FREE AUDIO BOOK MP3 DOWNLOAD MUNRO

The View from Castle Rock by Alice Munro

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO NOVEL

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO NOVEL– In October, I was lucky to attend an author discussion titled The Art of the Novel.  Here are some thoughts I had, after listening to the presentation.  Depending on the writer’s personality type, one author may be more suited to the long form or the short form.  The novel meanders through peaks and valleys; sprints and strolls; plots and subplots.  By its nature, the novel reader expects to:  1. take a while finish and 2. carry the novel around for a while.  There’s a level of intimacy and comfort inherent in the novel, that doesn’t exist in the short story.  The file attached to this post is a free download, MP3 voice recording, taken from the panel discussion.  

FREE MP3 LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO

The Art of the Novel

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO

COPING STONES SHORT STORY REVIEW

COPING STONES SHORT STORY REVIEW - This is a story is about an older widower, a doctor from Maine.  He is informed by the town hall about required fixes - a wall on his property.  The wall surrounds a cemetery, dating back to eighteen hundred.  Throughout the story, the protagonist constantly deals with a neighbor’s escaped dog.  The protagonist is alone, he thinks about the ways his love for his family was lost.  He also comes to learn about his tenant; a man he considered in greater regard than his own family - daughter or wife.  The tenant is under custody for molestation of a minor and the story is on all the newspapers.  The protagonist deals with his demons:  humanity, deceit, mortality, allegiance, betrayal, permanence and reputation. A quote from the story: “tending your garden seems to me now like a young man’s game. When you don’t have the inclination or the energy or the . . . optimism to tend it anymore, the weeds rush in.”  The author has several stories in the New Yorker including Starlight, The Rabbit Hole As Likely Explanation and Zalla.  

NEW YORKER SHORT STORY REVIEW BEATTIE

FREE E-BOOK PDF DOWNLOAD BEATTIE

COPING STONES by Ann Beattie

BIG DEAL

BIG DEAL – The pictures in this post were taken on Saturday 11-12-11, at an art auction fundraiser for Visual Aid.  The event space pictured is Somarts on Brannan Street in San Francisco.  Solis donated the digital design images, depicted on the wall art and graphic pillows.  The pillows are available at Design Within Reach on Jackson Street, or via the online website.  

#ChadSchimke  #SanFrancisco  #ArtGallery #SFMoma  #VisualAid  #Picasso  #Haring  #Koons  #Warhol  #Calder  #Lichtenstein  #ReclaimedRoom  #Gallery1044  #LowerPolkArtWalk  #BayBridge #CityArtGallery #Bansky #SirronNorris #Solis

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO SHORT FICTION

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO SHORT FICTION – In October, I was lucky to attend an author discussion titled The Art of Short Fiction.  My take on the recurring themes from the discussions follows.  The short story is a spare, economic, single action work that’s digestible in one sitting.  Similar to a poem, a short contains nothing extraneous and it starts as close to the end as possible.  In either the long form or short form, belief is suspended and the reader goes somewhere new.  The file attached to this post is a free download, MP3 voice recording, taken from the panel discussion.  

FREE MP3 LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO

The Art of Short Fiction MP3

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO

SEVEN SECRETS SELF PUBLISHED

SEVEN SECRETS SELF PUBLISHED – This post pertains to a webinar, Seven Secrets of Successful Self Published Authors.  The first free download is an MP3 digital recording of the webinar.  The second free download is a PDF document that contains the most important slides from the webinar.   This information emphasizes the radical transformation to the traditional publishing business model.  The key ideas to take away from the webinar are: 

1.    Target an audience

2.    Manage time

3.    Set goals

4.    Build an online platform

5.    Develop marketing

6.    Plan a launch

FREE AUDIO BOOK MP3 DOWNLOAD BEATTIE

Coping Stones by Ann Beattie A neighbor's secrets unsettle a small Maine town

PATH LIGHTS SHORT STORY REVIEW DRURY

SHORT STORY REVIEW Path Lights by Tom Drury - This story is set in Marin County, across the Golden Gate, to my north from San Francisco.  As a man walks his dogs, he is nearly missed by a bottle - thrown from the bridge above him.  When he gets home, his wife is almost over her suffering, she has a migraine.  The protagonist works as a reader for audio books and commercial voice-overs.  A key figure the protagonist characterizes in his work is a mystery detective.  His wife works as an aerospace engineer.  The bottle incident prompts our protagonist to embark on a quest to figure it out, leading him to the conclusion of the story.   The endnote of the story draws a comparison to the mysteries encountered by either mystery detectives or aerospace engineers.  Follow the link to a movie version of the short story (http://dlf.tv/2009/pathlights/).  Also, The End of Vandalism is a book written by Tom Drury.  

NEW YORKER SHORT STORY REVIEW DRURY

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO

LITQUAKE SAN FRANCISCO– I attended the Litquake festival in October, offering a broad cross section of literary themed presentations.  Featuring author discussions, spoken word, workshops, readings and contests; concluding with Lit Crawl.  The Crawl Map features a night full of events on and around Valencia Street.  The neighborhood is uniquely San Francisco … a thriving crucible for independent bookstores, art galleries, coffee houses, salons, retail, restaurants and clubs.  Later this month I will post specifics on two author panels that I attended:  The Art of Short Fiction and The Art of the Novel.  

LOWER POLK ART WALK

LOWER POLK ART WALK – The pictures in this post were taken at the Lower Polk Art Walk on 10-20-11.  My primary focus was Gallery 1044.  In December; Solis will show there, in a small group exhibit titled Mechanical Voyages.  I will attend that show and will post pictures on my blog.  Several other galleries are depicted here including:  The Magazine, Shooting Gallery and White Walls.  

#ChadSchimke  #SanFrancisco  #ArtGallery #SFMoma  #VisualAid  #Picasso  #Haring  #Koons  #Warhol  #Calder  #Lichtenstein  #ReclaimedRoom  #Gallery1044  #LowerPolkArtWalk  #BayBridge #CityArtGallery #Bansky #SirronNorris #Solis

FREE E-BOOK PDF DOWNLOAD DRURY

Path Light by Tom Drury

FREE AUDIO BOOK MP3 DOWNLOAD DRURY

Path Light by Tom Drury A carelessly tossed bottle nearly misses a man and his dog and begins a quest to find out who threw it