The news dropped today that my long-in-gestation literary novel MANSION OF HIGH GHOSTS, now out on submission, has made it through the initial reading at Pat Conroy’s new fiction imprint Story River Press, though not selected for the first round of releases coming in 2014. When is a rejection not a rejection? When you’ve made the […]
Seven hundred pages; one-hundred eighty six thousand words. DIXIANA rolls on. As we enter the last week of the third month of writing this massive Southern literary novel (and with my personal deadline looming in another month’s time), over the last few days I’ve suffered something of a crisis of confidence. Not so much over […]
Here’s part two of my review of the recent Phish shows in Georgia. Click here for part one. PHISH Wednesday, 07/17/2013 Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, Alpharetta, GA Soundcheck: Energy -> Gimme Some Lovin’ Jam -> Energy Set 1: Runaway Jim > The Moma Dance, Funky Bitch, Divided Sky, Gumbo > Nellie Kane > Frost[1], Alaska, Guyute, Stealing Time From the Faulty Plan > Suzy Greenberg Set 2: Punch You […]
After a one year hiatus from Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre at Encore Park, an acoustically pleasing, smallish shed (~12k) set amidst a pine forest in northern Georgia, Vermont’s prog-rock favorite sons returned this week to the American South to present a pair of shows that fairly crackled with energy, engagement, thoughtful song selection, and yes, rain […]
DIXIANA, otherwise known around these parts as Novel 2013, is still chugging along, and now stands at 166,000 words; hitting 170 today or tomorrow. What’s next? Three major ‘books’ within the overall structure of eight sub-books and an epilogue (already done and in place) remain to be written. What this means, I think, is that […]
Travel to Phish shows. Whether hitchhiking, driving across country, or choosing more upmarket conveyances, it’s always a thrill, more so when it’s show day and you have planes and rental cars and rigmarole and miles to go, and the potential for delays and misadventure hanging over your head. And all that’s also why in getting […]
The day and night of July 2, 1995 at the Deer Creek Music Center outside Indianapolis might have been eighteen years ago, but as with any intense experience, the memories of what a dedicated Deadhead expereiloom large and fresh and terrible. ‘Suffer’ is a matter of degree, I know. But to have your final Grateful […]
It’s getting into that holiday-week feeling vibe, and with the end of month number two of the composition of DIXIANA upon us, time for an update regarding what we may also think of as Novel 2013. Click through to find out more about what this project’s all about, my approach to the writing, and my ambitions for […]
UPDATE: I downgraded and toned down what had been a bit of a bitter rant toward the end. Eh. Blowing off steam. It’s all good, just a sensitive writer responding to the stresses of the path. Revised post follows. — A while back I made a commitment to keep readers informed about career events, both […]
The gratifying journey of Fellow Traveler continues this morning with another positive review, this one from jambands.com, courtesy journalist Brian Robbins. Here’s an excerpt: Some books are murder mysteries; Fellow Traveler is a life mystery. Newly-divorced-and-somewhat-adrift Ashton Tobias “Z” Zemp is trying to make some sense of the life (and recent death) of his best friend – and […]
