I was an Amazon employee at that time and remember going to one of your fishbowl sessions! And then going to meet you for a signing at Elliot Bay book company again :D
I really appreciated your fishbowl session because it gave me the time to hear you talk so much more on plot and plot devices. If I recall correctly, my question to you was something along the lines of "What's something you wrote about and decided was even too much for you to publish?" I think your answer was something like dead babies 😂
Anyway, long winded way of saying, us Amazombies loved every second of it, thanks for being there! Can't wait til you're back in Seattle (:
My big fail: In college I knew a girl who dressed very nicely and spent her weekends adopting dogs and cats from trusting households. She'd promise to love and care for each animal, then quickly sell it for product/medical testing. The labs paid top money for house pets because they'd suffer enormous pain without fighting back. This acquaintance paid for her college education by selling such animals. I tried to write about this, once, but it was so repugnant that I dropped the project. Instead, I used it as a passing reference in 'The Invention of Sound,' where it still broke many, many hearts.
This reminds me of a roommate in college that had a 10 foot python as a pet in a long glass tank. He would look for people selling rabbits, convince them he was getting rabbits as a gift for his little sister and then feed them to his python. He would drop them the tank and watch as the python slowly crushed and ate the rabbit whole. If I think about it too much I can still hear the high pitched rabbit screams as they are crushed. A few weeks later he'd do it all again.
Self published a memoir to Amazon some years ago. Obviously, without money for advertising or and editor it reached no real heights of success, (not that I expected any, though dreams persist) but received a few good reviews.
Your postcards led me to a question. How helpful do you think it is to a fledgling writers writing life to write a diary?
A friend of mine once did a similar thing to your coffee drinking passenger, only she did it with red wine.
From behind, it must've looked like she'd severed an artery because she'd back-handed the plastic cup so hard it covered the window and the wall and most of the white top she was wearing.
She didn't care, she was already drunk.
As the only member of the party not drinking I spent ten minutes apologising to other passengers and trying to mop up Shiraz using tiny aeroplane napkins while leaning over my cackling friend. My socks soaked up the rest of the wine from the floor.
Honestly, a couple of years ago this friend never returned a notebook I lent him for a session of Russian language class. I asked him to return it so many times, he dodged everytime but, the day I left Ukraine and my 'former' friend to go back to Morocco, I took the one thing he loves most, a Boston Celtics cap his uncle once gifted him. He was gutted. But, I guess the writer of Fight Club truly doesn't let stuff own him. That's an enviable position.
The only thing that was missing from that interaction was the inclusion of a good cop who was sitting on a chair that's facing backwards in the adjacent isle between the plane seats. His arms folded on the top of the backwards chair's headrest. His earnest expression and understanding tone. He says:
"Hey buddy, you can talk to me. I get it, you know. A person needs something to drink on a flight. Nobody can blame you for that. But, did it never occur to you to maybe give a heads up to the people sat behind you that you had spilt your drink and that the coffee version of Pompeii was fast on the horizon?"
Hey Chuck, I need some help understanding something. In Consider This you said that dialogue is my weakest storytelling tool. What did you mean by that? Are you saying that body language and tone of voice are more important? And are you saying that a story doesn't need much dialogue to be effective? Thanks!
I was an Amazon employee at that time and remember going to one of your fishbowl sessions! And then going to meet you for a signing at Elliot Bay book company again :D
I really appreciated your fishbowl session because it gave me the time to hear you talk so much more on plot and plot devices. If I recall correctly, my question to you was something along the lines of "What's something you wrote about and decided was even too much for you to publish?" I think your answer was something like dead babies 😂
Anyway, long winded way of saying, us Amazombies loved every second of it, thanks for being there! Can't wait til you're back in Seattle (:
I love the term "Amazombies". That is priceless.
My big fail: In college I knew a girl who dressed very nicely and spent her weekends adopting dogs and cats from trusting households. She'd promise to love and care for each animal, then quickly sell it for product/medical testing. The labs paid top money for house pets because they'd suffer enormous pain without fighting back. This acquaintance paid for her college education by selling such animals. I tried to write about this, once, but it was so repugnant that I dropped the project. Instead, I used it as a passing reference in 'The Invention of Sound,' where it still broke many, many hearts.
This reminds me of a roommate in college that had a 10 foot python as a pet in a long glass tank. He would look for people selling rabbits, convince them he was getting rabbits as a gift for his little sister and then feed them to his python. He would drop them the tank and watch as the python slowly crushed and ate the rabbit whole. If I think about it too much I can still hear the high pitched rabbit screams as they are crushed. A few weeks later he'd do it all again.
I believe I was in line right in front of you at EBBC (we spoke). Or maybe I'm grossly underestimating how many Amazombies went to both events.
That guy probably wanders through life thinking he's one of the good guys. One of your book tours seems like it could be a novel in of itself.
Eric, as you live your life, always keep in mind the future biopic about yourself...
Life is one strange trip.
Self published a memoir to Amazon some years ago. Obviously, without money for advertising or and editor it reached no real heights of success, (not that I expected any, though dreams persist) but received a few good reviews.
Your postcards led me to a question. How helpful do you think it is to a fledgling writers writing life to write a diary?
A friend of mine once did a similar thing to your coffee drinking passenger, only she did it with red wine.
From behind, it must've looked like she'd severed an artery because she'd back-handed the plastic cup so hard it covered the window and the wall and most of the white top she was wearing.
She didn't care, she was already drunk.
As the only member of the party not drinking I spent ten minutes apologising to other passengers and trying to mop up Shiraz using tiny aeroplane napkins while leaning over my cackling friend. My socks soaked up the rest of the wine from the floor.
I miss travelling.
Honestly, a couple of years ago this friend never returned a notebook I lent him for a session of Russian language class. I asked him to return it so many times, he dodged everytime but, the day I left Ukraine and my 'former' friend to go back to Morocco, I took the one thing he loves most, a Boston Celtics cap his uncle once gifted him. He was gutted. But, I guess the writer of Fight Club truly doesn't let stuff own him. That's an enviable position.
The only thing that was missing from that interaction was the inclusion of a good cop who was sitting on a chair that's facing backwards in the adjacent isle between the plane seats. His arms folded on the top of the backwards chair's headrest. His earnest expression and understanding tone. He says:
"Hey buddy, you can talk to me. I get it, you know. A person needs something to drink on a flight. Nobody can blame you for that. But, did it never occur to you to maybe give a heads up to the people sat behind you that you had spilt your drink and that the coffee version of Pompeii was fast on the horizon?"
Hey Chuck, I need some help understanding something. In Consider This you said that dialogue is my weakest storytelling tool. What did you mean by that? Are you saying that body language and tone of voice are more important? And are you saying that a story doesn't need much dialogue to be effective? Thanks!
What an A hole 😑.