Yeehaw!

A little over a year ago I started this blog with the goal of finishing a book. Tonight, I put the 73,026th word on the book's 200th page. Other than some basic housekeeping and the retitling of the 19 chapters, I am done with the book's second draft.

For as happy as I am, I am just as excited about the next project which will begin soon.

Till then, I will continue to post regarding the progress of ACYW so stay tuned.

Thank all of you who have checked in over the last year to cheer me on, provide comments and kick me in the ass. It all paid off.

G'night!

Light at the end of the tunnel

Tuesday, December 23, 2008. The book will be done (or, at least, the second draft will). I have 14 pages to edit and then I'll take a day to give each chapter a name. Looks like I'll clock in at around 195-196 pages and a little over 70,000 words.

It's snowing in New York today and when not editing or sipping hot chocolate, the Counting Crows and I sing A Long December. And I have many reasons to believe this year has been better than the last, if not one of the best.

33 to go and blessing SUVs

Despite distractions (Davidson beating NC State & West Virginia at MSG; the Yanks signing CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett; sugar, booze, birthdays and the beautiful women of NYC), I have only 33 pages of editing to go. 156 of 189 done.

The following appeared in this week's Economist:

'INVEST IN AMERICA', screamed the front page of the Detroit Free Press on December 4th. Copies of the newspaper were sent to Congress, begging for a bailout for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. 'You can help them,' the paper urged, warning: 'And if you don't, make no mistake: there will be bleeding throughout the land.' The prospect of a collapsed car industry was so terrifying that a church in Detroit placed three hybrid SUVs on its altar and prayed for divine intervention."

Ironically, a character in ACYW is a staunchly pro-American reporter for the...Detroit Free Press. So, thank you, DFP, to playing up to my stereotype.

At the same time, I question the "bleeding throughout the land" bit. As I noted before, there have been more casualties from Black Friday (1) this year than from all the financial carnage of September and October's financial meltdown (0). Maybe this fall was too early for people to really comprehend the damage done and the need to revolt or at least protest. Maybe it'll come a little further down the road if things become more dire. I hope not, but right now it's Violent Consumers 1 Public Outrage 0.

Last Third To Go; Michigan in the press

I'm now about two thirds of the way through editing. I've found a good rhythm lately and hope to keep it up while in the boonies the next few days. Keeping it up when back in the city will require particular fortitude as New York in December is nothing but sugar and booze, at least, usually. This year may be more subdued. Then there's the Hot Stove and Davidson b-ball (big games against NC State, West Virginia & Purdue) that beckon. Whatever, I gotta bang this puppy out. The hardest parts are over, I'm in the home stretch and hey, have you noticed how much press Michigan's got lately?

The performance of the Big Three on Capitol Hill and on Wall Street only justified a scene in the book where bored Ford execs prank call the guys from Botswana looking for business tips. The Batswana turn around and tell them to short Ford stock. I wrote that this past winter. If only I had taken my own advice...Fuhgedaboutit.

Where the riots at?

Here's a question, why were there no riots during the onset of the financial crisis (let's say September 7th through October of 2008)?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but there have been more casualties over the nascent holiday shopping period (the Walmart temp who got trampled by discount hungry shoppers) than there have been during the financial meltdown.

Where's the outrage?

The Halfway House

I've officially hit the halfway mark in editing. This feels good, but there's plenty of work ahead. I'm definitely filling in blanks that previously existed.

Working at my Mom's (aka, the igloo) for the holidays will do me well. My sister will be leaving town soon so even fewer distractions although I have taken to hitting the gym once a day to shoot hoops. The local college students are currently out of town and the court's all mine. It's a beautiful thing.

I'm also getting some good background reading done. I finished Muslim Women in America by Haddad, Smith and Moore. Did you know there's an Arab doll called the Razanne? Good stuff. I'm now working on Douglas Brinkley's Wheels for the World about Henry Ford and the Ford Motor Company.

To Be Or Not To Be

One of the things I believe separates amateur writers from professionals is word choice. I'm not talking about impressing folks with unnecessary polysyllabic nonsense. I'm talking about choosing words rather than simply using the first ones that come to mind. While I have a list of about 7 words I try to avoid at all times (always, forever, perfect and my own personal tetragrammaton, l-v-, come to mind), the verb "to be" is right up there.

Substituting was, were, is, being, been and the like with other verbs or by rearranging the sentence typically adds strength to one's writing. Take the first sentence of this post:

"One of the things I believe separates amateur writers from professionals is word choice."

Let's take out the "is" and rework the sentence.

"I believe word choice separates amateur writers from professionals." Or, more definitively, "Word choice separates amateur writers from professionals." I've also omitted "things" which was an example of me being a lazy writer and "I believe" which has an element of weakness to it as it's only one person's opinion.

Are there times "to be"? Sure. I typically give "to be" a reprieve in dialogue because that's how a lot of people talk. If you have a particularly weak, passive or uncertain character or situation, the passive voice that the verb "to be" engenders also works well.

The idea of "choosing words" is a big topic. Substituting "to be" is but a small piece of that pie.

Mish Mash

The editing of Chapter Two is nigh complete. Maybe even tonight! After that, the chapters get shorter and editing should be smoother. I'm shooting for 6 pages a day and finishing up on December 9th.

What happened to Thanksgiving, you say? Well, it's just not going to happen. I start a part-time pastry gig after the 9th and then there's the holidays which'll be a blur.

I've also put together a list of about 100 friends who I'll request provide criticism. I'll give 'em a month (till Feb. 1, 2009) to read and comment.

As I edit I think about a soundtrack to the lives of the characters and what they might be listening to as they work, drive, play. Motown and African artists are in the mix, but being the 21st Century, I'm tempted to work in Anthony Hamilton, Raphael Saadiq and Sharon Jones and Dap Kings. Props to Peel.

An Eyeful

While I typically leave all photography to my sister, who I will credit here with the photo on this blog's home page, I thought I'd give you an idea of where I am right now.

This is the first page of Chapter Two. The pen work in the margins and elsewhere represent changes I need to make and issues I need to keep in mind or tackle straight away.

So for all of you who have received edited work back from me in the past and gulped at such a sight, well, at least I'm consistently a stinker.

That's a pizza stain at the bottom.

Checked out

Now that I've decided to return to New York on Sunday, my mind has already checked out. I've edited the prologue, the first chapter and outlined changes for chapter two which will need a lot of work. But it's work I'd like to tackle back home.

Till then, I'm doing things in the area that I haven't been able to yet. I spent today in Ann Arbor. Tomorrow I'm going to tour Henry Ford's estate and, hopefully, go to a hookah bar. Yesterday I went to a local Arab restaurant. All in all, I've met good people who have done an excellent job of answering my questions and helping me better understand the area, its history and its people.

Unfortunately, I never got to work for a local Arab bakery which would have been a lot of fun and educational. Business locally's been slow and the bakeries I inquired at didn't need any extra part-time help.

There will be no shortage of distractions at home, but I've got into a good editing rhythm lately, working hours at a time unlike the first draft where I'd bang out some copy in an hour or so and call it a day. Plus, being this close to the end with so many people asking me how it's coming along, is only more incentive to wrap it up strong.

Adapting to the paradigm shift

Obama's victory last night has shifted realities, realities that I have to consider for the book. I've edited the prologue and should finish editing chapter one today, but as I go forward I will have to consider how to adapt to last night's events.

Do I forge ahead because, in general, people associate Washington politicians as being out of touch, above it all and out for themselves no matter what year it is? This approach, in light of recent events, I reckon would only go to show that I am the one out of touch.

Do I eliminate the element of national politics altogether because Obama is the opposite of the characters I have and because he represents a new paradigm? That would be naive, especially since he hasn't even taken office yet. That being said, I could eliminate the national perspective and simply make it a more local story. This is a viable option, but it is not a cure-all as it presents its own problems/questions.

The 2008 U.S. presidential campaign was historic for specific reasons. And while still freshly minted, the mere mention of the 2008 campaign will evoke specific memories for people. I now fear that setting the story in that year during that campaign without those players or players like them would jeopardize a certain credibility.

Now that I think about the totality of the book and how much the presidential candidates make up, I realize that when the story comes to its climax, they are on the sidelines. It is the local officials that are more front and center. So here's what I'll do: I'll keep the presidential candidates a part of the story, but I'll keep them on the sidelines. This is do-able and realistic. Cool.

That's what I like about this blog. Not only does it force me to keep making progress, but it allows me to think things through outloud, if you will, while also taking in feedback from friends and others.

Good. And now back to editing!

Amen

This blog is about the writing of a book. Last night, though, something tremendous happened. I sang the national anthem with my hand on my heart for the first time in 8 years. I also felt proud to be am American again for the first time in a looooooong time. Why? Because U.S. voters affirmed what the world wanted: Barack Obama as president. And if his presidency and the new paradigm it presents means Any Color You Want doesn't get published because its message is now dated or no longer true, well, then, I'll make that trade every single time.

To change a line from the movie Head of State, "God bless America and everywhere else." Hallelujah.

African Proverbs

Earlier in the year I did research regarding African proverbs (and those particular to Botswana) which I could pepper my main characters' speech with. Tonight I'm going through the proverbs and making notes about where best to use them. In some cases, I'd like to use them as chapter titles to get away from the old "Chapter One", "Chapter Two" business. A chapter with its own title sets it apart and also gives the reader something to look forward to. How many times have you looked over a book's table of contents at the chapter titles?

Here are a few choice proverbs:

When the elephants fight, the grass suffers.

You send a wise person on an important mission, not a long-legged person.

One should not ignore an elephant and throw stones at a small bird.

The result of continually chasing a chicken is that your hand touches some dirty ground.

When the drumbeat changes, the dance changes.

Too much haste splits the yam.

When a bird gets tired, it will land on any tree.

The shoe doesn't need a sock. (ie, Nothing closer to the truth.)

Motown Moment

So I was in Jackson, Michigan the other day doing a little work for another campaign office and meeting a friend of a friend. While there, a native Detroiter and I were working when she opened up her iTunes and said, "Bruce Springsteen or Sam Cooke?" I reckon the former was a nod to my neck of the woods; the latter to hers. That's when I knew where I was.

Excuses, excuses

Now that the baseball season is officially over, you'd think I'd have an extra three hours to write, right? Yeah, me too. Then the local campaign folks sunk their teeth into me. I'm pretty much a goner from now through 11/4. Fortunately, one of the guys at the campaign office knows the folks at the bakery where I'd like to work for a couple weeks, so hopefully we can work that out. This would be key. For as much as I've learned about the area since 10/20 (today I had my first Coney Island (a hot dog with chili, mustard and onions) and learned that tonight is Devil's Night in the Detroit area...), I have not made inroads with the local Arab population. The baking gig would, potentially, improve that.

So, basically, editing hasn't gone as fast as I'd like. I'll plug away tonight, but between now and the election may be a wash. I hope not. There is no reason I can't finish editing the prologue tonight. Lord knows I got enough hot chocolate and potato chips to pull it off.

Fortunately, my next distraction doesn't start till 11/17: Davidson hoops. Pre-season #20, baby. That should give me some incentive to bang this shit out so I can enjoy the season.

Double Sessions

I reckon I can edit pritnear all 19 chapters before leaving Dearborn. This'll mean one a day, but probably more like editing double sessions. I prefer to read through a chapter first making notes as I go (eg, add description here, what's another example of this there, etc...) and then to go back and fill in the blanks. At one point or another I typically hit a wall which is where reading or baseball comes in to provide a break so splitting the editing into two sessions a day should work well.

As I edit I've set out some goals:

1) Smooth transitions: Make sure you get from one word to another, one sentence to another, one paragraph to another and one chapter to another smoothly. Don't leave the reader behind without any bread crumbs.

2) Physicality: A complement to conversational humor is physical humor. Physical description also gives the reader a better feel for the characters. Lastly, it breaks up conversation which may move too quickly without it and with it may help build up a sequence.

3) Know your characters: Few of us know everything about those in our lives, but we know a few key things. This is an area where I need to do a better job. Plus, the more you know about a character, the more flexibility you have for humor, action and conversation.

4) Keep it tight: Every field of work and every couple have their own jargon. So does this book. The book's jargon touches on cars, U.S. history, Eddie Murphy films, baseball and Arab culture. What I can't do is extend references or allusions too far beyond that already wide swath otherwise I'll lose readers' interest, frustrate them and ask them to do too much work. While I enjoy reading good books more than once (mining them for more because I probably missed something the first time), the reader's reward should not come in the second or third reading. A reward should come the first time around.

Make no mistake, I refuse to "dumb down" this book. I refuse. Standards are already low enough out there.

How Far We've Come

70 posts. 17 chapters. A Prologue. An Epilogue. Over 54,000 words and 150 pages later, done with the first draft of Any Color You Want.

This is, of course, the first of several finish lines. Next is a fattened up, more thorough, descriptive, consistent and detailed second draft. Once that's done, I'll start passing it around to those interested in reading it for feedback. Then a third version which responds to the feedback. Then, if I'm feeling good about it, I'll start sending it around for rejection.

Sweet 16

Chapter 16 is in the books. Yeehaw. I've also written up outlines for Chapter 17 and the short Epilogue.

Question: Do you read Prologues and Epilogues? If not, why not?

So now you're thinking, OK, those two chapters and he's done...right? Kinda. Then there's Chapter 1.5. I realized a while back that there ought to be a chapter between the introduction (Chapter 1) and the beginning of action in Dearborn (Chapter 2) where I give the reader more background on the history of Dearborn. Sounds boring, but it helps the story make more sense if you can understand the transformation this area has undergone in the last 80-100 years. In some ways, Dearborn was akin to Williamsburg, Brooklyn when it was one of the places to do business before the area's decline and then subsequent rise with the Hipster; that is, except for the rise part. When I've asked locals if they think Dearborn could become the next Flint I have yet to hear a denial or refusal. Usually there's just silence and/or a "maybe." Kinda scary.

Anyway, yeah, either I write 1.5 or I sprinkle in local history as I go.

Mining Suzan; Book Trailers

My new style Dearborn-native friend Suzan continues to be a wealth of information. So far today I've learned more about Dearborn's old mayor, Mayor Hubbard, who was such a fierce racist that blacks from Detroit heading west would intentionally go around Dearborn to avoid him and his police force; that to get a pass (even a day pass) to the local recreation center, you had to be a Dearborn resident and that Hubbard kept blacks out of Dearborn (as did Henry Ford) which means they weren't hanging out at the rec center.

We also drove by the old Montgomery Ward site. I say "old" because, well, they done blown that shit up. Yup, the place where two of my main characters had an office is now dust. RIP Montgomery Ward Dearborn.

I also got to canvass around Dearborn Heights today which I'll do again a few more times before election day.

Lastly, Suzan's family and I went into Detroit to see a film. Before and after the film, Suzan and her sisters pointed out a myriad of local landmarks (the Fisher Building, Hitsville, U.S.A. (the home of Motown), the Fox Theatre, the new casinos and their geneses, the Wayne State University campus and the Detroit Institute of the Arts, to name a few). I'll see them again Friday night and hope to speak to a brother-in-law of Suzan's who used to work for Ford. Needless to say, I've been very fortunate to meet some good, informative people pretty quickly.

In other news, supposedly "book trailers" are all the rage as marketing tools. I kinda like the idea, though it also kind of defeats the purpose of a book (and being a writer) if you still have to sell your idea/work via a visual image/film. Regardless, I came up with about five different ideas for trailers last night. Buiser, if you're reading this, I'm gonna knock on your door, bro.

Learning on the fly

In the last six hours, I've learned the following about Dearborn:

1) The local public transportation system is, even by locals' standards, laughable. The bus stops give no indication of a schedule, a route or what buses stop there. Helpful!

2) No handshakes, please, we're Arab women. While volunteering in town, I met a young Arab woman who I greeted with my name and a hand to shake. In turn, she put her right hand over her heart and bowed slightly. That's how they roll. Now I know. (She then went back to business...putting some of her make-up on another volunteer)

3) I've also been fortunate enough to meet a very informative local who drove me around town pointing out good places to food shop and eat (she now lives in the Bay Area), discussing the history of the area (there's been not only white flight because of blacks, but because of Arabs) and who has helped me better understand how the Arab community has flourished here.

4) I also stopped into a local bakery where I'd like to work. My contact there wasn't in, but I picked up a slice of chocolate mousse cake, two petitfours and another chocolate treat for...$2.50! A delicious steal.

Last night I combined all chapters written so far into one document, standardized the names of my characters (I had changed my mind a few times on one, though she may undergo one more change) and will now go back to finishing up the final three chapters.

Tomorrow I look forward to canvassing through various parts of Dearborn and picking my friend's brain some more.

134 and counting

For shits and giggles, I just took a tally of total pages written for "Any Color You Want". I figured I was around, maybe, 110. Turns out, I'm at 134. This surpasses a 120 page novella I wrote a while back and, with 2-3 chapters left, bodes well for 150 by the end of the first rough draft. And this means the chances of me hitting 180 after editing are looking good.

Now, quantity isn't always quality, but in this case if I can hit 180, I'd like to think it's because I will have filled out the thin areas that currently exist.

Chapter 16 is on deck. I wrote out an outline tonight and will start it tomorrow. This is where all the rising action comes to a head. I feel good about this one and then the epilogue, it's the chapter in-between those two that needs more thought. If I can finish 16 before I make it to Dearborn on Monday, I'll be a pretty happy camper.

Last two, except for the other two

"So how's the book coming?" a co-worker asked me last night.

"Good. Got two chapters left."

"That's great!"

"Yeah," I admitted, "but I've been saying that for the last two chapters."

I am, no doubt, in the thick of it. All the plot lines are coming together like plaid. I now go into fictional huddles with my characters, or as a friend calls them, "my imaginary friends", to ask what everyone's gonna do in the next chapter. One guy who was integral early on has been on the sidelines lately. Just today I saw him on the bench and figured it was time to call his number again. I'm also getting to know my players better, by name not just number. Just gave one a tattoo! Rather proud of that.

I'm also antsy to finish this sloppy first draft so I can jump into editing and make this shit nice. So far, I've got most of the general stuff down, but lately my head's been flooded with details that I ought to incorporate; details that'll give it all more personality and pop. I've even found ways for characters in books I haven't even written yet to have bit parts in this one (and vice versa) which is an idea I like, especially after you've got to know these folks to the point where you actually want to see them again.

Michigan ho!

After numerous phone calls (with more to come) and inquiries, I've finally got substantive enough answers to move on. What am I talking about? I'm talking about a month-long sojourn in Dearborn during which time I'll volunteer on the Obama campaign (yes, I know McCain has withdrawn from MI, but there are few better ways to learn an area's geography and issues faster than campaign work) and, hopefully, do a stint at a local Arab bakery.

This is key as it allows me to be in the place where the story takes places when it takes place. I will also be living with a local and working with locals so I can get more local perspectives, get a feel for diction/accent and make the story truer where it needs to be.

I hope to leave October 20th at the earliest, November 1st at the latest with a return to NYC ahead of Thanksgiving.

Buckley, 11, Prologue, Readers...

So I ended up going to the luncheon with Christopher Buckley last week, but it turned out to be a much larger (and senior) event than I had expected so no chances to talk shop with him. That being said, I think the time I took to think of questions for him also helped produce possible answers which I've been able to use.

I've also made progress writing. I finished a draft of chapter eleven and added a prologue before the intro chapter. The prologue does a better job of laying out the book's big question/premise while also aligning the book's story with some of the later allusions to Eddie Murphy films. Work on chapter twelve has begun.

A number of people have also volunteered to read the book when finished, including a literary agent friend. This is good news and I look forward to their feedback.

I may also be writing short scripts for a comedy troupe that hopes to air their work on YouTube which would be fun.

Lastly, I hope to have some other good news to announce relatively soon. Just want to be 100% sure first.

9, 10...

First drafts of chapters nine and ten, though short, are done. Have started eleven.

I recently met a literary agent who laughed at my 5 days in Dearborn. Rightly so. I thought about it all some and think I may have found a way to do a month-long run there relatively soon. Will post when I know for certain. All in all, I'm happy with the book's progress and how the story's working out.

I continue to read more Christopher Buckley, this time Florence of Arabia which has a great premise (finding peace in the Middle East through the emancipation of the region's women). The story, though, becomes rather intricate, which I don't think to that extent is necessary for my work. Buckley does do a good job of working in Arab cultural and historical references; something I need to work on.

Off Roading

Why do automakers cease making certain models or go out of business themselves?

-A make or model may fall out of favor with consumers because of style, lack of safety, performance, mileage or accoutrements (8 track player only...)

-Could be recalled for a particular reason.

-Could have an unfortunate name (The old story of Novas not selling in Mexico because they didn't want a car that's name meant "doesn't go.")

-Replaced by a more market-friendly model

What else? Any stories come to mind?

Crazy 8s and the Name Game

A draft of Chapter 8 is done. It includes the quintessential Detroit intersection of Motown and motor oil. Good times. Put together an outline for 9. Will start Sunday.

While reading Buckley's The White House Mess (1986) I got a chuckle out of an accounting firm he named, Dewey, Skruem and Howe. This made me think more about how I name my characters and what potential for humor there might be. I came up with an idea that'll hopefully not only make people laugh, but help them connect with the story and the characters as so many of us Americans have emotional attachments to the automobiles in our lives. I don't even drive anymore, but I cheer inside anytime I get to handle a stick shift. And just the sight of a certain make or model can take my memory back the way songs or scents do. I reckon I'm not alone in that regard.

Eating My Words

I'm a cook. My story takes place in a town with the biggest Arab population in America. I know next to nothing about their cuisine. That's about to change. I came across some recipes lately and I'm gonna put some Arab cuisine in my mouth to make my experience and those of my characters richer and more accurate.

Pointers from Thank You For Smoking

In an attempt to learn more about the genre (e.g., how to make fun of something without being an asshole), I just finished reading Christopher Buckley's Thank You For Smoking (1994) which takes on political correctness via the fight in the U.S. over smoking. My concern lately has been how to set a story in Dearborn without tearing the town to shreds. Here's what I learned from Buckley:

1) Ain't no shame in short (less than 10 page) chapters.

2) That it's important to give background info on characters so the reader can readily connect with them. I haven't been doing this. I need to become friends with my characters. Right now they're acquaintances.

3) The use of industry specific knowledge. What's the difference between an amateur and a professional? The amateur may know how to turn a phrase, but a pro can do that and be an expert on the subject at hand. While I do not want to bombard readers with minutaie, I do need to prove I'm a cut above an amateur.

4) The importance of historical context. Buckley does a nice job of letting his contemporary audience know that tobacco has been an issue for hundreds of years, not just since the 1950s. He does this by finding the more relevant and cool stories from history and bringing them to our attention. If I can find parallels to my story from history, it would ground it and perhaps make it more acceptable.

5) Women. Buckley's women in this particulary novel are sex objects and savvy in business, if not downright ruthless. While one of my main characters is a female, most are male and the female voice is marginalized. I need to work on this.

Most importantly, I've come to the conclusion that the joke isn't on Dearborn, it's on U.S. officials who continue to encourage a way of looking at our country that may no longer exist (or maybe shouldn't exist), ie, that we're #1 and that everything's fine. If anything, the people of Dearborn in my story fight this when they see it does them no good.

7 Complete; MI interviews; On Deck

I just finished chapter seven and moved bits of it into 8, so that's started. I'm happy how the story is moving and how intrigue/tension is building, but it's still a little thin and could use some fattening up.

I sat down with a friend from Michigan yesterday to pick her brain about her time growing up there. Her most specific memories of Dearborn pertained to their Arab pastries. As a pastry baker, I should have no problem working them into the story and into my tummy, hopefully in October. I have also promised myself to email the Dearborn reporter/blogger and to get that ball rolling. This is my chance to do a better job of putting my finger on the pulse of local affairs.

Lastly, I'm close to finishing Buckley's Thank You For Smoking which I will discuss in more depth next posting.

6 in the books; Writing On the Wall; Thank You For Lampooning

Just finished writing chapter six. Seven's on deck for this week.

In 2000 I visited a friend in Oxford, Mississippi. While there I toured the home of William Faulkner. What I remember most is that he'd drawn on the walls of his workroom the outline for a book. On my desk I have various mementos from trips to Dearborn and other articles and tidbits, but am getting closer to taking a page from Faulkner. Hell, I've already slapped a "The customer can have...any color that he wants so long as it is black" magnet on my fridge as a reminder. So, basically, I gotta get past Ford to get to either ice cream or vodka.

Since I got in touch with a local Dearborn reporter and blogger, the question, "How do you poke at an issue and a place cleverly?" has nagged me. And then, yesterday, I saw that Christopher Buckley, author of Thank You For Smoking among other works, will be speaking in NYC in October. I've requested TYFS from the library and look forward to picking his brain. Till then, I'll continue to bang away.

Return to Dearborn: Highlights

I had a number of questions I wanted to answer on this second trip to Dearborn. In general, this trip filled a lot of knowledge gaps, but many still remain. Here are some of the highlights.

I had already written about a scene that takes place during the playing of a old time baseball game in Greenfield Village...now I've actually seen one. It was pretty cool. The players were dressed in old garb, played by 1867 rules and did a nice job of educating and getting the crowd involved. I can now visualize and hear the scene taking place in my head rather than just assuming how it'd all look and sound like.

I also took a lot of photos. I took photos of all the places where scenes take place (thus far) and of key points around town which may see action in the future.

I also got a better feel for the difference between Dearborn and Detroit. The outskirts of Detroit along Michigan Avenue were rather desolate. A lot of buildings were vacant and there weren't many folks around. Dearborn seemed to have more going on. It looked like a number of new restaurants had either opened or were about to open, but that a number of buildings remained empty and free to lease.

Downtown Detroit, though, wasn't as clear cut. I attended a Tigers game at Comerica Park (Detroit beat Baltimore 5-3, Verlander pitched great, Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen homered) which is located right downtown. I liked the stadium and the Tiger fans, but from my seat in the left field bleachers I could see long empty buildings. While discussing the old Tiger Stadium which stands abandoned off Michigan Avenue no wrecking ball in sight (nor any other plans) with another fan during the game he provided me with a telling quote, "I don't know what it is, but Detroit likes to keep its crap."

That being said, I took a close look at the Montgomery Ward building in downtown Dearborn. There is a lot of talk that it'll be razed very soon, but from the look of it, it just appears that nothing is happening. If anything there are scary signs pertaining to asbestos within its entrances.

I had reached out to a local reporter/blogger before visiting, but didn't hear from him until my return. Nevertheless, I look forward to picking his brain and learning more about what's going on on the street. If all goes well I'd like to return in October for a few days as that's about when the story wraps up.

Chapter 6 continues to roll along. Hopefully I can finish it up this week. Events are starting to mount and the stakes are getting higher. While I have certain events in mind, others are sprouting here and there which have provided extra flavor and, hopefully, fun to the story.

Chapter Six Underway; Return to Dearborn

While I got a good start on Chapter Six this week, I did not finish. I did, though, get back to Dearborn for a follow-up visit which went very well. Will post more about that trip in the following days while working to finish Six.

Another week, another chapter

Finished a draft of chapter five this past Sunday. Have a start on six already and have some new plot threads from the end of five to work in that'll continue the conflict's escalation.

A minor theme that is emerging, and that I'm enjoying, is the lack of control we have over life; how we seek success in one place only for opportunities to appear elsewhere; or perhaps how few incidents are without a ripple effect. Intended or not.

Will spend some time this Wednesday reaching out to people in Dearborn in anticipation of this weekend's visit. Would like to pick the brain of a local blogger, in particular.

That's more like it

3 chapters in 4 days was a little ambitious. I did, though, bang out one which previously would have taken me anywhere from 7 to 30 days so that's an improvement and one I should be able to keep up especially since the next two chapters have already been started and have outlines ready to go.

This would all be a lot easier if it wasn't baseball season...

3 Chapters, 4 Days

I'll celebrate my 50th post with a challenge: Write 3 chapters in 4 days. Don't have much planned the next few days and since I've already apportioned bits of Chapter 3 into 4, 5 and 6, why not bang 'em out?

It's on.

3 = 3 + 4 + 5 + 6

What up?

Lots here. I finished the third draft of chapter three! I effectively doubled the chapter's length then annexed parts of it for future chapters (4, 5 & 6 which have now been started).

I also attended a wedding in Columbus, Ohio where I met a couple living in Michigan who I hope to reconnect with next month when I visit. We talked about Michigan, its troubles and they alerted me to the state's meth, obesity and teen pregnancy problems. Good times!

I also dug up a piece in the NY Times from a couple years ago about a refugee community outside of Atlanta. Thanks to a great coach, they formed a youth soccer team which rubbed some locals the wrong way while inspiring others. Having read the account, I have a better idea of the trials and tribulations such a team goes through and how best to model my team throughout the course of the book.

So, essentially, I've found a way to slow down Chapter Three which was a concern earlier and to lengthen the store in a meaningful and informative way.

Set Straight

Somewhere along the line I got the impression I could write the first few chapters, submit a query letter to literary agents and/or publishers and then voila, get the ball rolling. Alas, I was mistaken. Thanks to a friend who is a literary agent, I've learned that a first time fiction writer ought to complete his or her work first and then submit letters.

Soooooo, I'll just keeping plugging along.

Calendar, calendar, on the wall...

"What are you doing?" I asked Lainey Schumaker on our first day working together in the summer of 2000 in rural eastern North Carolina.

"I'm planning the campaign from Election Day backwards on my calendar."

I learned very quickly to follow Lainey's lead. She had run campaigns before, came from a political family and understood the ebb and flow of campaign work intimately. So, in short order, I too put together my political calendar working from Election Day backwards.

To this end, I picked up a weekly calendar the other day specifically for the trajectory of events in the book; working from Election Day 2008 back to the day the Batswana arrive in the U.S. in August 2008.

In the beginning, there were the Cosmos

Yesterday I watched Once In A Lifetime: The Extraordinary Story of the New York Cosmos, a documentary about the soccer team which played in the 1970s and '80s in the North American Soccer League (NASL). The movie begins with various people involved with the Cosmos talking about why they thought soccer had never become popular in the U.S., namely because it required Americans with short attention spans to watch a game with no breaks and no time outs, though they failed to mention that soccer does have a break half way through the game.

The movie then goes on to prove this reasoning wrong. Thanks to the international star power of Pele (Brazil), Giorgio Chinaglia (Italy), Franz Beckenbauer (Germany) and the financial backing and hands-on support of Warner Communications' executive Steve Ross, the Cosmos were not only a dominant team and winner of many Soccer Bowls, but drew sellout crowds of 70,000+ to Giants Stadium. To put this in perspective, on June 14, 2008 David Beckham's Los Angeles Galaxy drew 39,872 on the road in San Jose and 27,000 routinely at home.

This, of course, begs the question, "What happened?" A number of reasons are given. First, the league over-expanded to 24 teams (Major League Soccer has 14) which put a drain on talent, especially domestic talent from which a big enough pool had yet to develop. Second, a lack of television presence hurt the sport. Some games did eventually make it to ABC Sports, but apparently this was either too little too late or advertisers pulled the plug due to the lack of opportunities to hawk their products. Third, Warner Communications hit on hard times financially. Lastly, the movie suggests that FIFA, soccer's international governing body, put the nail in American soccer when it awarded Mexico the 1986 World Cup despite the aggressive push made by Steve Ross. The U.S. eventually hosted the tournament in 1994, two years after Ross passed away and years after the NASL had folded.

The movie also offers the claim that the Cosmos are the reason why so many kids (18 million are registered in the U.S.) play soccer now. As a kid in New York in the late '70s and early '80s, I started playing soccer, but had no clue who the Cosmos were; neither did my folks. If anything, yes it was probably a good daycare substitute, a way of meeting other kids and learning about sports/being physical/athletic. At the end of the day, unlike hockey, football or baseball, it's cheap. All you need is a ball which may explain its global popularity.

What does this movie do for the book? It reaffirms that Americans (people in general, really) are attracted to stars and to winners no matter what the endeavor which bodes well for our protagonists. Who cares where they are from or what sport they prefer as long as they deliver the goods and do so with some pizzazz?

Address please?

In Chapter Three, the Batswana (the curious plural of people from Botswana) move their offices into the heart of Dearborn, specifically what has been the vacant Montgomery Ward building which I mentioned earlier. Well, after re-reading that link I'm confused. It seems that there is the Montgomery Ward building and then there is the John H. Schaefer building. I need to find out which is which and which I want to include in the story.

It also appears that the Montgomery Ward building may be torn down by September 1st to make way for a new building. The future of the Montgomery Ward building has been in limbo for a number of years with various plans having come and gone to no avail. I'll have to keep an eye on this development as it raises key questions:

1) If the building is torn down by 9/1/08, how does that impact my story which takes places between 08/08 and 11/08?
2) Can I ask readers to suspend their disbelief to accommodate what may be an anachronism?
I probably can, but I don't want to and there's the rub.
Till I have concrete answers, I'm gonna keep on truckin'. Revisions to Chapter Three are moving right along with characters and events taking on more depth and precision.

Booked

I made plans to return to Dearborn in August today. Specifically, I'm going to watch a historic baseball match and then off to Comerica Park to see the Tigers take on the Orioles in Detroit. I also need to peek into the Montgomery Ward and find out more about it's current status. This visit will give me a better idea of what the characters would see and feel as the story takes places between August and early November. My February visit gave me a good overview, but was a bit out of context as I froze my balls off.

Turn Up The Volume

An old professor of mine used to say, "Let's turn up the volume on that" and then take a line and push it.

I just finished reading through Chapter Three. I've made comments on what needs to be fleshed out and where to turn up the volume. The amp has been on since Chapter One and I've made some noise, but in this chapter I begin to play with the distortion knob.

Have you ever played electric guitar with distortion? Oh how sweet it is. U2's "One" was the first song I tried it out on. Lately, I've done the same with Radiohead's "High and Dry." It's kinda like learning an 8-count swing out after only dancing 6 count; like watching your first curveball break through the strike zone after throwing a lifetime of straight-balls; like meeting someone who constantly makes you constantly say to yourself, "Damn, I never thought of it like that." It's refreshingly nasty and that's what Chapter Three'll get a lick of.

Put on your headphones.

Does size matter?

In Billy Collins' poem, "Workshop" he writes:

"In fact, I start to wonder if what we have here
is really two poems, or three, or four,
or possibly none."

I finished a rough draft of Chapter Three yesterday. In the third to last paragraph I made a note to self: This is all happening too fast. And so it is. At this pace, the book'll be done in five chapters - maybe 90 pages. While I appreciate an economy of words - especially those that carry heavy if not multiple loads - this chapter feels like someone's just come by in the middle of the night, spilled their guts and then ran off while I sat on the stoop smoking.

Fortunately, I can invite this person in, pour drinks for us both and let the story unwind in more depth through future revisions. Bits that are in this draft will be pushed into subsequent chapters so that this one is tight. Other parts will be expanded. There are squirt guns. Kinda proud of that one.

In the past I've written novellas of 90 and 120 pages. Some of my favorite books (Franny & Zooey, To The Lighthouse) have topped out around 200 which is where I'd like to be. I'd also like to be 6' tall, but that ain't gonna happen. It'll end where it will end; if I force it to be a specific length quality will suffer.

As in the past, writing's been therapeutic. A number of things I've written in the past have also foreshadowed future personal events, but I reckon it may be years before this batch bears that kind of fruit.

Good night. Good morning.

Chapter Three: Enter the A&*hole

After receiving some encouraging words from a pro, I've doubled my efforts of late and have made great strides on Chapter Three. This includes introducing the story's first villain, a slimy old reporter.

But back to the soccer/football poll. I'm curious to hear people's thoughts on the matter (Dr. Z., I'm looking at you...among others).

Legit!

A while back I mentioned some pending good news. It's now official: The Mochila Review has published my poem, "The Birds". I'd like to thank the good people of Mochila in Missouri for publishing an absurd poem about birds who take over NYC's subway system. You all rock!

They say football, we say soccer, let's call the whole thing off

United Staters: Why hasn't soccer caught on here the way it has around the world? Is it the players' hairdos?

Rest of the World: What makes football the beautiful game? Why's the game so special to you?

On deck: Baseball.

Going Good In That Gentle Night

I've lived in a brownstone in Harlem for the last five years now. Shortly after moving to this neighborhood from the Bronx I witnessed a few street jazz musicians performing their version of the Police's "Every Breath You Take." I walked by thinking this would be a normal occurrence. Haven't seen or heard 'em since.

I also thought I'd spend more time on the stoop of my building. That too hasn't happened...until tonight. I'm a night pastry baker. I typically hit the sack between 4 and 5 AM. So with chapter 2 awaiting comment, the recent heatwave broken and a few hours to kill, I outlined chapter 3 tonight on the stoop accompanied by a cheap cigar.

The next chapter introduces the first local that the main characters will become close with; a young female reporter who's tired of covering uber-local news while a presidential campaign sweeps the rest of the nation. That is, of course, not including local baseball which she'll introduce to them firsthand.

I don't typically write much in the summer because of baseball, but with games usually over by 11pm, a cool breeze running the length of my block after midnight, a bowl of ice cream never too far away and a handful of stogies to go, I reckon the stoop will call again.

Hotel Rwanda: Hope or Aberration?

I just followed The Last King of Scotland with Hotel Rwanda. Like The Last King of Scotland, Hotel Rwanda shows the beauty, affluence and appeal to Western tourists that African countries can possess. Unfortunately, it also shows the impact of mass-killings and the lack of intervention by those same Western countries.

Unlike The Last King of Scotland, Hotel Rwanda is told from the perspective of a local, in this case, hotel manager, Paul Rusesabagina, as played by Don Cheadle. The local perspective on the Hutu-Tutsi conflict avoids the patronizing white, Western perspective in The Last King of Scotland while showing that individuals such as Paul can successfully fight the good fight while chaos surrounds them.

If Hotel Rwanda were the only point of reference for Africa that you have, what conclusions would you draw? Depending on your experience with civil war, either you understand how two groups of people can turn on each other over time or it may baffle you. The lack of action by Western powers may frustrate you or may make frigidly cold sense. The main character, Paul, should inspire you - giving one faith in the African people to take care of themselves and each other despite their differences. As in The Last King of Scotland, this film probably doesn't do much for one's respect of African governments or armies. And it may even portray Paul as an aberration - that rare leader amidst the chaos - who works for the common good and succeeds.

How can I use Hotel Rwanda? Good question. I need to learn more about the tribal make-up of Botswana first. If there are multiple tribes and if it they get along it would be nice to show that they don't refer to each other as "cockroaches"; that Botswana's radio stations only incite people when soccer scores are given; and that violence is not the immediate and sole answer to the problems in society that arise.

On the Michigan side, a friend has lent me Sufjan Stevens' "Michigan: Greetings from the Great Lake State" which I'll take a listen to and see what I can glean from it.

Thhhhhhhhhe Yankee wins!

Today was my deadline to finish editing Chapter Two and...I made it! What I did not make was the Yankees' game which turned out to be a classic. Damn you, Erin Burns! Anyway, I'll type up a clean copy of the second chapter and if you'd like to read and review it, holla. It's a doozy.

The Last King of Scotland and the White Gaze

I watched The Last King of Scotland this past week - a film about the rise and ways of Idi Amin, president of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. While Uganda is a good distance from Botswana, I'd be naive to believe that all my readers are up on their African geography, culture, history and politics and that they may fudge together the various distinctions into one composite opinion.

And what, pray tell, would that opinion be if you've only seen this film? Hard to say. If one equates Amin with Africa according to this film, then the country is jocular, but also menacing; large and plentiful, but immature and inefficient; loyal, but suspicious. In the end, Amin's regime installed by Western powers bypasses democracy and kills approximately 300,000 of his own people - an all too often told tale for the dark continent so it would seem.

The story is told from the point of view of a young Scottish doctor who has traveled to Uganda to do good, only to become one of Amin's advisers. The story comes to a head when Amin proclaims himself the father of Uganda only for his white Western adviser to call him a child. I wonder how this story would be different if Ngugi had written the script.

I've been skeptical of the West's ability to tell other cultures how they're wrong and what they should do to correct their situation ever since reading Hernando de Soto's The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else. In this book de Soto discusses how the West preached capitalism to former Communist countries (and South America) without taking into account the importance of the proper legal structure to support their new economies. This is kinda like telling someone to bake a cake, giving them pans, food and an oven, but not the recipe. I have a hard enough time with a recipe...

What does this film do for my book? Well, it reminds me that Western audiences still like to buy the African despot story rather than the Western stooge story. How can I use this to my advantage? Drop the occasional genocide joke, you say? Sure. Why not? Always fun to play on the naive assumptions of folks, ie that if you're not a dead African that you're a killer and incapable of being democratic. Then again, what good is democracy when the elected leader sees the vote of confidence as support for his/her will and not trust to do the will of the people?

Kick in the Ass

"Hey Mardus, sure have been dragging on ass on editing chapter 2!"
"Yeah, yeah," grumble grumble.
"I'd understand if your apartment was clean and the Yankees were in first place, but what are you doing? You're cooking boogers."
"They're oysters."
"Whatever. You need a kick in the ass."
"..."
"If you don't finish chapter 2 by 1:05pm this coming Thursday..."
"Yes...?"
"Your paying for your friend's ticket to the Yankee game."
"Fuck."
"..."
"Fine."

Noisy animals, the flatulence of the gods and the evil thing

The Gods Must Be Crazy, which takes place in Botswana funny enough, came out in 1980. The story begins by introducing us to the "little people of the Kalahari" - the Bushmen - who have no sense of ownership, know no jealousy, live simply without a formal government or laws and are stymied by a Coke bottle that a pilot tosses out his window into their world of animal skin thongs and hand-made tools.

The story then shifts to the "civilized world" where people drive to their mail boxes and back, sit in traffic, work at desks and wonder if other people can hear the voices in their heads. In time, the modern versus natural world dichotomy devolves into a romantic comedy between the two main Caucasian characters with the Bushmen and other Africans playing smaller roles.

What the movie does do, though, is 1) introduce one picture of Botswana that is no longer representative of the entire country and 2) provides concretes stereotypes to work with.

In the first case, we're given a glimpse of what may be urban Botswana (possibly the capitol, Gaborone, but we never know for sure), but for the majority of the film we see rural Botswana and its people. Because the early urban setting is not identified as part of Botswana or not, we never truly can say or believe that the country has an urban, modern and successful (by Western standards) element to it. Rather, Botswana is simplified as rural.

In the second case, we learn that the Bushmen refer to cars as noisy animals, consider the noise of airplanes examples of the gods' flatulence and come to consider an item that they cannot share - the Coke bottle - as "the evil thing" which must be thrown off the side of the Earth. [If I'm not mistaken, 20th century Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski mentions in his book, The Soccer War, the use of paratroopers in Africa by a Western army as a means of instilling fear and showing dominance as the Africans feared anything that fell from the sky.]

Now that Botswana has become an important player in the diamond trade, I'd like to think these misconceptions have become dated. I will have to find out for sure, but it certainly would make for a delicious scene where the Batswana protagonists show they are no longer afraid of soda bottles (never mind beer bottles) while making their antagonists look that much more foolish for believing a country couldn't evolve over 25 plus years.

Confession

My good man Costas is right. I haven't been posting as frequently as I'd like (ie, weekly) lately, but he's also right that I've been working on a side project. I'm editing a chapbook's worth of poems that I'd like to finish by September.

I continue to edit chapter two of Any Color You Want - but the editing process isn't particularly sexy so I haven't posted about it. The first read through was for basic grammatical correctness; in the second I highlighted areas that could be expanded or needed better explanation; and the third will require me to do the expanding and 'splaining. That's where I'm at. Where you at? Where Brooklyn at?
I'm not familiar with The Sheltering Sky so I'll have to look into that. What I did see recently was The Gods Must Be Crazy which is the first movie I remember watching about Africa which'll be the topic of my next posting.

Africa in Film

When you think of Africa, what films come to mind? I've been watching one that I'll discuss more in depth in the coming days, but am curious what films other folk associate with the Dark Continent. Holla.

In other news, Bigtooth is right. Ohio and Michigan had a wicked spat over the Toledo Strip back in the day. Atta boy, Biggie!

Old School Joints

A local radio station likes to play "old school joints." Last night they introduced such a joint by saying, "Back in the day, New York City...1999." When did 1999 become "back in the day"? And if that's old school, what's Run DMC?

This 9 year window of history seems to be a symptom of America's amnesia, or more likely, our preference for the present and the future than the past. That being said, when someone can show intimate knowledge of history, I cannot help but be impressed.

To this end I've been reading two books on Michigan lately and learning a lot. I've been gaining knowledge that I'd like to arm my African protagonists with; knowledge that'll buy them credibility in their work in a foreign land. For instance, Texas has the Alamo, but in Michigan the cry once was, "Remember the River Raisin!" And did you know Michiganians were dubbed wolverines by Ohioans "who likened them to that 'vicious, smelly, ugly northwoods animal'" during the battle for the Toledo Strip? And that wolverines are part of the weasel family? Crazy kids stuff.

On a side note, I hope to share some good news soon. Stay tuned.

From Point A to Point B

As a religion major in college I enjoyed thinking about what happened between one sentence of scripture and the next. One minute Abraham and Isaac are walking along; the next Isaac is about to be sacrificed. What a second! How'd we get there?

In editing chapter two, I come across similar situations. Do I fill in the gap between one sentence and another or does the absence of detailed explanation add intrigue or humor to the story? Conversely, and more often than not, filling in the space between A & B allows me to make the story richer and more accessible.

It took me a long time as a writer to learn how to write the story I wanted for readers other than myself. I have to thank a corporate public relations job for that. There I wrote detailed copy to be read by a large and diverse audience. Yeah, I had to "know my audience", but I also had to learn how to communicate clearly, consistently and quickly with them. This kind of writing most certainly lent itself to some pretty damn boring print, but it drilled into me some more perspective and restraint that has balanced the loony drivel that I had been previously spilling.

Hypocrites, the whole lot

The first comment I note in the margins of chapter two is to allude to the presidential election more. The book takes place over 90 days from August to early November in a presidential election year. Over the course of the book the story of our two unwanted do-gooders rises up from local to national news with all manner of pundits and politicians putting in their two cents.

Comedically, it's easy to point to politicians and to portray them as hypocrites on any number of issues as the winds of public sentiment shift or new information becomes available. More often than not I have defended politicians' waffling. Why? Because I've managed political campaigns, worked on others and volunteered on many more and have seen how a new piece of information or a new proposal can change an elected official's mind. Does this make this individual a hypocrite? Perhaps, but I'd rather be called a hypocrite and have made an informed decision than stuck with my first opinion despite the availability of additional information.

That being said, the joke here will not only be on our politicians, but most likely the media as well. Have we learned from the wildly inaccurate exit polls of 2000? Nope. Have we learned to avoid sensationalizing bits of stories that may mislead readers rather than performing the due diligence to provide all perspectives and check all facts? Not likely - that doesn't sell newspapers or appeal to advertisers.

At the end of the day, though, the reluctance for Americans to accept help runs deeper than a few defiant politicians or sensationalistic journalists: It runs counter to our country's story; that in light of prosecution, we left one country to find freedom elsewhere; that in light of opportunity in one place, we left to find opportunity elsewhere. When we find that freedom and opportunity are not available in a land that has become synonymous for such things, we question the raison d'etre of this country and by extension, our lives as citizens of this country. As one can imagine, this is not a question any of us would find easy to face or concede to. Addressed seriously this borders on cold, misunderstood French Existentialism; addressed comically and, well, we'll hopefully have more than just the pot calling the kettle black.

First Draft of Chapter Two in the Books

That's right bitches, the first draft of the second chapter is done. And it feeeeeeels good. I mean, it's absolute shite of course, but definitely a step in the right direction. Even has a nice little lead in to Chapter Three. And once Chapter Three is done the formal Submission Rejection Process begins! Yeehaaaaaaawwww!

In other news, "fustercluck" is the word of the week. I mean, clusterfuck was waaaay too tidy for what it was trying to convey. Fustercluck, on the other hand, is not only messy, it's barnyard messy.

Gerhard Richter and the Art of Literary Maintenance

Before I even finish writing chapter two, I've already started making notes on how to edit it. In editing, I typically use a few different metaphors to help me along.

1) What kind of drink would this chapter be? Does it read like a shot of Jaegermeister (short and strong) or a can of the Beast (more content, but watered-down)? Ideally, I'm going for Guinness (smooth and hearty, and if the barkeep's poured a shamrock on top, even better).

2) Is it Grandma Moses (no surprises, very simple and straightforward) or Jackson Pollack (what the fuck am I looking at?)? Me, I'd like to go for Gerhard Richter who's painting in layers interests me.

The Layers:

The first layer usually just moves the story along. It's more action than description. It's more two-dimensional than three. For the second layer, I close my eyes and ask myself what I see. This is where I flesh out characters, settings, dialogue and the sequence of events. Transitions between sentences, paragraphs and the general action smooths out. You've moved the story along, congratulations, but have you made the most of opportunities for comedy? Have you introduced or played up the conflicts enough to keep people interested in the characters and the story? Also, have I stayed true to the main themes or have I lost focus by introducing tangential ideas and allusions while trying to be clever showing everyone what a fucking genius I am? That being said, I usually go through 5-8 drafts before opening the process up to public comment.

I had a junior high gym teacher stand over me once while on the bench press. I did a few reps and then heard him say, "OK, one more." I did one more. Then he said, "Now one more." I did another. After a third "one more" I saw where this was going, but I'm glad he pushed me. I've come to enjoy editing as it presents a similar challenge: Are you humble enough to admit that what you just wrote is shit and can you make it better? Ok, now make it better again. And again.

Vampires, Lit Agents & Dick Teases

Well, if I can't sleep I may as well be productive. So tonight I took the opportunity to go through Jeff Herman's Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, & Literary Agents 2008 (Yes, there's an Oxford comma in that thar sentence, folks - not my doing as, well, as the kids like to sing, "Who gives a fuck about an Oxford comma?" Not I, said the Randall.)

From this tome I was able to identify 42 potential literary agents that may be interested in Any Color You Want. Once I've finished writing the first three chapters, I'll return to this list and most likely whittle it down some as I take more time reading each agency's description.

A first draft of chapter two should be finished shortly. Then I can tear it down all over again. Speaking of building up and tearing down, was thinking about Penelope the other day. Dr. Zafeiris, if you're reading this, do you know the ancient Greek for "dick tease"?

Ngugi

In addition to visiting Michigan, I have read a number of books on Michigan history and African literature. Most of the African works that I've read have either been regarding folklore or poetry to get a feel for the stories Africans tell, how they tell them, what kinds of characters and plots they use and so on. And then there's Ngugi.

A friend recommended that I read Ngugi's Devil on the Cross (1987). As I quickly learned, Ngugi's no joke. A native of Kenya, his writing concentrates on post-colonial Africa. I was reluctant to read his work for a couple reasons:

1) It takes place in East Africa, not Southern Africa
2) I didn't think I had read enough traditional African literature and didn't want to jump ahead to more modern content.

That being said, I believe that I was able to pick up some phrases that could be used universally throughout Africa ("Too much haste splits the yam", "The shoe doesn't need a sock" (meaning, "Nothing's closer to the truth"), "It is never too early to go to the market, before the sun scorches the vegetables"), not just Kenya.

This book also reads like the other side of John Perkins' Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. There Perkins talks about what he would do to extend American business interests abroad. Here, Ngugi talks about how men like Perkins influenced his country's businessmen. Pretty powerful stuff which begins to answer a question I'd always had: Why don't these countries have their own corporations? Perkins may argue it's because we've taken them out (to stay on the hit man tip).

As Ngugi writes, "There is nothing as terrible as a people who have swallowed foreign customs whole, without even chewing them, for such people become mere parrots", which is how he describes some of his post-colonial countrymen who continue to serve the financial interests of foreigners. More positively, he also writes, "...we shouldn't always run after foreign things, following in the footsteps of other people, singing only songs that have been composed by others, joining in the chorus of songs sung by soloists from other lands. We can compose our own songs, produce our own soloists, sing the songs to ourselves."

How does this fit in to Any Color You Want? First, Ngugi's story sewed a seed 21 years ago that now, with the Western world weakened economically and militarily, may give the developing world fruit to bear: That being, they can follow their own way. Second, his story questions the expertise and supremacy of Western ways which my protagonists will also do. Basically, Ngugi may be the dramatic precedent for this comedy.

For those of you finding it hard to believe that this is really a comedy, in chapter two our protagonists start a car alarm symphony with a soccer ball in a public parking lot. Good times.

Dearborn Day Three: I Got Your Setting Right Here, Pal

On Thursday, February 28, 2008, I toured the Ford Rouge Factory and watched the assembly of a Ford F-150. There were also two films, one on Henry Ford who had more of a Lincoln-like story (failed in business at least twice before making it) than I had ever known. The second film was about the factory and the steps and the people involved in the making of the F-150.

As one tours the factory, Ford, Bill Ford in particular, makes no bones about their dedication to the environment – until you realize that all their references to being green regard their processes (their Green Roof, use of fuel cells and recycled materials), not their vehicles.

There are no immediate plans to include the tour in the book, but I reckon my time at the factory will come in handy down the road. If nothing else, it's an essential part of the community and one that I needed to make myself familiar with.

Another part of the community that cannot be overlooked is the fantastically empty and dated Montgomery Ward department store smack dab across the street from City Hall, caddy corner from the Arab American National Museum, a stone's throw from a local newspaper and right on Michigan Avenue. One would think this makes for prime commercial real estate, but from what the innkeeper told me, the building's been vacant for years. According to that link (from 2006), offices within the building were rented out. Looked like a ghost town to me, but I'll have to follow up.

Well, one community's abandoned relic is another writer's central setting. Where better to set the rebirth of a local economy than from a beautiful building long overlooked?

Before leaving Dearborn, I picked up as many local papers as I could. I look forward to returning in a few months and taking in a Tigers game at Comerica. Now it's back to writing.

Day Two in Dearborn; A Book Title is Found?

On Wednesday morning I toured The Henry Ford which "showcases the people and ideas that have fired our imaginations and changed our lives." More specifically, the innovative ideas of Ford (cars), Thomas Edison (electricity) and the Wright Brothers (aviation) complemented by other exhibits on guns, quilting and Dairy Queen. Obviously we're working with Ford's (contemporary) definition of who and what fired our imaginations and changed our lives.

While walking around I asked myself what my protagonists would make of the museum. A famous Ford quote hit me in particular: "You can have any color (Model T) you want...as long as it's black." This line has become well-known for it's humor, but sadly it contradicts what we like to think the U.S. is all about: democracy and open-market capitalism, ie, the freedom of choice. We'd like to believe that we can choose the color of our cars, the leaders who represent us and through this openness we progress in perpetual revolution. But here is corporate titan Henry Ford restricting our choice and laughing about it. Kinda fucked up. I'll return to this. Now I'm off to the Arab American National Museum.

The museum's mission statement is: The Arab American National Museum's mission is to document, preserve, celebrate, and educate the public on the history, life, culture and contributions of Arab Americans. We serve as a resource to enhance knowledge and understanding about Arab Americans and their presence in the United States.

Unlike the Ford, which seems to lose its focus, this museum does exactly what it sets out to do. And I can't get this to not italicize. At the same time, the museum raises some questions: 1) It discusses briefly the "Save the South End" campaign in Dearborn, but I'd like to know more; 2) How are the Gulf War and Iraq War Iraqi refugees doing in the community?; 3) How do the Arab Christians and the Arab Muslims in the area get along?; and 4) How are female Arab entrepreneurs doing in Dearborn?

After visiting the breeding ground of a major American car manufacturer and an Arab American museum (in the same town) I had the following horrible thought: What if unemployment is high and the economy is down in this part of the country because it is home to two of the most infamously stubborn entities (American autos and Arabs) this side of Red Sox fans and vegans?

I'd like to think I was proven wrong later that same day on a few occasions. First, Dearborn is not black and white, Arab and non-Arab. There are no stark residential boundaries. The local KFC offers Halal chicken. The Arab restaurant I had dinner at offered American standards. Women in burqas enjoyed hot drinks on cold Dearborn days in coffee shops on the other side of town.

Dizzy with the prospects of such subplots, I drew myself back to book's main idea and Ford's quote. The U.S. suffers when it restricts choice, and by extension opportunity. By rejecting the help of two successful (foreign) entrepreneurs, choice and opportunity take a hit. So what do you call a book set in Ford's backyard that stonewalls two African entrepreneurs from offering Americans choice and opportunity? Why, "Any Color You Want" of course. ;)

Tomorrow: The making of a Ford F-150 and the renting of Montgomery Ward.

Day One in Dearborn

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

I arrived at the Dearborn Bed & Breakfast on 22331 Morley Avenue at around 1:30pm; the snow so fresh that a number of driveways had yet to be cleared. Am staying in the Walnut Room on the second floor which is drafty, but beautiful and spacious - at least by New York standards. After getting settled, I spoke with the innkeeper about local attractions and posed some of the questions about the area.

The innkeeper, who has lived here for approximately 45 years after moving with her husband from the Cleveland area upon his taking a job with Ford, is a white woman probably in her sixties. She is very kind and hospitable. She also has a good sense of the changes that have taken place in the area, though I don’t think she’s one to be critical or negative.

She admitted that the local economy was not in good shape, mainly because of Ford and GM (also that white collar workers (like her two sons, who seem to be safe in their jobs) are often the first to get the axe) and that old Mayor Hubbard was not one for allowing blacks or immigrants to live in Dearborn: They could work here, but that’s all.

She said that the Arab population was mainly in East Dearborn (off of Michigan Avenue near City Hall and the old Montgomery Ward which has been abandoned for years) and Melvindale; that West Dearborn was mainly white; and that Inkster was mainly black. She added that there was a Mexican neighborhood in Detroit, but that there wasn’t a particularly large Hispanic presence locally.

While she did delineate ethnicities and neighborhoods, she also went so far as to say that these lines were not so clearly drawn; that there was a good mix of black, white and Arab all around. She also said that there had been no white flight. That being said, she gave an example of a family that moved before their white child was to enter a school that was 99% black…

I had dinner at Miller’s Bar which the innkeeper recommended for their burgers. Miller’s is right off of Michigan Avenue - the main drag; it has a big, clear sign, but then no signs on either of its doors which gives it a prohibition dive bar feel, until you enter and it’s spic and span. Indeed, my medium rare cheeseburger – served bloody, thank god – was tasty and tender. The fries, on the other hand, had the backbone of the local economy. The burger was served with a slice of onion wrapped in parchment on the side and a jar of sliced pickles on the table. On tap? Miller or Miller Light. I chose Miller and was served what appeared to be a half-pint; which Lucy would order by saying, “One up” to the bartender. Two all day.

Eating at 8:20pm on a Tuesday night, I missed the main dinner rush, but as Lucy my server informed me, that usually hadn’t mattered. She attributed the low turnout to either the snow and cold weather, the economy or both. There wasn’t a soul at the bar, most of the patrons were middle aged and all were white. As was the staff.

I was informed that Miller’s is cash only and that they work on the honor system. I received no bill from Lucy; I just have to go up to the bar, tell the bartender what I had and pay him. And so I did.

As I leave it either begins to flurry or the wind kicks up and blows the earlier snow around. The parking lot in the back is all American made to a car.

My initial drives up and down Michigan Avenue (in tandem with my conversation with the innkeeper) draw some points of note. First, there are all the requisite chain/big box stores. Second, there are a number of empty stores, even stores of renown. I took these to be a sign of the weak local economy. The innkeeper mentioned that a number of stores and buildings had been torn down and replaced with new buildings (mainly residential apartments and lofts with a commercial presence on the ground floor) – so perhaps these empties are just awaiting the wrecking ball before new structures go up. If what she says is true, then the area probably benefited from the housing boom like the rest of the country. Whether or not the area can weather the automotive industry’s woes, the popping of the housing bubble and the sub-prime credit mess is another matter.

Like a moron, I left my digital camera at home.

Wednesday I visited The Henry Ford and the Arab American National Museum. More tomorrow.

So tell me about the book...

I just finished watching Gung Ho which, unfortunately, did not take place in Michigan, but rather in Pennsylvania. Go figure. Either way, 20 years on and the themes of that story are still relevant, if not more so in a world that is not just commercially bipolar (Japan and the U.S.), but multipolar.

While watching the film I said to myself that I could perhaps describe the book I'm working on in terms of an updated Gung Ho. The analogy, unfortunately, falls apart in a few ways. While Gung Ho more or less explores the Japanese-American work dynamic (with tastes of cultural differences), my story will most likely pull up a number of issues across the board (first world vs. third world; immigrants vs. natives (which, in the U.S., is still kind of a joke as only the Native Americans can really lay claim to that moniker); and, of course, baseball vs. soccer). That being said, when asked what the story's about, it's been a challenge to come up with a short and sweet response that accurately conveys the story's conflict and gets people interested.

This will be particularly important to nail down when the boy from New York City shows up in Dearborn. I've been thinking of saying, "It's about the conflicts that arise in a city dealing with economic and immigrant issues." I know, that's blindingly boring and not funny at all, but I reckon it'll get people talking and sharing their stories which'll help me paint a more accurate picture.

Punch My Ticket

It's official: With plane tickets and rental car secured, I'm heading out to Dearborn at the end of February. I've also put together a preliminary list of questions I'll need to answer (eg, where would my characters live? Where would they set up shop? Where's the most likely place for them to get into a car accident?) between now and the end of my trip.

I've also started ransacking the NYPL for books on Michigan and Dearborn so I can arrive with a sense of history and geography.

This being my first trip to the area, I hope to do so as a tourist more than as if I lived there, ie, I'll walk and drive around a lot to get a feel for how the area is laid out; will look into local museums and venues. At the same time, I'll be looking at the area through the eyes of my characters. Hopefully I'll meet some locals and talk to them about area to get a better feel for what's going on on the ground.

On the other side, I've been reading books in Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, a series which takes place in Botswana. The books have given me a better feel for the language, geography and diet of the country. The first book in this series has been made into a movie featuring Jill Scott to debut sometime later this year.

Pieces Falling Into Place

This past week I not only finished my culinary studies, but landed a job putting those skills to use. Thank god. Now I'll have a more set schedule, money coming in and can begin lining up research trips to Dearborn.

This is key as I've started writing chapter two where the protagonists, Ngalala and Mbetele, have landed in Detroit and are getting settled in Dearborn. The majority of the book will take place here. I am also starting to introduce local characters who will have important roles throughout the remainder of the book and I need to get a good feel for them in their own setting.

This afternoon I hit the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York, specifically to take in a tour of African Art. Unfortunately, the tour concentrated on western and central African art, with no mention of southern Africa. Fortunately, I spoke to the guide afterward and she recommended that I speak with a curator in the department for more information. Stay tuned. Ideally, I'd like to learn more about what themes southern African art focuses on and how my characters may either be extensions of their local art or, even more simply, know if southern Africans carry any keepsakes with them that I could incorporate into the story. For example, do they carry around any kind of good luck charms to look over them? Stuff like that.

In other news, pitchers and catchers report in 3 days. 92 hours really, but who's counting?

Preliminary Detroit Area Research

Chapter two takes our protagonists into the Detroit area to begin their work. In preparation for this chapter, I've been studying up on the area and thinking about the existing sources out there that are set around Detroit. More specifically, I'm looking at demographic statistics and popular culture.

I've learned a couple key things about the Detroit area in the last couple weeks. First, Dearborn, Michigan is considered the United States' Muslim capitol. Second, Grosse Pointe Blank, set in nearby Grosse Pointe, Michigan, appears to have one African-American interloper (an NSA agent) who eventually gets blown away by John Cusack and Dan Aykroyd, professional killers impeccably adept at dialog.

Needless to say, the juxtaposition of these images (real and imagined) potentially supplies ample comic fodder: the reality of a full-blown immigrant city (Muslim at that! beginning in the 1950s) versus a Hollywood comedy/action film in a presumably affluent and Caucasian town. If the writers of Grosse Pointe Blank thought they were playing up the comedy by setting a professional hit in a sleepy town during a high school reunion, in a post- 9/11 world, the last laugh may be on them. Plus, when discussing the idea of American pride, it will be curious to see how the two groups respond. Will they try to out-American each other and if so, to what ludicrous end? And who will actually take up the Batswana's offer of business development assistance?

That being said, I also look forward to watching Gung Ho and seeing how that may or may not play a part in the story. If nothing else, it's a chance to watch Michael Keaton in action. Hell, Mr. Mom took place around Detroit. Classic.

First Submissions

After some more editing to make the story end a little smoother, I officially began submitting the first chapter to short story/fiction contests for publication.

A few years ago a friend submitted a short story of his which ended up receiving kudos from Glimmertrain. An agent read the story, contacted him and asked what else he had. The writer, Brian Slattery, just had his first book, "Spaceman Blues" published and now has a second on its way. I'm hoping that if someone asks me what else I have they'll be interested to know that I have the rest of the story that originally peaked their interest.

By the way, if you get a chance to hear Brian give a reading, check it out. In Joyce-like fashion, he's set some of his work to music. If you can't, pick up the book anyway. He has a blast blowing up the idea of someone being "an illegal alien." Literally.

Stuck in the Middle

After years of squirreling away my writing, I have come to enjoy the comments that other readers bring which I would have never considered. A number of readers have already weighed in on the first chapter and helped me flesh out various parts and characters. This past weekend another reader brought to light another angle I had not given sufficient thought: the perspective of the people of Botswana.

Essentially, the reader said that I was speaking for the people of Botswana and, well, I had no right to do that. After much discussion, I agreed that without spending time there and without consulting long-time residents, that my story would carry little credibility with those in the know.

This line of thought had struck me earlier on in the writing process. I wondered if I should fictionalize the countries in the story to avoid this very problem. I decided not to for a few reasons.

First I thought of Gulliver's Travels and asked myself, "What countries was Jonathan Swift alluding to? And how many people today know that it was a satire, not simply the story of a traveler?" I fear that, on the whole, the specific satiric allusions have been lost to the entertainingly fantastic tales Swift told. [That being said, haven't his stories stood the test of time and can they not allude to present day conflicts as much as those of his time?]

Second, Botswana has a great story to tell. Unlike Borat's Kazakhstan, Botswana is a success and if I could do something to let Western readers know that Africa has such a success, why not show it off rather than having to make up such a case?

Third, I was recently inspired by the following piece which appeared in the 12/19/2007 edition of the Economist regarding the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference:

"Who would save it? The little guy, of course: Kevin Conrad, a (conveniently handsome) delegate from Papua New Guinea, a poor but beautiful country condemned to sink beneath the waves unless the big powers act. He leant towards his microphone, face taught with emotion. 'If for some reason you are not willing to lead,” he said, referring to an arrogant comment on leadership by one of the American delegates, “leave it to the rest of us. Please—get out of the way.' The applause was thunderous. Minutes later, Ms Dobriansky (the U.S. representative) crumpled. 'We will go forward and join consensus,' she said. There were sighs of relief and gasps of elation. The planet was saved. It was, everybody agreed, an historic agreement.'"

While I cannot stand behind Botswana's lecturn on the global stage, I can make a similar point through humor. Jeremiads will continue to be written this way or that and often because of their serious and didactic tone they are easily written off. I'd prefer to make my points with a little laughter. As an old French teacher of mine who recently passed away liked to say, "If you can't laugh at life, you're fucked." Well Mr. Danforth, this one's for you. Au revoir, mon ami.

Name It

My sister and I have a number of movies that we tap for quotes endlessly. We quote movies the way, I presume, people used to quote books and poems before movies and television. So why should I not do the same thing in my book?

There is an idea out there that book knowledge is superior to knowledge gained through television or the screen in general. I could write the book with only literary references, but how many people would catch the allusions? If I write the book with only movie reference, how many will catch on? [And will I get flack for using such pop material and snubbing thousands of years of literary tradition?] Of course it depends on the books and films we're talking about, but, in general, most likely, many more readers will connect with the film references. To oversimplify, the tradition of exchanging strictly literary quotes among the masses is not as healthy as it once was. It's an emperor in a democratic country; titular and with less power to influence and communicate than it once had.

But a book that only leans on movies has an odd flavor to it. It's the white rapper, the Mexican cook in the Thai restaurant; something that just seems miscast. Now if I indulge in both, though, a little Coming to America here and a little Heart of Darkness there, now you're legit. Or at least more so.