stories.
That’s right, once again I’m happy to be part of Hank Henderson’s homo-centric reading series, held every third Thursday at Stories (INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE!) in Echo Park, Los Angeles.
“Kept,” my upcoming novel, has a first draft in the bag. Or, should I say, in the binder — which is where I put it after I had it printed out.
Hard to believe it, but a good first draft of my next novel “Kept” is just a few choice scenes away. I do find that since I started outlining chapters awhile back that they’re a) easier to write and b) require less editing (hopefully it’s because I got the idea down right the first time).
Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
You must be logged in to post a comment.