Afraid to write:

Wherein we discuss death, healing and fear of moving on...


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Dick/Lethem:

The Elegant Variation reports this morning that Jonathan Lethem, author of the overrated Motherless Brooklyn and the beyond awesome Fortress of Solitude, is editing the Library of America forthcoming Philip K. Dick collection. How's that for a winning combination?

Where I'm at:

I'm finishing up a book review for The Chron today but have some rather large news. Back soon.

Two Quotes:

I was cleaning out my office today and found these on a scrap of paper. I have no idea why I wrote them down.

"The soul takes flight to a world that is invisible; but there arriving, she is sure of bliss and forever dwells in paradise." -Plato

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words And never stops at all." --Emily Dickenson

Writers Conferences Drawn and Quartered:

A hilarious takedown of writer's conferences. All true. I've spoken at plenty of them (via my friend Bella).

Blog, Book, Back up:

Wherein we discuss the next three weeks, da book and Faygo the Cat.


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Hall of Shame:

My essay on the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame's 2004 inductees (I was not impressed) is up at Pop Transit.

Okay I suck...

It's only a week after SXSWi and I'm already way behind. I just finished up an essay for a cool little webzine called Pop Transit about the Rock n' roll Hall of Fame inductions (Pathetic. What did you think?). if you aren't familiar with it, do take a look. They're doing good work.

My big post-Austin resolution this year is to write more diligently. I think I've been focusing way too much on how well I can "place" an essay or an article and not on writing them. yes, I'd like to get paid for my time but I also know that if I focus on that, I won't write at all. For something topical, like this, I wanted to crank it out and not spend 3 days hunting in vain for an Op-Ed page to cajole. Taking a page from Claire Zulkey, who has done amazing work with smaller, high-quality, webzines and with a hook-up from the simply awesome Lila King, I went ahead and sent the piece to Pop Transit. Hopefully they'll like it.

Now, it's on to my SXSW wrap-up essay and a radio piece for "Invisible Ink." And I gotta get rolling on my Believer article which is due next month.

Funny thing is, if I write everyday, it all gets done faster. Amazing how that works.

Literary Insecurity:

I shouldn't be all hung up on this but I found this article (via Megnut) and now want to be a famous blogger. But if I pause, I'll remember I'm an attention whore and want to be a famous everything. That made me rethink.

No, really, what's going on is the last few months, I've been trying to concentrate on writing longer articles for print magazines and maybe getting paid for some of them, instead of sassy-little one offs for this here blog. Rooting around the archives of Linsdayism, Zulkey.com, and few other SXSW attendees, I'm realizing that the two need not live in different galaxies. Something inspires me to huff and puff here at Where's There's Smoke. Why can't that something be the basis of an article, a review, an essay? Or rather, why shouldn't it? I think I've been too fat and happy as a writer over the last few months what with my New York agent and my teeny piece in The Believer and my levitating skateboard and all (I'll send pictures). That ain't the gig. Writing regularly is. I need to do more of it.

SXSW Inspiration #1. More to come. Tonight we Break Bread.

Digital Impasse:

Jason Kottke is attempting to read 52 new magazines in 2004. He's posted a list of the 350 publications suggested to him by his readers. While I'm intruiged by several of these titles, I can't get over how some of don't have websites. Precisely what century do these magazines think this is? Or are they hanging on to that tired old nonsense that not having a website is somehow an affirmation of their print cred? The truth is that in 2004, most people get at least some of their crucial information from the web. Not having a way to communicate to your audience online to me is no different than failing to post your hours on your front door.

Cometbus, you're among the most respected zines in the country. Get a website, ya bums!