Have you noticed? Folks are slobbering all over themselves writing self-aggrandizing new year's resolutions designed to make them look politically correct and or something other than schmucks.
A guy on the street came up to me and said, "You don't know me, but in 2010 I'm going to do everything in my power to bring about world peace."
"Great," I said. "What action items do you have on your list so far?"
"Those are for next year," he said. "What about you?"
"I'm practically perfect in every way," I said.
The boss man down at the newspaper office said he was easing out yellow journalism in 2010, the teller at the Last National Bank of 5th Avenue told me she was going to put back some of the money she removed from the till in 2009, and my preacher said he was going to pray for the "sons of bitches I abhor."
Powerful stuff, though not to be believed. Such words sound good with a drink in your hand when everyone else at the New Year's Eve party is half drunk.
I could tell you that I'm going to be kind to our fine feathered friends because they might be somebody's mother, that I'm cutting back on drinking and swearing, and that I'm going to stop sleeping with Clark's wife.
But what's the point? I'll forget, you'll forget, and most of what I promise to stop doing, I don't want to stop doing. Just ask yourself: when you look in the mirror and see you're fat, do you really want to stop eating bonbons in 2010? If you're half drunk, why should you resolve to stop drinking in 2010 when you're drinking for a reason? Let's face it, if we all lived up to our new year's resolutions, the world would probably be a boring place.
Who would we have to talk about, write about and gossip about if nobody was doing anything wrong? The world's authors and reporters and shrinks and hookers have built pretty good businesses based on lots of people having bad hair days, sneaking around, cheating, and generally living unkempt lives filled with stress and excess.
Let's keep a good thing going and resolve to stay just as screwed up as we've always been.
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If you like Jock's take on the world, you'll love Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire, the comedy/thriller where the stuff that's wrong is the stuff that's funny.
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
A death on Christmas morning
When we reached my wife Lesa's parent's house in northeast Georgia on Christmas Day, we learned that Lesa's favorite aunt Hazel died earlier that morning. After a year filled with health problems, she had been at home on hospice care.
On her Facebook page, Lesa wrote that she "spent much of Friday looking out over the lawn where my cousins and I played at many a summer's twilight. My beloved aunt died Christmas morning, breaking one more scarce tendril connecting me to my childhood."
A friend told me that in the Jewish tradition, Hazel would have been viewed as a special woman since people who die on holidays are thought to have a direct line to God and Heaven. She was special, doing more for others than for herself over her 79 year life.
How sad it is, some think, that Hazel died on Christmas morning. I think it was fitting. She was her family's greatest gift.
--Malcolm
On her Facebook page, Lesa wrote that she "spent much of Friday looking out over the lawn where my cousins and I played at many a summer's twilight. My beloved aunt died Christmas morning, breaking one more scarce tendril connecting me to my childhood."
A friend told me that in the Jewish tradition, Hazel would have been viewed as a special woman since people who die on holidays are thought to have a direct line to God and Heaven. She was special, doing more for others than for herself over her 79 year life.
How sad it is, some think, that Hazel died on Christmas morning. I think it was fitting. She was her family's greatest gift.
--Malcolm
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The Complete Booker 2010 Challenge
I've been planning to read some of the Booker winners for years. But I get derailed by other books that spring out of the woodwork.
As a little incentive, I signed up for the challenge this year. I plan to begin with Wolf Hall , the 2009 winner by Hillary Mantel. Basically, I want to see what Mantel brings to the table of King Henry VIII. I like the fact that some Amazon reviewers say the book is hard to read--they list their reasons--so perhaps that will make the book both interesting and challenging, though I'm thinking that after "2666," it won't be so difficult I'll quit in midstream.
If you've put off reading the Booker winners and want to know more about the challenge, click here.
As for the moment, it's Christmas Eve. My wife and I will open our gifts to each other, and other family gifts later this evening; then we'll head to NE Georgia to visit her folks on Christmas Day. After several days of pork barbecue, I'll be fixing baked chicken for dinner tonight. That probably breaks all the rules for traditional Christmas Eve dining, but I'm a rebel about such things.
Have a wonderful holiday season, everyone.
Malcolm
As a little incentive, I signed up for the challenge this year. I plan to begin with Wolf Hall , the 2009 winner by Hillary Mantel. Basically, I want to see what Mantel brings to the table of King Henry VIII. I like the fact that some Amazon reviewers say the book is hard to read--they list their reasons--so perhaps that will make the book both interesting and challenging, though I'm thinking that after "2666," it won't be so difficult I'll quit in midstream.
If you've put off reading the Booker winners and want to know more about the challenge, click here.
As for the moment, it's Christmas Eve. My wife and I will open our gifts to each other, and other family gifts later this evening; then we'll head to NE Georgia to visit her folks on Christmas Day. After several days of pork barbecue, I'll be fixing baked chicken for dinner tonight. That probably breaks all the rules for traditional Christmas Eve dining, but I'm a rebel about such things.
Have a wonderful holiday season, everyone.
Malcolm
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
I miss Christmas letters
I never thought I'd say that. Christmas letters have, in many circles, been a joke. In the 1960s, we said, "how ESTABLISHMENT can you be." Later, the joke was more about the stuff that never made it into the Christmas letter. Uncle Zeke's drinking problem and Monica's unexpected baby never got in the letter. The letter was supposed to be good news, probably an over-inflated list of people's real or imagined accomplishments during the past year.
What I miss, though, is the update. A lot of folks--many we were once close to on a daily basis--fall into the category of people who only correspond with us at Christmas. If they were on Facebook, at least we'd know what they're doing. But when they send a card and simply sign it, "Love, Joy and Bob," it seems like a cop out. Even a self-serving Christmas letter would tell us that Bob is retired and helping out at Meals on Wheels and Joy is still the head librarian at PS97. But a signature tells us nothing, like the card was hurried out the door along with 200 others with no thought whatsoever.
I know the whole Christmas card thing is fading into the past. It's harder and harder to justify spending 44 cents to mail each card, much less pay for the better cards. But I'm thinking, as long as people are sending them, how long could it possible take to open up Microsoft Word, type a few lines about what's happening, and print off however many copies one needs.
Sure, it's really an establishment thing to do, but it beats knowing absolutely nothing about all these people wishing us Merry Christmas each year.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Malcolm
What I miss, though, is the update. A lot of folks--many we were once close to on a daily basis--fall into the category of people who only correspond with us at Christmas. If they were on Facebook, at least we'd know what they're doing. But when they send a card and simply sign it, "Love, Joy and Bob," it seems like a cop out. Even a self-serving Christmas letter would tell us that Bob is retired and helping out at Meals on Wheels and Joy is still the head librarian at PS97. But a signature tells us nothing, like the card was hurried out the door along with 200 others with no thought whatsoever.
I know the whole Christmas card thing is fading into the past. It's harder and harder to justify spending 44 cents to mail each card, much less pay for the better cards. But I'm thinking, as long as people are sending them, how long could it possible take to open up Microsoft Word, type a few lines about what's happening, and print off however many copies one needs.
Sure, it's really an establishment thing to do, but it beats knowing absolutely nothing about all these people wishing us Merry Christmas each year.
Have a Merry Christmas!
Malcolm
Sunday, December 20, 2009
What to do about Christmas
Recently, a writer said in her newsletter that as the holidays arrive, writers don't need to get tangled up in feelings of chaos and limbo. The point was, those with full time jobs (working for somebody else) usually don't take the whole Thanksgiving to New Year's Day period off. They go to work day by day and in doing that, a schedule and a sense of order are maintained.
Writers working at home are all to likely to let decorating, shopping, mailing, party preparations and other activities expand and fill all of their time; or else they end up with chunks of time where they're waiting around in between on Christmas duty and the next.
Some of this, I suppose, comes from other people's expectations. Those working 9-5 in an office somehow expect those working at home to have several weeks of free time to take care of "all the Christmas stuff" as though a writer in a den has less of a job than a writer in a corporate cubicle. Even without those expectations, it's easy to arrive at this conclusion oneself as the days go by and the tasks on the TO DO list pile up.
My wife and I, however, are feeling a bit more of the "schedule as always" than we want. We set up the outside lights, but did no decorating inside. We've skipped two Christmas parties so far. Why? We both have deadlines, mine is an article requiring research and photographs; her deadline is wrapped up in the final preparations for re-opening a museum early in January after a two-year restoration project. We could both do with less of a schedule and more of the kind of holiday the people in all the Christmas movies are experiencing.
Next year, we'll try to keep a more normal schedule so we can enjoy a bit of the season. As for now, we often find ourselves asking each other what we're going to do about Christmas. We'll squeeze it in, but it won't be as spontaneous as it ought to be. How about you? Do you have trouble fitting the holidays into a busy schedule?
Writers working at home are all to likely to let decorating, shopping, mailing, party preparations and other activities expand and fill all of their time; or else they end up with chunks of time where they're waiting around in between on Christmas duty and the next.
Some of this, I suppose, comes from other people's expectations. Those working 9-5 in an office somehow expect those working at home to have several weeks of free time to take care of "all the Christmas stuff" as though a writer in a den has less of a job than a writer in a corporate cubicle. Even without those expectations, it's easy to arrive at this conclusion oneself as the days go by and the tasks on the TO DO list pile up.
My wife and I, however, are feeling a bit more of the "schedule as always" than we want. We set up the outside lights, but did no decorating inside. We've skipped two Christmas parties so far. Why? We both have deadlines, mine is an article requiring research and photographs; her deadline is wrapped up in the final preparations for re-opening a museum early in January after a two-year restoration project. We could both do with less of a schedule and more of the kind of holiday the people in all the Christmas movies are experiencing.
Next year, we'll try to keep a more normal schedule so we can enjoy a bit of the season. As for now, we often find ourselves asking each other what we're going to do about Christmas. We'll squeeze it in, but it won't be as spontaneous as it ought to be. How about you? Do you have trouble fitting the holidays into a busy schedule?
Saturday, December 12, 2009
The Infinite Vistion Quest
The photograph displayed at the top of this weblog is Chief Mountain on the eastern edge of Montana's Glacier National Park. The land in the foreground is that of the Blackfeet Nation, specifically the Southern Piegans headquartered in nearby Browning.
In The Sun Singer, set in Glacier National Park, I refer to this mountain as the Guardian wherein lies the spirit of the range. Robert Adams climbs it on a vision quest. In my yet-to-be-published Garden of Heaven, I refer to this mountain by its old Piegan name Nináistko. My protagonist David Ward climbs it on a vision quest.
While geologists view this mountain as an wonderful example of the Lewis Overthrust, the thrust fault that's perched older rock on top of younger rock, Native Americans have long associated with vision quests. The mountain is an apt representation of my life as a writer, as one on an infinite vision quest.
What I see comes to me on mountain tops, on shaded trails, on windy coast lines, and above all else--when I am writing. Writing is, figuratively speaking, my best mountain top. Nature speaks, the muse speaks, my beloved golden eagle speaks, my powerful black horse speaks, all of them when the words are flowing as silken as rain and as gritty as salt in a wound, and their words leave scars.
I treasure the scars and learn from them and hope that others will find them in my work. That is what I'm about as a writer, primarily an imperfect man staring into the heart of the universe as it speaks to me through horses and eagles and a mystically inclined muse. My interpretation of the visions is always flawed, incomplete, lacking in something, and this has always been a depressing notion.
Visions, they say, are beyond words. Words, they say, are too frail to describe the infinite, the Creator at the top of the Tree of Life. Sadly, I must admit this to be true, though I seek to get closer and closer to it and to bring my words closer and closer to it. I do believe I have been following this journey for multiple lifetimes. I hope the trek will never end.
In The Sun Singer, set in Glacier National Park, I refer to this mountain as the Guardian wherein lies the spirit of the range. Robert Adams climbs it on a vision quest. In my yet-to-be-published Garden of Heaven, I refer to this mountain by its old Piegan name Nináistko. My protagonist David Ward climbs it on a vision quest.While geologists view this mountain as an wonderful example of the Lewis Overthrust, the thrust fault that's perched older rock on top of younger rock, Native Americans have long associated with vision quests. The mountain is an apt representation of my life as a writer, as one on an infinite vision quest.
What I see comes to me on mountain tops, on shaded trails, on windy coast lines, and above all else--when I am writing. Writing is, figuratively speaking, my best mountain top. Nature speaks, the muse speaks, my beloved golden eagle speaks, my powerful black horse speaks, all of them when the words are flowing as silken as rain and as gritty as salt in a wound, and their words leave scars.
I treasure the scars and learn from them and hope that others will find them in my work. That is what I'm about as a writer, primarily an imperfect man staring into the heart of the universe as it speaks to me through horses and eagles and a mystically inclined muse. My interpretation of the visions is always flawed, incomplete, lacking in something, and this has always been a depressing notion.
Visions, they say, are beyond words. Words, they say, are too frail to describe the infinite, the Creator at the top of the Tree of Life. Sadly, I must admit this to be true, though I seek to get closer and closer to it and to bring my words closer and closer to it. I do believe I have been following this journey for multiple lifetimes. I hope the trek will never end.
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
Coming Soon: New Edition of 'The Sun Singer'
Work is moving forward on the new edition of "The Sun Singer" coming out from Vanilla Heart Publishing early next year. The 2004 novel, set in Glacier National Park, is making a new appearance during the 100 year anniversary of the park. For more information about the 2010 Centennial, click here.
Here's the new cover art for "The Sun Singer":
You can see the new book trailer here.
Acclaim for "The Sun Singer"
“The Sun Singer is gloriously convoluted, with threads that turn on themselves and lyrical prose on which you can float down the mysterious, sun-shaded channels of this charmingly liquid story.” –Diana Gabaldon Echo in the Bone (Outlander)
“It is high adventure that his grandfather plans for Robert and for all in the family. We are not surprised to learn that Mother disapproves of the journey. Do not mothers always disapprove of the fun grandfathers plan for the boy in the family? It is not just fun, in this case, that Mother opposes; she is against dabbling in magic.” –Living Jackson Magazine
“This magical coming-of-age tale takes the reader through a labyrinth as a teenage boy/man sets off into the cosmic dimensions of the unknown to redeem his grandfather's kingdom and rightfully claim his position in life as a true leader. What I'd give to have Malcolm Campbell's imagination, wisdom, wit, and mastery of the written word.” --Mel Mathews, SamSara (Malcolm Clay Series)
“’The Sun Singer’ is a book that will transport you to other realms, realms that shadow ours. Campbell's story is not only about how one character must complete what his grand-father began, it is about how one must come to terms with loss and death too. Robert undertakes a journey not only to other realities, but to his genetic heritage, a heritage that he must fully accept in order to become free.” --Nora Caron, Journey to the Heart
“I will take more journeys with Robert Adams as he has now taken residence in my imagination. ‘The Sun Singer’ isn't just a book, it's an enlightening. It's a pass to worlds beyond the mundane of closed thought and mediocrity. Perhaps 'home' is in the unopened doors of imagination after all.” --Susan Haley, Rainy Day People
“It is a very structured intelligent novel, each word placed exactly where the author intends and this author intends to stretch the rules, so stay strapped in and bring along your bookmarker-it is not a book to be read quickly.” --Nick Oliva, Only Moments
I'm really looking forward to this new edition.
--Malcolm
P. S. If you follow the Teaser Tuesdays meme, my entry for December 8 is posted on my Writer's Notebook.
Here's the new cover art for "The Sun Singer":
You can see the new book trailer here.
Acclaim for "The Sun Singer"
“The Sun Singer is gloriously convoluted, with threads that turn on themselves and lyrical prose on which you can float down the mysterious, sun-shaded channels of this charmingly liquid story.” –Diana Gabaldon Echo in the Bone (Outlander)
“It is high adventure that his grandfather plans for Robert and for all in the family. We are not surprised to learn that Mother disapproves of the journey. Do not mothers always disapprove of the fun grandfathers plan for the boy in the family? It is not just fun, in this case, that Mother opposes; she is against dabbling in magic.” –Living Jackson Magazine
“This magical coming-of-age tale takes the reader through a labyrinth as a teenage boy/man sets off into the cosmic dimensions of the unknown to redeem his grandfather's kingdom and rightfully claim his position in life as a true leader. What I'd give to have Malcolm Campbell's imagination, wisdom, wit, and mastery of the written word.” --Mel Mathews, SamSara (Malcolm Clay Series)
“’The Sun Singer’ is a book that will transport you to other realms, realms that shadow ours. Campbell's story is not only about how one character must complete what his grand-father began, it is about how one must come to terms with loss and death too. Robert undertakes a journey not only to other realities, but to his genetic heritage, a heritage that he must fully accept in order to become free.” --Nora Caron, Journey to the Heart
“I will take more journeys with Robert Adams as he has now taken residence in my imagination. ‘The Sun Singer’ isn't just a book, it's an enlightening. It's a pass to worlds beyond the mundane of closed thought and mediocrity. Perhaps 'home' is in the unopened doors of imagination after all.” --Susan Haley, Rainy Day People
“It is a very structured intelligent novel, each word placed exactly where the author intends and this author intends to stretch the rules, so stay strapped in and bring along your bookmarker-it is not a book to be read quickly.” --Nick Oliva, Only Moments
I'm really looking forward to this new edition.
--Malcolm
P. S. If you follow the Teaser Tuesdays meme, my entry for December 8 is posted on my Writer's Notebook.
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Jefferson's Christmas Parade
I enjoyed being one of seven grand marshals in Jefferson's annual Christmas parade on Saturday. Our Main Street manager--who set up the parade--picked authors to lead the parade to go along with the "storybook Christmas" theme. Each of us perched up on the back of a convertible with our name and the title of a book on the side of it, and waived and threw candy to those along the 40-minute route. We worried about the weather all week since early forecasts showed a 70% chance of rain. But the day ended up sunny and cold, a perfect day for a large crowd and a bit of a sore throat from riding in the wind. My wife went with me and help ensure the candy was well distributed.
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I'm blogging over at author Pat Bertram's place today with a guest post about the role of place and description in fiction. Stop by and comment and/or say "hello" at "The Place is More Than Scenery." Pat has posted an excerpt from the novel at her Dragon My Feet blog as well.
--Malcolm
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Chelle Cordero at Malcolm's Round Table
Author Chelle Cordero stops by Malcolm's Round Table today with a guest post called "You're not an author, you're my mom." I can definitely identify with her humorous take on writing--except for the mom part.
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As Glacier National Park's 2010 Centennial approaches, the National Park Service released "A View Inside Glacier National Park: 100 Years, 100 Stories" on December 1. The book, which celebrates the experiences "100 people whose lives have been enriched and who have been inspired by the grandeur and beauty of Glacier National Park" will be used in part to raise funds to support centennial events.
I'm pleased that my memory of the 1964 flood has been included. The book is available through the Glacier Association.
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With a new edition of "The Sun Singer" (set in Glacier National Park) coming out next spring, I'm gearing up for sustained work on the sequel "Sarabande."
In "The Sun Singer," protagonist Robert Adams follows the hero path, as outlined by Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell and others, as he steps through an unknown mountain portal on a dangerous adventure. In "Sarabande," the protagonist will be following the heroine's journey as described by Maureen Murdock.
I've avoided the sequel for five years because I wasn't sure how well I could write fiction from a female character's point of view. I shall try. I have no choice in the matter actually because the characters aren't inclined to be quiet. Oh, they were quiet for a while, biding their time, waiting until I was distracted by other things to jump out of the wood work and start campaigning for a 100,000 words of my time.
Plus, Sarabande wants her story to be told. She comes from a look-alike alternative universe that's less technology based than ours. But it's just as patriarchal. Like so many women in our society, success for her was defined by male values at the expense of her true self.
It's time for me to start listening to her.
--Malcolm
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As Glacier National Park's 2010 Centennial approaches, the National Park Service released "A View Inside Glacier National Park: 100 Years, 100 Stories" on December 1. The book, which celebrates the experiences "100 people whose lives have been enriched and who have been inspired by the grandeur and beauty of Glacier National Park" will be used in part to raise funds to support centennial events.I'm pleased that my memory of the 1964 flood has been included. The book is available through the Glacier Association.
-
With a new edition of "The Sun Singer" (set in Glacier National Park) coming out next spring, I'm gearing up for sustained work on the sequel "Sarabande."
In "The Sun Singer," protagonist Robert Adams follows the hero path, as outlined by Christopher Vogler, Joseph Campbell and others, as he steps through an unknown mountain portal on a dangerous adventure. In "Sarabande," the protagonist will be following the heroine's journey as described by Maureen Murdock.
I've avoided the sequel for five years because I wasn't sure how well I could write fiction from a female character's point of view. I shall try. I have no choice in the matter actually because the characters aren't inclined to be quiet. Oh, they were quiet for a while, biding their time, waiting until I was distracted by other things to jump out of the wood work and start campaigning for a 100,000 words of my time.
Plus, Sarabande wants her story to be told. She comes from a look-alike alternative universe that's less technology based than ours. But it's just as patriarchal. Like so many women in our society, success for her was defined by male values at the expense of her true self.
It's time for me to start listening to her.
--Malcolm
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
December 1 GoodReads Giveaway
Congratulations to Katie in Canada and Kristin in the United States who won the two free copies of "Jock Stewart and the Missing Sea of Fire" in today's giveaway at GoodReads. Have fun reading the book: I'm mailing it tomorrow.
Thanks to all 456 people who entered. I wish I had a copy for each of you, though you can read the first 35% of it for free on Smashwords.
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For all of you following the Tuesday Teaser meme, my offering for December 1 is posted on Writer's Notebook.
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This Thursday, author Chelle Cordero, who is now touring her new novel "A Chaunce of Riches," will be my guest on Malcolm's Round Table with a humorous article about the writing life.
--Malcolm
"Don't you wish you had a job like mine? All you have to do is think up a certain number of words! Plus, you can repeat words! And they don't even have to be true!"
-- Dave Barry
Thanks to all 456 people who entered. I wish I had a copy for each of you, though you can read the first 35% of it for free on Smashwords.
-
For all of you following the Tuesday Teaser meme, my offering for December 1 is posted on Writer's Notebook.
-
This Thursday, author Chelle Cordero, who is now touring her new novel "A Chaunce of Riches," will be my guest on Malcolm's Round Table with a humorous article about the writing life.
--Malcolm
"Don't you wish you had a job like mine? All you have to do is think up a certain number of words! Plus, you can repeat words! And they don't even have to be true!"
-- Dave Barry
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