January 2009 Archives

Literary journals and short stories

By Susan on January 29, 2009 9:51 PM | Click here to post a comment

I've got a couple of short stories out for submission, both to journals that publish mainly dramatic works. My stories tend to have a bit of humor in them. Have I a shot in hell? Perhaps not. But I've spent a few months reading these literary journals, trying to understand what they like, what they are willing to put on their pages, and I have to say, a little non-caustic humor might do wonders for their circulation.

Wide distribution isn't the point of a literary magazine. If it was, only the New Yorker would be left standing. These are art collections, little packages of print meant to capture a slice of emerging literary culture once a quarter or so. Many of them are dearly loved. Some are fading. Some relatively thrive.

I have another story to send out this week which is about the silliest thing I've written. But I like it; it has some of my best writing in it, though not in literary magazine style.

I have mixed feelings about it. The lit mag has to exist because there is nobody else to find literary fiction/nonfiction and poetry and sort it out so that there is at least some indicator of who actually knows what they're doing. But some of these magazines have grabbed on to trendiness, MFA dramatics, and a tendency to publish really depressing, obfuscated stuff. I met a fellow last year who was the walking version of a literary magazine - dressed like a character from Rent, spouting the inside baseball on various literary awards he will never win, scoffing at the life's work of better poets than himself. Sadly, he was too big to simply return to the library, though by the end of my encounter I was tempted to shove him through the book slot.

I have hope, though. I think lit mags publish what they get. And there are great writers out there - there have to be, as America has always had plenty - that they haven't gotten yet.

So we'll see. Here's a picture of another work of fiction, Las Vegas, from last week.

John Updike, RIP

By Susan on January 27, 2009 6:57 PM | Click here to post a comment

A moment of silence in the suburbs for a writer who consistently proved that Americans are perfectly happy to read literary fiction.

Writing Prompt: Grand Canyon

By Susan on January 27, 2009 6:27 PM | Click here to post a comment

Somebody lost something down there. What is it? Who lost it? Will it ever be found? Is someone looking for it? How did it get there? Well, there you go. Now you have something to write about. And I managed to procrastinate for the five minutes it took me to post this.

Gaiman wins a Newberry

By Susan on January 27, 2009 12:58 PM | Click here to post a comment

Neil Gaiman, author of numerous fantasy, fiction, and children's books, won the Newberry today for his spooky book, "The Graveyard Book". Neat trick for an Englishman - the Newberry is for US-based authors - but it turns out he lives right here in Minnesota. I suppose if he's willing to endure -20 in the morning he can have a Newberry. Gaiman's "Coraline" is one of the creepiest books I've ever read, and will soon be coming out in theaters as a stop-animation film. Argh! Mother has buttons for eyes! Argh! Yeah, ok, you have to have read it. Anyhow, I have a soft spot for Gaiman because he actually has a decent blog. When an author has a decent blog, it causes me to think he might just be hooked into this modern world of ours enough to be relevant to it.

Below...a couple of pics from the Grand Canyon. At the end of a long and stunning road through scrub and low forests is the Watchtower, a sightseeing structure that overlooks the eastern parts of the canyon. The inside of it is actually quite interesting, with lots of designs that to me looked Hopi.

California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 2: Arcata

By Susan on January 25, 2009 8:57 PM | Click here to post a comment

Editor's note: Welcome to the California Redwoods Travel Guide, Part 2. This travel guide is being built one stop at a time here at Northern Word, amongst everything else, and as it grows links will appear on the travel guide's home page.

Great Links: North Coast Journal's Calendar page gives you the low down on events in Humboldt county during your visit. For info on Arcata's environmental activism, see the North Coast Environmental Center.

You arrived last night via Part 1: Getting There. Now you're in Arcata! What the heck do you do with yourself! Well, here you go.

Hundreds of miles from the nearest major city, on a thin seam of civilization between expansive forest and the sea, sits Arcata, California. A glorious hippie town that serves as the perfect antidote to these cynical times, Arcata is colorful and quaint, Victorian and Bohemian, politically active and full of character. If you are tired of the nearly manufactured "tourist" towns that reside near more populated areas, Arcata is just the ticket. Still alive and authentic, Arcata is a activist town, a university town, a picture-postcard Victorian city complete with palm trees and an inappropriate statue of a dead president. It is also the epicenter of Northern California's environmental movement, and home to myriad quirky and interesting people. For more on the, er, odd side of Arcata, or the latest news, don't miss the wonderful Arcata Eye weekly newspaper and it's police blotter.

I spent my high school years here. Times were different then; the timber wars were in full swing, and the heavy tension of small-town politics and big money interests hung about the place. You can read more about that here. But times have changed, the timber wars are diminished, and the region has mellowed to the point where Arcata's hippie climes now seem to extend far beyond its small borders. It's a worthy first stop on your journey and an excellent attitude-adjuster.

Sights to See

The Plaza

The Arcata Plaza is the town's defining feature, a small-town square with nice landscaping, excellent shops and restaurants (as well as a couple of divey bars), palm trees, and a statue of long-dead President McKinley. The Plaza is the best place in Arcata for people watching, at least in good weather. I have seen a person dressed as a chicken here. I have seen a person in the process of becoming naked here. I have seen a police officer stand in the middle of the plaza and stare at the top of the palm tree for an disturbing period of time. I have seen President McKinley in a bra. Go forth, grasshopper, and see what you shall find.

If you are staying at the Arcata Inn, listed in Part 1, your hotel is on the Plaza.

Redwood Park

As city parks go, Redwood park is huge, a large swath of mature second growth redwood forest behind Humboldt State University. Would be a state park in many other parts of the country. But it's still small enough to be enjoyed in a couple of hours. I returned there a few years back and wandered through it's big trees and even bigger stumps on a warm summer day. It's an airy, spacious forest. I remember doing a school science project up there, finding all the organisms in a square meter, and contemplating this quiet and steep place. It's a great first step into the redwoods, but keep in mind, if you follow this travel guide, you'll be seeing much bigger trees later on.

The Minor Theater

1037 H St

Right off the Plaza, the Minor is a beautifully restored old vaudeville house that plays first run and independent films. A word of caution, make sure the movie you're seeing is in the main auditorium - otherwise, you'll be in the smallest movie theater you have ever seen in your life. Just enough room for you and half a Pez dispenser There used to be an "Arcata Theater" a few blocks from there as well - a 1950's masterpiece, if there ever was one - and its Rocky Horror Picture Show midnight showings were legendary. Now gone, sad to say. Not sure if "Rocky" lives on at the Minor, but if it does, go. Arcatans do love that movie, er, a lot.

Arcata Marsh

569 S G St

Arcata has the distinction of processing its waste via an ultra-environmentally friendly and sustainable sewer system. Residents say they "Flush with Pride". I say, when you're in Arcata, all shit is good shit. In any case, the Marsh itself is quite pretty and full of birds, and is a lovely afternoon nature walk on a sunny day. Excellent dog-watching.

Natural History Museum

Run by Humboldt State University, this small museum always has fascinating and well-presented exhibits, as well as a small gift shop. Be sure to look up, there are critters hanging from the ceiling.

Humboldt State University

Humboldt State University is unique in the California State University System. It's 300 miles from the nearest major city, built on a redwood-forested hillside with a view of Humboldt Bay. It has a world-class natural resources/environmental emphasis, and also trains most of the area's schoolteachers. On any given day, Humboldt State has cultural and entertainment options in the evening that can satisfy travelers not content to retire for the night

Trinidad

Trinidad is a different town several miles north of Arcata - about half an hour - but it's a good combined visit. Trinidad has a gorgeous beach with rock formations. there is a small casual restaurant in a shack by the docs that I've eaten in quite a number of times. Since I've been there, I believe it was taken over by the Trinidad Rancheria, the local Indian tribe. Also from the Rancheria is the Trinidad casino, which I'm told has an ocean-view dining room. A short drive from here is also the Moonstone Grill restaurant, also with view of a vast, empty beach and the Pacific.

Trinidad has some small shops but is mainly a walk-on-the-beach destination; this is a great place to say hello to the Pacific, as Arcata is sheltered by Humboldt Bay. Later chapters of this travel guide will address Patrick's Point State Park, a gem near Trinidad worth a stop on a longer trip.

In addition to these sites, there is plenty of exploring to do in the vicinity of the Plaza and Humboldt State, the two areas with the largest concentration of gingerbread-style Victorians. Built in the 1880's - 1890's out of old growth redwoods, these homes define the architecture of many towns in Humboldt County.

Stay tuned as more of this travel guide is created. For dining suggestions in Arcata, click the link below. Corrections/suggestions always welcome!

Continue reading California Redwoods Travel Guide: Part 2: Arcata.

They Used to Call that a Supermarket

By Susan on January 24, 2009 10:09 PM | Click here to post a comment

Seen in Boulder City, NV, last week (and probably fifty years before that...)

More from Sedona

By Susan on January 22, 2009 11:08 PM | Click here to post a comment

As I put the finishing touches on another section of the California Redwoods Travel Guide (should be posted Friday or Saturday), here's some more views of the Sedona, Arizona area that I visited last week. This is Slide Rock State Park, which this time of year is utterly empty of people, but beautiful. Apparently in the summer it's a madhouse. Found on Highway 89A between Flagstaff and Sedona in Oak Creek Canyon (a great drive, by the way).

slide rock state park az oak creek view2.jpg

Above: the swimming areas at Slide Rock State Park. The pools are actually quite deep, and you can slide down the rocks into the deeper pools. Nature's own waterslide.

slide rock state park az close hill view.jpg

Red mountains tower to the west of the creek.

slide rock state park az oak creek view.jpg

The state has built some rest rooms into the rocks to handle the crowds. It was a pleasant and unpopulated spot in January.

On a historic day

By Susan on January 20, 2009 10:22 PM | Click here to post a comment

I rummaged through my huge file of photographs, and found this one from a trip to Washington DC early in the 2000's. Seems like an appropriate image for the day.

I missed being part of the festivities today in Washington, but watched on television. I must know about a dozen people who went, and have already heard their stories and seen some of their pictures via the internet. What an amazing day.

A Sense of Place

By Susan on January 19, 2009 6:13 PM | Click here to post a comment

One of the things about my fiction writing that is fairly obvious after a page or two is that I pay a lot of attention to setting. I like my characters to be fully immersed in a place, swimming in its details and colors and smells. I usually use settings in which I myself have lived, enhance them a bit, twist them a little. Characters don't exist outside of their setting, they are part of it, they interact with it, and they react to and are influenced by their place.

Last week while touring Northern Arizona I trundled through several spectacular Places. Real places, where real characters live. Looking at a vista like this, in Sedona, Arizona, I wondered how utterly different the world must look to someone raised among the red rock towers of the southwest, compared to those of us who grew up in the mossy redwoods of the California Coast.

The rich red color of the rocks contrasts with the velvet black asphalt of the new road through town.

Impossible rocks perch in the distance.

The sky is wide open here, and the air is stunningly clear. Thunderstorms do come in the rainy season, what there is of it, but the contrast to my wet, dark childhood underneath a thick canopy of redwoods couldn't be starker. I wonder where I would have gone in my life if I'd been born and raised in Sedona? I'd be tanner, that's for sure. And based on the population I observed, substantially thinner and more inclined to wear sparkling jewelry with jeans and a long, multicolored shirt. And perhaps I would be interested in vortexes, these mysterious if scientifically unprovable things that are claimed to exist in the various corners of Sedona's red rock skyline. Or, I might still be here in chilly Minnesota, having left Sedona to look for work outside the Vortex industry. One never knows. But one of the delights of vacation is the chance to script an alternate path to our own lives, and this one seemed sunnier, with better food.

Greetings from the Grand Canyon

By Susan on January 18, 2009 8:40 PM | Click here to post a comment

Well, it was a whirlwind tour, but a thousand pictures later, I'm back from the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Sedona. Just in time to enjoy minus 24 degrees (F) here in Minnesota. Here's a sneak peek at more southwest pics I'll be putting together into some travel essays in a couple of weeks:

Wolf

By Susan on January 9, 2009 7:46 AM | Click here to post a comment

Last spring I stopped by the International Wolf Center in Ely, Minnesota. Ely is a remote outfitter town on the edge of the even more remote Boundary Waters Wilderness Area, and the Wolf Center is a sparkling newish facility where they have a number of wolves. Wolves still live throughout much of Northern Minnesota and Canada, and the center is part of various studies and activities around protecting wolf populations in the wild. Here's a wolf from the Center to keep an eye on my blog while I'm away for a few days.

The Internet Gods Taketh Away

By Susan on January 8, 2009 11:52 AM | Click here to post a comment

Well, my internet access has been down for a couple of days, and I'm going to be out of touch for a few after this, so the blog will start up again the weekend of January 17th. Expect some spectacular new pics and some interesting stories. If you need a writing prompt, think about villains in the post below...expand on the ones you have, or find a real-life villain to generate a nonfiction idea.

Villains

By Susan on January 5, 2009 10:14 PM | 2 Comments

Now that I've mapped the heck out of my novel-in-progress, I'm settling back to the writing itself. And I'm considering my darkest character, and how to flesh her out.

The term "villain" is sometimes one we shy away from when not writing mass-market fiction; it seems two-dimensional, a la "Snidely Whiplash". But it's a useful term to refer to a central character who brings an ill wind to the story. My character, a middle-aged woman with some peculiar involvement in real estate, starts as a "blocking" force and quickly moves up the "bad guy" ladder to active antagonist.

It isn't necessary for a villainous character to be fully three dimensional; some of the best villains are essentially mechanisms or forces against which the protagonist struggles. But menace does well with a bit of spice, and so Mrs. Lappi, as is her working name at the moment, is getting assigned some of my own ethnic background - Ulster Irish Protestant. There's some spice for you. And yes, Lappi is her married name.

In the process I've thought a bit about the real villains in my life. There's the teacher I had in junior high school, who saw me bullied in the back of the room and refused to address it, leaving me miserable for a time...or the bully herself, the blonde terror with constant fists. But more recently, in the business world, I've had my share as well. Some years ago (yes, years ago and at another company! Love my current job, thanks! Hi boss!) I had a sniveling evil little boss from some floral sub-basement of hell. A whispy thing with a deceptively friendly demeanor and an endless supply of lavender crepe cotton tops, she turned out to be part stalker, part serial liar, and part sci-fi acid-spitting lizard. But I exaggerate. Not really. Ever seen a lizard in a pantsuit? I have.

How would I put that creature into a novel? Honestly, I have no idea. She'd fit right in with mass market fiction, where such horrors are refreshingly accepted, no questions asked. But in a novel I'd have to make her more...real. Or at least give her a purpose, a serious place in the mechanism of evil. And honestly, after 8 months working with the woman, she never became more than a caricature bent on destruction. It is true, that truth is stranger than fiction. People do come in two dimensions. But when we write novels, we write about the creatures who live in three dimensions, as readers find them more interesting. In short, my boss was thoroughly evil, but of such a one-note variety her literary value is minimal.

So on to writing up Mrs. Lappi, an entirely different sort of villain who isn't really inspired by a single person. I'll add a dash of Ulster Irish, and throw her in for a scene or two with her scatterbrained husband to see what happens. That should keep me busy.

Note on upcoming: a few more posts this week, then a week off from January 10-16. You'll be rewarded with views of the Grand Canyon when I return.

Autumn leaf on the St. Croix River, near Grantsburg, Wisconsin, fall 2008.

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Welcome to Northern Word, the online home of writer Susan McNerney. Northern Word features lots of photography, words on the business and process of writing, original bits of fiction and nonfiction, travelogues and travel writing, and anything else that Susan feels like posting. Browse the categories on the left (or the topic cloud below) to see previous episodes, and don't miss the two big travelogues: A Week in Rome and A Great Southwest Road Trip. Susan is originally from the redwood regions of Northern California, but now lives and writes in chilly Minnesota.

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