Urban Book Maven's Fifteenth Anniversary

December 18, 2023 will mark Urban Book Maven's fifteenth anniversary. Over the years, the blog has served as a soapbox, a source of information, and, for me, a writing stimulus.

I hope it will continue to be those things and much more in the coming years.

In the new year, I also hope to start a second blog that will have as its focus Harlem, my home community. I haven't decided on a name for it yet. When I do I want it to be something that's eye catching and memorable.

Urban Book Maven Is Fourteen Years Old

I've thoroughly enjoyed writing this blog, which began fourteen years ago this month. It has allowed me the freedom to write about whatever I wanted, in any way that I wanted. And, fortunately, I never had to concern myself about any gatekeepers.

I look forward to writing the blog for a few more years.

Another Use For Rejection Letters

We've all heard stories about writers who've received enough rejection letters from publishing houses to paper a wall. Well, there's a better use for these carriers of bad news.

A useful suggestion was found in an article by a very prolific writer named George Haddad-Garcia. He wrote an article for Writer's Digest (July 1982) that listed thirty cost-cutting ideas for writers. The one I especially liked was number ten: "Scratch pads are often free at hotels and motels; don't overlook these, either. The backs of rejection letters can be used for scratch, jotting down ideas, notes, phone numbers, or for rough drafts."

So those annoying rejection letters not only can make you more determined to succeed as a writer, they can be turned over to the blank side and used to help you create the next award-winning novel or short story collection (you hope).

Revisions, Revisions, And More Revisions

The science fiction writer Connie Willis, a recipient of several Nebula Awards and Hugo Awards, was asked by a reader on the website Science Fiction Weekly (June 16, 2005) about her writing process. Her response:

"I rewrite everything, long or short, over and over. And it's not a question of a rough draft. It's many, many notes and drafts and cross-outs and retries. When I was done with Doomsday Book [1992], I had three loose-leaf notebooks full of research and two 8 x 12 inch boxes full of rough drafts. I have never written anything in one draft, not even a grocery list, although I have heard from friends that this is actually possible."

A Prayer For Writers

The following prayer is from a pamphlet published by The Christophers, a New York City-based inspirational group that was founded in 1949 by Father James Keller (1900-1977), a Roman Catholic priest, who was the son of an Irish immigrant father. According to a Wikipedia article, "The Christophers preach a doctrine of religious tolerance and intend their publications to be generally relevant to those of all faiths."

Their motto is "It's better to light one candle than to curse the darkness." The motto, states Wikipedia, "reflects the philosophical orientation of the organization, which emphasizes positive action to create a better world in such various arenas as political honesty, caring for the sick and poor, and dealing with substance abuse." The origin of the motto, notes Wiktionary, is a proverb (possibly Chinese) and means that "in the face of hopelessness and discontent, it is more worthwhile to do some good, however small, in response, than to complain about the situation."

"Writing is a lonely business, Lord.

A Writer sits at a typewriter [,computer,] or with pen in hand--

and often the page remains blank.

Touch their fingertips 

and jog their brains

with a spark of your creative power.

Gently direct them

to communicate more for truth than profit

to give us the highest aspirations

of the human spirit

while not flinching from our tragic flaws.

Help them

to share with us

moments of adventure

instants of joy

hours of reflection.

Don't let them down, Lord.

Or let them disappoint You.

In print, or on the stage, or on the airwaves

their words shape our very lives, images, or distortions of the

Word that was 'in the beginning.'

Amen."

 

A Future Science Fiction Writer's Early Beginning

 Writer's Digest in the September 1967 issue published the names of the winners of its Short Story Contest. One hundred and ninety-nine names were selected in five prize categories (plus one Special Award winner).

Looking over the list of names, I spotted one that caught me by surprise--Octavia E. Butler of Pasadena, California. She was the 63rd person of 99 to win Fifth Prize. (Each Fifth Prize winner received a Sheaffer pen and pencil set inscribed with their winning entry).

Butler's fellow winners are long forgotten but she went on to literary fame garnering several science fiction awards as well as a MacArthur "Genius" fellowship.

I would love to know the title and subject matter of her winning short story so I can track it down and read it. Has it been anthologized? Is there a biography of Octavia Butler that identifies this story? It is that story that was the beginning of her literary career. Getting it recognized without doubt spurred her on to continue writing stories and later novels.

Mere Clutter Or A Potential Goldmine?

When people enter my apartment for the first time and see piles of newspapers and magazines (and lots and lots of books) everywhere, their reaction tells me that they regard what they see as clutter and a possible fire hazard.

For me in those piles of printed material are potential literary goldmines--stories that are waiting to be clipped and filed and later turned into novels, short stories, poems, essays, screenplays.

What's one man's clutter is another man's treasure.

Divedapper, A New Poetry Website

While browsing through this past Sunday's New York Times Book Review (July 26), I came upon a quote from an interview with poet Frank Bidart*(born 1939) that was published by Divedapper, a website I had never heard of. My curiosity caused me to immediately go to the site on my mobile phone. I learned that Divedapper is "a new project devoted exclusively to featuring interviews with major voices in contemporary poetry."

Kaveh Akbar, the site's founder and editor, has promised readers that "[a]ll site content will be free forever to anyone with an internet connection."

Divedapper's name is from "a type of grebe (a duckish water bird)" that was referred to in a Shakespeare poem.


*On another website, new poems by Frank Bidart are described as "powerful" ones that "wrestle with the poet's sexuality." That phrase signaled to me that the poet is a gay man.


Divedapper is at www.divedapper.com.

A Freelance Pay Rate Preference

During my years as a freelance writer, I've always preferred being paid a flat fee rather than by the word or the column inch. If I'm paid a flat fee, and the article has to undergo some cuts, I still get the same amount of money. But if I'm paid by the word or the column inch, and cuts have to be made, I'm losing money.

Evaluating Literature

"A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author."--G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936), English author.

Source: The Mammoth Book of Zingers, Quips, and One-Liners, edited by Geoff Tibballs (Carroll & Graf, 2004).

A Few More Words From Alexander Woollcott

"...in speaking and writing, the first and only important consideration is to employ those words which will exactly convey one's meaning."
--Alexander Woollcott, American author