man with a manuscript

i did want to add, as a PS of sorts from my previous "content that doesn't suck" hyperlink, that to the best of my knowledge, the esteemed ghost of elberry, whose name i could provide if called upon although i hardly know the chap (as in, we've never met), is not only a transient laborer in the teaching field of Business English, but also a man with an unpublished novel.

So, hey, check out his blog, publishers, and see if this isn't the kind of intellectual morbidity that you've secretly craved despite your Harry-Potter wannabeism and power-of-positive-thinking front and back lists.

Here's an excerpt to get you started:

"i contemplate the prospect of another Kiel-like ordeal with weary resignation. If i go to X-burg i predict i will fall foul of the Director of Studies, a wizened power woman on speed, a type i have met many a time in office work – they instinctively loathe me. i will probably be fired or just given the worst jobs, teaching Business English to 19-year-old engineering apprentices, etc. i’m not sure i can take any more of this. i feel dangerously close to snapping in half; though, then again, it is surprising how much one can take, when one has no other choice. And it is certainly a mistake to suppose life is essentially enjoyable, or that it is arranged for one’s own convenience.


"i should welcome unemployment and destitution and debt, since Kiel was a valuable time, spiritually speaking – forced back on yourself, rejected by the world, you must consider matters without niceties. But in truth i just want a half-way decent job and a flat i don’t have to share with a retarded hippy. However, lacking any worthwhile skills or qualifications (or money), i must make do with what i am given. In spite of everything i am still alive, aged 35, and that seems so improbable as to suggest things might work out, improbably."

and follow this for more from the aske man.

content

I graded a lot of papers of this week. Fretted. About most of it. Yeah. And sorry I haven't written in a while, but I just don't know what to say to you anymore. And I'm censoring myself at every turn. Of course, it wasn't really worth hearing about anyway.

Alas, I'd tell you I've taken a corporate turn, but in fact, this post has no sponsorship whatsoever.

But thank you for allowing this content into your life. Have a nice day.

PS--On second thought, I thought I'd share someone else's content. Content that doesn't suck. In a best case scenario, it might get Elberry a record deal.

i feel the same way.

thanks, ben

When Ben Tanzer changes your book's shelf life, he doesn't [redacted] around. Thanks, Ben, for the rich review and positive energy all around.

And the man is selling (at least) two of his own books this year, with orders already possible for this April release.

OK. In no particular order (so let's make it alphabetical), a list of my favorite novelists with whom I've crossed Ultimate paths:

Abeer Hoque
David Hollander
Kate Ledger
Ben Tanzer

Well, truth be told, I've only read slight sections from their books, but intend to improve upon that. Once in a while, I get a strange vision that it would be possible to jog and then run and then play Ultimate again. Hmmm. I ought to go get some ice cream and think this over.

long weekend

Friday evening, Ron Rash burned bright at The Bengal Tiger's first reading in the spring series, and it went well enough that we will have at least three more readings (look for details soon), including my own on March 1 (a Tuesday, 7 p.m.). We then saw and heard Ron read again at City Lights in Sylva, NC the following Sunday, as in yesterday, a bright, beautiful day at that.

And so, I'm motivated and in the mood to read from Fight for Your Long Day. In front of an audience, no less. I'm fairly certain I'll have details soon for my spring reading plans. If you want to book me for an event (in a way that doesn't involve electrocution by wet kindle or slamming an unabridged dictionary over my head), please do not hesitate to e-mail, f-book, or t-weet although telepathy remains my e-best mode of communication of course. It looks like I'll be in the mid-Atlantic from March 20 to 27 and the Clemson region (within a couple hours of Asheville, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc.) for the rest of Feb through April.

And now I'm here, too, squatting on Old Man Bezos's land.

Slog Through Your Tuesday!

sample betrayal

A nice chunk of The Betrayal of Times of Peace and Prosperity is now available for your viewing pleasure:

http://www.smashwords.com/extreader/read/40939/1/the-betrayal-of-times-of-peace-and-prosperity

It just might take you where you want to go.