Five That Won't Disappoint

Forget Top Ten lists--here are five movies, albums, and books that I have seen, heard, or read many times and that are always as good as I remember them. They may not show up on any 10 BEST  lists compiled by academic snobs, but they are just plain enjoyable. They won't let you down. So say I.

Since I've recently been anointed as a screenwriter of a produced film ("El Camino Real"--yeah, check out IMDB, you know you want to), I'll start with the movies that always work for me:

FILMS:

1. "84 Charing Cross Road" starring Ann Bancroft. Book people will love this sweet and funny film, but so will history buffs and those who love New York (and London). Also stars Anthony Hopkins and Judy Dench, so there.

2. "Arthur" starring Dudley Moore--and forget what you know or think you know about Dudley Moore, this film is funny funny funny! From the first minutes to the final scene, you'll laugh, chuckle, giggle and smirk. Trust me.

3. "Umbrellas of Cherbourg" starring Catherine Deneuve, back when she was just a (stunningly lovely) teenager. The plot of this film is simple, but the acting is natural and the score is gorgeous. The operatic nature of it might surprise you at first--stick with it--This film will have you weeping, or you're a heartless bastard.

4. "The Natural" starring Robert Redford--and a cast of great character actors. This film really split the critics--they loved it or hated it, but it's a great adventure if you stop trying to "figure it out". It's a myth, people, so just watch it, and enjoy. (I'll sneak in another baseball movie here--"Field of Dreams" is also a winner.)

5. "Manhattan" is arguably Woody Allen's masterpiece. I saw "Annie Hall" again recently, and was disappointed; it doesn't hold up as well…This film is when Woody started taking himself seriously--in a funny way, of course--and so do we.

ALBUMS:

I've been spending time north of Los Angeles lately, so my music is leaning a bit north too--as you'll see:

1. "The Band" by The Band. I remember this album so well that I figured it would be a disappointment to dust it off and play it (courtesy of iTunes). Boy was I wrong--it rocks, and weeps, and carries you down the road just like it did in the 1970s.

2. "Crosby, Stills, and Nash" by CSN. Yeah…what I said about #1 applies here, too. It just doesn't get any better than this. "Deja Vu" runs a pretty close second, though...

3. "Harvest" by Neil Young. Some of the greatest melodies ever written. Seriously.

4."Court and Spark" by Joni Mitchell. Heartbreakingly beautiful (The same could be said for her album "Blue")

5."Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. The Boss. 'Nuff said.

BOOKS:

I am consciously leaving out my "classic" favorites, found on college reading lists the world round--so no Austen, no Dickens, no Tolstoy.

1. "East of Eden" by John Steinbeck. Might contain the best-written first chapter of all time. And though I love "Cannery Row" and the like, THIS is Steinbok at his best.

2. "Skinny Legs and All" by Tom Robbins. I love many of his other books, "Still Life with Woodpecker" most of all, but this is his funniest and his most "important," too.

3. "Winter's Tale" by Mark Helprin. Set in a fantastical, but real-feeling New York that sort of but never really existed. Many people find it hard to get into. Try. Try harder. Go with it.

4. "The Lacuna" by Barbara Kingsolver (Also "Animal Dreams" for those that like a love story). I like the way she weaves history, art, love and death. Not to mention Mexico. And Trotsky.

5. "Death Comes to the Archbishop" by Willa Cather. I love "My Antonia" but this is so sweeping and so perfect--check it out, though anything by Willa Cather is great.

And last, but not least--five writers conferences that never let you down and always lift you up--and never disappoint:

1. Southern California Writers Conference

2. Southern California Writers Conference

3. Southern California Writers Conference

4. Southern California Writers Conference

5. Southern California Writers Conference

The next SCWC is in late September, in Newport Beach. Be there--I will. Hope to see you there. Can't wait to hear what you think of my choices, meantime.

hasta pronto!

Whatever Works is a Good Technique

A great teacher of mine once said "Whatever works is a good technique." He was talking about acting, but the same rule applies for writers.
Whatever helps you write more joyfully, or helps you write better, or just more often, is a good technique, for YOU.
Every writer I've known has had his or her rules, or techniques, for writing.  They begin as wild guesses, desperate attempts for creativity, then become habits, and soon gain the status of rules--the breaking of which, the writer often feels, will bring "bad mojo" or "chase away the muse."
Those aspiring writers who have yet to get into a groove of being working writers often have no idea how to begin the process of writing. The answer is, of course, quite simple--"Whatever works is a good technique"!
Loraine, a writer friend of mine, recently stumbled across the writings of the amazing Rita Mae Brown. Loraine was amazed to find that not everyone knew of this literary genius, and soon began writing letters to her. The "Dear Rita Mae Brown" letters began. Being in her writing group, I was one of the few people chosen to read them in rough form.
The letters soon evolved to be about a lot more than writing--like RMB's own books--and all of Loraine's friends have been caught up in following the story as it unfolds, daily or weekly.
The reason I'm sharing this is: simply reading RMB's writing (and reading books about her colorful life) inspired Loraine, and gave her the impetus to write--along with the almost-daily "Dear RMB" letters--page after page of her own previously stalled novel-in-progress.
Whatever works, right?
I've often told writers who feel "blocked" or "stalled" or whatever they call it, that they need (among other things) to read writing that inspires them. This is one of the best--and fastest--results I've seen, in action, but I think there's always some good result.
The Dear RMB letters are now posted on Loraine's blog, "From Paige to Page"which you can find here. Start with the letters posted in April, and written in February. The link should take you to the first letter, dated 2-24-13.
If you want to be a writer and you aren't writing, then write. If you feel you can't write, try reading (or watching or visiting) something to inspire yourself--if it works, good. If not, try something else. Remember, "Whatever works is a good technique."
hasta pronto!

Such an Exciting Time to Be a Writer

Yes, it's true! This present time is the most exciting time ever to be a writer--not only are there oodles of places for writers to put their writing and have it read (well, yes, mostly for free, but still...) but there are also a zillion ways to get published, and many more places to have your books appear. Not to mention more than a few formats--e-books and "tree books" to name just two. (Thanks Matt!)
Every week or so I hear from another writer who is e-pubbing a book, self-pubbing a book, or starting to think about doing some version of the two.
It is true that all too often people rush their "shitty first drafts" into e-publication (see my premature e-publication post last year) and most of those books never go very far...Which is only right. Readers want quality writing, too, not just reading material.
But for those authors who invest enough time--and money--on quality packaging and publishing, the rewards can be enormous--whether those rewards are monetary, or not.
Just today I heard from my friend Marla Miller who just started a Kickstarter campaign to raise money to indie publish her novel--how novel! I'm a backer, and I hope you will join me--here is the link...let's all support writers in what ever small ways we can.
hasta pronto!

Advice to Aspiring Writers

I am occasionally asked for advice from writers about how to get published.
Depending upon my mood, my advice is anything from a long list of books to read and websites to peruse, to simple comments like "just write today, and worry about the rest of it later."
I have often wished that "someone out there" would take the trouble to write a comprehensive answer to the question, and now someone has.
Today's blog post from Hugh Howey, "My Advice to Aspiring Authors" is so excellent and so jam-packed with current publishing-world insight that I'm just gonna link to it here. I don't agree with EVERY point he makes, but the bulk of it is so "write on" that I'm not going to quibble.
Okay. My work is done.
hasta pronto!

My Favorite Books of 2012

I hate "Best Books" lists. After all, one woman's "trash" is another woman's "best," and those lists always make me want to ask "best for what?"
Best for keep you up at night, or best for keeping the porch door wedged open?
Best for making you feel that the world is an okay place after all, or best for making you feel that life is completely stupid and pointless? (It seems like many books I find on "Best Books" lists fit the latter definition.)
Anyway, my list is simply this: The seven books published this year that I most enjoyed reading.  Not sure why seven, but there it is. Lucky number seven.
I won't be adding mini-reviews here, as most of these books have been reviewed here in the past 12 months and I don't want to repeat myself (the others have been reviewed extensively elsewhere and I don't want to repeat them, either).
Suffice to say, they're all well written and have "something to say" rather than simply being "entertaining reads" (though most of them are that, too).

Here they are, in alphabetical order:

Black and White by Wes Albers

Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell

Redshirts by John Scalzi

So L.A.  by Bridget Hoida

Tincture of Time by John Rosenberg

When the Killing's Done by T.C. Boyle

Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed

While I wasn't trying to focus on books written by lesser-known authors, or those from smaller publishing houses, it worked out that many of the seven are one or the other. I wasn't trying to focus on fiction, either, but six out of the seven are novels (though Ms Strayed herself likely refers to her memoir as novelistic).
I'm not going to write a Worst Books list for 2012, but I will say that I finally broke down and read "Fifty Shades of Grey" and I have no desire to read the two others.  I wasn't expecting much and I got just that.  The fact that these books are out there is hardly surprising--the fact that they have sold so many millions of copies is shocking and depressing.
My biggest disappointment this year: Junot Diaz's This is How You Lose Her. This might have been a case of too-great expectations; Diaz wrote one of my favorite books of the previous decade, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, and the new book seems a warmed-over collection of notes for that book, passed off as something new. 
Just FYI, the book I just started reading, Pancho Land by Raul Ramos y Sanchez, is the third of a trilogy I've enjoyed tremendously, and will probably be my eighth favorite book of 2012.
hasta pronto!