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The Lady of the Lake, in her own words. Yes, I have been slow to get to this story - but tell me this is not the best plot bunny ever - Nyneve becomes an actor in Paris ...

Aieeeee! Stephen G. Parks has a writer's worst nightmare. Sigh - but he probably did the right thing.

Ahh, the beautiful standards of art - where a woman's nudity is all but mandatory, but a man's is the time for censorship. Imagine actually thinking, "Okay, now I wish I'd seen naked Batman."

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“How do the breasts look?
“She was always very fancy.”
“I don’t have nothing to hide.”

So, yeah. Eep, the world ... ... ... but for now, there are puppies. Thoughts from E. M. Goldsmith (and a couple comments from me, too).

"23 shipwrecks in 22 days" is a lot of discovery.

And, because I needed MORE blogs to provide me perpetually renewing online TBR, Benjamin Clark on researching wet paper towels - and so much more!

EDITED TO ADD ...

Like Benjamin Clark wasn't bad enough, then I found Nate Wilson's blog and, on top of having the AbFab theme running through my head, now I want to write science haiku.

And finally, Stephen Parks' post on automation actually reminds me that the fiction he cites, fearing exactly the same things we fear now, is generations old now. Reassuring? Could be ... But I did think of the comments Jeff Sypek recently had regarding some of the less-observed socio-economic aspects of the self-driving car question.

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Happy St. George's Day! Please join J.V. Cullen for a few minutes' fun with facts on April 23. He's always witty, easy reading - plus, Star Wars references and the phrase "Bring out the kittens." *Snort!*

Leila Gaskin has a GREAT post on women (or men) who read books. And I'll be needing the WWRB t-shirt she's designing.

THIS JUST IN: Lilac Shoshani has an interview with Donna Everhart, author of The Education of Dixie Dupree. Neato-spedito!

In the very last link here, we took a look at the stunning preservation of a seventeenth-century silk gown. Now we have an idea as to whose gown that was. I'm completely taken away when we can find owers and stories and histories of artifacts which are interesting enough in their own right, but can be deepened with this kind of provenance.

Gary Corby on The Beatles and stadium gigs even older than Shea. Who wouldn't want to hear an ancient Grecian trumpet-blowing contest?

Proving that The History Blog has more to offer than fascinating silk dresses - how about the intriguing finds at an archaeological dig at Malcolm X's house? From the eighteenth century to 1959 records (you can listen to at a link provided), get a load of where Mr.X (not mine) grew up.

Here is magnificent writing, including a grabber of a first sentence. Whipchick, on the times she's been on fire ... "Burn wards are full of children." *Shudder*

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 This interview gets seriously squidgy at about 10:00, but the piece as a whole is as fascinating as James Burke always is … and the opening 1:21 is stunning. And his closing quote is one of those moments where you feel “Oh, well, that’s all right then.” Take a trip with him from the medieval world to 2050 or so. He is always a great traveling companion.

Beautiful tuffaceous sandstone. I learned what tufa was reading the Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. But Mojourner is a far better writer - and photographer.

World building resources from People of Color in European History - aid in creating languages, calculating your characters' travels, calendaring, maps ... some great assists for authors of fantasy OR historical.

Dena Pawling's posts about the law are so fascinating. Being a "recluse" ain't what it used to be - fortunately, I still seem to have a hell of a knack for it.

It's pretty exciting watching the road to publication with Donna Everheart. Go Donna!

Hey, if incompetence weren't hilarious, the state of American comedy would be pretty grim indeed.
--John Ramos

Even Just an Interview ...

... with the Arrant Pedant is erudite, openminded, engaging, and worth reading.  So go.  I'll still be here.

There are ways to love language that don’t involve being lecturing people on their mistakes or otherwise being an insufferable pedant.

(I)t’s sad that people assume that being an editor or a grammar expert means you’re a jerk.

--Jonathon Owen

Quick Costume Change

Two short links for those who enjoy the costuming posts ...

First, Two Nerdy History Girls takes a look at the 18th century mask.  Sunblock, identity protection, emblem of prostitution - tool of feminine deceit (men who don't get what they want have always found a way to turn women who won't give it to them into whores) - name your function, they are a curious device no matter how we slice 'em.

Second, an American Duchess has an interview with Cathy Hay, who has designed some of the most remarkable historical-inspired dresses you could ask to drool for.  Anyone who *counts the threads* in sewing clearly means business about the work.  Just beautiful:  fragile magic indeed.  Cathy's Peacock Dress project has helped to raise $20,000 for a Haitian orphanage ... just in case anyone thought historical costuming was frivolous.

Take the Con 13

Triskaidekaphobia never made sense to me, and this year being the big one-three hasn't done a lot to turn me into a thirteen-o-phobe.  As extraordinarily stressful as it's been, it hasn't been a "bad" year per se.

Which brings us to the inspiration, invigoration, and writers' nation that is:  James River Writers' annual conference.  We began this weekend, yesterday morning, with Gbari Allen Garrett, a young poet whose power with words was amazing.  Carey Albertine gave us all the millennia of the history of writing in something like twenty minutes, and was winsome and enjoyable to meet, and an example of the support and enthusiasm that make the conference such a remarkably fine event.  Chip Kidd, whom I missed being able to meet by only a few minutes - darn it! I didn't get his book signed! - provided a truly entertaining and useful look at the craft and science of graphic design, specifically cover design and the stories of how some of his own developed.

Unfortunately, we ran a little long and, because I hated to miss a minute of the opening plenary session - and, because I register early for the conference and was, therefore, at the top of the reservations list for one-on-one sessions with agents and hence was second from the top on *that* schedule, which commenced before the plenary session was over ... OOPS, I missed my agent.  Gaaaaaaaahhh.

One of the many special and wonderful things about JRW, though, is that the Conference guests invited to participate are given the expectation that they should participate for the entire weekend, and should be available to attendees  the entire time.  And so, I hoped, at some point I might still be able to get in front of her.  I wait-listed myself for any one-on-one I could get.  And went off on my own.  Spent some time with Leila which, while having little direct relationship to writing and working, was more than worthwhile in its own right.  She is a friend I'm grateful to have.

And, at just the right moment, I got a call to come right over for a one-on-one with Victoria Skurnick.  She turned out to be gratifying company, quite apart from being generous enough to take on an orphan pitch, so I followed up today by asking if I might interview her here on this blog.  Stay tuned, because:  she said yes!  (Keep staying tuned, too, for Elizabeth Chadwick's interview, as she has the questions in her custody and I'm on her list, hopefully within the next couple of weeks.)  The glint in her eye you can see in the photo at the link above is completely true to life, and it was one of the unique pleasures of the Conference, spending time with her and a couple other people, listening to a little cello music as we all sat out a session.  Beautiful music, though we didn't get to hear enough of it.

Sharing a picture of Penelope the heartbreaker ... the Literary lunch on Saturday ... the turkey sandwiches and homemade chips today ... the wildly earnest boys and men ... the ideas that seem strange to a completely different perspective ... the charm of confluence and divergence ... the old faces, charming ... the new faces, almost nervous ... lots of turquoise and brown this year (including my own Saturday togs) ...

The thoughts stemming from "Revising Like a Rockstar" and "Finding the Right Feedback" - the questions asked and the posts you will see, yet to come.

The way, even beyond the end of the day yesterday, Deborah Grosvenor let me pitch her after all.  And requested a synopsis and first chapter.  (Victoria Skurnick, by the way, requested the full MSS.  As she put it, now that everything's electronic, why request a partial?  She can read or not read as much as she likes.)

A hallway chat with Paige Wheeler, the first agent who ever asked me for a partial - and who, now that I have revised, asked me to keep her in mind.

Though my "bite rate" on in-person pitches remains high (only one agent I've ever pitched didn't request at least a partial; and even she asked me to please query her when I complete Novel #2), I get a lot less squee-ish about that than I used to.  As we know, my offers-of-representation rate remains at zero, so excellent pitch experience is only so useful.

Still, there is more to get out of an event like this - the interview, the option to re-query Paige Wheeler - the time spent with Leila, with Kristi, with Kristy, with everyone.  Not least of which is the immense sense of gratitude that these women are my friends - that Kristi, our esteemed chair, has put on such a great Conference two years in a row.  I'm so impressed with her, sometimes it's more than a pleasure to be her friend, but a privilege.  She's that charming.

As may be clear, charm is not in short supply at the Conference, even though dear Miss Pen and Gossamer were not there.  And yet, as much as it does to enliven my creativity, to satiate me socially, two days of surprises and stimulation are exhausting.  Tomorrow, I'll be off work, and hopefully will relax and do nothing more than a bit of blogging and a bit more revising.

I hope to be able to send queries within two weeks.  The interview - probably sooner.  And the re-query as well, to Paige Wheeler.

So:  more busy times for 2013.  Will keep  you posted.  And here's hoping:  it won't be bad luck at all.

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I can't think of the right Weezer joke, but if you can please let me know.  If you want to destroy my sweater ... just don't because it's an Iron Age artifact and priceless  - and kind of heroin grunge chic, at that.  (Meanwhile *I* have a hell of a time finding a good boatneck!)

An interview with Ben Kane about Spartacus:  Rebellion.  (He's probably right about Spartacus' being the greatest slave rebellion in history, especially if fame has anything to do with it ... but I do have to say, Gabriel's rebellion is more meaningful for me.)

Marriage age in the ancient world from Leslie Hedrick - I'm staying tuned for further research here, but an interesting summation!  Can't beat her images, she has a great sense of humor.

Kim Rendfield discusses a court's progresses in the Carolingian world.  I remember reading about royal progress when I was a kid, in "My Enemy the Queen" - and being curious about why a whole palace-ful of nobility would run around like that.  It's clearer to me by now, but always interesting to learn more.  I had Clovis travel both with and without his court, and discuss the deputation of authority across his massively increasing realm a great deal as - ahem - things progress through the course of The Ax and the Vase.

Read an interview with Kristy Feltenberger Gillespie about her Jaded here!  Kristy is one of the Sarcastic Broads, and a friend.

At last!  A cookbook with recipes for herring, tripe, codswollop, and unicorn (complete with a great illumination for the latter)!  NOM NOM.

Caustic Cover Critic - Interview

The CCC has a very interesting interview, with a remarkable array of images, with editor John Betram.  Bertram discusses Lolita - the Story of a Cover Girl, which takes a look at the remarkable breadth of cover designs for this novel.

One of the remarkable things about the covers is the division between those which avoid exploitation and those which go for it with, quite literally, cartoonish gusto.  The interview discusses the character of Lolita, too, versus the popular image of "a Lolita" (not a Goth Lolita, but the more generalized cultural assumptions) - and thank goodness.  It's been so long since I read the novel that even I have forgotten what the girl herself was like.  The false image, instead, of the willing and precocious coquette has thoroughly papered over Nabakov's original writing, the character; it is an injustice almost as cruel as that described by the novel itself.

Much could be said about the culture which so reveres and obsesses over child rape.  I'll leave it to the interview, and the images, and for you to consider.

"(W)riting Is an Act of Love"

Sometimes, an author you don't always love can still give an interview well worth the reading.  Here is one such from Umberto Eco, with the Paris Review.

Image:  Wikimedia

(A) good book is more intelligent than its author. It can say things that the writer is not aware of.

I like the notion of stubborn incuriosity ...  You cannot be totally greedy.  You have to oblige yourself not to learn everything.  Or else you will learn nothing ...  For you and for me it is enough to know that Einstein proposed the theory of relativity.  But an absolute understanding of the theory we leave to the specialists.

To believe in the end of something is a typical cultural posture. Since the Greeks and the Latins we have persisted in believing that our ancestors were better than us. I am always amused and interested by this kind of sport, which the mass media practice with increasing ferocity.

It is not a quick read, but a fine one and well worthwhile.  Take a little time over a few days, maybe.  But savor it.  It's pretty good.

Getting Good Things Done

At last, I have gotten the interview for Elizabeth Chadwick put together, and reached out to Day Al-Mohamed about writing for Unleaded.  Editing is still going well, and I have to say I quite like the last post I put up.

Work isn't going badly either, right now, and with August's final approach, the weather is still lacking for 100+ temps and years-long droughts.  I don't miss those one bit.  The leaves are already debuting a few late season changes, and the mornings have been something approaching what could be called cool.  I've even put off ten pounds; that's still a good thirty more than I was carrying a year ago in springtime, but the direction is at least preferable to me.

There are some significant stressors, but at least right now, at least today, I am managing them without turning into a beaten dog.

Life could be worse.  I'm guardedly, but honestly, grateful.

Worst. Interview. Ever.

But it's the first time anyone's ever published one with me, so I'm linking it.  I am a horrible, horrible subject for questionnaires, unfortunately ...

With my thanks to the far more web-savvy, and perfectly delightful, Kristy, for featuring me anyway!

More on Henry and His Offspring

An intriguing new book is out, looking well fixed for popular consumption, about King Henry VIII's children.  Here's an interview with its author, Jon Guy - and a few more thoughts on Diagnosing Henry:

(Y)ou find that Henry’s personality changes at a different date depending on which historian you’re reading! Robert Hutchinson opts for 1531, whereas Jack Scarisbrick went for 1529, the year he thought the King’s first divorce suit turned nasty. Other historians advanced the date to 1527 when new material on Henry’s divorce difficulties came to light. Milo Keynes, a retired senior medical consultant at Addenbrooke’s Hospital at Cambridge, plumped for 1528. Susannah Lipscombe has more recently gone for 1536. This sort of speculation is always intriguing and can be worth pursuing, but isn’t a satisfactory basis from which to construct a medical diagnosis.
--Jon Guy

Staying Tuned ...

... by the way, the upcoming interview with Elizabeth Chadwick has not gone off the radar here at I Contain Multitudes central.  A recent two-weeks-long(-so-far) bout with a nasty bronchial infection somehow distracted me from writing up the actual questions for said interview, but I am working on it, kids.  Please bear with me!

Interview: Alec Shane

Today is the day!  I emailed the questions to literary agent Alec Shane of Writers House last night, and today I found a shiny new interview in my Inbox.  Everybody - please enjoy ...




DLM:  Before you became a literary agent, you spent some time in Hollywood as an assistant, a martial arts coach, a production assistant, and a stunt man.  What was the moment you decided to leave the West Coast - or did you decide to *come* to the East Coast?

AS:  My time on the West Coast was never a permanent move; I’ve just always been a big proponent of doing as much as you possibly can while you still have the opportunity to do so. Life is all about collecting experiences and having some great stories to tell your grandkids, and that’s mainly what my trip out West was about. When I felt my time in LA had run its course, I came back East, as this is where I’m from originally.


DLM:  Was it really their great-looking building that brought you to Writers House?

AS:  Pretty much. When I first started looking for a job in publishing, I didn’t know anything about the industry. I just kind of started researching based on some of my favorite books, and I eventually found my way to Writers House. It looked exactly how I would expect a literary agency to look, and combined with their wonderful client list and even more wonderful people, it was an easy decision. From the moment I first walked in the door, this is where I knew I wanted to be.


DLM:  It looks like your entire publishing career has been with Writers House, starting as an intern four years ago.  Would you give us a look at the arc you have had there, and what it takes to become an agent?

AS:  I have been very lucky to have Writers House as my first and only publishing job. Like pretty much everything in life, it’s all about being at the right place at the right time, and there just happened to be an assistant position available as I was completing my internship. I interviewed with Jodi Reamer, and I was offered the job. The rest is history, as they say. As for what it takes to become an agent – ask me that question again in about 30 years. I may possibly have an answer for you then.


DLM:  Now that you’re actively building your own list, what genres or topics do you most want to see?

AS:  I grew up on Stephen King, and so I’m a huge horror fan. I also love mysteries, thrillers, and all things sports. On the nonfiction side, I’m always reading interesting biographies or books that look at well-known historical events from a completely different angle. At the end of the day, though, as long as you can make me miss my subway stop or keep me up all night reading – or too scared to turn off the light - I’m yours.


DLM:  Are there stories or subjects you definitely do not want to represent?

AS:  “Definitely” is a strong word; like I said before, if I love the story, then I’m open to it. In general, though, I’m not much of a romance guy. I also don’t really like to read about people with problems that 99% of the world would absolutely kill to have.


DLM:  Aspiring authors have a morass of sometimes-contradictory advice and unwritten rules to navigate in creating queries - some agents insist on having a word count, for instance, while others hate seeing such administrivia.  In terms of content, are there any must-haves or deal-breaking elements to avoid for someone who would like to query you?

AS:  No real deal-breakers, no. But I would advise, for querying me and for your career in general, to know the difference between “breathe” and “breath.” That’s like fingernails on a blackboard to me.


DLM:  What advice or parting thoughts would you like to share with readers - not only aspiring authors, but lovers of literature, history and Trek nerds, or possibly even stunt men wannabes?

AS:  If you don’t love what you are doing, then you need to find something else to do. Life is way too short to be unhappy.