After the draft

1. Relief

"It's done! I can't believe I finally finished it. It's got a beginning, middle and end. Oh my gosh, it's really done! Whew...time to relax."

2. Elation

"This is really good. Wow, I'm impressed with myself. I think...no, I KNOW this is the best thing I've ever written. This will totally knock everyone's socks off!"

3. Doubt

"My agent'll like this. I think. Yeah, sure, sure. I mean, I'm pretty sure she will. We talked about something like this and maybe it's not exactly like that...uh-oh. She's gonna hate this."

4. Despair

"Why oh why did I send it already? Can I get it back? Can the post office un-deliver it? Maybe I should email her and tell her not to read it. Damn, I should never have written the thing in the first place."

Shorter than short stories. Srsly.

My friend and fellow writer, Rachel, recently posted this on her blog about the effects of Facebook on one's life, especially as it relates to writing. I agree 100% with her and it really depresses me.

As she notes, before Facebook, I would sit down and compose a well-thought out (well, partially thought out) entry about writing or life or something involving the number 4. I would attempt to enlighten or entertain readers and myself in some way. I might add some hyperlinks to other sources or a photo or 2 if they were appropriate and I could find them for free and the result would be a mini-story, a glimpse into a portion of my life or brain or celebrity sighting.

But now, with my reliance on Facebook, everything becomes a sound byte. Rather than an entire essay, it's only 140 characters - usually less cuz, ya know, that's a lot of characters. I often use LOL or srsly or some other acronym to make my entry even less literary.

And what does that mean for my writing? Well, for one thing, I skip around a lot. I don't develop things the way I should. Facebook relies on people knowing a shorthand of sorts, whether it's current events, music lyrics, or an agreed-upon history. I don't have to tell the whole story because my Facebook friends know the backstory already.

I'm between drafts of a book right now, which usually means it's time to write a short story. I'm finding, however, that as I develop the outline, I'm trying to rush to the end without spending any time in the middle, with the stuff that actually happens. And I realized that this is the Facebook Effect: just get to the end.

Rachel says she's going on a FB diet. Maybe I should try that too. Srsly.

Random Thoughts on a Friday

Where were you when...

I don't want to remember where I was when Michael Jackson died.

I prefer to remember where I was when I first saw him moonwalk on the Motown 25th anniversary special. I was at my friend Kim's house, sitting on her floor, when we were mesmerized by how he seemed to defy gravity with his dance moves. Sharp, sassy...I thought the single white glove was an ironic touch, a clever commentary on the white man's place in the music industry and how much of Motown's original talent had been co-opted by executives.

I prefer to remember where I was when I bought his "Thriller"album (a K-Mart store in Connecticut that closed many years ago). I listened to it over and over and over again. It took me weeks to get that album; it had been sold out in every place my mother and I went. I felt like I was the last person alive to own it.

I prefer to remember where I was when I watched the Jackson Five cartoons. When I was a kid, I lived in a subdivision in Fairfield, Connecticut and my parents had friends whose children were about the ages of me and my brother. We all thought those were pretty awesome cartoons and "baby" Michael was amazing, even in animated form.

I prefer to remember Michael Jackson's fantastic videos, his dancing, his vast library of music. He was truly a larger-than-life personality who lived in a world the majority of us will never understand. Without ignoring the darker side of his life, and perhaps the stress of that life that may have contributed to his death, there is no denying the influence he had on the entire music industry, on dancers and choreographers and filmmakers, on the millions of fans around the world and across several generations.

Autograph update...

So they're still at it. Writers, singers, performers of all kinds, have you received this one yet? It had the subject line, "Question from a Fan":

Dear Madams and Sirs.

Please send me two autographed photos of C. Leigh Purtill. That would be great. I will be very happy if you could fulfil my wish. Many thanks in advance for your kindness.
My address: Joerg Weber / Poststrasse 2 a / 56743 Mendig / Germany

Sincerely

Joerg Weber

Of course, it goes right into the spam folder to be deleted by Gmail (thanks, Gmail!).

A LAYAPALOOZA!

Come one, come all to the LAYAPALOOZA at Vroman's on Saturday, June 20 at 2PM!

Tomorrow, a tremendously awesome group of Los Angeles Young Adult authors (we call ourselves the LAYAs) will be hosting a huge party at Vroman's Bookstore in Pasadena, CA. There will be books and contests and pizza and lots of smart people doing silly things and it's all free!

The event is called LAYAPALOOZA and all you have to be is a fan of great writing to have a good time!

Vroman's Bookstore
695 E. Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91101
Tel: 626-449-5320

Starts at 2PM
Free!!! (But please RSVP to Vroman's so they'll know how much pizza to buy)

Authors participating are Amy Koss, Sasha Watson, Anna Hays, Alexa Young, Sally Nemeth, Cherry Cheva, Heather Tomlinson, Ben Esch, Jordanna Frailberg, Sonya Sones, Mark London Williams, Michael Reisman, Jonathan Bernstein, Cecil Castelucci, Kerry Madden, and Lisa Yee!

Wow, what a terrific group!

Things I Miss About NYC

1. The subway system

2. The little Korean markets on every corner of every street of every borough

3. Coffee in "Greek" paper cups

4. People on the streets 24/7

5. The NYPL

6. Seeing the Statue of Liberty from the F train from Manhattan to Brooklyn

7. Walking up Fifth Avenue from the Empire State Building to Central Park

8. Columbus Circle before it was developed

9. So many dance studios! Classes all the time!

10. Fresh bread from the bakery in my Italian neighborhood in Williamsburg

Celebrity Sighting AND High Culture!

Yes, I DID use this title before (see also Mindy Kaling at LACMA). This time, HH and I were attending the thee-ah-tah in Downey: a performance of "42nd Street" by the Downey Civic Light Opera.

The show, btw, was a blast! LOTS of great numbers and you know I love seeing dancers work. Put 'em all to work - give 'em all jobs - dancing everywhere all the time! Love it.

Okay, so who was in the audience but opera singer Richard Fredericks? You may not know him unless you follow opera, but he did guest star on The Odd Couple as himself, a character who knew Oscar Madison from his days as an athlete (whether Mr. Fredericks truly was an athlete before he was an opera singer remains a mystery). HH was thrilled as he was and always will be a major Odd Couple fan.

And my reason for being in Downey in the first place? My friend and student, Heather, was performing as Lorraine. She was gorgeous, fantastic, and she kicked serious butt as both a dancer and singer! I was so impressed - she worked so hard to get there. Kudos, Heather!