GePoWriMo Results

You may recall that I declared November Gerald's Poetry Writing Month in preparation for Nerve Cowboy's 2010 chapbook contest. My goal was a contest maximum forty poems, and the tally stands at forty-seven. Coming up with a theme for the book, I've cut twenty-three of the forty-seven for a contest minimum twenty-four poems. Who predicted this would happen? Anyway, I'll spend the next day or two shuffling the poems into order. I may decide to include a few more. Will report back when the manuscript is in the mail.

The Boylan's Back in Town

Apologies to Thin Lizzy. The entry title refers to my friend, Leverage writer Christine Boylan. Once upon fourteen years ago, nine of us worked on Font, Hofstra's literary magazine. Flash forward to Tuesday night, and four of us, with significant others and kids, got together for pizza (for which Christine refused to let anyone else pay) at my house, or as I call it, The Fortress of So-litude.

I'm thankful most of my Font friends and I have stayed not just in touch, but close. Thanksgiving to me, though, is not only an annual occasion. I'm grateful for every second, for the kindness I'm shown, for the ability to work with others toward a collective good.

L to R: Deshant Paul, Christine and her fiance Eric Heisserer, me, John Ricotta and his daughters

The Big Bang Theory: "The Vengeance Formulation"

At BSCreview, I weigh in on my favorite episode so far this season.

Five Favorites from '09

With the year winding down, Crimespree Cinema's Jeremy Lynch has invited authors, reviewers, and bloggers to offer five favorites of '09 from film, television, or DVD:

FILM

Star Trek - As a Trekkie (Well, someone who just watched Star Trek: TOS, TNG, DS9, Enterprise, and the movies. Okay, a Trekkie.), I went into JJ Abrams's franchise reboot with low expectations. I was pleasantly surprised and thoroughly entertained in a way I haven't been for years. The actors called to mind iconic characters without becoming caricatures. I'm truly hopeful for the future.

Up - A touching, ultimately optimistic movie for young and old. The casting and interplay between Ed Asner and Jordan Nagai are right on. Up succeeded for me where Wall-E fell short.


TV

Castle - As a loyal Browncoat, I'd probably watch any member of the Serenity crew in anything. Castle was a bit too light for my taste when it premiered in March. Luckily it performed well enough to go into a second season in September, and it feels as if the chemistry between Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic has been perfected. The show is hitting its mark as a lighter procedural.

White Collar - USA Network's latest character-driven series brings together a master thief and an equally adept, dogged FBI agent. The writing has met that challenge. New York shows in a uniquely bright, yet authentic light. I haven't even mentioned the actors yet, the individually and collectively great Matt Bomer, Tim DeKay, Willie Garson, Tiffani Thiessen, Sharif Atkins, and Natalie Morales.


DVD

The Middleman: The Complete Series - A masterful mix of rapid-fire pop culture homage and completely original banter between classic square-jawed hero The Middleman (Matt Keeslar) and modern sarcastic Wendy Watson (Natalie Morales).

Asinine Prose: "What Brought This On?"

This past summer, my story "What Brought This On?" received an honorable mention in Asinine Poetry's prose contest. Editor Richie Narvaez has posted the story this month. Enjoy.

Smallville: "Idol"

Starstruck Wonder Twins Zan and Jayna (David Gallagher and Allison Scagliotti) try to help spread the Blur's legend, but their ill-conceived saves only allow Metropolis's corrupt DA to smear the Blur. Meanwhile, Lois has resorted to seeing a psychiatrist to interpret her continuing fantasies about Clark.

This may be my new favorite episode, full of great dialogue and hints of the Superman mythos including Lois's protectiveness of Clark/Superman when the chips are down and Clark's putting on the famous glasses. Kudos to writer Anne Cofell Saunders.

Unlucky, you say?

It's been a good week for me, having reached my chapbook contest goal of forty poems early yesterday. I've decided on a theme and eliminated some of the forty to that end. I'm going to take the rest of the month and see if I can build back up to forty, eliminate further, etc.

Also, I just finished polishing my Walmart flash fiction story. My story and the rest will be posted November 30.

Poetry Progress Report

As of dawn on GePoWriMo Day 10, I have 33 poems for the 2010 Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contest. My goal is the contest-maximum 40 by November 30. If I go over, I'll have a wider selection to draw from for my entry. Follow me on Twitter to track my progress to the minute.

Meanwhile, Jack T. Marlowe has accepted my poem "Best $90 I Ever Spent" for Issue 7 of Gutter Eloquence Magazine, due out January 2010. Intrigued?

Short Stories vs. Novels

On Murderati the other day, Allison Brennan blogged about writing short stories versus novels:

Readers, do you like reading short stories? Novellas? Or prefer to stick only with full-length novels? ...Writers, do you like reading and/or writing short stories?

I commented:

I've always enjoyed concise writing and written concisely, but I'm not satisfied reading or writing just short stories or novels. I think the scope of a story should determine its length. For the classic journey that changes the hero on several levels, a novel can show that journey at a more believable pace than a short story. Conversely, a short story is often better than a novel for showing the immediate effects of a single event. A short story allows you to give the event its due while a novel would force you to draw out its effects perhaps unnecessarily or implausibly.

I am not a Yankee fan(atic).

The team I've rooted for since age 3, the New York Yankees, won their 27th championship last night, and I slept through most of the final game. After watching Cliff Lee dominate Game 1 with a friend, I slept straight through A.J. Burnett's Game 2 win.

Five years I ago, I stayed up and paced through every minute of the Yankees' historic collapse against the Boston Red Sox, and I was very conscious not to get overexcited this time around. To be honest, I had several work commitments throughout the playoffs—the Lineup reading, my weekly reviews for BSC, and GePoWriMo chief among them—that prevented sheer devotion to baseball.

I did follow the Yankees through the regular season, and more than anything I'm aware of how difficult it is to go out and perform, blocking out the media and fan attention. I'm happy they won, but I'm also glad not to let baseball distract me from performing, so to speak.

GePoWriMo Has Started

That's Gerald's Poetry-Writing Month. I've done it unofficially the past two years preparing 24-page entries for the Nerve Cowboy Chapbook Contest. This year's goal is a contest-maximum forty pages. Up, up, and away.