NO BULL

I guess the cat's kind of out of the bag anyway...

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 03:15:49 GMT

Many of you know about my work in progress. I send my super duper highly polished "pitch" to Evil Editor for his review. He didn't rip it apart, and actually offered some amazing suggestions!

So here is the link for whoever is interested.

Evil Editor takes on the "Ghosts of Rosewood Asylum."

What's this?

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 23:33:51 GMT

Xavier Paranormal Investigators?

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

What makes a good writer?

Sun, 19 Jul 2009 00:16:14 GMT

We know, most of us anyway, good writing when we see it. Those who have studied literature can identify good writing better than the rest of us, but the written page is art. And art is subjective. That’s not what I’m referring to.

Allow me an analogy:

A firefighter (I’ll use the masculine for this example and feminine for the next).

He has no qualms running headlong into a burning, risking life and limb to save those trapped inside. Does that make him a good firefighter? Or should I say, does that alone make him a good fire fighter? What if he is belligerent to his fellows at the station? What if he doesn’t pull his weight during the down time? What if he is rude to both children and animals as they tour the firehouse? I think you see my point. While he might be called an excellent “lifesaver,” I doubt he’d be termed a good firefighter.

Obvious. Then wouldn’t the same tenet hold true for a writer? Sure one needs the basic understanding of spelling, grammar and storytelling, but what about the marketing, personal relations, tenacity, quantity of work, as well as the ability to ask for and assimilate feedback? Are they also not vital elements of a “writer’s job?”

A writer.

She can spin a yarn with language that would not only make Hemmingway come back to life, it would get him to an AA meeting. Her eloquent words can be written in adequate volume but she refuses to partake in submitting her work. Or perhaps she has but refuses to promote it. She is a terror for agents and editors to work with. When in public, she regularly offends her fans. Because she can effectively “write,” is she still a good writer? I’d say no. Others might disagree. I’d say she’s a storyteller.

Of course on the reverse side of the same coin, what about the writer (I’m thinking of one specifically who’s releasing a novel this fall that is sure to sell a million copies – he’s not released a book in six years) whose prose may not be the best but it identifies with the masses on a scale of immense proportions? If a team of ten literature professors denounce his story and flunk his prose on an epic level but he’s done all the other things well (marketing, sales, fan development, and writing what people want to read), is he a good writer?

Again, I answer in the negative. Others might disagree. I’d say he’s a pop entertainer.

To be a good writer one must perform ALL elements of the writing process effectively. One must write effectively and in sufficient volume. One must entertain and effectively be able to market his/her work. One must network with industry professionals and make proper career decisions. One must master relationships with his/her fan base, know and deliver what those fans want. I can’t be the judge of anyone else’s progress on this scale.

I just know that, by my standards, I’ve still a long way to go to be considered a good writer.

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 07:31:55 GMT

I'm pretty centrist -- sometimes center/left (and My conservative friends accuse Me of being a radical) -- sometimes center/right (and My liberal friends accuse Me of being a fascist).

I'm sick of that.

But moreso, I'm sick of how personal, divisive and hateful society has become regarding government. I'm showing My age here but there wasn't hate of Gerald Ford or Jimmy Carter. People didn't like the job they did and voted them out of office. Simple really.

Ronald Reagan was hard to hate. People staunchly disagreed with his politics but Reagan was Reagan. People hated that George HW Bush lied about raising our taxes but we voted him out too.

It kind of started with Clinton. As loved as he was by liberals, they seem to forget that he never received 50% of the vote. He totalled 43% his first election and 49% in his second election (both were 3 way contests). Liberals also seem to have forgotten that he was only the 3rd President to be impeached by the House of Representatives -- not for getting a blowjob from a girl 30 years younger than him...but for perjury and obstruction of justice. Had he merely admitted it early on and told people to stay out of his sexual business, he may have gone down as a great president (for all of us). Bill Clinton was despised by conservatives -- not just his politics. Him personally.

Then we have George W. Bush. Just the name sends disgust through the soul of liberals (and about 80% of us right now). Bush's election was contested/debated and upheld but never really accepted by Democrats. He didn't win the popular vote in the first election and the crisis's that have followed have been epic. Sept. 11th, Afghanistan, Rummy, Iraq, No WMD's, FEMA's "response" to Hurricane Katrina and the greatest financial crisis since the Great Depression. Yay.

Attacks on Clinton and Bush were harsh, personal, divisive, but worse, it never seemed that supporters of each understood the intense disdain for the non-supporters of each. And, worst of all, they seemed not to care.

My hope is that we get back to the "good old days." Even if President Obama isn't the leader we want or expect. I hope that we can unite behind him and debate without hatred and condemnation. My hope is for tolerence and respect.

God Bless the United States of America!

And now?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 02:39:21 GMT

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

- Martin Luther King Jnr.

By electing Barack Hussein Obama the 44th President of the United States of America, we fulfilled the dream of Dr. King by judging Mr. Obama fit to govern, not on the basis of the color of his skin, but on the content of his character. It was a revolutionary thought forty years ago, even twenty years ago, and perhaps even just twenty months ago, but it has been realized in the sizzling flash of one election season. A forty seven year-old, first-term Senator taking on and beating the likes of a former first lady and former Vice Presidential candidate in the primaries and then a war hero in the general election are the stuff of legend and yet it played out before our very eyes. In fact, we made it happen before our very eyes.

Sometimes revolutions occur without a shot being fired.

But what happens after most revolutions? Greed. Infighting. Competing Agendas. Unrealized expectations. Dissention and Disappointment. Those who band together to effect change in leadership, often disintegrate once that leadership takes hold of government. It happened in post-revolutionary Russia, France (several times), and England. One place it didn’t occur was here -- post-revolutionary United States of America. So certain these men in their cause, so resolved in the realization of their ideals, they put aside their differences and strove to create a more perfect union -- one that protected life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

They were simpler times. The pursuit of happiness typically meant that government stayed out of the lives of the citizens so that they could grow crops or raise animals to feed and clothe their families, go to church on Sundays and spend their later years somewhere near a warm fireplace.

Today, our pursuit of happiness seems blocked at every angle. Our blackberries don’t upload our emails fast enough or the batteries to our iPods don’t hold the charge as long as we’d like. We’re forced to listen to thick foreign accents when our satellite TVs malfunction or our DVRs forget to automatically record our favorite programs. Friends hound us with debate on the merits of being pro-choice, opposed to gay marriage, convinced of global warming, protesting the death penalty, or maxing out our 401ks.

Does this generation, the one used to having everything they want when they want it, have the determination and patience to see this president through two terms and two mid-term elections? Do they understand that in our government, massive change is brought about slowly? Do they have what it takes to sustain their support (real support) or is their allegiance blind and Obama is supported with lip service but inaction?

Lastly, and most importantly, now that we’ve taken a step to move beyond race (and to some extent gender) in our national politics, can we continue to develop the content of our collective character?

Why the Cubs lose...

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 20:24:34 GMT

The election is over and I'm finally able to think about baseball without puking. The talk here in San Diego is huge about a Peavy trade and as a Cubs fan, I'd be really stoked to get him. But it's not enough!

I'm sick of the curse talk. THIS is why we lose -- BAD DECISIONS. Remember this is the same team that decided to keep Bob Howry and Neal Cotts...
http://www.sportsline.com/mlb/players/player/gamelogs/2008/7593

Look at May and June. Scott Eyre set a CLUB RECORD for most appearances without giving up a run -- he got hurt. Then he gets ONE CHANCE to pitch before they cut him?!?!?!! Then he goes to the Phils and goes 9 appearances before giving up a run. These are the same Phils that the Cubs scored a big dramatic win against on a Friday to take the first two games of a series. On Sat and Sunday after patting themselves on the backs and reading their own press clippings the Cubs showed up to the park apparently expecting the Phils to lay down to their greatness...only to lose both games. The Phils battled back down 0-2 in that series, won both games and salvaged a tie. THESE are the Phils that won the championship.

LEARN Cubs LEARN!

I'm sick of BS like this. It's the little things that win championships -- it's sweeping (not settling for 2 wins in a 3 game series vs the Reds and Pirates and Giants) the teams you need to beat. It's throwing strikes and playing good D and scoring key runs. It's cutting Bob Howry and keeping Scott Eyre. It's playing as hard on every play as the fans are cheering at every game (home and road). You want good "karma?" Then stop making bad decisions and hoping that you don't "mysteriously play bad" in the post season. Play every inning like it's Game 7 of the WS, then when you get there, you'll be ready for it. There are no "coincidences." There are no "Cub incidences." There's playing winning baseball and there's playing losing baseball.

I'm sick of watching these prima donnas mope around the field during the post season playing losing baseball because they got away with it during the regular season!

I hope someone has the 'nads to stand up at the Cubs convention this year and speak the truth...

Rant over.

If I were running for President...

Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:52:14 GMT

This past year, my best friend and I have been emailing each other a question each morning. His question to me yesterday was, "If you were running for President, what would you say during the debate." It led me to this blog entry:

Seven years ago this month our country was attacked in one of the most vicious despicable acts in the history of the world. I have good news and I have bad news. The good news is that we came together as a nation in September of 2001. The bad news is that since then, we've become divided. The frank truth that no one wants to say aloud is that because of our division, the terrorists are winning. I'll repeat it; the terrorists are winning. Oh, they're not winning in Iraq. They're not winning in Afghanistan where we've been fighting all these many years. They're winning because we have been operating as an “us against them” mentality. Not just “us against the terrorists,” no no. “Us Against Them” here at home. No sooner will a Democrat propose a plan of action, than ten Republicans line up to oppose it. No sooner will a Republican sponsor a bill than ten Democrats plot to block it. No sooner will someone speak out in the workplace for a particular candidate than several friends or coworkers will attack that candidate or that person for being “too far left” or “too far right.”

Maybe in better times, this system, this way of operating was acceptable, but in times like these, when major institutions are failing, when people can’t make their house payments, when our government can’t respond to emergency situations, when bridges are collapsing, when schools are not educating, hospitals are not healing and banks are not lending, we must face reality. Our system is broken and little tweaks and pokes are not going to fix it.

So how did we get here? This didn’t happen overnight. This didn’t happen over the course of one or two presidential administrations. We are in the mess that we're in today because over the past few decades, as technology has improved and information is passed along faster, ironically enough, we've allowed ourselves to become more and more divided. We've become so overly focused on the minutia of "battleground states," "same sex marriage" and “which celebrity is in rehab,” that we've missed the big picture of digging in, making sacrifices, working hard and developing new technologies.

I have a question for the auto makers. Why has the personal computer gone from being a room-sized million-dollar product down to a laptop, $300 product in less than a generation but 100 years later, we're still using an engine that runs on a fuel source we not only know to be limited and pollutes the environment, but one which our demand can only be met from a part of the world we know to be volatile and hostile? It doesn’t make sense.

We've become lazy. We've become self-centered and commercially irresponsible. We’ve overspent and underworked. We want to have our oil and use it too. We want to have our high-wage jobs and export them too. We want to win our wars and watch them too. It doesn't work that way! During World War II there were scrap metal drives, there were paper drives, there were curfews. Hell, there were even CHOCOLATE RATIONS. People understood that to fight evil, they had to tighten their belts and band together with their family, friends and neighbors. As Americans, we've done that before and unless we do it again, we're not going to pass along the same lifestyle to future generations. It's just that simple and that ugly, folks.

That's a lot of bad news, huh? Well there's more good news in there somewhere. You see, back when America was willing to make sacrifices, and I'm not speaking now of World War II, I'm referring to September 11th, we all felt a sense of community, accomplishment, empowerment. We were able to understand how our forefathers, armed mostly with muskets, faced off against the world’s most powerful military at the time, won, and then forged a new nation. We were able to comprehend how a country made up of mostly farmers were able to transform into the most powerful armed forces in the world, defeat Hitler and then rebuild our enemies into stable, productive and beneficial allies. And these dramatic transformations didn’t take hundreds of years like they did throughout history with other nations. They happened within just a decade. 1776 to 1786. 1941 to 1951.

A decade. Ten years. Where will America be in 2018? Will we be fighting wars that are a lost cause and chasing ghosts through the caves of Pakistan? Will we be in debt, struggling to make ends meet while the rich get “guiltier” and the poor get angrier? Will we be analyzing what effect some lobbyist’s “spin” will have in a key “battleground state” or which celebrity’s reality show is higher in the Neilson ratings? Or can we put all that aside, roll up our sleeves and come together over a common goal? The American Dream. Remember her?

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.”

When I was a boy, my Italian great grandfather sat me down on his lap and told me how his father punched him when he informed his dad he was immigrating to America. My great grandmother, who lived just one village over, left everything and everyone to come through Ellis Island for a better life. Today, in many parts of the world, people are still fighting and dreaming of a better life in America. As we work with our friends and our neighbors to provide a better life for our children, for the next generation, it is our duty, our responsibility, and our privilege to keep that American Dream alive.

“And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

God bless this country. God bless America and God bless you all.

ENOUGH!

Wed, 24 Sep 2008 19:02:42 GMT

Enough bull-crap about the "jinxed" Cubs. Seriously. I've about had it.

Last night in a meaningless game for the Cubs, an opposing pitcher's bat shattered and the ball hit a section of the broken bat as it rolled on the infield. The pitcher got a hit instead of an out. Our pitcher had previously hit a batter, and subsequently gave up a walk and another hit. The Mets went on to tie the game that inning and win the game a few innings later when a pitcher (who has been injured for a month and is only getting work to see if he can pitch in the playoffs) gave up 4 runs in less than an inning's work.

Today I see on a website a Mets fan talking about "The Curse of the Black Bat." -- Are you freaking kidding me????

Let's put to rest all the bull$#!@ about jinxes, curses and bad luck.

1969:
The Cubs folded down the stretch in much less dramatic fashion as several teams in the past two years. Some idiot in NYC thinks it's funny to throw their cat on the field during a game and a black cat runs around the Cubs on deck circle. Curse? Black cat my azz......The Cubs had a crappy freakin' manager, a senile one at that, Leo Durocher who never gave our regular players (including our CATCHER, Randy Hundley who lost 20 lbs!) a freakin day off during two months of Aug/Sept daytime baseball. It's called stupidity, not "a jinx," "a hex," or "bad luck."

1970-1983:
Cubs fans suffered through the likes of Barry Foote, Steve "Stink" Ontoveris, Paul Rueshel, Jose Cardinal and a cast of dozens of idiotic low-talent players. Oh sure, we had Bill Matlock (went to Pittsburgh), Manny Trillo (went to Philly), Rick Rueshel (went to Pittsburgh) and Bruce Sutter (went to St. Louis/Atlanta) too but, well -- why have good players? It's called stupidity, not "a jinx," "a hex," or "bad luck."

1984:
Because the Cubs don't have night baseball, the league makes the decision to only give them 2 home games instead of 3. The order of the games is even pretty whacked in that we play two at Wrigley and then wave goodbye having to play three on the road. We'd have even won too had it not been for no bullpen (which led to a Steve Garvey home run) and a player doing drugs. Leon Durham did cocaine the night before game 5 and let a ball roll under his glove. It's called stupidity, not "a jinx," "a hex," or "bad luck."

2003:
I remember talking to my dad and my best friend that summer about why the Cubs were madly trying to add players when this wasn't their year to win it yet. They over-achieved and somehow managed to get a lead in the NLCS. Dusty "let them play" Baker doesn't settle the team down after a fan partially obstructs what would have been a phenomenal (but meaningless at the time) defensive play. Dusty "let them play" Baker sits on his azz after Cubs shortstop, Alex Gonzalez boots what should have been an easy double play. Dusty "let them play" Baker leaves an obviously exhausted Mark Prior in to face the Marins and he is hit hard. Dusty "let them play" Baker does not settle the team down that night, nor get them focused to play the next night in Game 7 with our Ace pitcher on the mound.

It's called stupidity, not "a jinx," "a hex," or "bad luck."

2008:
(look at that date again, 2008!) All that is over now and we've got a STUD GM who signs players while on his hospital bed, a great Manager who has won as a player and a coach, loud and enthusiastic fans, and terrific players. Will we win it all? Maybe or maybe not but let THESE players, this team, off the freakin hook for years and years of mismanagement (in Dusty's case NO management). They'll win or not win but it will be on abilities and skill (and a little luck) not on some stupid excuse of a curse because 70 years ago livestock wasn't (and still isn't, by the way) allowed at a game.

As fans, we hold THIS TEAM accountable for what THIS TEAM produces. When they suck, we have every right to 'boo.' When they get too full of themselves, we have every right to complain and demand they come back to earth. Before going on to win two World Series Championships, the Boston Red Sox FIRED their manager and their fans supported that/expected it because losing was no longer tolerable. The mindset of "we'll just take it because we're Cub fans and we love them" has got to go. We deserve to win. We should expect to win.

But that comes at a price. When the Cubs are good (and this year they are very good) we need to be positive and stop expecting some "other shoe to drop." That kind of thinking/mindset can only hurt. Collectively, Cub Nation wields a tremendous energy for positive or negative. I truly believe that. There WILL be some bumps along the way THIS YEAR but they'll be bumps associated with THIS TEAM. This is clearly the best team in the National League this year and we should expect to go to the World Series, nothing else is acceptable because THIS TEAM is in a position to earn that, to achieve it. We can hold them accountable AND support them with positive energy. For those of us unable to attend the games, it's all we can do and it's all we need do!

Go Cubs!

15 years & counting...

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 17:33:52 GMT

Last week, I celebrated my FIFTEENTH anniversary of arriving in California!

Leaving Chicago for San Diego ranks among the best decisions I've ever made and it resulted from a conversation with my dad (for those of you who know him, you know how odd of a statement that is!). Back in 1993, I told him that I was considering a move to California and my thought process behind it.

"We'd miss you," he said. "We love you and we'd all miss you but don't come to me when you're 40 and tell me that you wished you would have done it. If you really want to go, then go."

THANKS DAD!

Fifteen more years in California? We'll see...

Getting out of Dodge and meeting God

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 21:06:40 GMT

This weekend, I went to Santa Barbara for a yearly retreat I've taken since 2000. One property over from one of the most exclusive hotels on the West Coast, the San Yisidro Ranch, sits a gorgeous property called La Casa de Maria. Lush but simple landscaping and hidden areas for meditation cover the acerage and allow for quiet contemplation of life's curveballs and tribulations. US News and World Report call the center "One of the 50 Ways to Improve your Life."

It has become a "tradition" (don't ask me why), upon arrival Friday afternoon, for a friend of mine and I run 30 or so stories up into the hills east of the property. He's in his 60's and in much better shape than I am, so I typically start the weekend rather humbled. Despite surviving and enjoying a training run of 11 miles last Sunday, this "run" wiped me out inside of 10 minutes. Every year, I must forget how bad the previous years were. In any case, also tradition, at the pinnacle of our trek, we stop and issue primal yells toward the heavens. Based on the year I've had, one of my screams included a two-word phrase that’s not appropriate for this blog. I don't know how God felt about being sworn at, but I felt much better afterwards.

Friday evening we held our welcoming ceremonies. I was excited to see "G" there. G is a major Hollywood Writer/Director with some impressive credentials and quality work behind him. I met several years ago at these retreats but have never had a close connection to and hadn’t seen in a couple years since he’s moved out of state. -- Now, I need to backtrack to July -- While going to a meeting with a friend, we stopped at a Starbucks in Carlsbad for coffee. I've never stopped at that Starbucks before or since on a Saturday morning but that morning as I walked out, I ran into G!

"Hey G!" I said.

He stared blankly at me. I explained where I knew him from and we shook hands.

"Are you going to the retreat this year?" I asked.

His eyes focused on mine and he asked when it was. I told him, he glanced off to the distance as if calibrating his schedule and nodded. I told him I hoped to see him and we parted ways. Of course my ego envisioned grandiose visions of my “efforts” changing his life. Then, I suspected that my efforts would do little to change the course of someone’s life, especially of someone who has achieved such life accolades. Friday night at the retreat, I’d learn the truth.

G ended up being one of the first to speak before the group and shared how he recently had a dramatic and traumatic situation play out in his life. He and members of his family had recently spent time at a major addictions clinic to teach them about the family member whose life is in jeopardy. The day after he left that clinic, he was at the Starbucks in Carlsbad where he ran into me. Not only did I have a direct impact in him attending the retreat, I ended up being his roommate for the weekend!

I’m proud that I kept the focus with G on the weekend’s agenda and didn’t try to take advantage of the situation to “push” my writing or advance any ego cause.

If nothing else this weekend, I remembered that sometimes God is found in the mountains, sometimes shows up in meditation gardens, but sometimes He just works His magic on Saturday mornings at Starbucks...

Two-a-days Complete!

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 07:15:33 GMT

I am happy to announce that, with the completion of my evening swim (27 laps), after three consecutive weeks of two-a-day workouts (mostly), I have moved to the next phase of my exercise routine.

Normalcy.

Well, kind of. I have tomorrow (Saturday) off, followed by an 11 mile training run on Sunday. I'm running the America's Finest City Half Marathon with my brother (my only brother) on August 17th. Monday will be another scheduled off day and then I'll get into the swing of 5 or so workouts a week. Running, biking, swiming, weights etc.

Not that any of you need to know any of this. I just thought I'd put it out there. In the past 6 weeks or so, I've gone from being in the worst shape that I've been in for quite a few years, to approaching the best shape I've been in for several years.

I continue at this pace, the Cubs continue at their pace, and I'll be somewhere in the starting lineup by September 1st.

All Star Breakdown

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:39:01 GMT

I was at a concert last night (Cheap Trick, Heart, and Journey) tickets courtesy of my best friend, Dave K. A great time but I missed a great All Star game. The All Star Break is just a God-aweful time of year, sports wise. I mean there isn't even any basketball or hockey for me to pretend to be into. No football, not even any mid-week golf. At least it's just a 3 day time span.

I went to the Cubs website today and there is a Q&A on there. The second question got my blood a boiling and I just had to respond (below) what MY answer would be. Of course, the beat writer's response was much kinder....

I can understand the acquisition of Harden but in shipping off Eric Patterson, 
Matt Murton, Sean Gallagher and Josh Donaldson, do you think the Cubs gave up 
too much young talent for a guy who has been plagued by injuries?
-- Jake M., Lafayette, Ind.

(What MY response would have been!)
Jake, are you an idiot? Do your parents make your lunch for you in the morning 
and then put you on a short bus on your way to "school?" Do you drool a lot? 
Wake your a - - up and start learning about the game of baseball, Jake. In 
shipping Patterson, Murton, Gallagher and a catcher hitting .217 at A-ball, the 
Cubs got a potential All Star and another stud long relief/spot starter. Unless 
you're like Rip Van Winkle, Jake, you might have noticed that the 
Cubbies haven't been to the World Series in a few years and most fans (as well 
as managment) are anxious to win a championship.

You don't win championships with Corey Patterson's little brother, Jake. You 
certainly don't win them with Matt Murton starting on your team. Jake, get the 
f-ing glue bottle out of your nose and pay attention to the game. Did you 
happen to see Harden strike out TEN players in 5 innings during his first Cub 
start? Did you think that was a practice game, you BLEEPing moron? Whatever you 
do, Jake, don't leave Lafayette, Ind. Ever! Never ever, you hear me, Jake? Don't 
come to the big city where people will pick your pocket and shove your face into 
garbage. Or maybe you like that you stupid hillbilly?  In any case, Jake, thanks 
for watching the Cubbies and be sure to put your name in all your coloring books!

July 8???

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 21:13:35 GMT

This year just continues to fly by!

Another benefit of focusing on the positive and helping others to do so is that it comes back to you! Amazingly enough, on days when I'm tired or a bit down, the reminders I've helped others with tend to come back to me from them.

I don't know what's up in So. Cal these days but we're mired in a hazy gray along the coast line more often than not. After all these years of sunshine, the clouds and humidity have gotten a bit dreary. Moreover, I've been working out like a fiend. After a 7.5 mile run on Saturday, I began doing Two-a-Day workouts on Sunday...and then yesterday.....and this morning was drrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaag arse!

Still, the positivity of those around me help me remember that things are good and what I focus on expands. I got a "taste" (almost literally) today of that. I was at the vitamin store buying protein bars. There was a brand that I'd tried before and saw that the bars (as opposed to the box of bars) were marked $$25. I joked with the clerk.

"$25 PER BAR????"

"Oh, no," he said, "That means 25 cents each."

BONUS!

What We Focus on Expands!

Sun, 29 Jun 2008 19:45:31 GMT

A friend's blog post yesterday talked about focusing on her lover's good "small actions" rather than his bad "small actions." I've found that focusing on small GOOD things in life over small BAD things isn't just a "nice" thing to do...it's MANDITORY for a healthy life.

"The Secret" is a recent popular film/book that talks about how "Thoughts become Things." It's true but it's nothing new. Check out the following quote:

"When I focus on what's good today, I have a good day, and when I focus on what's bad, I have a bad day. If I focus on a problem, the problem increases; if I focus on the answer, the answer increases."

Is this some new mumbo jumbo, new age spirituality? Nope. Written in 1939 -- by a recovering alcoholic and printed in AA's Big Book! It works too. Anyone who is out there struggling with anything today, just take ONE day and focus your mind continually on something...ANYTHING that you have in your life that you're grateful for. Watch your day get better and better. Watch how people will begin treating you differently. If something bad does happen, shrug it off immediately and move onto some positive thoughts again. It works.

So, let's look at my yesterday and the opportunity for "focus." (ED NOTE: this ran way longer than I intended, so indulge me or not but writing this all out helps ME to focus my thoughts and might help give someone struggling with my point a better idea of what I'm trying to say)

- a friend [he’s actually more than merely a “friend” but for anonymity purposes I can’t go into all the things we share in common or who he is…and no, it’s not romantic!) gave me a ride to a morning meeting of fantastic people. We rode from my condo to the meeting along Pacific Coast Highway.

- I'm currently (temporarily) without transportation. I sometimes feel like a loser for not having a car even though I have the resources to get one, circumstances have not yet allowed it.

- We stopped for coffee (which I offered to buy for him giving me a ride). Walking out, I bumped into someone who is known in Hollywood for his work -- but who I know through a men's retreat that I attend each year in Santa Barbara. I said hello and asked if I'd see him this year. He appeared to be struggling with our "common ailment" and asked when the retreat was. I told him and we said goodbye.

- I had a nice online chat with a girl I’ve recently met, became pen pals with, and enjoy talking to. We have a lot in common and she lives up in LA, so not too far away to meet (hopefully someday soon).

- My baseball team played like SHIT and lost to one of our most heated rivalries (crosstown) and have now lost 4 of their last 5 games.

- My baseball team is still in first place by a comfortable margin and may still have baseball's best record. They've been playing without 2 of their best players. They play in prime time (again) tonight and I'll get to watch them on my 50" plasma TV.

- Just about ready to go for a run along the ocean, a friend calls with news that she heard of my transportation difficulties and currently has 2 cars, one of which she has no need of for a month. It's been sitting since she purchased her new car for nearly a year and she offered to let me use it until I find something. I had to cancel my run but now have temporarily solved my transportation "crisis." My friend and I had a great discussion as I drove her home about her upcoming plans. She's quit her 6-figure job that she's had for 9 years without having another job lined up so that she can travel and take some time to get to know herself and enjoy life. A couple years back, she woke up one day (not long after experiencing a painful miscarriage) and discovered that her husband had gotten himself $140,000 in debt from gambling (but he claimed not to have a gambling problem) - she tried to get things working but ended up having to divorce.

- My new roommate brought over a girl (his girlfriend I guess???) for the 3rd time in 7 days. She didn't stay overnight last night but did twice this week - WITH her 3 week old baby (who is not my roommates). I am concerned with the situation (and he's not offered me any explanation) because I'm "in this" for a roommate, not a family, living in my spare room.

- I swam for 3/4 of a mile in the pool in my condo complex. I had the whole pool to myself and swam the first 20 laps without needing to stop to rest. Afterwards, I relaxed my muscles in the Jacuzzi for 15 minutes.

- thoughts of someone I care for, who had to cut off our interactions due to complications in her relationship, plagued me for a while. What does the future hold for us or will there never be any closure?

- I made myself a fantastic and relatively healthy dinner and ate it while watching a classic great film. I wanted to drink wine with it but was able to shrug the thought off, since I'm attempting to drink less and cut some weight off of me.

- My home alarm went off with a warning at 2 AM because of an issue with my phone line. They’d assured me that if I hit some buttons during the day that it would stop going off in the middle of the night but it hasn’t. GRRRR.

- I slept in a bit today and woke today feeling physically great and rested. I'm a bit nervous heading out now for a distance run (7.5 miles) and hope that the heat doesn't become too bad. I get to run a good portion of my route along the ocean!

So, was yesterday a "Good Day" or a "Bad Day?" I'm sure a case could be made (even in my mind) for each. Today, I chose to focus on the positives of what happened yesterday and what I'm going through today. I encourage you to do the same as we trudge the road of happy destiny!!!

Love is a Battlefield

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 19:49:02 GMT

Love is a Battlefield

As disconcerting and negative as the above comment may be, it has some truth. Finding the right person can be a series of successful and unsuccessful skirmishes. Losing someone special in your life is certainly a battle that ends in a temporary surrender. The challenge becomes regrouping and moving on. Once in a relationship, the war becomes a combined effort (hopefully) to withstand the onslaught of the pain and tribulations that the world has to offer. In all three cases, the battle cry remains the same.

KEEP MOVING FORWARD!

I visited the Normandy beaches a couple of years back and tried to imagine what kept the men moving forward when bullets continued to spray all about them. Ultimately, in studying warfare, the answer is simple. Typically “forward” is the safest place to be.

There was a scene in Band of Brothers that sticks in my memory. The unit is advancing on a road when gunfire erupts around them. Their natural instincts cause them to dive to the ditch and remain pinned down. They were sitting targets. Their leader begins shouting, “KEEP MOVING FORWARD!”

Pinned down of course, they’re sitting targets. In retreat, the enemy has no fear of reprisals and can easily pick them off. Moving forward not only is the most effective way to win the battle, it keeps the momentum moving in their favor. Moving forward keeps them focused on the task at hand. Moving forward puts the pressure on their foes and may reduce the chance of injury or death.

Moving forward in battle or in other areas of life can be scary. It can be terrifying. To continue the battlefield analogy, there was a great line in a rather bad movie a few years back. Archie Gates (played by George Clooney) is asked by his men about courage.

Archie Gates: The way it works is, you do the thing you're scared shitless of, and you get the courage AFTER you do it, not before you do it.
Conrad Vig: That's a dumbass way to work. It should be the other way around.
Archie Gates: I know. That's the way it works.

So even the leaders yelling “KEEP MOVING FORWARD!” are feeling the fear. They may BE courageous but in that moment, they likely aren’t feeling the courage. They’ll only feel it later, after the battle. Feeling the fear and moving forward in love, battle or life will bring us the courage we need to do it again and again. And again.

This wasn’t a lecture for you all. This was a reminder for me. I’ll keep moving forward and hope to see you next to me on the road ahead…

ahhhhhhhhhh

Sat, 21 Jun 2008 01:07:38 GMT

There's nothing like closing a big deal on a Friday especially when it's one that I'm pretty sure will help both parties involved that I put together. It's been a long week/month and I'm feeling some relief to the stress which has plagued Me. Now to springboard that into success in other areas.

Speaking of "springboarding," I'm off for a swim. My food/exercise plan has been kicked into high gear in the past week and it's already starting to show signs of working.

Happy Weekend to all!!!

My Life...

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 16:46:59 GMT

So my life. Yes the craziest stuff happens. Almost all the time. I sometimes feel like Tim Robbins in Jacob's Ladder and I've died and no one's told Me.

I've been looking for a roommate for a month and have been dealing with flakes and weirdoes. There must be something in the air because I'm trying to help a friend who is in Hawaii sell her car and she's had 3 or 4 people say they want to see it...and then ALL OF THEM flake out before ever even looking at the car!

So yesterday, I get an email from someone trying to scam me. The first few emails were pretty generic and reasonable. Then the stuff starts…you know the deal...she's with UNESCO in West Africa and is moving here. She needs to have her stuff shipped in advance and is having a cashiers check for $4,500 sent to me. She'll need me to pay the shipper of her stuff out of that and she trusts me with the rest of it on account for the room. Riiiiiiiiiight. Oh yeah, she sent her picture. Wanna guess?

Did you guess blonde, thin, tall and very attractive? Good one.

So we come to yesterday afternoon. I'm still at work and get an email from two potential roommates. I call one and leave a message. Nothing. I call another, and he answers. He's in his car and I can barely hear him but when I start describing my condo complex (a rather large one) , he says...oh I live there. I live on _____ (my street) . I ask if he's kidding. Nope. I ask what unit he's in. He gives me ONE NUMBER BELOW MINE!!!!! I'm freaking out because could he have somehow found my address or something and is calling me when I'm not home to rip me off?

I can barely hear him (and can't believe my ears anyway) so I tell him I'll call when I get home. I do and yep. Legit.

He lives in the same complex, the same building and in unit X, while I'm in unit X + 1. Unreal. He seems cool, loves the complex and seemed as amazed at the "coincidence" as I am. He's ready to move in "whenever" and claims to want a place long term.

I'm big on "signs" but even if I wasn't, I'd have to take this as a sign that I've found a roommate.

So, um?

Tue, 27 May 2008 16:53:48 GMT

So I traveled to Northern California this past weekend where my work in progress is set. I completely enjoyed the "country" landscape etc. There's something about living out somewhere there are fields and open spaces that greatly appeals to me. Someday...

But for now, I need to ask, what does it mean when your family asks you what your newest book is about and, after sharing a brief (what I think to be interesting) pitch with them and they tilt their heads to one side and merely state "Huh." Okay, okay -- I know what it means...I need to work on the pitch a little and NOT completely abandon the story idea.

Although it's interesting how Dad (I know he'll never read this) never seems at a loss for story ideas for me. Good natured suggestions, I'm sure...but do people really want to hear about the ride up "the" 5 freeway with my brother, sister-in-law, niece and nephew? One would think most (at least my potential audience) would be more drawn more to vampires in wine country...

We'll see I guess. The agent gets my opening pages this week. Even if they suck.

Anniversary Date and Writing Update...

Fri, 09 May 2008 21:47:20 GMT

May 9, 1994 was my first day of employment at my current company. It’s hard to belive that 14 years have passed so quickly and I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to work with such great people.

It’s been a while since I’ve reported on my novel’s status. Dream War is still making its rounds and will either get picked up, as is, by a small publisher or, after my current WiP is completed, will be splintered into two books (one with the story set in the 1980's/one modern day) with a third novel set in the future (which I'd gotten 20K words into earlier this year before shifting course).

My current WiP's concept was given a rave review by my agent who is anxiously awaiting pages (probably too anxiously as I've been a bit blocked and obsessed with a screenplay idea -- which makes perfect sense since my agent doesn't rep screen plays!). Anyway, her rave review of my current WiP concept likely has more to do with its marketability than its genius -- hopefully it can be a little bit of both.

Check that.

Maybe a lot of one and enough of the other?

It's a different kind of vampire story that takes place in wine country California.

Quo Vadis?

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 16:43:47 GMT

Back in my fraternity days, we held an annual Quo Vadis. I believe it's Latin for "Where are we going?" (much like the Dave Matthews song but sounds cooler) -- We would get together for a day or a weekend and discuss the direction of the fraternity for the next year. It wasn't the time for planning (although planning would come in the weeks and months afterward). It was the time for strategic goal setting and reviewing meaning in our lives and how our actions had met/were meeting/were going to meet our stated goals and objectives.

I need a Quo Vadis.

I need one for my writing, for my exercise, for my finances, for my career and for my personal life.

It's not as though life is bad. I've been much more positive and forward thinking the past few weeks than I have been for quite a while...so it's the perfect time to get away and plot a course. Suggestions on location or techniques are more than welcome (either publicly or privately!).

Ciao.

Where have I been???

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 17:34:19 GMT

" Bless me Father, it's been 8 days since my last blog entry."

Sorry, the Pope's recent visit must have reawakened my Recovering Catholicism.

So where have I been? It seems just yesterday I was dealing with day-long computer issues to try and get my taxes printed out and mailed at the last minute -- since I was rushing to complete a first draft of the first chapter to share with my writing group so I could send it to my agent for review -- since I realized that April was halfway over and spring had arrived.

That was April 15th -- 8 days ago???

I seem to be in a time warp of sorts. Certain things that happened not too long ago feel far far away. Spending Christmas with my family seems years ago, yet it was only 4 months. Last week, I traded emails with a lady I met in London on a vacation there....THREE YEARS AGO about how it couldn't possibly have been that long. It has but I remember vivid details as though it were just weeks ago.

Is this just me? Is this just an elaborate hoax of my mind to justify my procrastination on a number of fronts? Has my sense of timing gone haywire or are weird things happening with time?

My guilty pleasure, American Idol - UPDATE

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 06:08:34 GMT

David Archuleta – He really connected with this song and the audience. His girls love him. He really finished up strong. The judges raved about him…but that #1 slot. We’ll see what happens. Something tells me that his fans will keep him out of the bottom three.

Carly Smithson – She sure did step it up this week and belted out the song without doing an injustice by comparison to Mariah. Her voice sounded really strong and she seemed connected to the audience and song. Yeah, Randy’s right the lower range early in the song wasn’t the best. Paula actually made a rare good point in that it was purposely restrained so that it showcased her power vocals at the end. Simon was way too harsh but she’s flirted with the bottom three too much and this might be her farewell performance.

Syesha Mercado – This girl has as much raw vocal talent as either of the David’s. My problem with her is that I still don’t know who she is as an artist. Mariah, Beyonce, Fantasia. You all know them and who “they are.” Syesha. There isn’t an “it” there. She did a really good job with the song but it still seemed a bit disconnected and mechanical. She needs someone to feed her a style or something. She’s in jeopardy. Syesha isn’t going to win the competition, so I’m wondering how much more she has to contribute.

Brooke White – She missed her sisters wedding and cried? Wow -- there’s a surprise. I think Brooke cries when she misses a rerun episode of Golden Girls. After just 3 days, I’m surprised she’s stopped crying! I love Brooke and I love “Hero.” I love Brooke’s hair and I love her sitting at the piano. I’m not sure I loved this performance. It felt a bit forced and tentative. She seemed as though she’d gotten death threats before the performance or something. Hmmmm. She’s in the bottom 3 this week for sure. I hope she advances another week.

Kristy Lee Cook – She was the only girl this week who actually seemed to be singing the song TO someone! She looked great. Sounded okay and unlike the other girls she knows how to move on stage. I think Kristy is fearless, maybe the most fearless of any of the contestants (except for David Cook) because I think she’s already had all the mean things said to her and she just doesn’t seem to fear criticism anymore. Here’s something crazy. If things fall the right way for her, she could go to the finals in this competition!

David Cook – Unreal. Ladies and gentlemen: we have a winner! If this were a fight, they’d stop it. Another song of “his” that I’d download. Watching him become a star brings tears to MY eyes. I’m starting to think that anything the guy does is cool. If he’s gonna cry, I’m gonna cry. Maybe his tears have the power to heal!?! What else is there to say? I’m voting for him every week from here on out. I don’t want to regret not voting and having him kicked off that week and years from now I’ll claim I voted for him every week.

Jason Castro – He started off a bit iffy and no American Idols this side of Kelly Clarkson or Cary Underwood could have followed D. Cook tonight. I loved the arrangement of the song. He finished okay but Randy was right. It was a bit out there but I think Jason has a nice fan base that is going to respond well to that song. And Simon liked it!

Overall – Simon hit the nail on the head. I’d be SHOCKED if any of the guys end up in the bottom 3 tonight – and will stop watching the show (okay not really) if any of the boys go home this or next week. So three of the four girls will be in the bottom three and girls will be going home in 3 of the next 4 weeks most likely.

and the winner is...

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 16:35:43 GMT

Hi all. I'm sorry that the raffle is late but it was a busy weekend here.

The winner of Just Kick It: Tales of an Underdog, Over-Age, Out-of-Place Semi-Pro Football Player is...my baby brother, Joe. Nepotism isn't illegal here.

Thanks again to Mark St Amant for his great interview last week.

Interview with Mark St. Amant!

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:27:44 GMT

Here we are in Boston with Mark St. Amant, author of Just Kick It: Tales of an Underdog, Over-Age, Out-of-Place Semi-Pro Football Player. The Sox (not White) are in town and while I’ve seen Fenway Park, I’ve never been to a game there. So, Mark and I got scalped tickets and are sitting up the first base line. While we watch for stray foul balls, we chat about two of my favorite topics, football and writing.

Steve Prosapio: Mark, in your first book, you quit your job in order to win your fantasy football league. You managed to top that feat in your second book by becoming a semi-pro football player! What were you thinking???

Mark St. Amant: My wife often asked me that same question, fearing that our HMO probably didn’t cover being blindsided by an angry special teams player on an errant field goal snap. But I felt that the book would be that much better if I chronicled a season in the life of this team from inside the huddle, as it were, versus from the sidelines or the stands. Basically, I had to satisfy my “inner Plimpton” and fully immerse myself in this strange (to me, anyway) new world of semi-pro football. And while I had never in my entire life worn a football helmet—

SP: Never???

MS: Nope. Never. I didn’t even know how to strap on shoulder pads, was almost 40-years-old, and was relatively small, I still said “Screw it, I’m playing.” Guess I had a death wish. I mean, this level of football is full of both college-level players still trying to get a shot at the pros, and grown men -- working men, guys with families and bosses pissing them off -- just looking to take out life’s frustration on the field and crack some skulls…often taking potshots at hapless kickers in the process. In short, I quickly discovered that semi-pro/minor league football is no joke. The level of play is very high. Still, I secretly hoped that, due to all my soccer experience, the skill set would at least translate enough so that I wouldn’t make a complete jackass out of myself while trying to hit an extra point. Luckily, it went OK and I never ended up in a full body cast, and made a few nice kicks. And, hopefully readers agree, it made for a better, more fulfilling read.

SP: Awesome. Without giving away too much of your book, how did playing for the Boston Panthers go?

MS: It was great. Just an incredible experience. Though not without its bumps and bruises (I lost a toenail while being tackled on an errant punt snap; yes, I punted, too), and uncomfortable moments (like when I tripped and wiped out on my very first practice kickoff in front of the entire team). But the kicking itself went well. I found that, having played soccer through college, I could actually kick a football with some degree of distance and accuracy. To my shock, I found that I could hit from 50-yards in practice, and hit a 45-yarder in a game. Yes, that’s without HGH!

That said, my favorite part of the experience was off the field, getting to know guys that I never would have known if not for the great game of football. Because the team was based in the inner-city, I got to see parts of Boston – some of the more dangerous/crime-ridden parts of the city, truth be told -- that many people, especially a suburban-raised, pep school white boy like myself, wouldn’t normally have willingly ventured into. And it’s not a one-way street: many of my teammates had never been to Beacon Hill or the more “whitebread” areas of the city, either. People just instinctively stay within their comfort zones and operate their daily lives where they feel safest and most familiar. So this book, this football season, turned out to be, whether intentional or not, a look at what can happen when people step outside their comfort zones. Playing for the Panthers expanded my horizons, and expanded the boundaries of the city that I’ve called home most of my life. And not to get all “Kumbaya/We Are the World” on you, but it showed me that a simple game like football can knock down barriers and bring people together who may never have otherwise given each other the time of day.

SP: Some authors experience a moment where unequivocally he/she knows they are going to follow through with their desire to write a novel. Did you experience this or was it a slow and gradual process? Tell me about your process.

MS: It might not have been in terms of a novel, but I started writing/creating “stuff” early on. When we were about 8- and 5-years-old, respectively, my older brother Doug and I made up a fictional rock band called, for some reason, “The Bengals” (odd since we lived nowhere near Cincinnati), and basically created a comic book around them. Story lines. Illustrations. Being chased by their rival girl rock band, “The Dalbys” (three real-life sisters who lived on our street upon whom we apparently had pre-pubescent crushes) -- think your basic adventures and misadventures of a rock band a la the Beatles “Hard Day’s Night.” Looking back, it was completely bizarre and, well, it was written in crayon, but it’s the earliest indication that I can remember that I had some sort of creative urges. That, and I failed math in fifth grade and almost every year thereafter, so a career as an NASA engineer was out of the question.

As far as novel/book-writing, it wasn’t until a creative writing class in high school (I went to Westminster in Simsbury, CT) – thanks, Ms. Edmonds -- that I thought about writing a full book of some sort. The closest I’d come was a (oxymoron alert) long-ish short story about a kid who traps Santa Claus one Christmas and keeps him in a cage in his room. And I dabbled with short stories and false start novels in college, but they all admittedly sucked and went nowhere. It wasn’t until I had the idea for Committed that the full book came pouring out of me, perhaps because I finally found something I was passionate enough about – fantasy football -- to put the time into it, if that makes sense, and for which I was willing to risk a lot . . . in Committed’s case, I was risking my livelihood and our financial security, i.e. my advertising career, which I abruptly abandoned to write the book.

As far as my specific process to writing Just Kick It, obviously I couldn’t keep a pen and pad I my uniform pants to jot down notes or conversations. So I’d keep a pen, pad and a tape recorder in my car and, after practice or a game, I’d jot down notes and ramble into the tape recorder while driving home, giving myself a rough, audio version of how I planned to write that night or the next morning, when I’d transcribe my notes and fit them into wherever was most appropriate in the ongoing manuscript. Sometimes I’d push Play and hear utter babble like “Fourth down QB sneak…President Rutherford B. Hayes…popsicles….grasshoppers” and, even as soon as the next day, have no idea what I was talking about.

SP: Do you write indoors or out? Handwriting or on the computer? Do you do one rough first draft or rewrite as you go?

MS: It sounds clichéd, but I did a ton of my writing while all hopped up on caffeine at the local Starbucks amongst the bloggers, freelance web designers and the occasional muttering homeless guy. We lived on Beacon Hill at the time and, no joke, there are eight Starbucks within like a quarter-mile radius, so I had plenty of ‘em to choose from. It got to the point where I was as obsessive-compulsive as Jack Nicholson in “As Good As It Gets,” on the verge of a furious outburst if someone was sitting at “my” table, especially if I’d had a good day of writing at that table the previous day. I’d strap on the Bose headphones, crank up some music – unlike some, I don’t like writing in total silence; I think I create better when I’m listening to good music, i.e. another form of creativity. If memory serves, I remember writing to a bizarre iPod stew of Jeff Tweedy, Jay-Z, Tupac, Bright Eyes, Lloyd Banks, Ray LaMontagne, Ben Folds, and Neil Young. (Like my writing schedule below, my Just Kick It soundtrack was all over the map.) And I write on my iBook…which is good because if CIA profilers ever decided to analyze my handwriting, they’d conclude that I’m either a deranged serial killer or I write with my feet like Christy in “My Left Foot.” It’s that bad. So, yes, a computer is a must.

And while some writers have set schedules -- up at 6 a.m., write for three hours, have a power bar, write for three more hours, have a grilled cheese, etc. – my schedule was, as I said, all over the map. Some days, I’d be up at 5 a.m. and would write pretty much straight through until dinnertime with only coffee and the occasional snack to tide me over. Other days, I’d start at 7 a.m., write an hour, discover that everything coming out of my brain was total shit, so I’d go for a run, clear my head, start again in the afternoon and write until midnight. Some days three hours. Some days fifteen. It really varied from day to day depending on what kind of roll I was on. Different approaches work for different writers. Mine is a bit…schizophrenic, admittedly.

Regarding how many drafts, I typically try to write one draft all the way through, but it never works up that way. One of my problems, and one that a lot of writers have, is the urge to edit as you write, and this can cause the stalling you asked about. I sometimes got into the evil cycle of finishing a chapter and then, instead of thinking how it best transitions into the next chapter, or what game/subject/character I’m tackling next (bad football pun intended), I’d foolishly think, “Hmm, wait, I could have opened that last chapter more strongly, or used that joke here, or written such and such a line better here, bla bla bla”…next thing I know, I’m back at the start of the chapter I’ve just supposedly finished. It’s the literary equivalent of struggling in quicksand, which only bogs you down more, and trust me, this happened (happens) to me all the time. But it makes it that much more rewarding when you finally have that, “Ok, this reads/sounds great...now I know I can move on” revelation.

SP: How long did it take you to write the book? Were there any periods during its writing that you stalled?

MS: All told, it took a little over a year. After a few initial weeks of early research --interviews with players, coaches, semi-pro experts and historians (stuff that eventually made its way into the prologue), I started the actual story writing right around the time I joined the team, in June of 2004 (a couple months before my first book, Committed, came out.) I wrote throughout that first season – June through October – turned in a first draft to my editor in early spring, if senile memory serves. We then edited throughout spring and summer as I began my second season with the team, and I turned in a final draft in September of ’05.

But the end was a little bumpy. In late summer ‘05, when I was playing my second season with the Panthers – I assumed that I’d only play the one “book season,” but I loved it so much that I ended up playing two subsequent seasons, only stopping when we had a baby -- I was making some revisions based on my editor’s feedback. I thought I was just about wrapped up, couple tweaks, done and done. But after looking at the manuscript more closely, we (my editor and I) discovered that the last couple chapters just weren’t...well, they sucked. And here I was thinking that I only had to dot some I’s and cross some T’s before delivering the final manuscript. In reality, I had some significant re-writes to do, and there were two problems with this: (1) My deadline for turning in a final revised draft was in about two weeks and, (2) Ten days of those two weeks were already booked for a “I can finally forget this damn book and relax for a bit” trip to Italy with my wife and some college friends & spouses. We’d rented a big villa for about 14 of us, and I was supposed to have spent those ten days carousing around Tuscany, touring vineyards, drinking great wine, having giant meals and generally chilling out after several grueling months of writing and re-writing and editing and more editing. I hated the stupid book by then, if I’m being honest. Just sick of it. Wanted it done. But while our friends did all the aforementioned carousing around Tuscany, I remained holed up in the villa re-writing those final few chapters.( Granted, if you’re going to be under house writing arrest anywhere, it might as well be in a Tuscan villa, so my bitching isn’t totally valid. But still, it wasn’t the idyllic Italian vacation we thought it was going to be.) All that said, I delivered the manuscript on time and it was better for those last minute revisions, I think. At least the end didn’t suck.

SP: What are your top 3 sports books of all time?

MS: Can I list six, or will this get me thrown in literary blog jail? Screw it, I’m going to risk it, because that’s just the type of flyin’-by-the-seat-of-my-pants guy I am:

(1) Paper Lion, because Plimpton is the “godfather” of immersive journalism, if that’s even what you call what I do, which is debatable. I pulled a quasi-Plimpton with Just Kick It, I suppose, but let’s be honest – it’s no Paper Lion. Nothing ever will be.

(2) Nick Hornby’s Fever Pitch is also one of my favorites, even if Jimmy Fallon and Drew Barrymore did eventually fuck it up for all of us.

(3) A Fan’s Notes by Frederick Exley is what Committed (my first book) wants to be when it grows up, but never will be.

(4) Among the Thugs, by Bill Buford, which was about English soccer hooligans who absolutely fascinated me with both their twisted devotion to their football club(s) and their “pillaging-Vikings-on-steroids” savagery.

(5) I thought I already knew a lot about both Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell, but Sound and Fury by one of the all time greats, Dave Kindred, proved that I simply didn’t.

(6) Word Freak by Stefan Fatsis. Scrabble might not be a “sport” per se, but this account of tournament Scrabble competitions and those who compete in them, was one of my models for Committed (also a story of competitive obsession, when you get down to it), and, in the words of Elaine’s doctor crush in the Seinfeld “Hamptons” episode, was “breathtaking” in its simplicity, irreverence and pure entertainment value.

SP: What are your top 3 sports movies of all time?

MS: Not counting “Youngblood” and “Air Bud” of course…my faves have to be “Hoosiers,” “Caddyshack” (yes, it’s a sports movie), Slap Shot, and both of the “Bulls” – Durham and Raging. But if they ever make a movie out of Just Kick It, I’ll have to vault that to at least #3 on my list. We’re talking to Bernie Mac and Jet Li about playing me in the movie version. And yes, I’m kidding . . . the part of accidental semi-pro football kicker Mark St. Amant would obviously go to Mary Kate Olsen.

SP: What writer had the most influence on you?

MS: Anyone who ever started a letter “Dear Penthouse Forum, I never thought these stories were true…” because, let’s face it, how would the world ever know what two bi-curious Swedish exchange students are willing to do with/to an unsuspecting college professor to get an “A” on a their term papers.

As far as writer writers who’s influenced me, there are too many to count. The earliest books I remember reading were the “Great Brain” kids’ series by John Fitzgerald, which taught me what to do if I ever got lost in Skeleton Cave. But the first writer that truly struck me as a prolific, otherworldly genius, yet was somehow approachable, honest and, for lack of a better term, real, was Stephen King. I started reading him in about third or fourth grade, with his book of short stories “Night Shift” after which I moved on to “Carrie,” “Salem’s Lot,” “The Shining…I even devoured his not-so-good works ones, like “Cujo” and his admittedly coked-/boozed-up nonsensical “Tommyknockers.” While it was probably too early for an impressionable young boy to be reading about mutated, man-eating rats (“Graveyard Shift”) or homicidal, corn-worshiping teens (“Children of the Corn”), it was an incredible, early lesson on how to simply, conversationally tell a tale while, at the same time, grab your readers by the throat and dare them to stop reading, something that I’ve always tried, and probably failed, to do. And, oddly, I never had nightmares from reading Stephen King because he also made me laugh, which is another great lesson: there’s always room for humor regardless of your subject, even if -- hell, especially if – your story is about industrial laundry machines that develop a taste for human blood and devour their operators. If you have any writing aspirations, you simply have to read King’s “On Writing.” Among a thousand other things it shows you is that Stephen King wasn’t born Stephen King the multi-zillionaire author…he was just a hairy, lumbering young guy with a wife who worked at Dunkin’ Donuts and two baby kids, supporting them on $6,600 per year between teaching and working in a local laundry (washing lobster slop and other horrific refuse left behind by Maine’s tourists). He had to work his ass off to become the Stephen King we know today. A good lesson for all of us.

SP: King is by far my biggest influence as well. I loved “On Writing” and you’re right, he might be the hardest-working, famous writer out there. At a writer’s conference last year one of the writer/presenters joked about King claiming that he writes every day except his birthday and Christmas. Of course King’s wife outted him on the lie…he works his birthday and Christmas! Any other writers influence you, Mark?

MS: Many. My favorite works by them, are, in no order: Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird), John Irving (A Prayer for Owen Meany), Philip Roth (Goodbye Columbus), Tom Wolfe (Bonfire of the Vanities), Jonathan Ames (Wake Up, Sir!), David Sedaris (Naked), Nick Hornby (Fever Pitch), Bill Bryson (A Walk in the Woods), Chuck Klosterman (Sex, Drugs & Cocoa Puffs), Truman Capote (In Cold Blood), Michael Lewis (The Blind Side, Moneyball), F. Scott Fitzgerald (Great Gatsby).

And as far as daily cyber fixes go, I usually can’t go without Deadspin, the Onion, the Sports Pickle, Salon.com, Slate.com. And you’ll probably notice that I don’t list a lot of sports-related writers/authors here aside from Plimpton, Lewis (and Deadspin or SportsPickle…and come to think of it, I always enjoy when Klosterman writes about sports). Frankly, I don’t go searching for sports-related stuff too much because it’s all I do every day, either at my “day job” (a creative director for an ad agency, working on the ESPN.com account) or with my other writing. Yes, I write the sports stuff because it’s a field I’m familiar with and have had some small degree of (cough) success in, but it’s certainly not where I want to, or plan to, reside for my whole writing career such as it is thus far. And honestly, sometimes I get burnt out on the “all sports, all the time” lifestyle. It’s kinda like being a hooker and having to go home and have sex with your husband after a long night of having sex with strangers, when all you really want to do is just sit on the couch in your sweats, eat Oreos and zone out to Gordon Ramsay’s “Kitchen Nightmares.” Or something like that.

SP: Opps. Sorry about the sports burnout and all the sports questions! What’s your next book about? How far along are you with it and when do you hope to have it completed?

MS: Honestly, not sure yet. I’m working on a screenplay (not sports-related…back to that sports burnout thing) and busy at my ad job lately, so book #3 is on hold for the time being. But it’s out there somewhere. Just have to find that great idea again.

SP: What has been the most fun part of being a published writer?

MS: Why, all the groupies, of course! Truth be told, most of my “groupies” are face-painted dudes with giant foam “number one” fingers who only want to talk about whether or not Cadillac Williams will ever return to his rookie fantasy stud form. Which is fine by me, actually, because I love talking fantasy football. The best part, I’d say, is getting emails from these readers either asking me questions about their teams, or, even better, telling me that my book(s) either made them laugh, or think, or even cry – yes, there were a few tear jerker moments in Just Kick It – because hearing directly from readers is instant validation that all the blood, sweat and tears were worth it. That, and actually seeing your book on shelves. That’s a cool moment. And, of course, doing fun stuff like this…whether it’s radio, print, TV, online interviews, just chatting about writing, sports and having fun with the subjects. Bottom line, all of this should be fun for both me and the readers. When/if it’s no longer fun, I’ll bag it and move onto something else. Life’s too short.

SP: Mark, thank you for taking me to the ballgame. Red Sox win and the Detroit Tigers are 0-7 to start the year. Two of the four ESPN Baseball Tonight guys picked the Tigers to win the AL this year. We know more than those blokes!

MS: Thanks, Steve, this was fun. Great site and best of luck!

Hey all – Mark has agreed to raffle off a copy of his book on Friday. Leave a comment or question and you get an entry for a FREE BOOK!!!

Bookday Special Event!

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:44:29 GMT

Bookday is going into an Overtime session on Wednesday when I'll be welcoming Mark St. Amant to the blog for an interview. I met Mark at the WCOFF draft and LOVED his book, Committed, Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie.

I loaned the book to my brother and my best friend who LOVED it as much as I did. I've not read as funny of a book in many, many years! His newest book, Just Kick, It, sounds like just as great of concept and I'm looking forward to reading it. Join me on Wednesday from Virtual Boston where we'll enjoy virtual clam chowdah and stimulating literary conversation...at least from Mark!

From Publishers Weekly
At age 37, St. Amant (Committed: Confessions of a Fantasy Football Junkie) joined a football team—the Boston Panthers of the EFL, a semipro league based in southern New England—and narrates that first season with the team. It was a stiff test for a man who hadn't engaged in a minute of serious athletics since college; besides being old and out of shape, Amant played an outcast position, kicker, and was a ghost-white face on a black team drawn from the toughest Boston neighborhoods. Over the Panthers season, Amant tries to gain the respect of his teammates and comes face-to-face with his lifelong fear of choking during the big game. In contrast to the glamour of the NFL, semipro football takes place in obscurity on stony fields, the bleachers empty and the uniforms mismatched. The players are an equally heterogeneous lot, too small or too slow to have had a shot at the pros or kept out by injuries, bad decisions or psychological issues. At times, Amant relies too much on humor, but he gives good insight into the makeup of his fellow athletes as well as into his own motivations. (Oct.)
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From Booklist
*Starred Review* As a follow-up to his entertaining examination of fantasy football, Committed (2004), St. Amant thought he would write a book about semipro football: has-beens, wannabes, never-weres, and other oddballs banging each other around on sandlot fields. His first interview was with the coaching staff of the Panthers, based in the predominantly black Roxbury neighborhood of his hometown Boston. Suddenly, St. Amant was writing a different book. His high-school and college soccer experience was enough to land him a job as the Panthers' kicker. In the tradition of George Plimpton's Paper Lion (1967), St. Amant shares the experience of his first year on the Panthers. He's worried about both fitting in and failing on the field, but soon he's caught up in the team dynamic, which is very supportive of a newcomer, any newcomer, even a middle-aged white guy who lives in upscale Beacon Hill. He has some success and the team has some, too, but this isn't a Hollywood story in which the hero kicks the winning field goal to claim the league championship. St. Amant's focus is on his teammates, why they play, and how being a part of something outside their daily struggles enhances their lives. Portions are laugh-out-loud funny, but, at other times, reading through misty eyes will be a challenge. St. Amant documents the timeless magic of team sports, and his words will take former athletes back to the best moments of their sporting lives. A good bet to be one of the year's best sports books. Wes Lukowsky
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