Plug-ness: Poetry Reading, This Thursday

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I’ll be reading a few poems this Thursday night at the West’s Oldest Independent Bookseller (aka, Books Inc, Alameda) at 7:30 pm along with Jannie Dresser, Julia Park Tracey, and some guy named Don. I’m not sure whether we’ll be reading in sequence or simultaneously, but that’s the drama, right? Bay Area folks, of course we’d love to see ya there.

An about-creativity.com interview with National Novel Writing Month’s Chris Baty

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Now that we’ve moved the creativity interviews over to about-creativity.com, my plan is to post brief excerpts here, both to share favorite bits, and to let folks know when new interviews go live.
The most recent interview was with Chris Baty, founder of National Novel Writing Month, an extraordinary site, community, and annual event that exhorts people to write a 50,000 word novel over the course of November.
Baty’s been doing this for years now, and I wanted to find out what he’s learned from getting hundreds of thousands of people to tackle a creative project of that scale Here’s a bit of his answer:

“Part of National Novel Writing Month’s success, the reason so
many people keep doing it, is that it’s an event. I didn’t study English in college. I always loved books. I loved writing. But I’m an anthropology major, and I didn’t come at this from the position of an aspiring novelist who really was frustrated by the realities in the publishing market so I made my own world. It was really just like, “Man, books are so cool, and wouldn’t it be cool to write a book?” And because of that, there isn’t this unnecessary stultifying reverence for the literary art form.
I see novels as an enormous, exciting puzzle or something similar to the local middle school basketball court where you can go up on Saturday with your friends and have a great day losing yourself in this game and the thrill of competition. Novel writing is the best video game on the planet, one that requires so many different aspects of your imagination and so many different aspects of your life management skills. It really takes a lot of focus and discipline. The creative side of it is just one component.”

The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch, Week 14

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Congrats, ye mighty ‘marching band! It’s the final week and this week’s page count target is pretty straightforward — we’re racing toward the back cover.
When you’ve finished and posted your closing comment, be sure to drop me a note at “poetry at cecilvortex dot com” with your shipping address to stake your claim on a custom magnet (not actually guaranteed but likely) to pull loose paper toward fridge doors.
Big thanks to you all for taking this ride. I’ll confess that I get a huge kick out these ‘marches, and I hope youse do too. See ya round the next bend in the trail….
-Cecil

The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch, Week 13

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…in which I forgo all attempts at pith to focus instead on (1) timely posting! and (2) correct categorizing! I’m still reading, enjoying, trailing behind. Hope to meet you at the finish line, perhaps while you’re all packing up your cars and/or napping under trees…..
Next Wednesday: Let’s catch up for at the end of Book Twelve, Chapter 8, along with the “indisputable one!”
(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-715; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o’ day Tuesday)

The Brothers Karamazov Deathmarch, Week 12

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Welcome to Week 12 and my first best opportunity to make good on last week’s pledge to be late- nae-more. Let me also declare general amnesty to anyone who didn’t have a chance to comment last week. There was hardly enough time to get the keyboard, and yet somehow, astonishingly, 17 of you did. I think, by the way, this is a Deathmarch record — I can’t recall this many marchers making it this close to the end afore. Speaking of which…..
Next Wednesday: Let’s meet up at the end of Book Twelve, Chapter 1 (just a little bit less than 100 pages from the finish line), where they’re being “called up one by one.”
(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-662; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o’ day Tuesday)

The Brothers Karamazov, Week 11

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I had a great day today reading 60 pages, and I’m still 30 pages behind the last target! But I pledge this to ye, my deathmarching pals: You’ve all been wildly patient with me, even a certain Old Man. From here on out, particularly as we close in on the conclusion, I’ll put the good of the many above the few, and most especially the one, which means posting on Wednesday, whether I’m with the pack or miles behind.
As regards the text, I’m in the happy-reader camp — really enjoyed Dmitri’s inquisition, all the lovely spins and dips his mind does when his mouth is moving. And the boys section is off to a wonderful start. Kolya walking down the street, messing with everyone he passes, that was an extra pure joy.
Next Wednesday: Let’s meet up at the end of Book Eleven, Chapter 6, where he’s making “his way to Smerdyakov again.”
(which is to say: please use this thread for comments on pages 0-612; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by, dareIsay, the end o’ day Tuesday)

The Brothers Karamazov, Week 10

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4/30 Update: I’m extra special behind this week but will post tomorrow. For those saying, “what the what?”, between you and me, the next target is: Book XI, Chapter 6…..
And just like that, it’s Week 10! I’m still reading, having a great time with the book, but I can’t say I’ve caught up. In my world, Dmitri just had a glorious extended freakout involving angry Poles and blood and money and at least one moment of delirium, and then the roof caved in. I can see now what everyone’s been talking about in the comments. It does feel like FD spent the first 300 pages meticulously putting his boat together, kneeling by the river’s side, and now he’s gone and thrown into the rapids. That’s right, it’s a whiterafting gumball rally! Or something like that. Very glad to have it made to this exhilirating patch, and thanks to you all for pulling me along….
Next Wednesday: Let’s meet up at the end of Part IV, Book Ten, Chapter 7 — “make sure you come! Ici….”
(which is to say: please use this Week 4 thread for comments on pages 0-562; aim to finish reading that section and shout out here by end o’ day Tuesday)

A Whole New About-Creativity.com (Don’t You Dare Close Your Eyes)

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I’m delighted to share the news that the “Conversations about Creativity” interviews on this site have moved over to their entirely new digs at about-creativity.com.
A post on the about-creativity.com blog gives a tour of the major changes we’ve made, but the quick version is: (1) interviews are now organized and presented in a way that should be much easier to browse through — content burbles up, I say, literally burbles up through vents and other hot spots! (2) We’ve created a couple of all-new areas where you can let folks know what you’re working on and share what works for you.
When you get a chance, please drop by the new site and chime in!
In related news, now that the site is up, new interviews will be following shortly, starting with a conversation with Chris Baty of NaNoWriMo (Nation Novel Writing Month), due to be posted next week.
-Cecil