emonome

The book is a hit. Some thoughts from JM.

As you can see below, ancient Egyptians were not just content walking like…um…themselves, they strapped the kithara on and loved to put on an acoustic set, wearing see-through outfits and make-up. However, I’m not so sure King Tut appreciated the set list, especially this little dance routine (no, not that one).

from A Popular Account of the Ancient Egyptians by John Gardner Wilkinson

I was introduced to Tom Grasty after he’d left a comment on my Dylan post. Tom’s latest book, Blood On The Tracks, is out now and can be best described as:

“a murder-mystery set against the world of rock n’ roll. But not just any rock star is knocking on heaven’s door. The murdered rock legend is none other than Bob Dorian.

Suspects? Tons of them.

The only problem is they’re all characters in Bob’s songs. Not to mention they all hold a grudge.” [from his blog]

1. A good writer is like a sponge, some would say. What influences, growing up, shaped you into the writer you are today?

I probably have Ms. Pierce, my third grade teacher, to thank, or berate—depending on how you look at it—for my affinity for absorption. It’s funny. Most kids in elementary school hate writing essays, terms papers and so on. But I loved those things. I’d plan for them weeks in advance, diligently marking the due dates on my calendar, always leaving time for several drafts. I guess even as a kid in fourth and fifth grade, Ms Pierce instilled the importance of rewriting. For me, writing has been more than simple observation and absorption. It’s problem solving. Whether it’s writing advertising copy, political direct mail, screenplays, novels—all of which I have done since leaving Ms. Pierce’s class—writing is a way to step back and give some perspective. And, if you’re lucky, occasionally you get some wonderful results.

 

2. If you had to pick three writers, each from a different medium to cite as your mentor, who would they be? Why?

I’ve always been fond of saying: “I don’t read fiction; my life is interesting enough as it is.” The irony, however, is that when I’m asked to name one, much less three, non-fiction writers I can’t think of a single name. So when confronted with this question, it only calls attention to the fact that most of the writers I admire are, in fact, fiction writers. So who are they? Well, let’s see. I love Thomas Wolfe—that’s Look Homeward, Angel Wolfe, not Bonfire of the Vanities Wolfe. Some people have criticized the former Tom Wolfe’s writing as verbose and longwinded. Personally, I think the lyrical beauty of his prose is mesmerizing. On the other side of that coin, I am amazed how Kurt Vonnegut is able to so skillfully, and precisely, point out the absurdities of life. No one is going to ever peg Vonnegut as someone who talks around the issue. And, of course, I’ve always been partial to a good mystery. My favorites are by Agatha Christie. I know she’s not as ‘sexy’ as say Dan Brown or Michael Crichton, but I’ve always been more attracted to intrigue than action. So let’s see—that’s southern fiction, social satire and mystery. Apparently, I need to reassess my earlier statement. I guess I do read my share of fiction, after all.

 

3. What’s your writing routine like?

(a) I’m always writing (more on that in question #6), but in terms of sitting down and actually staring at the blank screen, I do it in the morning. Typically, I wait for my wife to go to work. And then, when I know I have the whole house to myself, I start sticking the bamboo shoots under my fingernails. I’m kidding. I usually work from an outline, and I typically have a word count. A thousand, fifteen hundred words a day is ambitious, but doable. At that rate, I can have a first draft of a novel in three and a half, four months. I’m told Hemingway used to stop in the middle of a sentence so he could ‘pick it up’ the next day. I stop when I write my thousand words, and when I am ‘out of the scene,’ so to speak. I hate leaving things unresolved, which is exactly what Hemingway was doing by stopping mid-sentence. I also understand Hemingway used to rewrite what he wrote the previous day before he started anew. I rarely go back and revise during a first draft. That’s what an outline is for. I also listen to music when I write. Mostly jazz. I tried listening to Dylan when I was writing Blood on the Tracks since the murdered rock star was inspired by a Dylanesque character. But I kept finding myself actually listening to the songs, trying to figure them out. So I went back to Coltrane.

(b) I had bought “The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings” at a yard sale. Never listened to Coltrane before. Put that six disc set on heavy rotation. That was the core. But of course he recorded for other labels, so I went to the library and started to listen to all the stuff with Miles Davis, etc. So no one album in particular…though ‘Giant Steps’ is a great one. As is ‘Ole.’

 

4. How do you approach new material? What set of criteria do you check with to conclude “yes, there’s a book in this’?

I approach all material differently. Some stories are scripts; some stories novels. I imagine some material might be great fodder for a short story, but I don’t think I’ve written a short story since I was in the third grade. Since you asked about novels, however, I’ll address that one. In a perfect world, the novel is the true haven for a writer. He or she can go in any direction they wish. Digressions are welcomed, even encouraged. The novel is unique in that way. Scripts are very formulaic. If you go off on a tangent, you loose your audience. Books are different. You can put them down, think about the direction the story has taken, then pick up the book and start again later. I say in a ‘perfect world’ because that’s the way novels should be. That’s the way the ‘classics’ I read in grade school where written. Sadly, that’s not how most writers conceive their stories today. They think of their novels as the ‘source material’ for film. Can you imagine if James Joyce or García Márquez selected their material based on how it would translate to film? It would be a very long film or a very short book. Either way, the story would suffer. Now, I’m not so shortsighted as to think that novels should be absent of a ‘hook.’ Having a central idea around which the material revolves is paramount. But some stories are just inherently visual. Those are better served by film. And there are ideas that have a central premise that attracts and sustains the reader’s interest but benefit from more thorough, thoughtful rumination. That’s a novel. It’s a tall order, I know, but the later—a story that attracts you instantly and keeps your attention for four, five hundred pages—that’s what I’m looking for when I’m thing about my next book.

 

5. What’s your take on writer’s block? If you have faced it yourself, how do you overcome it?

In addition to being a writer, I also teach writing. As a result, I not only have to deal with my own apprehensions about sitting down every day and doing the ‘heavy lifting,’ I have to deal with a room full of writers who occasionally hit that wall as well. Here’s what I tell them. I think it’s important that you sit down every day at your computer and ‘write.’ I put the word ‘write’ in quotations because the word is misleading. It implies that when you are sitting in front of the computer you are actually typing words, and those words are appearing on the screen before you. That’s not always going to happen. And when the words don’t come, I’ll be the first to admit it’s one of the most excruciating experiences you can encounter. But if you have committed yourself to an hour, you have to sit there for an hour and deal with it. The reason? Because all of the barriers you are unable to get around at that moment will be worked out later in the most unsuspecting places: the shower, the car, in a conversation. A lot of writers say their writer’s block is overcome in dreams. I buy that. I buy it because you are always writing, whether you are physically engaged in the act or not. But the only way you can get around the wall is to hit it first. And it’s okay to hit it hard. You might get lucky and knock it over right then and there, and save yourself some sleepless nights in the process.

 

6. What surprised you most about the business of writing?

Having been in the entertainment business for many years now, the realization that publishing is a ‘business’ was not a major revelation. I had hoped that the commercialism would have been less invasive, but it’s called the publishing ‘business’ for a reason. But if it weren’t for the fact that my first novel wasn’t deemed ‘commercial’ enough, I’d have never written Blood on the Tracks. And trust me—a book about a murdered rock star in which all the suspects are characters from his songs certainly has more mass appeal than a 500-page tome about a three generations of a dysfunctional family set in the Appalachian Mountains of North Carolina. So in the end, I think I benefited from what I initially saw as a setback.

 

7. Name 3 mistakes you find new writers make and how would you advise them?

Well, considering that Blood on the Tracks is my first published novel, I would imagine a lot of people might consider me a new writer. I don’t. I am a newly published writer…there’s a difference. And that’s exactly the advice I would give to anyone who wants to see their work in print. If you write, you are a writer. Period. And don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not. Someone may not like what you write. They may not think they can sell what you write. Believe me, there’s no shortage of reasons someone might have for not wanting to publish you. But as long as you are writing, they can never tell you that you are not a writer. And with the advent of the Internet—not to mention the numerous other outlets available to writers now—you can put your work out there and find an audience. So my advice is two-fold. First and foremost, keep writing. Don’t stop, don’t question it, don’t stop doing it. Second, while you should always listen to criticism, never let anyone or anything they say stifle your creativity. At the end of the day, your creativity is your greatest asset. Don’t let anyone rob you of it before you have a chance to fully develop it.

 

8. Recommend a new writer to us and tell us why we should read his/her work.

My favorite ‘new’ writer is Jasper Fforde. He’s been writing for close to a decade now, but considering most of my other favorite authors have been dead longer than Jasper’s been alive, it’s all in the way you look at it, I guess. Anyway, Jasper writes these really cool books that incorporate fairy tale characters and figures from classical literature into his books. In fact, in many instances the characters he selects inform the plot itself. Jasper has accomplished the balance that I referred to earlier when you asked me how I approach material. His novels have a ‘hook’—something that attracts us to them—yet he infuses the story with a ‘take’ that makes us look at the expected in a new and unexpected way. So even though Jasper’s been writing for a while, his approach is remarkably refreshing.

 

9. How has the existence of your book, ‘Blood on the Tracks’ changed you as a person? What have you learned about you as a person during the course of writing this book?
Oddly enough, I didn’t have that cathartic, ‘I’m holding my book in my hands’ moment so many newly-published authors have when the book is finally published. I think that’s largely because I’d already seen the cover, seen the page layout, seen all the elements of the book as it was being put together. So I think that ‘wow’ moment was largely reserved for my friends, family and colleagues. For me, hearing them say, ‘I’m holding your book in my hands’—that was the real reward.

 

10. What have you learned not to do as a writer over the years?
Answer too many questions.

 

Blood On The Tracks will be featured at LA’s Skirball Cultural Center bookstore during the upcoming Bob Dylan’s American Journey, 1956-66: Feb 8 - June 8, 2008.

 

Visit here for the latest on ‘Blood On The Tracks’

 

 

About a year ago, Paul had graciously granted two of my other blogs with 3 things: 1) A short article on how he had come to pen ‘The Plot To Save Socrates’, 2) A preview of the book’s first chapter, and 3) Paul’s reading of the first chapter. I’d called it ‘Chapter One’ series and what a premiere! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to continue the blogs, oh for various reasons I care not to talk about - again. While updating some of my old interviews with the Screenwriting teachers, I realized how much I’d enjoyed interviewing and learning from others in the process, first hand. Therefore, Paul is the first person I approached. I enjoyed that so much I am officially re-hooked.

Without further ado, Paul Levinson.

1. You have, as some would say, lived many lives? Growing up, what are some of the things you remember influencing you as a writer?

First and foremost, reading science fiction - the great Foundation series by Asimov, his End of Eternity, Heinlein’s The Door into Summer. For me, to read a great work of science fiction was also to want to write it. Outside of reading, I would say the dawn of the space age in the 1950s, the election of JFK in 1960, and watching television were great influences on me as a writer. And if we’re talking about my nonfiction, I was influenced by the Constitution and the study of our American history. It left me with a deep respect for the First Amendment and what it protects - which is, media and communication, free from governmental interference. At least, that is what the First Amendment is supposed to protect, when the government respects it.

 

2. If you had to pick 3 writers as mentors, each from a different medium, who would they be? And why?

Marshall McLuhan - the medium of scholarly nonfiction books, and I had the pleasure of working with him in person, near the end of his life in the late 1970s. He taught me how to think creatively about media - how to look at the big picture, and the crucial unnoticed connections. For example, how the faceless medium of radio made Adolf Hitler possible. And, on the other side of the spectrum, how television helped put JFK in the White House.
Isaac Asimov - far and away the best author of science fiction. His zest for writing still inspires me (I met him only briefly).

I. F. Stone - my most recent mentor - in particular, his book The Trial of Socrates. It was a spark plug for writing The Plot to Save Socrates - not the ideas in my novel, but just the passion Stone brought to this single historical-investigative nonfiction book.

 

3. Young writers often talk about struggling to find their voices. How did you find yours? What advice would you give new writers who are in search of a voice?

It was no struggle - I feel as if I’ve had my voice since the day I was born - I’ve certainly had it and used it ever since I could think. For me, the struggle has always been, and still is, how to get more people to at least listen to it. I’m on television, radio, have a dozen books and hundreds of articles and short stories published, have blogs and podcasts - http://InfiniteRegress.tv and http://LightonLightThrough.com are read or listened to by thousands of people weekly - but I still have only scratched the surface.

 

4. What’s your writing routine like? How do you balance your writing life with your television and teaching life?

I write whenever I feel like it - which is every day, always. I let nothing stand in the way of my writing. If I get the urge when I’m teaching, I go to my office right after my class and write. If I feel like writing when I’m watching television, I stop the show, and write - or maybe I’ll wait until the end of the show. I detest schedules. I like giving in to my passion for writing. I do my best to keep obstacles out of the way of my writing.

 

5. How do you know if an idea you’ve been kicking around would be perfect for a book? What criteria do you measure that idea against?

I used to think a long time ago that ideas had certain intrinsic writing sizes - some make good articles or stories, other make good books or novels. I’ve come to believe - in the past decade or so - that any idea can work in any length format. So it’s my choice. In practice, since books usually get more attention than articles or stories, I put most of my print publication focus into writing books. But I also write at least 2-3 blog posts a day, 250-750 words, for InfiniteRegress.tv and my MySpace blog.

 

6. Writer’s block: Do you face it? How do you overcome it?

Never had it, so don’t need to overcome it. But what I’m always fighting to overcome are impositions on my time that get in the way of my writing. I’m finishing my 2nd and final 3-year term as Chair of the Department of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. Although I’ve gotten joy from the good I’ve been able to do for students and faculty from that position, I’ll be very glad to be a former Chair - more time to write!

 

7. Most writers are unaware of the business of writing. What advice would you give to young writers about the business aspect of writing?

Don’t talk about what you’re writing, write it. Finish what you start writing. Get your work to editors and publishers - don’t let courtesy get in your way. If someone turns your work down, move on to the next editor and don’t look back. Start at the top - the biggest publishers and publications - if you can, but any publication is better than no publication. Don’t take advice about your writing from anyone in the business of writing, unless that person is giving you a contract. (As per Erle Stanley Gardner’s advice to potential publishers: “If you have anything to say about my writing, put it on the back of the damn check!” He was the author of the Perry Mason novels.) In your contracts, don’t give up your copyright, and be tough in your negotiations. Publishers could not exist without your work as a writer - never forget that. Be open to criticism, but stick up for what you believe in. Don’t seek an agent until you have an editor interested in your work.

 

8. Recommend a new writer to us and tell us why we should read his/her work.

David S. Michaels & Daniel Brenton - authors of Red Moon, one of the best science fiction novels ever written.

 

9. What would you say are the 3 most important aspects of writing fiction? Esp. fiction where a lot of historical context is attached?

a. Write something that truly brings you joy to write - otherwise, you may never finish it.

b. Don’t be shy about putting yourself and people you know well into your characters - nothing reads as true as characters taken from the life you know best, your own.

c. Make sure you are accurate in all of your details - nothing snaps the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief more than coming upon a detail about a real place or person which is wrong.

 

10. How has ‘The Plot to Save Socrates’ changed you as a person? What has changed in your life while you were writing the book that has nothing to do with your writing?

It made me more confident as a writer - which is saying a lot, since I was very confident before. What most changed in my life as I was writing The Plot to Socrates is that my kids were close to becoming full-fledged adults, which they pretty much are now. My wife and I are even happier about them than we are about the novel.

Coming on 01-22-2008: Interview with Tom Grasty, author of Blood On the Tracks