The reading at Paper Tiger Coffee last Wednesday, went very well, I thought, and thanks again to Joyce Colson for inviting me to be a featured reader there. I read poems from my checkered past with women and about women I've read about too or whose stories I've heard something about. All mixed together, of course, to protect the innocent. The fine line drawing to the right is by Christopher Luna who I was so glad to see at the reading. He's been very kind to me and appreciative of my work. I enjoy that he refers to me as the Henry Miller of Vancouver. The poetic lines around my head are from the last poem I read that night.
The third rewrite of Ghoul World is speeding along. Couldn't be happier with how it's turning out. No more responses to work or inquiries I've sent out. Fingers forever locked in a crossed position.
I've met a young writer named Lindsey Kurtz and heard from her about a local prose-writing group here in Vancouver. So am connecting via Facebook with her and her writing friends.
This coming Wednesday, September 16th, 2015, the Silent Boomer will be the featured poet at Joyce Colson's Paper Tiger open mic event that occurs at Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters at 7:00 PM. Location is at 703 Grand Blvd. Vancouver, WA. It's an every third Wednesday of the month occurrence. Don't forget...open mic and good coffee too. George is going to concentrate on poetry about women and the psychology of some damaged women he's known and on some of the ways that men relate to them. Some poems will be pretty scary.
Honesty is painful. At my Barnes & Noble reading, no one showed up. I read well several of my best poems. If that doesn't attract people, there is nothing I can do about it. I'm wondering how long I'll stick to the open mic forums.
The third rewrite of Ghoul World is preceding at about a chapter a sitting, sometimes sliding over into two days, but I'm encouraged by the work. Will begin Chapter -9- the next time I sit down to write. No new rejections to report.
Lastly, TV's "Star Trek: the next generation" taught me an interesting thing about plausibility. I'm always worried about being plausible, right? In the Star Trek segment I watched, the Enterprise fakes out an adversary by allowing them to destroy an unmanned ship, thinking they are killing a starship full of their enemies that the Enterprise is charged to protect. Starships are shown time and again to have the power to monitor another starship for "signs of life". It's SOP to monitor another ship for life. Yet, just to accommodate a plot line, an Enterprise adversary's starship doesn't seem to have this power. Why do I fret over such things? Maybe readers don't care as much as I do?
Didn't sleep well last night but hammered out the 3rd rewrite of Chapter -2- of Ghoul World today, this morning. That's all this dude has to report. About time for my walk in hazy Vancouver, surrounded by discouraging PNW fires. Tomorrow, at seven pm, as I've pointed out numerous times, I'll be the featured poet at Barnes and Noble in Vancouver. Looking forward to it. Nice of Rainy Knight and David Hill to invite me.
Got a nice rejection letter for a short story I submitted to a contest. Invited to submit again. Was it just a polite form letter or a special sort of rejection letter that was a real invite? Monetary concerns twist and distort all communications. I know the story is well done. I've worked it over a couple of dozen of times over the past decade. All I see nowadays in it are small quibbles with my language that aren't strong enough to change. They're the sort of quibbles that can go back and forth, endlessly.
The poet is doing better than the novelist. He's got two readings booked. Isn't that a nice word, booked? Thanks to moderators Poets Dave Hill and Rainy Knight, on August 25th, I'll be a featured reader at Barnes & Noble's "Last Tuesday" poetry group. Lots popping at the store this July month too. On the third Wednesday, September 16th, by invitation of moderator, Poet Joyce Colson, l'll be the featured poet at Tiger Talk Open Mic at the Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters on Grand. One of the nice parts of that venue is that for one month, I believe, my poetry will be on display and for sale at Paper Tiger Coffee Roasters. Hope to see a few people there.
I don't know if anyone is noticing what's happening here in the Pacific Northwest. Day after day of 90 plus degree temps. Maybe I'm in Arizona and don't know it. A pal of mine down there reports temps of 107 and higher. Whew! Good thing I like to write in coffee shops. Most usually have "conditioned air". Yesterday, Mertie and I ventured to the coast for the day. Cooler there by 10 degrees, but still warm in late afternoon.
