Elephants!

I was asked (in the corporate sense of the word) to work 16 hours overtime this week and possibly next week (job #1). It's putting me in a really strange headspace given the amount of work I do as a teacher and writer. I honestly didn't think I could be stretched thinner than I was. I won't say more about that now, but it does mean this post will be short. :-)

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.

Conan O'Brien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/work_hard_2.html#HHvrdTpW4g0g8ubc.99

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.

Conan O'Brien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/work_hard_2.html#HHvrdTpW4g0g8ubc.99

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.

Conan O'Brien

Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/work_hard_2.html#HHvrdTpW4g0g8ubc.99

Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen.
Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/c/conanobri452010.html#2d5wuehxQrIFweQH.99

Meanwhile, here's some really great news: My first fiction chapbook comes out Thursday. Yes, DON'T TEASE THE ELEPHANTS will soon live (in ink and paper)! Mad thanks to Nate Jordon and Monkey Puzzle Press. This small book will be a compilation of 5 of my favorite stories, 2 of which star Rattle. I'll post more soon.

As Conan O'Brien says (according to some quote site), "Work hard, be kind, and amazing things will happen."

Have a beautiful week!

Mega-relax mode

I'm writing this as the dryer works. The sound is soothing, and soothing is exactly what I need today.

Yesterday was a non-event. I had a migraine that kept me from doing much of anything aside from trying to cure my migraine. I am not used to migraines, but this was definitely one. I had one in Vermont, too, and I'm wondering if it's allergies. I drank 6 of those 16 ounce bottles of spring water, took magnesium and zinc because I read those were good, and finally resigned my stubborn self to a Tylenol allergy and sinus pill about 8 p.m. because that was all I had. Maybe it was allergies or sinus stuff because it finally left me alone. Let's just say the water helped as well. But now I feel my weekend is almost up, so I'm in mega-relax mode.

Some rather big news reached me today. My first book, the one that I love/hate/love, will soon be produced in audio. I am so touched that my publisher, All Things That Matter, went to the trouble of submitting it and that it was chosen. I'm a little nervous about how the reading will turn out, but mostly, I'm just excited. Maybe Musical Chairs, my crazy story, will reach who it needs to--those young people who want out of their skin, because they are the reason I wrote it. Well, really, I wrote it for my younger self then shared it for anyone who thought like I did then. I still plan to rewrite it one day. But in the meantime, audio really does open the audience up, so I'm hoping... Anyway, it'll be on iTunes and Audible/Amazon in June. I'll post when I hear more.

So also this week, I got my issue of Thumbnail 4, which is AMAZING! I really recommend buying and reading it. The whole of it is just stunning. Also, Lost in Thought 4 came out. I haven't received my copy yet, but my story in this one is almost prose poetry, so it's another reach. I'll be very eager to read the rest of it. There are some damn fine writers in there. It's really reasonable to buy online, but I'm waiting for my print version of this one. The art is just so amazing... I have to.

Well, that's it for the week. I'm going to try and write a little. I've had a sort of dry spell the last week. But dry spells for writers are okay. I consider these times the way we recharge and take in the world. We are forever reevaluating ourselves and our place, and this is why there will never be an end to the newness of perspective in story. Now, off to prove that... Happy week, all!

ATTMP Blog Tour: The Greer Agency

The Greer Agency

The Greer Agency is 75k words of gritty detective fiction presented in 15 separate but connected stories. The reader follows the development of private detective Mike Greer, the only PI in the Altoona, PA phone book. It’s tough to make a living in a decaying old railroad town, but with the help of an anonymous benefactor, Greer lands some interesting cases—cases that he solves with guts and determination. Throughout the stories, his budding romance with Susan grows. Eventually they realize they are right for each other.

Readers will find Mike Greer an accessible everyman with luck, pluck, smarts and a host of interesting friends. He finds his way into and out of problems large and small. Greer narrates the stories in a refreshing and original voice. Each story has its own plot and can stand on its own but, as the book progresses, the mysteries pile up and the plots get more complex until the explosive last story.

Mike Greer is a protagonist with a low tolerance for bullshit and an easy touch for the emotional pleas of the downtrodden. He works alone and struggles against an uncaring world. But throw no pity party for the man, he will have none of it. His melancholy is tightly wrapped inside his tough guy exterior, and pity just bounces off as he walks away, down the dark sidewalks of Altoona into the next story.


Now available in print and e-book format from All Things That matter Press or from from Amazon.
You can read what others are saying about The Greer Agency by clicking here.

To learn more about Harris Tobias, The Greer Agency and his other exciting novels, you can go here, here, or here.

Office Space

I'm training for a writing marathon. (Yes, I invented this event. And as far as I know, I'm the only contestant.) Here's the plan: I'm going to tear myself away from the Internet (thank you, Facebook, for preparing me), break open the Moleskines and go at it. Other than Halloween, I'll be unavailable. I'll be writing. Since I got rejected from Yaddo, this is my personal, solitary, self-imagined residency. And, I'm thrilled at the prospect. But, I don't know if I can do it.

Maybe I can prepare with atmosphere? No, I'm not going to go so far as scenic wallpaper that recreates Saratoga Springs. But, I need something better than piles of paper everywhere and the three calendars I have haning over my computer, which remind me who I need to email back.

I've read numerous books on writing, how-tos and how-to-do-it-betters. Most of them haven't been too useful, and some actually seem creatively-stifling. I enjoyed Atwood, Bradbury and King's... But the rest of them, well, there's usually one really good piece of advice for each hundred pages. And one such recommendation is that you make time. Another, which comes up repeatedly, is that the author create a comfortable and attractive work space. So, this is my training. I think that if I can make time to do this after work, I will be more than ready for the marathon.

I will have to slowly wean myself off the web. Man, I feel withdrawal just thinking about it.