Recent Journal Entries
Waiting for "Waiting for Columbus"
July 2, 2009
It’s been a lovely week so far. Stumbled upon a blog written by the man who gave voice to the audiobook of Waiting for Columbus and it was a very generous, glowing write-up. You can find it here.
Also, the story in the National Post weekend edition was really nice too. Here’s truncated bit of the story:
Tomorrow’s best-sellers, today
In a way, book previews are worth much more than reviews: Buzz can translate into huge deals. Here are five Canadian writers whose forthcoming novels are creating lots of excitement…
Thomas Trofimuk, of Edmonton, has published two novels. The third — Waiting for Columbus, (McClelland & Stewart, August) — promises to make him known to readers across the country. It’s imaginative, in the manner of Michael Ondaatje’s The English Patient. “In a Spanish mental institution in 2004,” says the publisher, “a man who believes he is Christopher Columbus begins to tell his story. Nurse Consuela listens … with each tale, [she] draws closer to this lost navigator.”
Yellowhead Lake and I have a date and it’s coming up fast. I’ve got a brand new Coleman dingy and a pretty good supply of scotch, a few great notebooks, the good Waterman fountain pen, ink, and mountains…lots of mountains. I’ll be at the trail-head to the Mt. Fitzwilliam grunt for the week. Though there are fine trout in the lake, I don’t have a license for BC and so will just have to float around and meditate, or recite Rumi poems, or Hafiz poems, write haiku, look at trees(don’t I sound like a party waiting to happen? Ha!!!) I’m okay with this arrangement. I highly doubt there is cell phone service at this camp. I’m okay with this also. I will try to write 1,500-2,000 words a day on the Thelonious Pinsky/Mehmet book.
breaking eggs and more on Pinsky (the ass!)
June 30, 2009
Yesterday morning I broke an egg in my jacket pocket. The grey tweed jacket that was made to measure for me in Hong Kong. It was just a small crack and the egg was entirely useable – Grandma, (spelled “grama: by everyone in this family but me) is making muffins with my daughter this morning. How did the egg get cracked? I banged it on the front step railing as I was going for the garden shears – to cut an iris for grandma (my daughter’s idea). The irises are almost done. They were late because of the protracted cool weather this spring but nonetheless, they were stunning. And they will be missed. They are always missed.
It’s been all quiet on the Pinsky front. (For those who don’t know, Thelonious Pinsky is a friend – maybe we don’t pick our friends – living in Mexico, twice removed from his ex-wife and two daughters. He’s living with a woman named Inka.). The last I heard he’d shaved his head, on Inka’s recommendation, and was hard at work on the new book – a book that centres on a high Peruvian observatory, one of the driest, if not “the” driest spot on the planet. Apparently, in 1977, it snowed and the result of this snow was a desert that had not seen rain for over a hundred years bursting into bloom, bursting with life. Pinsky tells me it’s about one man’s experience of this desert snow storm and how it changes his life. Pinsky is like this. He will obsess about the smallest, oddest things. Last year it was picas. Six months before that, it was lichens. A few years back, it was fonts – Helvetica verses Arial, Times New Roman verses Palatino and on and on. Pinsky’s last e-mail was succinct. Three lines: “The writing goes well, with my shit detector in high gear – pumping out 1,500 words a day before my first cerveza. Not all Americans are endlessly consuming Homer Simpsons – most are the same as you and I, wanting to be loved and to be able to love, and failing at both. Inka thinks she might be pregnant.”
Such a long way to go with compassion and kindness
June 25, 2009
Rumi writes about how the light gets in (Leonard Cohen riffed on this idea in his song Anthem: There’s a crack in everything; That’s how the light gets in”). Rumi’s poem says: Keep looking at the bandaged place. That’s where the light enters you.
Perhaps that’s what a writer ought to do with both the good and the bad reviews; perhaps we should look directly at it – keep looking, keep walls down, keep heart open to criticism, and ask from the negative review: “Can you say more about that?” This question, from my teacher, CF. This advice, from my teacher. This echo of Rumi reverberates. Failed Buddhist is the perfect moniker for this site, for me. I suppose incredibly, profoundly failed would be overkill. I have so much to learn about compassion and kindness. I have such a long way to go when it comes to kindness and compassion.
The terror of letting go
June 23, 2009
At some point you have to let go. You have to trust that you made a pretty good book and that the world will do what it must – the world will react to the book in its own time, and in ways you could not imagine – good or bad. It’s completely out of your control. Now is that time for me. I’m more courageous about facing positive reactions than the negative – it’s human nature, I think, to smile through praise and to recoil at criticism. It hurts when someone takes a poke at your kid. It’s a part of you. Equally, it feels pretty wonderful when you get praise for your child. But neither criticism, nor praise affects the way you love your child. You continue to love. Ideally, I would like to completely ignore every single review. I know that will be impossible, but I am going to try. I have removed all Google-alerts regarding Columbus. I’m no longer interested. Not my job to react to, or to even read the critics. My job is to go to work on another book. This is the black and white vision. Here’s the grey part of this equation: good reviews will sell some books and will allow for an easier sale of a next book. Of course this grey bit has nothing to do with writing. The writing continues to be the payoff. The act of writing stands alone and can afford to be black and white. Ya, I’m terrified of this letting go… And so, to work.
Welcome to a new look and feel
June 15, 2009
Welcome to the new blue website. We spruced up. Put on our Sunday-goin’-to-Church outfit. All this, because we’re gearing up for Waiting for Columbus. You’ll notice a page dedicated to the new book. We’ve got the publishers’ blurbs up there right now and we’ll update this page as news comes in. Both the Canadian and the American covers are on the front page…over there on the right…yes, that’s right…We’ve got some work to do yet – a couple new photos and a new biography – but it’s mostly done. We love it. Let me know what you think. Also, if there are bugs, glitches, or squeaks, let me know.
Loved the throw under the headline in the Edmonton Journal Hot Summer Reads section on Monday (June 15) – “…the second coming of Christopher Columbus…” That’s just perfect!! It is the second coming of Christopher Columbus. But this time he’s actually going set foot on American soil, and Canada, and the UK, and Serbia, and Brazil.
Kudos to Michael Gravel, who continues to prove that he is one of the best web designers in the world (or, so Mike doesn’t get all blushy, .”…he is very, very good at this”). Functional, elegant, efficient, quick, and stunningly beautiful designs!!! He is an artist…and a hell of a writer on top of that, and a hell of a performer on top of that. Thanks also to Matt Granz for permission to use the Ocean Blur at Big Sur masthead photo. It was the right feel for a website gearing up for a book about Christopher Columbus.
Older Entries:
- 2009•06•09 ~ Pinsky buys a Mitsubishi {3}
- 2009•06•01 ~ The trimming of the irises {3}
- 2009•06•01 ~ Thelonious Pinsky in Mexico...writing {9}
- 2009•05•21 ~ Pinsky meets Mehmet
- 2009•05•19 ~ Let it snow {2}
- 2009•05•13 ~ "Waiting for Columbus" goes audio!! {9}
- 2009•05•07 ~ Failed zzzzz {3}
- 2009•04•24 ~ Twitter my butt!! {10}
- 2009•04•17 ~ Waiting for tulips {1}
- 2009•04•08 ~ The Steinway Grand and I.... {1}
- 0000•00•00 ~ Complete Journal Archives
