Grad School

Sorry posts, have been limited; I have started grad school in Texas, and as of right now I just finished grading 125 undergrad papers. In between the TA job, graduate research, learning Spanish and eventually German...hopefully I can squeeze some writing in? Oi.

Graduate Studies

Well, this is going to be interesting. For my Ph.D studies I have to read about 40 books a semester, work as a teaching assistant for 20 hours a week, and in addition to speaking English and French I have to learn German. I had been hoping to skip German for Spanish, since it is a more widely spoken language nowadays, especially in the US, so I started learning that, and I'll be damned if I drop it. So now I will be learning Spanish and German. Well, at least I have 6-7 years to learn all this stuff.

Guess Where I Am

Anyone Out There With Publishing Experience?

I am debating self-publishing a novel in the hopes that it will get picked up by a bigger publisher if successful, but I am afraid that sort of thing is just a pure popularity contest and I am a writer, not a PR person. Thoughts?

La Femme à la plage, et Où t'es?

When I was at the beach at Kamakura I saw this beautiful Japanese girl who was drawing pictures in the sand only to watch them get washed away. I was mesmerized.

     Also I decided to write myself a message in the sand. "Où t'es?" which is French for 'Where are you?' Usually I am in a good place, I just need to pull myself out of my own head and realize how lucky I am.

More Adventures in Japan

Finally my comedic piece 'Bad Art Sundays' is up and available for $2.99 as part of July's Beyond Imagination compilation so check it out! Otherwise, here are more Japan photos.

My 25th birthday in Kyoto!

Konichiwa!

Finding my zen in Japan.

Off to Japan Today!

Tokyo here I come!

Although, why am I going to Japan when Portland already has the same stuff?

Spotted in Portland Airport

New Publication and Japanaventures!

Hey everyone, I know my posts have been slim of late. Recently I have been preparing for a trip to Japan! Going to visit Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and do a Fuji climb! Also, my latest work, 'Bad Art Sundays' was published in 'Beyond Imagination.' The story is about a screenwriter who laments how everything that gets made into films is awful. He complains to his sculptor friend who shows him his bad art room, where every week he makes the worst type of art imaginable to vent his frustration. Soon the two form a weekly club to make the worst art possible. Be sure to check it out; it's available along with a dozen other stories for $2.99 on Kindle.

http://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Imagination-Digital-Literary-Magazine-ebook/dp/B010QEIDBM/ref=sr_1_2?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1435801901&sr=1-2

Upcoming Story

I am getting a new drama story titled 'Bad Art Sundays' published in Beyond Imagination this July! To celebrate, here's a picture of my adorable dog Sophie.

New Story Updates

Well it's been a while. I've done a lot of working out, preparing for grad school, and lots of dog petting.

                                                        How can you not pet this dog?

     But I've been doing a lot of writing too! I am getting a drama story titled 'Bad Art Saturdays' published in Liquid Imagination this June. And, I have completely finished my second novel and am sending it out to literary agencies.

     I've learned a lot from the difficulty of the first novel. Perhaps making a high-concept 500 page novel with 6 POV characters before having a notable reputation would be a hard sell. Especially because it has a slow build. My new novel has a kick-in-the-door opening and focuses on one character. With any luck that will counter some of its more unconventional aspects.

     But literary agencies take sometimes months to respond, so in the meantime there will be a lot of dog petting.

Upcoming Stuff

I know I know! I have mostly blogged about upcoming events, but good things come to those who wait. I have 10 short stories I keep sending out, so one should be published soon, I am going to Texas for school this summer, and in July I am going on a trip to Japan for my birthday. In the interim, accept more adorable videos of my dogs.

Prompt

What should I write about? I have about 5 different ideas for stories but nothing has captivated me. I need some new idea or fascination. Thoughts?

Hiking videos

Let these brighten your day and inspire you to go out into nature.

Hiking adventures

So pumped ever since I got into a doctorate program! Now I can write and work towards the Ph.D and in the meantime, hike!

A flooded-in mine shaft.

Machinery for the saw mill that was abandoned during the Great Depression (1929-1932).

Every hike needs great sandwiches for the halfway point. 

Let's Make 2015 Count!

I just got accepted to the University of Houston for a graduate program in European Labor History! Originally I had applied for a masters since the Ph.Ds are highly competitive but due to academic excellence they offered me the Ph.D program and strongly encouraged I go straight for my doctorate! All the hard work paid off, now let's make 2015 count.

Does Horror Need Reviving?

An open question. I read a horror novel a little while back and the word 'bland' is too exotic for it. The more I hear about the horror genre it's just monsters, ghosts and  predominantly serial killers. Is this what really scares people? I don't think so I don't think most people are afraid of serial killers or the supernatural.

I think there are quite a few more rational things people are afraid of. For example, I just finished a new story entitled 'Dark Spirit.' Despite the title it has nothing supernatural about it. It's about a successful young lawyer, Anthony, who is about to propose to his girlfriend when he gets a call from his mother telling him that his older brother is in the hospital after having a mental breakdown. As Anthony watches his brother slip into insanity he begins to panic; this is my brother. "We share the same genes. Older siblings are guinea pigs for their younger counterparts, developing genetic disorders and mental problems before them. What's to keep me from following him? Losing my grip on sanity and losing my job at the firm and my fiancee and ending up chained to a bed like him?" Anthony's losing struggle to fight the madness in his brother becomes a struggle to retain his own sanity.

The last story I wrote 'Malvore' did involve the supernatural, but it wasn't about the monsters but a mother's grief. One night I was struck by the idea of a woman out in the woods in a cabin, sitting on a chair facing an open door, staring at the dark with a shotgun in her hand and her baby in the other room crying and I thought, "this would be a great horror story." It took a few changes but I eventually made it.

So yes. Madness, insanity, the dark nature of humans, but not the in cliched, "I'm a serial killer and I will kill you because I am so ridiculously evil, I love to cackle." None of that bullshit that doesn't scare anyone. Self-destructive madness. It's what we all have, and it certainly scares me.

But the problem is obvious isn't it? Whenever horror is actually good people label it 'drama.' Like how Silence of the Lambs and Gone Girl were both horrifying but because critics have a disdainful view of horror they just lump all the good horror into the drama category.

Well I say it needs to be saved! I am going to take it on myself to try to Lovecraft it up and pull the genre in a direction away from monsters and Dr. Lecters and into psychological horror. In fact, I am in the process of writing an obsessive love story.

And on a completely unrelated note, I just finished writing a humorous story about a comedian who lives in a world of superheroes. But while some people are gaining powers and others are getting useless party tricks, he is turning into an octopus. The story follows his attempt to continue his life as a public figure and headlining satirist while turning into a cephalopod.

Cross fingers, hope to be published, will keep everyone updated on all that.

In the Interim

Just a'waitin' to hear back from publishers. In the meantime, more photos of my pets.

Sophie and Tanner have a pretty adversarial relationships so she travels with as many treats as she can stuff in her mouth. So she looks like FDR a lot. 

A little video of Sophie emerging from the darkness.