But no
more. Heck, I’m making my first
official newsletter here. I have a book
out. I teach. I must be mature.
I’m trying
something new. Over the last few
months, as news of my book The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea mounted, I’d
send you e-mail using AOL or GMail. It
was a way to hear back from people, too, which is always fun. I hadn’t intended more than a couple of
e-mails out, but then more great reviews and things came along, so I’d
write. Believe it or not, some people
asked for more regular mailings. Others
wanted to know about my creative writing classes. Hence, I’m now trying a newsletter service, which creates an
address list that I can maintain—and from which you can unsubscribe (there at
the bottom). The newsletter will cover
writing and teaching.
If you do like
this newsletter, pass it on for others to subscribe. Also please tell me of any publishing or filmmaking or career news
of your own. This newsletter will
evolve. I’m calling it the Maplewoods
Mirror because my cousin Peter and I, when we were candy-bar-eating ten-year
olds, decided to put out a local paper, The Maplewoods Mirror, using some sort
of mimeo jelly stuff. Ah, the smell of
video in the morning. It smells like
victory. With this first one, I’m not
trying anything fancy. Rather, I’m
getting out things that have cropped up over the last month. Glance through it and tell me what you
think.
I often teach
at fiction writing for UCLA Extension, lately at Occidental College in Eagle
Rock, not far from Pasadena and Rose Bowl.
I’ll be joining fellow instructors who have published this year for the
annual UCLA Extension Writers’ Program’s Publication Party. It’s free, and fun, and at the Skirball
Cultural Center, located at Sepulveda Boulevard and Mulholland Drive. It’s a gorgeous spot perched on a hill
straddling the Westside and the Valley.
Did I mention it’s free? So is
the parking. A dessert and coffee
reception follows. Come chat with me
and other writers. The event starts at
7 p.m. For more information, call
310-825-1333.
Bringing my
first book of fiction out has taught me many things, including the fact that
newspapers are not necessarily where one learns about new books anymore. Literary blogs are the places to watch, and
my book has appeared in blogs from across the country as well as in England,
Ireland, and the Czech Republic.
One blog, the
beautiful Wordswimmer created by Bruce Black, enlisted me to write an
article about anything on my mind about writing, and so I wrote about
structure. You can read my article at http://wordswimmer.blogspot.com/2006/04/one-writers-process-christopher-meeks_30.html.
I’ve received
such good feedback on the above article, if you want to read other articles,
I’ve written in the past, they’ve been collected at http://www.efuse.com/Design/write_away_section.html. The graphics are wonderful there, too, with
graphic design by my friend Daniel Will-Harris, who also designed the cover of
my book.
Summer is a
great time to start in on the creative project you’ve been putting off. If that project is writing fiction, and
you’ve been meaning to take a class, I’m here to help.
I’m offering a
new class, aimed at beginning and intermediate students. The class will be at Wordspace in the heart
of Los Feliz, not far from Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The class will be on Saturday mornings for
eight weeks, starting June 3. For more
information, go to www.wordspace.net or
contact the director, Brenda Varda, directly at bvarda@yahoo.com. You can also call her at (323)-644-1500. Wordspace is located at
4649 Russell Avenue,,Los Angeles, CA
90027.
Link to a Former Student, a Creative
Writer
I only learned about blogs and blog
searches recently, and when I typed my name in for a search, up came a
well-written and rather stunning first-person account of someone taking my
class for the first time. Check out
Sandra’s blog at http://saucysuse.blogspot.com/2006/01/writing-class.html.
Carolyn Howard-Johnson: The
Frugal Book Promoter with a Recommended Class
What most writers and creative
artists don’t learn is marketing.
I knew I was a novice at it. Hence, I took Carolyn Howard- Johnson’s
Extension class in book promotion at UCLA.
(Does it show?) She’s the best,
and her book The Frugal Book Promoter has helped me immensely. She happens to be offering a one-day seminar
at UCLA on August 5. As she says, “I will teach authors how to polish their manuscripts and create query
and cover letters. You learn step-by-step procedures that
prevent usage, grammar, and style errors from creeping into your books as well
as learn simple but sure-fire techniques for punching up and polishing your
prose. The course also addresses the mundane--but critical--tasks of printing,
packaging, and getting that newly polished manuscript to its destination.” For more information, call 310-825-1333
or go to http://www.uclaextension.edu. Or go to Carolyn’s website at www.tlt.com/authors/carolynhowardjohnson.htm.
Yarnspinners and
Wordweavers
Another newsletter, Yarnspinners
and Wordweavers, which comes from Red Engine Press, covers new books and
thoughts on writing. It comes out
monthly by Joyce Faulkner, author of In the Shadow of Suribachi, a novel
about World War II. The newsletter happens
to feature my book this month. Go to
pages six and seven of the newsletter at http://www.redenginepress.com/Newsletter7.pdf. If you like the newsletter, there’s a link
to become a free subscriber.
All My Reviews
No, Arthur Miller never wrote a play
called All My Reviews, but you can see those for The Middle-Aged Man
and the Sea at http://homepage.smc.edu/meeks_christopher/Review%20Page%20for%20MAMATS.htm