tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-251687482012-05-27T01:41:23.120-04:00Madam MayoThe pronouncements of C.M. Mayo on books, creative writing, literary translation, Mexico, Washington DC, the world, human potential, soundwork, cheese, bees, and pugsC.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.comBlogger1355125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-16105091859476084442012-05-23T05:16:00.000-04:002012-05-23T05:16:06.427-04:00Michael Wiese Productions Podcasts (Recommended for Writers)
I just happened upon some helpful podcasts for filmmakers, screenwriters, and just plain ol' writers at Michael Wiese Productions on "BlogTalk Radio":
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/michaelwieseproductions
Michael Wiese publishes some excellent books. Apropos of a note on log lines, I recently posted a mini-rave review of one of them: Blake Snyder's Save the Cat!
I'm on the lookout for good C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-77126532643670573612012-05-21T18:06:00.000-04:002012-05-22T00:33:38.519-04:00Marfa Mondays Podcast #5 Cynthia McAlister: The Buzz on the Bees
Listen in here.
Cynthia McAlister is an expert on the bees of West Texas, and as those of you who have been following this blog know, I'm crazy about bees, so this interview is one I was especially delighted be able to do. It was recorded in late January when I was traveling in the area for my book (as yet untitled). I've been back since and will be posting more podcasts-- they're scheduled C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-25641341715118976652012-05-17T11:06:00.000-04:002012-05-17T11:07:23.263-04:00The Story is True: The Art and Meaning of Telling Stories by Bruce Jackson
The Story is True-- by a professor of American Culture at the University of Buffalo--was off my creative writing workshop radar until Charlie Angell, crackerjack-wilderness guide to the Big Bend and contributor to Cenizo Journal, recommended it. I read it, relished it, and, as of today, added it to my workshop page's recommended reading list.
The essay I found most illuminating is "Bob Dylan C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-67311415167652733532012-05-14T23:12:00.000-04:002012-05-16T17:51:22.274-04:00Sergio Troncoso's From This Wicked Patch of Dust and Cross Borders: Personal Essays
With permission from the wonderful bilingual Literal Magazine, herewith a reprint of my review -- in the current issue, on newsstands now-- of Sergio Tronocoso's two new books, a novel and a collection of essays.
Cross Borders: Personal Essays
By Sergio Troncoso
(Arte Público Press, 2011)
From This Wicked Patch of Dust
By Sergio Troncoso
(University of Arizona Press, 2011)
C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-32661232233384995152012-05-07T08:26:00.004-04:002012-05-07T08:36:39.832-04:00May 2012 Newsletter, News on Publish Now and Marfa Mondays Podcasts
The May 2012 newsletter just went out last week. There's plenty in here for writers interested in exploring the possibilities on the digital frontier, Mexico and its great literary artists, the Orphic Journey and the wonders of the Sierra Gorda, and that world waiting for a dream, far-out & far West Texas. Oh, and the Afterlife, too. More succinctly: It features news about the June 23 "Publish C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-40228359859711543612012-05-05T00:01:00.000-04:002012-05-05T00:38:03.406-04:00Cinco de Mayo Edition
I usually post on Mondays and Wednesdays but I had to make an exception this week for the 150th anniversary of Cinco de Mayo. No, this is not Mexico's Independence Day; it commemorates the victory of the Mexican Republican forces against the invading Imperial French Army at the city of Puebla (near Mexico City) on May 5, 1862-- a temporary victory, as it turned out. Before the Republic could beC.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-59842773711801723062012-04-25T02:16:00.000-04:002012-05-01T02:28:07.801-04:00Guest-blogger Ellen Cassedy on 5 Links to Learn Yiddish
Ellen Cassedy is the author of We Are Here: Memories of the Lithuanian Holocaust (University of Nebraska Press, March 2012)
Ellen Cassedy set off into the Jewish heartland of Lithuania to study Yiddish, the language of European Jews, and connect with her forebears. Once there, however, old certainties began to dissolve, what had begun as a personal quest expanded into an exploration of how C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-45207382094827033552012-04-23T01:00:00.000-04:002012-04-23T01:31:26.247-04:00Podcasting for Writers: Trailer for the iBook and Workshop at the Writer's Center
The iBook will be out this summer.
>>Visit the book's webpage
Meanwhile, I'm offering a 2 hour workshop at the Writer's Center in Bethesda MD (right outside Washington DC):
PODCASTING FOR WRITERSMay 5, 2012Bethesda MDThe Writer's Center
One day only. 10 am - 12 pm
Audio podcasts, on-line digital files, not only serve as an important promotional tool for writers, but they can be storytellingC.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-40198591380860413642012-04-16T22:57:00.006-04:002012-04-18T12:16:03.593-04:00Marfa Mondays Podcast #4: Avram Dumitrescu, An Artist in AlpineThe monthly Marfa Mondays podcast is live: an interview with Avram Dumitrescu, an artist whose paintings have been featured in "Marfans: Art from the Plateau" at the Nancy Fyfe Cardozier Gallery in Odessa, and also showcased in Cenizo Journal. A native of the Channel Islands and raised in Belfast, Dumitrescu earned a bachelor's degree and Masters in Applied Arts from the University of Ulster at C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-17683824058822875862012-04-11T17:50:00.003-04:002012-04-11T17:52:35.372-04:00Email EurekaA total eureka moment! Mindfulness applied actually works. In a notebook:-->Time session begins.-->Estimated time for session end --> Session name (I know that sounds wacky, but it helps focus attention)--> # emails downloaded (not counting spam, which is immediately deleted)--> # emails dealt with (in reply to both current and backlog)--> Net # emails dealt with (not counting new emails)--> # C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-60398047079459797262012-04-09T11:58:00.005-04:002012-04-11T12:24:21.614-04:00Why Don't We Chatter Away to the Dead, Too, While We're at It?Ayy, less than sparkling conversationalists are these individuals who feel the need to incessantly check their email and thumb-away while at the table. (Did they not take their Xanax? Or, was their house just hit by an asteroid?) Well, like my grandpa used to say, your world is 500 people and you choose who's in it, so it looks Yours Truly needs to do some rearranging of the guest list. SeriouslyC.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-71409401701627024172012-04-04T07:32:00.003-04:002012-04-04T07:32:00.410-04:00The iBook: Podcasting for Writers & Other Creative EntrepreneursThe iBook, PODCASTING FOR WRITERS AND OTHER CREATIVE ENTREPRENEURS, will be published this summer by Dancing Chiva Literary Arts. The website for the iBook is in progress; the trailer and a promotional podcast will be posted soon. Want to be notified when this iBook is availble? Sign up for the (free) Dancing Chiva newsletter here. Meanwhile, I'm working on a novel and a new travel memoir on WestC.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-16185312110778514642012-04-02T08:03:00.002-04:002012-04-02T08:03:00.452-04:00Podcasting for Writers at the Writer's Center, Bethesda MDI've had such fun learning to podcast, I am really looking forward to giving the new 2 hour workshop PODCASTING FOR WRITERS at the Writer's Center on May 5th. (More information about my other workshops, including HOW (AND HOW NOT) TO WRITE DIALOGUE here). I'll be talking about the technical stuff, of course, but also choosing from the among the astonishingly wide range of possible formats. Just C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-27515406743003474532012-03-28T06:48:00.001-04:002012-03-28T06:48:00.326-04:00Two New Workshops at the Writer's Center: Podcasting for Writers & Writing DialogueHow to celebrate the 150th anniversary of 5 de mayo? I'm not too big on parades, but I love giving workshops on subjects that interest me, so I'll be giving two on the same day, both at the Writer's Center in Bethesda MD:Podcasting for WritersMay 5, 201210 am - 12 pm Audio podcasts, on-line digital files, not only serve as an important promotional tool for writers, but they can be storytelling C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-229034306347091542012-03-26T07:37:00.006-04:002012-03-26T07:46:57.590-04:00A Conversation with Michael K. Schuessler, on Pita Amor, Elena Poniatowska, Sor Juana, and the rescue of Alma Reed's autobiography, PeregrinaAs part of my series of occasional conversations with other writers: Michael K. Schuessler, author of the biographies Guadalupe Amor: La undécisima musa (The Eleventh Muse) and Elena Poniatowska: An Intimate Portrait, and editor of journalist Alma Reed's long-lost autobiography, Peregrina: Love and Death in Mexico. Recorded in Mexico City on March 8, 2012. (Approx 1 hour and 7 minutes)>>Click C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-2759742460825143252012-03-19T22:27:00.009-04:002012-03-20T23:01:03.864-04:00Marfa Mondays Podcast #3: Mary Bones on the Lost Art ColonyJust posted: the third podcast in the Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project 2012-2013:>> Click here to listen inYours Truly interviews Mary Bones, curator of the exhibit "The Lost Colony: Texas Regionalist Paintings," in the Museum of the Big Bend, Sul Ross State University, Alpine, Texas. The Lost Colony refers to the summer art colony at Sul Ross which began in 1932 and ended somewhat mysteriously C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-25331540364319090452012-03-14T18:13:00.022-04:002012-03-16T04:52:32.550-04:00Guest-blogger Peter Behrens on 4 Canadian and 1 Irish Writers You Must ReadSt Patrick's Day edition! My guest-blogger today is my Yaddo and VCCA amigo, Peter Behrens, whose most recent novel is The O'Briens (Pantheon, March 2012), which has been garnering glowing reviews as he takes it on a coast-to-coast tour. Behrens is also the author of the historical novel The Law of Dreams, and he blogs about trucks, cars, highways, aesthetics, and good writing at autoliterate. C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-66057490085587209502012-03-12T15:13:00.016-04:002012-03-12T22:12:22.045-04:00Mysterious Trousers, Future of the iPad, iBook Author App, La Tregua, Brian O'Leary, Feral Hog Plague, Marfa MondaysYay! Mysterious Trousers: I don't know these guys but I think the spirit of and products on their website are the future. Via Swiss Miss.Is this the future of the iPad? Probably. I am so totally psyched about the iBooks Author app and yes, I am turning my e-books into iBooks. More news about this soon.My amigo Harry Morales is publishing his translation of Mario Benedetti's La Tregua in the C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-22915478417215958482012-03-07T18:35:00.007-05:002012-03-07T18:46:32.697-05:00Guest-blogger Harry Morales Celebrates (As Should We All) Literary Translator Gregory Rabassa on His 90th BirthdayIf you're picking up this blog on RSS feed, facebook, or amazon.com, please note that this (below) is the correct text for Harry Morales' guest-blog post. (I mistakenly posted a basic bio a few hours ago. -- C.M.)Friday March 9, 2012 is the 90th birthday of literary treasure, translator extraordinaire, Gregory Rabassa. In honor of his birthday, my amigo and fellow Spanish translator, Harry C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-12523941588912426142012-03-05T00:01:00.013-05:002012-03-05T00:52:46.004-05:00A Conversation with Artist and Writer Edward SwiftSo why, when, where, and how am I podcasting? Read all about my Conversations with Other Writers podcasting series here.New podcasts:Edward Swift, artist and writer based in San Miguel de Allende, on the Orphic journey, Marguerite Young, the Big Thicket, the wonders of the Sierra Gorda, My Grandfather's Finger, The Daughter of the Doctor and the Saint, on being an ABT flower man, his house C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-70809438299129731042012-02-27T00:01:00.022-05:002012-02-27T00:07:13.165-05:00Podcast: PEN / Sol Literary Magazine Reading Series, San Miguel de Allende, Mexico: Stone of Kings, Spiritist ManualCLICK HERE TO LISTEN to the new podcast:Gerard Helferich, author of Stone of Kings: In Search of the Lost Jade of the Maya, and C.M. Mayo (Yours Truly), translator of Francisco I. Madero's secret book of 1911, Spiritist Manual. Introduced by Eva Hunter, editor of Sol Literary Magazine. Recorded on February 22, 2012 in the café of Biblioteca Pública, San Miguel de Allende. *57 minutes.(My talk C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-24527675474095802792012-02-22T11:18:00.028-05:002012-02-24T12:21:10.084-05:00Writing Loglines and the Concept of the "Eyespan"I resisted writing loglines for a long time, for I was of the school of Flannery O'Connor's famous saying (as I recall it), "if you want to know what the story is about, read the story." In other words, I believed in the mysterious resonance of literary profundity-- and, oh yeah, I still do-- but I have come to appreciate the focusing power, both for the writer herself and for her sales team (C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-32432784824777424012012-02-20T13:11:00.001-05:002012-02-21T00:17:17.258-05:00Marfa Mondays: Charles Angell in the Big BendNow live: The Marfa Mondays podcast, this month, an interview with Big Bend expert Charles Angell, which took place at the Hoodoos in Big Bend State Park, right on the Rio Grande, and in Fort Leaton, near Presidio, Texas. Listen in at www.cmmayo.com/marfa or directly at podomatic.com.The Marfa Mondays Podcasting Project is a monthly podcast about Marfa, Texas and environs. It began last month (C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-78179623028771601752012-02-15T10:44:00.004-05:002012-02-16T10:52:03.083-05:00San Miguel Writers Conference with Margaret Atwood, Elena Poniatowska, et alWriters conference in San Miguel de Allende this weekend with (yeah!) Margaret Atwood, Elena Poniatowska, and many more outstanding writers from Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. I'll be giving a one hour "Techniques of Fiction" workshop during the conference on Saturday, a brief reading from my novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire on Sunday, and, following the conference, a two day "C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25168748.post-67241064249254968712012-02-13T12:22:00.009-05:002012-02-14T01:23:27.767-05:00Texans to Land on Planet ArizonaImagine if the law dictated that the public schools of the state of Maryland ban from the reading lists Frederick Douglass's autobiography, or if California's eliminated Maxine Hong Kingston's The Woman Warrior, or for that matter, if the city of Dublin, Ireland tossed away James Joyce's "The Dead." This is about the scale of things in Arizona when it comes to anything Hispanic. I really don't C.M. Mayohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01652658684711290919noreply@blogger.com0