Independent reporting and commentary from TJ Sullivan, a national award-winning writer, formerly of Los Angeles, now living in Chicago. Sullivan is an author, independent journalist, photographer and college-level journalism instructor who has been featured as a speaker at several national writing conferences. To request an interview, or to inquire about scheduling Sullivan to speak at your event, please include the name and address of your organization and a contact telephone number.
Showing posts with label Books and Authors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Books and Authors. Show all posts
The poet and novelist Charles Bukowski died on this day, March 9, in 1994.
In his memory, an excerpt from his poem "Old Man, Dead in a Room," first published in "The Outsider" magazine in 1961:
"... and as my grey hands drop a last desperate pen in some cheap room they will find me there and never know my name my meaning nor the treasure of my escape."
If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I died and what my lousy adult life was like, and how I could turn away from writing and all before you were even born, and all that Harper Lee kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth ...
The first book trailer for "Boon" is online [short version above, full-length version at right]. Although the concept of book trailers may seem odd to some, it's becoming more common in the book industry for both fiction and non-fiction. I'm interested in hearing what you think about the concept.
Also ... I'll be making my first official appearance as the author of "Boon" on Tuesday, Jan. 26, at the Society of Professional Journalists - Los Angeles Chapter Mixer in downtown Los Angeles.
The mixers are very casual, so I expect to keep it brief, a Q&A perhaps, more of a conversation than a "talk." The focus of the discussion will be the journey from journalism to fiction. I initially referred to it as a "road" from journalism to fiction, but changed my mind as the word "road" implies that there is a distinct path between the two worlds, which, in my experience, is not the case.
There will be no reading. I learned long ago to never read aloud in a bar. But, I will gladly sign a few books.
THE LOWDOWN:
WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 26, at 6:30 p.m.
WHERE: The back room at the Redwood Bar and Grill, 316 W. 2nd Street in downtown LA; 213-680-2600. Street and lot parking is available in the area. The bar is close to the Civic Center Red Line Metro stop.
COST: It’s free fun for all! (You’ll have to buy your own drinks. Happy hour ends at 7 p.m.).
SPJ-LA asks that you let them know you’re coming by sending an e-mail to: spjlosangeles@gmail.com.
More info is available in the SPJ press release on the event. Download it in pdf format. Or, view it online at the SPJ-LA Web site.
Hope to see you there.
More information about "Boon" is available on the Books page.
I don't think so, and here's just one reason why: The Espresso Book Machine.
The ability of the EBM to create books on-demand at the point of sale not only makes it possible to greatly reduce the amount of real estate that bookstores have to lease (shelving one sample book of every current title takes a lot less space than shelving dozens), but it also eliminates shipping costs, and ensures that no bookstore will ever run out of a particular title. In green terms, it means far less books will be returned to publishers [to be destroyed] since books will only be printed on-demand.
Pretty cool stuff.
The EBM was in the news again this week with the announcement of a new agreement with Xerox. As the LA Times Jacket Copy blog highlights in its January 14 post, the EBM is expected to show up at seven new venues this year (mostly university libraries and bookstores). Bookstores have so far been slow to embrace the EBM, both because of the cost (about $125,000 per machine, says Jacket Copy) and concerns about digital files and piracy (the EBM makes it possible to print more than 2 million books in Google's public domain catalog, which has been the focus of much legal wrangling).
As promised, I have completed my search for book-related blogs and Web sites. All 285 of the sites listed here have been confirmed as active, meaning they've all featured fresh content in the past 30 days, or so. Of course, this is by no means a complete list. If you've got a few book clubs, book blogs, and/or book-related Web sites to suggest, send them along and I'll gladly append the list.
"In his first novel, 'Boon,' T.J. Sullivan imagines a world where the news is produced not by perfectly objective, detached automatons but instead by human beings with real vulnerabilities, obsessions, distractions and temptations. It’s a story of manipulation and opportunism, portraying a constant struggle between doing what’s required and doing what’s right. The strength of the narrative is Sullivan’s indefatigable use of detail, which lets the reader feel each character’s every hunger, every pain and every breath."
-- M.E. Sprengelmeyer, The Communicator
Coming Winter 2010. In the meantime, I hope to see you at Facebook.
In preparation for the release of my novel, "Boon," I now have a fan page at Facebook.
Shameless self promotion? Yes. Of course. But, if I don't tell you about it here, you'll end up hearing about it on the street and we all know how things can get distorted and blown out of proportion that way.
I'll have much more info to share in the next couple months. We've got time. The novel is coming in Winter 2010, which is why I'm busy doing things like setting up Facebook pages and learning about planning book signings and readings, etc ...
Set in the suburbs of Los Angeles, "Boon" tells the story of a young newspaper reporter who becomes mired in the murky world of small-town politics when her journalistic pursuit of the facts becomes tangled with her personal pursuit of homeownership, a situation that ultimately forces her to make a choice between fulfilling her dreams and fighting for what she believes in. The quest for truth and square footage exacts a steep price in T.J. Sullivan’s witty, suspense-filled debut novel.
One portion of the story describes how Wallace's wife, Karen Green, found him the day he took his own life:
Green returned home at nine-thirty, and found her husband. In the garage, bathed in light from his many lamps, sat a pile of nearly two hundred pages. He had made some changes in the months since he considered sending them to Little, Brown. The story of “David Wallace” was now first. In his final hours, he had tidied up the manuscript so that his wife could find it. Below it, around it, inside his two computers, on old floppy disks in his drawers were hundreds of other pages—drafts, character sketches, notes to himself, fragments that had evaded his attempt to integrate them into the novel. This was his effort to show the world what it was to be “a fucking human being.” He had not completed it to his satisfaction. This was not an ending anyone would have wanted for him, but it was the ending he chose.
There is much more to the story. Find it at The New Yorker.
It sounds like 72-year-old Larry McMurtry might want to begin stocking a few JK Rowling or Stephenie Meyer books in his bookstore, or maybe talk to a few librarians before he starts condemning book culture.
The accomplished author, best known for his book "Lonesome Dove," told the Houston Chronicle recently that he doesn't see kids reading, a matter that has him so concerned he worries it's the end of book culture.
Here's a snippet from the interview:
I’m pessimistic. Mainly it’s the flow of people into my bookshop in Archer City. They’re almost always people over 40.
I don’t see kids, and I don’t see kids reading. I think little kids love to have stories read to them, but when they get to 10 or 11 or 12, they run into this tsunami of technology: iPod, iPhone, Blackberries.
They don’t resist it, and it’s normal that they wouldn’t; it’s their culture. I’m not so sure they ever come back to reading. Some will, but most won’t.
In July of last year the ALA boasted that "teen books now enjoy unprecedented critical success and popularity."
Here's a little more from the ALA:
Teen literature is in its golden age. The most highly anticipated book of 2008, “Breaking Dawn,” is aimed at young adults, with teen books taking up many spots on best-seller lists from USA Today and Amazon.com, among others. Many adult authors have begun writing fiction for teens, and book editors and librarians across the U.S. agree that literature aimed at young adults is better than ever. As overall book sales stagnate, young adult publishing is a bright spot; a 2008 article in Newsweek says sales for books aimed at those ages 12-18 have increased more than 25 percent.
