Rushdie loves them. You probably will too...

Three of the writers collected in this volume are friends of mine: Grossman, Orhan Pamuk and Paul Auster. But writers talk less to each other about their craft than perhaps they should, so even in these cases what the interviews have to tell me is revealing. Auster talks about “reading with [his] fingers”, the act of retyping the whole book once it’s finished, and how valuable he finds it — “it’s amazing”. He marvels at “how many errors your fingers will find that your eyes never noticed”.

Renda Dodge is a Seattle-based author who just published her first book, “Inked” in October. During the month of November, she is participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) – for the 5th time! Renda is also the South Seattle Municipal Liaison for NaNoWriMo which means she’s helping a bunch of less experienced NaNoWriMo-ers come to terms with their task and then plow through their roadblocks. Hers is a noble calling. She took time out of her very ambitious schedule to talk to The Puget News, and for that I am very grateful.

Hi Renda, thanks a lot for taking the time to be interviewed for “The Puget News.” I really appreciate it, and congratulations on the publication of your first novel, “Inked.”

No problem, and thank you!

So it’s November, which means it’s National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). How is that going for you so far? Is this your first time participating?

No, actually, this is my fifth year participating in NaNoWriMo. I started in 2005 and have done it every year since. I spend a lot of time in the writing reference section of the bookstore and I came across “No Plot? No Problem!” by Chris Baty, the founder of NaNoWriMo. The book details, in a fun and humorous way, how to succeed with writing a novel in 30 days. I actually happened upon the book in October, and surprise, National Novel Writing Month started less than a month later.

My first year, I did it alone in my home office. I didn’t reach out the huge community, and I’m not ashamed to say that I didn’t hit the 50,000 word goal. I wrote about 24,000 words, but I was so proud of myself. Even after attending college as an English major, I’d never written anything longer than 8,000 words. But, after one month I suddenly had the bones of a story to work with. So, when November 2006 rolled around I was ready to tackle, and “win”.

One of the great things I’ve experienced, and also seen with other writers, is what NaNo does for them. It takes them from someone who really wants to write a novel, to someone who has, and each success is another to build on and learn from.

As far as this year goes, it’s only the 3rd of the month, and I’m a little behind in word count. The goal, of course, is 50,000 words in one month (equal to a short novel – some famous examples of books right around 50,000 are “Fight Club”, “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” and “Catcher in the Rye”) and that equates to 1,667 words per day. So, to stay on track I should be at about 5,000 words and I’m at about 2,500. But that’s ok, I’ll catch up.

Spoken with the confidence of somebody that’s done this a few times.

Definitely, 50,000 words isn’t as daunting when you’ve conquered it a few times.

Outside of participating as a writer in NaNoWriMo this month, you’re also serving as the “South Seattle Municipal Liaison.” What exactly is that and how did you get that gig?

Well, in 2007 I contacted the Office of Letters and Light (the parent non-profit for NaNo) and asked what I could do to help. I was offered the position of Co-Municipal Liaison with Amanda Cherry. We thought it was easiest to split the region into north and south, because it’s a huge region. We have almost 3,000 people signed up to participate in NaNoWriMo who list Seattle as their home region, and for the last three years we’ve lead every other city (and even whole states like Maryland) in the regional word counts and in donations. So, here in Seattle we write a lot and we are also generous with our donations – which is an excellent combination.

What I do as ML mainly revolves around cheer leading, running events (such as write-ins – a gathering of writers in local coffee shops for fellowship and word count) and helping people make it to 50,000 words. It’s a volunteer gig, but I have so much fun with it. I have met so many interesting people, and I have been a part of so many people reaching their goals. It’s so worth it.

For example, Monday night the King County Library in Covington I helped them kick of NaNoWriMo by presenting the basics of High Speed Plotting to an entire group of NaNo newbies, several of which went home to start writing immediately. It’s really awesome that I can be a part of that.

I’ve found NaNoWriMo to be one of the few things that can take the solitary task of writing and instantly injects you straight into a very inviting community. Everyone is so supportive.

Moving back to talking about “Inked” for a minute here, what moved you to make this your first novel? Was it sitting there, cathartically waiting to be written, or did it take a lot of time to develop?

Well, I wrote “Inked” as my fourth NaNo novel, but I attacked it differently than I had the first three. For one thing, at that point I had written three full length novels. I had a really good grasp of what worked, and what really didn’t. So I was able to plan “Inked” out and it was really an easy story to write. I deliberately dug deep inside of myself for this book though, and when I came out on the other side I had a very personal story I was proud of. It was the first draft I had ever finished that I was excited to work on. I didn’t want to shove into a drawer and never look at again. The huge difference with this novel is that I allowed myself to pull into my background and experiences to create a character with a very diverse story.

I would say it took awhile to develop, 30 days to write a first draft, however the re-writing, revision and editing process took months. I worked on it for hours a day. I did five full revisions from beginning to end (and that doesn’t count the spot revisions) and I had 10 readers, all who went through it with a fine tooth comb. I’ve lived and breathed this novel for a full year.

The one thing I tell everyone is that the title “National Novel Writing Month” is a little deceptive, you’re not actually going to walk away with a novel that’s ready to publish. What you will walk away with though is a first draft. And that’s like starting with an empty plot of land and building a house in a month. You go from having nothing to a house. However, you still have to finish the walls, pick paint and wallpaper, and furnish the house before you can sell it. It’s the same with NaNoWriMo, but how many people sit around saying “I really want to write a book someday”? Well, NaNoWriMo is that chance.

Well, consider me jealous of your stick-to-it-iveness. I read the first chapter of “Inked” (Editor’s Note: available free here) and I’m compelled to continue on. How will your next work differ from “Inked”? Are you going to stick with similar subject matter or take us someplace totally different?

Thank you! I’m glad the first chapter was intriguing enough to continue on! My current project is a bit different from “Inked” in the fact that, for one thing, I’m writing from a male character’s point of view, and instead of tackling one person’s struggle for identity in current America I’m dealing with a whole household of diverse people as they try to find themselves. I’ve also made a personal pledge to have a few more moments of levity while still tackling some heavy themes, such as modern relationships, drug-use and modern family, because well, sometimes you have to laugh at life, right?

Starting with the assumption that millions of people will read this interview and click over to buy your book, where should they go to do so?

Of course, that’s always the assumption in the digital age of the internet.

The best place to purchase my book is directly from my publishing press and the store can be accessed on my site but it’s also available on Amazon. Or, I’ll have some available for purchase at the reading on November 6th (Editor’s Note: see bottom of this post for more details on the reading). I’m also working on getting it into some independent bookstores in the Seattle area soon.

Thanks again for talking to me. I know you’ve got a really busy month ahead of you and I want to make sure you get your real work done. I’d love to check in in early December and see how things went for you and the other folks you’re helping with NaNoWriMo.

This was a lot of fun, thank you for talking with me. Oh and definitely feel free to check back with me. It’s a really fun journey, and I’d love to let you know where it ends up.

Links:

• Renda Dodge’s website: You can read the first chapter of “Inked,” find out what she’s up to, and buy her book right there!
• Renda Dodge’s blog
• “Inked” on Amazon.com
• National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

FYI: You heard her mention her reading but if you’d like a chance to hear Renda read from “Inked”, she’ll be reading at The Hugo House on Friday, November 6th, 2009 at 8PM. Please show up and support Renda’s hard work for her readers and the local art community!

Don't miss this reading!

Bolaño's opus

The market has its landlords, like everything on this infected planet, and it’s the landlords of the market who decide the mambo that you dance, whether it’s selling cheap condoms or Latin American novels in the U.S. I say this because the central idea of Pollack’s work is that behind the construction of the Bolaño myth was not only a publisher’s marketing operation but also a redefinition of the image of Latin American culture and literature that the North American cultural establishment is now selling to the public.

It’s refreshing to hear external voices reminding those of us in the US how easy it is to channel our interests. America is a myth-building myth-consuming culture eager to mindlessly support highly editorialized marketing directed at the core tenets of our cultural psyche – revolutionaries and ideologues excite our passions and support our myths of genius. After reading this article, I am actually comforted by the fact that it’s OK to create genius work from within the stability of a supportive family life. Let’s be honest, that’s really the dream isn’t it? To create beautiful work without necessarily subjecting ourselves to the pain we so often associate with it?

“2666″ is sitting on my shelf at home beckoning to me. I can hardly wait.

My little brother had an interesting “death obsession” phase where he used to go out and collect what was essentially owl vomit (feathers and bits of undigested goodness) pick through it for tiny mouse skulls, and then take them home to put them on a boil (much to the chagrin of my mother who would discover a putrid house and a very disheartening soup pot). Those little mice skulls, when he was done with them, however, were nearly as cute as this.

Artist Michael Paulus draws skeletons of famous cartoon characters and sells them on Etsy. Yet another example of “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Charlie Brown Skeleton, by Michael Paulus

Betty Boop Skeleton, by Michael Paulus

(Perhaps I didn’t think of it because I can’t draw.)

Thinks they’re cute too? Support Mr. Paulus and pick one up.

[Hat tip to kottke.org]

I paid Logo Design Guru to develop a logo for this site. I told them that the site was for “Passionate discussion about the art, literature, technology and culture from the Pacific Northwest.” Knowing that the goal is to build a site that we can all communicate our appreciation for all aspects of artistic endeavor, which of the following do you like the best?

My logo choices

I can only choose 2 for further rework so let me know your favorites and any changes you’d suggest. Thanks so much!

The New York Times has a great piece on his life and influence on intellectualism.

I haven’t studied much in the way of anthropology but from what I understand, Mr. Lévi-Strauss’s anthropological legacy was in seeking universal similarities between all human beings, rather than merely cataloging the differences. His belief and exploration of these fundamental similarities came to be known as “structuralism,” a term which he later renounced when it came to embody a school of thought that had taken on a life of its own as an extension of his work.

His 4-volume “Mythologiques” sounds like an engaging and challenging embodiment of his sophisticated anthropological analysis. In this case, the subject was “the structure of native mythology in the Americas.” Might have to put that one on the old reading list. There’s never a shortage of giant behemoths to put on the bookshelf.

• The new Cambridge, Massachusetts Public Library is a stunner.
• A new biography of Thelonius Monk is available. Could be a worthwhile read. The Morning News talks about it.
• Nook vs. Kindle as seen by NPR – Audio

  I think NPR is correct that Nook is the most serious competitor yet to the Kindle delivery system, but they also seem to blunder into the same blind spot as everyone else – the price of the content and the actual selection of the books people want to read. Nook has a large selection but it is thinner on the titles that people actually want. And even if the Nook is slightly ahead of the Kindle on technology, I’m not willing to pay an extra couple of dollars per book for the privilege of using it.

  Disclaimer: I work for Amazon.com although I do not work on Kindle.

• An attempt to move the DRM debate forward
  

  Consumers will happily accept the shackles of DRM if the trade-off is worth it to them. For example, while some Kindle users grumble about loss of rights, they express joy at the ease of purchase created by the Kindle system. On the flip side, some readers — I am one of them — hate Adobe Digital Editions. My first experience resulted in the server being unable to authenticate. Seriously, I bought books and couldn’t read them because the fracking server couldn’t authenticate.

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer dove into the discussion about how reading and publishing is changing as a result of big box retailers with their pricing wars and as the web and digital devices begin to circumvent the old publishing industry. It’s a thoughtful 11:30 minute take on the state of the book world and it’s well worth viewing. Both of the guests, Kassia Krozer (founder and editor of Booksquare.com – a blog focused on the Digital Publishing Industry that you should really follow) and Lev Grossman from Time Magazine do a good job exploring the topsy-turvy digital world we’re all now navigating.

If you’d rather just get the content in printed form, here is the transcript.

Nobel prize winning author Orhan Pamuk is opening a museum in conjunction with the release of his new novel, “Museum of Innocence.” Admission to the museum is free with a ticket printed in the book.

Perhaps this can be my excuse to visit Istanbul? I have a free ticket to a museum of 83 objects symbolizing each chapter of a Nobel winning novelist’s latest work? The objects themselves are lovely but I’m not quite sure that I’ll be making the trip for them.

And like [his character] Kemal, Pamuk will also open a museum of objects, filled with 83 displays for each of the 83 chapters of the novel. “As I wrote this novel over the past 10 years,” Pamuk told me, “I encountered everyday objects that would make their way into the story. At other times, the story would demand an object to keep it moving, so I would bring one in. When I am stuck, I cast about looking for ideas from objects around me. My perceptions, or you can say my tentacles, are wide open to everything in shop windows, in friends’ homes, in flea markets and antique shops and so on. This is how the Museum of Innocence came about.”

Read the entire article at the New York Times here.

• New York Times: Slide show of objects from “The Museum of Innocence”

Yeah, you heard me right, that’s not a typo – it’s “Vook“. Strange name for a great overall concept and product that’s a harbinger of what’s to come. All you stodgy warthogs who think that it’s only about the printed page need a reality check. Most authors care about delivering their message and the printed word has been an amazing vehicle for that message for centuries. Going forward, however, new digital tools will enable much more direct communication between author and audience and Vooks are a really interesting first stab at the commercialization of that digital connection. While there will always be room for well-written and thought-provoking literary content, a significant percentage of that content, especially factual content, will be expressed and absorbed via multimedia and social engagement channels. This is undeniable and already happening. Vook is leading the charge.

So what’s a “Vook?”

A Vook is an online/digital book supplemented with additional material. In the case of “Crush It,” you get the full text of the book, a professionally produced video for each chapter of the book, and a “Connections” page hooking you into social media sharing channels and providing you supplementary links to follow should you desire to do so.

How does it all work?

Basically, you just navigate your way over to Vook.com, find a Vook title you want to buy, and decide on whether or not to buy the web version or the iphone version. In the case of “Crush It,” each version of the Vook is currently $11.99. (This is the most expensive Vook on the site. The other featured Vooks go for $4.99 on the iPhone version and $6.99 on the web version.)

So far, I’ve only utilized the web web version of Vook, and I’ll tell you straight up that it is WELL WORTH $11.99. Gary Vaynerchuk, the author of “Crush It,” was in Seattle promoting his book a couple weeks back and I spent $20 buying hardcover copy and getting it signed. Now don’t get me wrong, having the signed copy is pretty cool, I mean Gary V. had the chance to tell me personally to “Crush It.” Awesome. But if I had the opportunity to do it all over again, I’d much rather have bought the Vook. I would have received all the same base content plus a whole passel of vintage Gary video to go along with it. I would have gotten more for less.

And really, “Crush It” is ideally suited for the Vook medium. “Crush It” describes how Gary worked himself silly creating and then monetizing his personal brand and it has tons of simple tactical things you can do to follow the same path. It’s not a long book, but it’s well written and inspirational. It oozes Gary’s positivity from every pore and while that may not be for everybody, he had me at “How badly do you want to crush it?”

Strengths of the “Crush It” Vook

• Strong overall value proposition: The book retails for $19.99 and is currently being sold on Amazon for $11.47. Any way you slice it, $11.99 for the book and all that dynamic content is well worth it.
• The video content is well made and allows you to get that personal Gary V. vibe. If you haven’t been able to see Gary V. on tour, this is the next best thing.

Quibbles

• Why make me pay for two separate versions of the Vook if I want to access the same content in both places? That’s just outdated and silly. I can read my Kindle titles on both my Kindle and my iPhone (and soon on PC-based reader) at no additional charge. I paid $11.99 for the web version. I should have access to that optimized for my iPhone.
• The Vook video content had some minor audio clipping issues on my Mac.
• The “Connections” content is a bit weak. It’s mostly static links to sharing on Twitter, Facebook , etc. I’d love to see this area made into a real social gathering spot for the book. Why not host live uStreams with the author or feature ongoing forums for people that are into the book? This can and should be taken further than what’s there.

And now my questions for you guys out there are these:

What do you think of the Vook concept? What types of books will make the best Vooks? What’s keeping you from trying one out?