Tag: author

List is as List Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 4 Comments

As you can see I love lists. I stumbled across the Modern Library’s governing board’s list of the greatest books of the twentieth century.  The board members were: Christopher Cerf, Gore Vidal, Daniel J. Boorstin, Shelby Foote, Vartan Gregorian, A.S. Byatt, Edmund Morris, John Richardson, Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. and William Styron.

This list was put together in 1999 and is ranked from first to last.  There was a lot of controversy when the list was published (Not enough women, too many North American and English authors, and general bias) but it is still a pretty good list for anyone who wants a number of books from which to choose.  I will say no more here it is: BTW you can click on the link and see the New York Times review when the book came out

1.”Ulysses,” James Joyce

2. “The Great Gatsby,” F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man,” James Joyce

4. “Lolita,” Vladimir Nabokov

5. “Brave New World,” Aldous Huxley

6. “The Sound and the Fury,” William Faulkner

7. “Catch-22,” Joseph Heller

8. “Darkness at Noon,” Arthur Koestler

9. “Sons and Lovers,” D. H. Lawrence

10. “The Grapes of Wrath,” John Steinbeck

11. “Under the Volcano,” Malcolm Lowry

12. “The Way of All Flesh,” Samuel Butler

13. “1984,” George Orwell

14. “I, Claudius,” Robert Graves

15. “To the Lighthouse,” Virginia Woolf

16. “An American Tragedy,” Theodore Dreiser

17. “The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter,” Carson McCullers

18. “Slaughterhouse Five,” Kurt Vonnegut

19. “Invisible Man,” Ralph Ellison

20. “Native Son,” Richard Wright

21. “Henderson the Rain King,” Saul Bellow

22. “Appointment in Samarra,” John O’ Hara

23. “U.S.A.” (trilogy), John Dos Passos

24. “Winesburg, Ohio,” Sherwood Anderson

25. “A Passage to India,” E. M. Forster

26. “The Wings of the Dove,” Henry James

27. “The Ambassadors,” Henry James

28. “Tender Is the Night,” F. Scott Fitzgerald

29. “The Studs Lonigan Trilogy,” James T. Farrell

30. “The Good Soldier,” Ford Madox Ford

31. “Animal Farm,” George Orwell

32. “The Golden Bowl,” Henry James

33. “Sister Carrie,” Theodore Dreiser

34. “A Handful of Dust,” Evelyn Waugh

35. “As I Lay Dying,” William Faulkner

36. “All the King’s Men,” Robert Penn Warren

37. “The Bridge of San Luis Rey,” Thornton Wilder

38. “Howards End,” E. M. Forster

39. “Go Tell It on the Mountain,” James Baldwin

40. “The Heart of the Matter,” Graham Greene

41. “Lord of the Flies,” William Golding

42. “Deliverance,” James Dickey

43. “A Dance to the Music of Time” (series), Anthony Powell

44. “Point Counter Point,” Aldous Huxley

45. “The Sun Also Rises,” Ernest Hemingway

46. “The Secret Agent,” Joseph Conrad

47. “Nostromo,” Joseph Conrad

48. “The Rainbow,” D. H. Lawrence

49. “Women in Love,” D. H. Lawrence

50. “Tropic of Cancer,” Henry Miller

51. “The Naked and the Dead,” Norman Mailer

52. “Portnoy’s Complaint,” Philip Roth

53. “Pale Fire,” Vladimir Nabokov

54. “Light in August,” William Faulkner

55. “On the Road,” Jack Kerouac

56. “The Maltese Falcon,” Dashiell Hammett

57. “Parade’s End,” Ford Madox Ford

58. “The Age of Innocence,” Edith Wharton

59. “Zuleika Dobson,” Max Beerbohm

60. “The Moviegoer,” Walker Percy

61. “Death Comes to the Archbishop,” Willa Cather

62. “From Here to Eternity,” James Jones

63. “The Wapshot Chronicles,” John Cheever

64. “The Catcher in the Rye,” J. D. Salinger

65. “A Clockwork Orange,” Anthony Burgess

66. “Of Human Bondage,” W. Somerset Maugham

67. “Heart of Darkness,” Joseph Conrad

68. “Main Street,” Sinclair Lewis

69. “The House of Mirth,” Edith Wharton

70. “The Alexandria Quartet,” Lawrence Durrell

71. “A High Wind in Jamaica,” Richard Hughes

72. “A House for Ms. Biswas,” V. S. Naipaul

73. “The Day of the Locust,” Nathaniel West

74. “A Farewell to Arms,” Ernest Hemingway

75. “Scoop,” Evelyn Waugh

76. “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” Muriel Spark

77. “Finnegans Wake,” James Joyce

78. “Kim,” Rudyard Kipling

79. “A Room With a View,” E. M. Forster

80. “Brideshead Revisited,” Evelyn Waugh

81. “The Adventures of Augie March,” Saul Bellow

82. “Angle of Repose,” Wallace Stegner

83. “A Bend in the River,” V. S. Naipaul

84. “The Death of the Heart,” Elizabeth Bowen

85. “Lord Jim,” Joseph Conrad

86. “Ragtime,” E. L. Doctorow

87. “The Old Wives’ Tale,” Arnold Bennett

88. “The Call of the Wild,” Jack London

89. “Loving,” Henry Green

90. “Midnight’s Children,” Salman Rushdie

91. “Tobacco Road,” Erskine Caldwell

92. “Ironweed,” William Kennedy

93. “The Magus,” John Fowles

94. “Wide Sargasso Sea,” Jean Rhys

95. “Under the Net,” Iris Murdoch

96. “Sophie’s Choice,” William Styron

97. “The Sheltering Sky,” Paul Bowles

98. “The Postman Always Rings Twice,” James M. Cain

99. “The Ginger Man,” J. P. Donleavy

100. “The Magnificent Ambersons,” Booth Tarkington

Prompt is as Prompt Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

Nostrovia is a fine blog on poetry. Here is the link:  http://wp.me/s2SbOP-357 .  Please feel free to visit; you will like it.

It is also a place where great ideas pop up. This week the idea is a writing prompt around the following: “Those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.” – Friedrich Nietzsche

The idea is to interpret the words in any fashion. I have chosen a flash fiction piece.  Hope you like it.

The Song

The two singer/song writers finish putting the final touches on the last song for their new album due to be recorded day after tomorrow. They have been at it steady for the last thirty-six hours.

“I’m beat. All I want to do is lay down somewhere. Don’t really care where,” Jerry says.

“Yeah mate,” says Brice. “I’m dead on my feet. Coffee doesn’t work.”

“Those final lyrics in the last stanza  are really good.”

“You think?”

“I am really in love with what you did there.”

“Y’know Jerry. I think I love you too.”

“I said I was in love with what you did. I could give a shit about you.”

“Aw come on mate. You know we are a team.”

“I wish we had an opinion of the music before we record. I like it. You like it, but will it sell?”

“Getting someone to listen shouldn’t be too hard. It is about breakfast time. Let’s go down on the street and find someone who will be willing to come up and listen.”

“Who the hell is going to stop their day to listen to music, and while I am at it, who in the hell is going to follow two crazy looking, smelly guys up here to our studio to listen?”

“What if we offer someone some money? Say fifty bucks.”

Brice you are a lunatic, but I don’t have a better idea. Let’s go troll for a listener.”

Jerry and Brice move toward the door and on the way pick up their guitars.  It was Jerry’s idea to take the instruments to add a degree of professionalism to what he is sure to be a crazy sounding scheme. Jerry opens the door to their studio and standing poised to knock on the door is a young girl about eighteen or so. Brice and Jerry look at each other and pass a communication that maybe a trip downstairs might not be necessary.

“Can we help you?” Jerry says.

“My name is Cynthia Simon and I am collecting for the St James School for the hearing impaired.”

“Please come in,” says Brice.

“Oh I am not allowed to come into homes. Only ask for a donation.”

“I understand completely.  Maybe you could help us.”

Cynthia takes a step back. “Help? How?”

Brice and I have written a song and we need to sing and play it for someone to see if they like it or not. You would be perfect since we think the song will appeal to someone your age.”

“Well…I guess it would be okay as long as I stand out here.”

“Great. You stand there and we’ll do the song from here.”

Brice looks at Jerry and gives him the downbeat. They sing their song as if they were auditioning for Carnegie Hall. They never sang it with so much force before. It was magnificent. They finish and look expectantly at Cynthia for her reaction.

“Well,” Cynthia says. “I liked the words but I think the tune was used on a Go Daddy commercial during the Super Bowl.”

Jerry and Brice are dumfounded. They look at each other, then Brice goes to the piano and picks up the music.

“How much did we pay for this?” He is holding the music above his head.

“I don’t know, but I was told it was an original score.”

“Who the hell told you it was original?” Brice is now starting to get red in the face.

“His agent. She told me it was original.”

Brice throws the music back on the piano. “You’re telling me that tone-deaf agent told you the music was original and you bought it?”

“Wouldn’t you?”

“Did you get a signed release?”

“Um…No.”

“So here we are with a song with great lyrics and according to Cynthia here, a tune that was last assigned to Go Daddy on a Super Bowl commercial. We also have only two days until we record and you tell me we have no legal ground to stand on? “

“Yeah I guess so.”

“This reminds me of people thinking dancers are nuts cause they can’t hear the music. I think we are nuts because we can’t recognize a flipping tune that has been played on the flipping Super Bowl.

“Uh…wait a minute,” Jerry says. He turns to Cynthia. “You said you were collecting for a school for hearing impaired.”

“Yes I am.”

“Why are you doing that? Do you go there?”

“Why yes I do.”

Brice and Jerry smile at Cynthia and then at each other. “Of course you do,” says Brice. He reaches for his wallet.

 

 

 

 

 

One Hundred is as One Hundred Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 4 Comments

I went online just before the Super Bowl on Sunday to see if I could find out just how many books had been written about the Super Bowl. To most of you; the answer to this question is about as important as finding out how many calories in a hot fudge sundae.  Once you know the answer then what?  I had no plans to take the information and maybe justify to myself why there is room for yet another book about the Super Bowl and then go to work composing. Nope, that wasn’t the reason. I just wondered that’s all.  I think the connection between being a writer and wondering about who wrote what- about- who just comes naturally. When I explain this natural wonder to others who don’t write, I get the slow back up and the patronizing nods of the head that seem to have as a purpose warding off a bigger meltdown.

Ah but I digress. (Another statement that convinces people I am certifiable) Anyway, I was not able to get the answer. I did come across some tidbits that I thought could be used during slow moments at wakes and cocktail hours.  Did you know that Google has estimated that there are 129,864,880 books in the entire world? What is really interesting is to go on-line and actually read how Google came to that estimate which includes all the books published ever. This estimate was developed in spite of the fact that the ISBN system has only been available in the Western World for less than forty years.  I can just see you walking up to some hapless innocent at your next cocktail reception and holding them in rapt attention. “Can you believe that there are only 129,864,880 books on the planet so I guess there is room for my next million seller.”  Wow what an impact.

I also found a list of what Martin Seymour-Smith a British poet thinks are the top 100 most influential books ever published. His book is titled The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written: The History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today. Although done in 1998 it is an interesting compilation.

My observation: The first eighty books were published prior to 1900.  It is probable that none of us have working knowledge of too many of the books written prior to the twentieth century. Of course, some of them were required reading in specific courses of study (Dante’s Divine Comedy for example). The remaining twenty have familiar themes and are basically non-fiction, but here they are as published on Wikipedia.

# Author Book Title Year Published
81 William   James Pragmatism 1908
82 Albert   Einstein Relativity 1916
83 Vilfredo   Pareto The Mind and Society 1916
84 Carl Jung Psychological Types 1921
85 Martin   Buber I and Thou 1923
86 Franz Kafka The Trial 1925
87 Karl Popper The Logic of Scientific Discovery 1934
88 John   Maynard Keynes General Theory   of Employment, Interest, and Money 1936
89 Jean-Paul   Sartre Being and Nothingness 1943
90 Friedrich   von Hayek The Road to Serfdom 1944
91 Simone   de Beauvoir The   Second Sex 1948
92 Norbert   Wiener Cybernetics 1948,   revised 1961
93 George   Orwell Nineteen Eighty-Four 1949
94 George   Gurdjieff Beelzebub’s Tales to His Grandson 1950
95 Ludwig   Wittgenstein Philosophical Investigations 1953
96 Noam   Chomsky Syntactic Structures 1957
97 Thomas Kuhn The Structure of Scientific   Revolutions 1962,   revised 1970
98 Betty   Friedan The Feminine Mystique 1963
99 Mao Zedong
(attributed)		 Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong (Little   Red Book) 1966
100 B.   F. Skinner Beyond Freedom and Dignity 1971

The entire list can be seen at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_100_Most_Influential_Books_Ever_Written

Patience is as Patience Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 2 Comments

Thomas Wolfe has won a chest full of awards and honorary doctorate degrees for his work.  Most of the recognition came as a result of his non-fiction work, (The Right Stuff; for example) although he did manage to pick up recognition for his fiction work as well.  Not all the recognition for his fiction was positive and his major critics (Especially of  A Man in Full) were fellow authors like; John Updike, Norman Mailer and John Irving.  Their beef can be boiled down to an opinion that Thomas Wolfe’s books were entertainment and not literature.

Wolfe has written (so far) four fiction novels: The Bonfire of the Vanities in 1987, A Man in Full in 1998, I am Charlotte Simmons in 2004, and Back to Blood in 2012.  As you can see, the minimum time between books is six years with the longest at eleven.  In today’s environment, where an author like James Patterson publishes fourteen books in a given year, the question comes up as to why so long between books?

I have not interviewed Thomas Wolfe so I can’t actually provide the real reason, but I’ll bet it has something to do with patience.  If you have read his books it is very apparent that the words are collected and crafted very carefully to convey the scene or mood being described.  This kind of attention to detail cannot be done by all authors, and most specifically, almost impossible in a rushed situation.  Wolfe has always aspired to document modern society in the tradition of John Steinbeck, so I believe he forces himself to exercise extreme patience to ensure that each paragraph lives up to his personal benchmark.  This kind of self discipline takes time.  As we all know when writing, time is the resource that we believe works against our goals.  We feel we waste time if we don’t make deadlines that are self imposed.  Can you imagine sitting down to begin your next novel and know that it will be eleven years until it is published.  If you are like me; you would rather put a stick in your eye then to contemplate that reality.

On the other hand, if you were told that your novel done properly would earn you the recognition and honor you feel you deserve, would you be more content to take your time?  I’ll bet you would.  So why are we all in a hurry?  Do we think someone else is going to scoop our plot or capitalize on our character development?

I think we should all ask ourselves a simple question when we feel that time is getting away from us;  WHAT IS THE RUSH?  Don’t we know a well-developed chapter is so much better than just getting the chapter finished? Don’t we know by now, a query letter done right is so much better than just getting it done?  Don’t we know taking time on a well thought out synopsis is better than rushing a submission?   A lot of questions I know, but the answer has to be that we know full well the need to be patient.

 

 

 

Submission is as Submission Does

~ John W. Howell

Since I am in the sweaty process of submitting my work to find an agent and/or publisher, I have come across many different kinds of submission policies.  Some policies are very simple; send a query letter and we’ll get back in five minutes to tell you that we can’t do you for XYZ reasons.(You can pick one).  Some of the policies are very complex; like the Oxford Press Guidelines for Author Submissions, which requires the hiring of a consultant to complete.  The simple ones are somewhat merciful, in that, there is not much effort wasted when the results come back unfavorable. Not true with the complex.  It takes hours to prepare a submission and then usually a six-week waiting period. (Which generally is more like six months) The whole effort then becomes a killer exercise when the rejection arrives. (Notice I say when) Sometimes there is no response since the agent or publisher only responds to those whose work they want to review more closely. Nicely most of these undercover agents publish this fact on their web site, so for warned is for armed.

Just for fun

For fun I thought I would take the Oxford Press Guidelines (Warning:Very Complex) and pretend I am an agent trying to get the Bible published for the first time.  I want to use Oxford as my publisher. The disclaimer here is; this is only fiction and is not intended to be taken seriously.  Further disclaimer; I am not on any better speaking terms with this story’s client than anyone else on the planet, therefore I cannot help you with anything.  Okay with those disclaimers, here goes:

Guidelines for Author Submissions by Oxford Press USA

The Book

Brief Description – In one or two paragraphs, describe the work, including its rationale, approach, and pedagogy. ?This book is… It does… Its distinguishing features are…?

My Answer: Um…God lays down the law to all of mankind and do it with stories that mankind can understand, so by its nature it is pretty simple.

  • Outline – A detailed outline of the book should be prepared, including the chapters being submitted for review. This gives us an idea of how the material fits together, and how the remaining chapters will be developed. It should include chapter headings and sub-headings, with explanations as necessary.

My Answer:  It goes from the beginning to now with a couple of notes on how the world ends

  • Outstanding Features List – Briefly what you consider to be the outstanding, distinctive, or unique features of the work.

My Answer:  My client tells me that it is his word

  • Apparatus
  1. Will the book include photographs, line drawings, cases, questions, problems, glossaries, bibliography, references, appendices, etc.?

My answer: My client says,” Nope”

  1. If the book is a text, do you plan to provide supplementary material to accompany it? (Teacher’s manual, study guide, solutions, answers, workbooks, anthology, or other material.)

My Answer: My client says, “I’ll leave the material up to the readers to develop.”

  • Competition
  1. Consider the existing books in this field and discuss specifically their strengths and weaknesses. Spell out how your book will be similar to, as well as different from, competing works.  

My Answer:  My client says, “nothing compares.”

  1. Consider what aspects of topical coverage are similar to or different from the competition. What topics have been left out of competing books and what topics have been left out of yours?

My Answer:  My client almost left out Adam and Eve which have become pretty interesting characters.

  1. Please discuss each competing book in a separate paragraph. (If possible, please provide us with the publisher and date of publication as well.) This information will provide the reviewers and the publisher a frame of reference for evaluating your material. Remember, you are writing for reviewers and not for publication, so be as frank as possible regarding your competition. Give credit where credit is due, and show how you can do it better.

My Answer: My client says, “Judge not, lest ye be judged.”

Market Considerations

The Primary Market

  1. What is the major market for the book? (Scholarly/professional, text, reference, trade?)

My Answer: Sinners

  1. If this is a text, for what course is the book intended? Is the book a core text or a supplement? What type of student takes this course? What is the level? (Major or non-major; freshman, senior, graduate?) Do you offer this course yourself? If so, how many times have you given it? Is your text class-tested?

My Answer: Core and there will be a bunch of folks teaching eventually

  1. If the market is scholarly/professional, reference, or trade, how may it best be reached? (Direct mail, relevant journals, professional associations, libraries, book or music stores?) For what type of reader is your book intended?

My Answer:  Reach by Fire and brimstone meetings.  The reader is anyone who needs to be saved.

Status of the Work

  1. Do you have a timetable for completing the book?   My Answer: DONE
    1. What portion or percentage of the material is now complete?
    2. When do you expect to have a complete manuscript?
  2. What do you estimate to be the size of the completed book? My Answer: HUGE
    1. Doublespaced typewritten pages normally reduce about one-third when set in type; e.g., 300 typewritten pages make about 200 printed pages. There are about 450 words on a printed page.
    2. Approximately how many photographs do you plan to include?
    3. Approximately how many line drawings (charts, graphs, diagrams, etc. ) will you need?
    4. Do you plan to include material requiring permission (text, music, lyrics, illustrations)? To what extent? Have you started the permissions request process?
  3. Do you plan to class-test the material in your own or other sections of the course? (Any material distributed to students should be protected by copyright notice on the material.)

My Answer:  Nope let er rip

Sample Chapters

Select one or two chapters of the manuscript that are an integral part of the book. They should be those you consider the best-written ones, and do not have to be in sequence. For example, you might submit chapters 3, 7, and 14 of a 20-chapter book, so long as these chapters represent the content and reflect your writing style and pedagogy in the best possible light. It is also advisable to submit any chapter that is particularly innovative or unique. Sample chapters should contain rough sketches, charts, hand-written musical examples or xerox reproductions, and description of photographs to be included. The material need not be in final form, although it should be carefully prepared and represent your best work. In your preparation, emphasis should be on readability. Please do not bind your manuscript, as we will have to unbind it in order to make photocopies for reviewers. Also be sure all pages are numbered either consecutively or double-numbered by chapter.

My Answer:  I would go with Genesis through Ruth which is attached.  When you see the words “Thee and thou,”  that means you.

Reviews

If we are interested in your project, we will commission outside reviewers to read and evaluate your proposal. We will, of course, obtain the best available reviewers to consider your work. If you wish to suggest the names of experts in your field whom you believe to be ideally suited to evaluate your proposal, you may provide their names, titles, and email addresses. While we are unlikely to approach these scholars to act as reviewers themselves, we may ask them for their suggestions for peer readers. Naturally, we do not reveal the names of reviewers without their permission.

My Answer:  The Devil hates it.  The Angles love it. ( I don’t mean LA)

Author Background

Please include a current CV or brief biography of your writing, teaching, and/or educational background and experience. Be sure to list any books that you have previously published, and any other information about yourself on why you are qualified to write this book.

My Answer:  In the beginning my client made the Heaven and Earth

Response Time

Please allow at least 6-10 weeks for the manuscript proposal evaluation and review process. We will contact you as soon as we have had a chance to thoroughly examine your manuscript proposal. Thank you for your interest in Oxford University Press. We look forward to reading your materials.

My Answer:  Talk to you then.  My client is available everywhere.

Sorry for the length of this post. Hope you enjoyed.  Have a nice weekend

 

Rule is as Rule Does

~ John W. Howell ~ 8 Comments

Rule is as Rule Does

I was doing some research (ahem make that surfing the net) when I came across an article from the Guardian UK describing a number of author provided rules for writing.  I have already published Elmore Leonard’s famous ten rules list back in November, but I was taken with the list of Richard Ford; Pulitzer Prize winning author of Independence Day.  Here is the list:

1 Marry somebody you love and who thinks you being a writer’s a good idea.

2 Don’t have children.

3 Don’t read your reviews.

4 Don’t write reviews. (Your judgment’s always tainted.)

5 Don’t have arguments with your wife in the morning, or late at night.

6 Don’t drink and write at the same time.

7 Don’t write letters to the editor. (No one cares.)

8 Don’t wish ill on your colleagues.

9 Try to think of others’ good luck as encouragement to yourself.

10 Don’t take any shit if you can ­possibly help it.

I don’t think Richard warrants that if you follow these rules you will win the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, but you may be a lot happier.

Here is the link if you would like to see other lists by other authors most are quite funny.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/feb/20/ten-rules-for-writing-fiction-part-one