Secret Origins, The Story DC Comics

When it comes to the two big names in comic books (DC and Marvel), I am entrenched in neither camp. I love certain Marvel characters, their creators, writers, and artists - like Jean Grey (X-Men), Galactus, The Silver Surfer, Magneto - too much to declare myself full on Team Marvel, but my first brush with comics came courtesy of William Moulton Marston's star spangled Wonder Woman and she has always been my favourite. Then there's Batman, The Green Lantern, and Julius Schwartz's revamp of The Flash.

It took me a long time to hunt down "Secret Origins, The Story of DC Comics" and am I glad I did. To hear greats like Neil Gaiman (whose reimagining of The Sandman was genius), Alan Moore, Jim Lee, and see the old clips and the old timers was worth the effort. It was like watching a movie about my friends. Not just the heroes, anti-heroes, and even the villains that I adore, but the people who brought them to life.

Comic books have had a special place in my heart for nearly three decades. I fell in love with Wonder Woman comics before I could read. I knew from the pictures she could deflect bullets with her bracelets and that she was on the side of "good". I aspired to, like my heroine, do good deeds.  This idea that good people do good things has stuck with me ever since.

I literally cheered during this documentary. Cheered when I saw Julius Schwartz and Neil Gaiman herald Alan Moore as a genius because he is - The Swamp Thing, Watchmen, V for Vendetta prove it. I was inspired by these people who loved something so intensely. Just as I cannot police the universe because I don't have Hal Jordan's power ring, I was not blessed with the gift to draw comic books. I'm not even sure I could write them. I say not sure because before seeing this documentary I'd have said I couldn't even write them.

Now I feel a little differently. Now I see that same passion and fire for comics I feel has been infused into every comic book ever written, so maybe one day. Maybe one day I'll toss off my glasses and ummm peel off all my clothes and I'll be a hero...

And if you feel inspired to read comics and never have, let me give you a few tips.

• Start from the beginning.
• If you can afford it, buy colour omnibuses.
• Watch the films made about comics to see who you might be interested in knowing more about. I recommend: Stardust, Watchmen, X-Men First Class, Batman (Tim Burton's or Christ Nolan's series based on Frank Miller's Batman), and certain cartoons such as the 90's Batman, Superfriends (which was amazing), and the animated X-Men series (which was also amazing).
• Ebay.
• Enjoy.

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Beyond the Nuts & Bolts

Since producing a rough draft of a manuscript, I've been more and more aware of what the heck I should be paying attention to as the time approaches for me to seek representation and eventually, publication.

It's a vast and confusing world out there for writers. What kind of agent should you be looking for? What kind of contests can be a springboard for your career? What should you avoid? All kinds of questions are filling my head these days, and I've been dedicating one hour a day to answering these questions.

I found a very useful resource for this kind of information, but I can't repost anything here without permission. Hopefully I'll hear back soon and will be given permission to share, but in the meantime, here are a few things I've learned from my searches this past week that I've noted as particularly important for us first timers:

• Start learning how to read contracts and fine print.
• It might not be a bad idea to have a lawyer in mind that is used to working within the publishing industry for when you need one, and undoubtedly you will.
• Same goes for an accountant.
• Make sure the agents you query are "reputable" meaning:

1. They've sold work for other authors to commercial publishers. There are a lot of scams out there. Agents who try to refer you to vanity presses they own for example. In the end you pay an agent and you pay to publish your own book.
2. The fees they charge are not out of the ordinary. You have to find out exactly what fees the agent would charge you in advance. While certain fees are just outright scams there are some fees which appear to be "okay". Such as fees incurred over the ordinary cost of business to market your manuscript to potential publishers. In this case you need to know if they're going to charge you, what for, and how you will be billed. Ideally your agent believes in your work and agrees to deduct fees from your advance.
3. The agent provides a service worth paying for. Is your agent going to represent your manuscript? Or is the agent going to shove it with a bunch of others and send them off? Very few publishers accept non-solicited (meaning agent represented) manuscripts. An agent is almost mandatory. Is your agent going to make sure your manuscript gets read? Do they already have ideas of which publisher might want to accept your manuscript for publication? These are questions you have to ask and answer before signing anything.

Now when it comes to agents, I'm working on making my top three choices. I'm looking for agents who have a lot of experience with what I think of "after publication", meaning not only will they shop your book, but they will help you with film options, foreign rights, etc.

My weapon in finding an agent besides "The Writer's Market" is a little website I found www.querytracker.net.

I am really impressed with this website, and if you're going through the same process as me, you might be too. I didn't take a premium membership, but I'm not sure I'm not going to if only to toss a little money (it's $25 a year) towards the people who made this site.

Here's a quick run through of why I like this site:

1. You can search by author to see who represents them.
2. You can also search by agent.
3. Once you find the agent that represents the author, or you would like to represent you, there is an option to generate a "query report". The query report allows you see reponses of people who use the site as regards to their interaction with said agent/agency from the delay in response time, how they agent/agency prefers to be queried, how many people were asked to submit a partial MS or full MS, and whether or not they were offered representation.
4. You can see how people were rejected. Form letter, helpful rejection, etc.
5. You can keep track of agents you'd like to query in the future or have already queried.

Here's a snapshot of the querytracker website, click on it to enlarge for a closer look at the report the site generates or visit the site and perform your own search.

Now using this website has been a bit disheartening. The two agents on the top of my list aren't really accepting manuscripts at the moment. Great. They also have relatively small amounts of queries. I happen to know they're pretty good agents and rep some pretty fantastic authors, so to compare, I clicked on one of the most queried agents via querytracker, Diana Fox at Fox Literary.

Now keep in mind Diana Fox seems to accept almost every genre I can think of, and when I clicked on the Amazon links of her clients it came up with a lot of horror/sci-fi/fantasy type stuff mostly written by women. Now if that was my genre I'd take that as a good sign given I'm a woman, but it's not my genre.

When I generate the report for Diana Fox I learn that she prefers emails, doesn't send paper rejections anymore, and that she's been queried 1700+ times, of which she rejected 1400+. She did send out 85 helpful rejections though.

If you're in the querying phase now, be sure to check out this site. I however will never be in the querying phase if I don't get some actual writing done, so I'm off to walk the hound, and spend my afternoon doing exactly that.

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A Well Deserved Bit of Thanks

I really need to say thank you. I was a bit of an absentee blogger there for a bit. I can say I was busy, yada, yada, yada, ad naseum - and that'd be the honest truth, but to anyone who reads my blog regularly it's okay to be a little pissed off at me. Usually I'm better about blogging. I swear.

I'm hoping to have a few more exciting things to blog about in the near future, again, I swear. But in the meantime just know my thanks is sincere and from the heart. I just needed to recover from the shock that people keep on reading, even when I've neglected them (and should receive a thousand, nay, two thousand lashings for doing so).

But seeing the people who visit, well it makes me want to give you more to read. So I shall make it a priority to blog this week. In the meantime,

It's you, the reader who keeps me motivated to blog. Sometimes (well not lately) it's the only writing I do. It keeps me from wanting to pull my own fingernails off when I fail to write elsewhere.

So check back this week. I'm going to find some great books to talk about this week and share some good news if things pan out.

Bonne nuit et à demain!

(Good night and see you tomorrow!)



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More on the Diane Arbus Exposition @ Jeu du Palme

"The first part of my story is mostly taken from my imagination.

You also must use some imagination. I am not born yet..."

I've been to the Diane Arbus exhibition (in French it's exposition) and was I ever glad I went.  Plus, I had the benefit of going with a really talented photographer, my friend Nina. It was really worth the trip. I don't rave often about exhibitions, but when I left this one I had an urge satisfied. I felt like I understood Diane Arbus, her life and her work better than ever.

I'd like to share how I first discovered Diane Arbus. I was 14, taking photography in school (having bought a Pentax K1000 for the purpose and yet 20 years later I used my friend's and couldn't remember how to advance the film.), and I got this idea to run away to New York with said camera and take pictures like her. I made it to the bus station in Boston and from there I took a Greyhound bound for New York City.  Except it made a stop before Port Authority. In Harlem.

Needless to say Harlem wasn't the gentrified place it is now in parts, but a nice old man gave me money for a cab to take me to the Port Authority. He made me promise that I'd go straight back to school. I didn't get to snap a single picture. But the love continued.  When I finally got to visit New York City when I was older, I made it a point to take a few pictures. Obviously compared to Diane's they were quite crap, but I took them. I even borrowed a Pentax K1000 to make it official. They have since been lost or are packed up somewhere.

At the end of the exhibition there was a room with tables and the various books being offered for sale in the museum giftshop stowed away nicely in these desks that were built for the event. In the same room where quotes of Diane's all over the wall; her camera bag and a few cameras; her agenda; a notebook opened to two pages (which were hard to read because Diane tended to let her words run together in cursive); and my favourite bit - books from her library.

I didn't want to shell out for the book that was printed by the Fraenkel Gallery, but you can purchase the book here if it interests you. Instead I sat down at one of the desks and wrote down all the books that I had in my library that matched Diane's and all the ones I didn't have. Some were a surprise, others were not. I also have a little theory.

If you'd like to see what this picture (and some other famous pictures have sold for at auction click here.
If only I could find $7000 in my sofa cushions...I'd hang it on a wall in front of my writing desk.

In 1968 Diane photographed Jorge Luis Borges in Central Park. She also took a picture of Borges with his wife. What little I can deduce of Borges' personality from reading his conversations and various interviews, I'm pretty sure Borges must have recommended Diane a few good reads. After all, despite the misprint in the Fraenkel Gallery's book of her library, Diane had three copies of Louis-Ferdinand Celine's "Journey to the End of the Night" (Voyage au but de la nuit). She also had several other books that were beloved by "the librarian" such as Dante's "Divine Comedy", Rimbaud's "Illuminations", and two works by Borges himself ("Ficcones" and "Inquisitions" - which we have the same copy of).

I didn't write down all her books of course, but here are the highlights, and I've included every word I wrote down from Diane's notebook as well. It would be my wish that everyone could see this exhibition. In a world that often focuses on the external and superficial, Arbus' pictures force you to look deeper. I've never reacted to a photographer's work as I first responded to Arbus' many years ago. I sometimes wonder if I ever will.

Books in Diane's library and mine:

• First Edition, Tuttle Publishing, "Zen Flesh, Zen Bones"
• J.L. Borges, "Ficcones", "Inquisitions"
• New Directions, Arthur Rimbaud, "Illuminations"
• Louis-Ferdinand Celine, "Journey to the End of the Night", "Death on an Installment Plan"
• various works of Henry James
• Edith Wharton, "Age of Innocence"
• various works of Thomas Hardy
• Dante's "The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso"
• Thomas Mann, "The Magic Mountain"

Books in Diane's Library I'd like to maybe own:

• "Complete Home Care of Your Family Wardrobe", Constance Talbot
• "Division Street America", Stude Terkel
• "Fingers Pointing Towards the Moon: Reflections of a Pilgrim on the Way", Wei Wu Wei
• "Beasts and Man and The Seed", Pierre Gascar
• "Writers On Revolt", featuring the writings of Terry Southern and Alexander Trocchi
• "Oblomov", Ivan Goncharov
• "Autobiography of a Schizophrenic Girl", Marguerite Schehaye
• "Marius the Epicurean", Walter Pater
• "The Temptation to Exist", E.M. Cioran
• "The Inheritors: An Extravagant Story", Joseph Conrad and Ford Maddox Heufer (he didn't change his last name to Ford until 1919)

Here is the text I wrote down from Diane's notebook. I'm pretty sure it refers to subjects from photographs she took while visiting a mental hospital.

(Left page)

Phyllis is the one with glasses and large eyes. Solemn, intelligent mongoloid.

Barbara is sweet and bright and modest.  When I did her in bed in her flowered nightgown she lowered her eyes before raising them.

I think Johannes, the one with the cowboy hat.

At night they sat on their beds and said prayers in unison.  Hail Mary full of grace...I pray the Lord my soul to take.

I want to runaway from here and I don't know how to run. I don't like the girls in my building.  They boss me, call me low grade.  No one comes to visit me.  You're better off dead.

(Opposite page, right)

Marlene Woodruff posed in the rose garden.  I've got a boyfriend.  He says I'm beautiful.  I told him you haven't seen the pretty parts.  Eddie, 45, going to school.  Around her neck on a string was a key.  Her girlfriends gave it to her before she died. It's so to remember people who die.

Then pocketbooks seem to keep her alive.

Nancy is the slightly bearded one who lay in bed like an odalisque against the wall on _?_. (Couldn't make out the word.)

Sally is blind in a wheelchair laughing (25). 'Reading" her name. Red hair.

Carmelia is fat and crosseyed. Julie is her blonde friend.


Here are some other works of Diane's from the exhibition:

And Diane herself, at work in Central Park.

If you are in Paris or planning to be, make sure to check out this exhibition. It's worth a visit.

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Coming Backwards from Dylan

What a weekend. Sunday to Lille...

So yes, I saw Bob Dylan in Lille. It wasn't "amazing", but we were fairly close to the stage and I got to see Bob rock the harmonica, met a Dutch guy who has followed Dylan for what appears to be a long time, and while I didn't get to ask Bobby if he remembered the 12 year old me (I met him with Jerry Garcia) - it was still a great weekend.

Mark Knopfler opened for Dylan with his band and let me just start by saying I was amazed. His voice is still in good shape and the little guitar riffs that made me air guitar to "Money For Nothin'" are still present in his new music. Not to mention one of his band - the guy who played the fiddle - could really play the fiddle.

What was disappointing is that the song I most wanted to hear, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" wasn't part of the set list for Lille, but he did play it in Paris. The other disappointing thing is how disappointed people were - they started leaving the concert around the time Dylan played "Jolene". It was so hot and crowded on the floor that I popped out to the WC (unfortunately just as he played "Like a Rolling Stone", and when I stopped outside for a ciggie I overheard all the disappointment.

Does Dylan sound like the other times I've seen him live? I forgot I also saw Dylan at the 1994 anniversary of Woodstock. But no, he doesn't sound like he sounded nearly 20 years ago. But he doesn't sound that bad either. Was I dissapointed, on some level yes. Mostly because Bob never once picked up the guitar. I knew there was a chance he might not be as good as before, but he was animated and seeing the poet and legend still loving music at 70 was well worth the fuss and cost of going to Lille to see him.

But let me leave you with this beautiful story. I met a Dutchman at the concert who told me if he took all the money he spent seeing Dylan over the years he could have bought a beautiful house, but he would rather have the music. From the other little stories he told (about the Swiss woman who jumped on stage and Bob let her sing harmony with him) the love was obvious. I hope one day he meets Dylan and gets to share those stories with the poet himself.

If one day I ever write a book and a fan were to tell me a story with their eyes full of the same light and emotion, I think well - I think it would be just about the greatest thing I could ever imagine hearing. That somehow something I put out into the world gave someone so much. That's the whole reason I want to be a writer.

If you're a fan of Dylan you should check out this website that was recommended to me by the same Dutch guy, www.boblinks.com that is run by a gentleman by the name of Bob Pagel.

And if you're the Dutch guy I met, you might remember us, and if so, please send me an email as we'd like to ask you a little "favour"! (lafemmeflaneuse@gmail.com).

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Recapturing Youth - A Bob Dylan Roadtrip

Paris is not the best place for big name music. After New York and the endless gigs Paris has been a gig disappointment. The venues aren't great, artists charge upwards of 80,00 euros (yes I mean you Tori Amos), and it's difficult to get tickets if you don't act quick.

So I missed my chance to score Patti Smith tickets. I tried to pretend like I wasn't upset. Then I couldn't get Dylan tickets for his night at Bercy. I even contemplated going the scalper/eBay route until I saw what they were asking (about 150 euros a ticket).

Then my friend Danielle proposed we go to Lille and see Dylan. There were tickets for 63,00 a pop with some minimal costs for booking fees and a 1 euro donation to a good cause. She booked the tickets. Then we had to figure out how we were going to get to Lille...

There was the idea of renting a car, taking the train, or doing what is really the truc (thing) now in France covoiturage (rideshare). After some emailing and lots of Facebook, texting, and calls we've now decided on the train.

I'm in my 30's. I can take a certain amount of discomfort for the sake of saving money, but the less money you spend the more you have to deal with hassles. Since Danielle has to be back in Paris for a shoot Monday morning, we can't afford the hassles.

France is really bad when it comes to long distance trains. Either you can cross the country for 19,00 euros (if booked six months+ in advance) or you book a few days before and the ticket that could be 20,00 euros is now 80,00. Though discussions about the British Rail have made me a bit more sympathetic towards the SNCF.

Tickets departing Paris to Lille on Sunday in the afternoon and returning Monday early morning are now 122,00 euros for both of us. I got a special last minute fare, yay! That's 30,00 euros saved and we're not having to leave Lille at 7 am.

Now we just need to book a not-too-cheap hotel near the train station and the details for our "adult" roadtrip are settled. Now to the good part...

We're not just going to see Bob Dylan (whom I haven't seen since I saw him play a few sets with The Grateful Dead when I was 12 years old!), but Mark Knopfler, who is also on the tour.

Now for those who don't know Mark Knopfler is the lead guitarist from Dire Straits so yes, if you want your MTV you might want to catch him on this tour. Knopfler worked with Dylan on a few projects, including Infidels.

But what makes this sort of significant really is that if you've read my blog you know what a massive fan of I am of the film "The Princess Bride". Maybe in a surreal moment, Knopfler might play a bit of the score, though I highly doubt it.

I think I'm in for a real treat and since my co-pilot on this adventure is a photographer, be prepared for some beautiful photographs when I return.

Dylan's famous for not playing old music at his shows, but if I had one wish it'd be to hear him play either "It Ain't Me Babe" or "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue".

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Cooking Experiment - Pizza

Thin crust Italian pizza with Parma ham, sun-dried tomatoes, roquette, artichokes, Parmesan, Mozzarella, and fresh basil.

I obviously need to work on rounding out the dough, but otherwise this was delicious. Time to make the second one!

Will post the second one to see if I did a better job and let you know about working the dough. It's been a real problem for me, so about to use another plan of attack.

On a sidenote, as much as I would love to own a pizza stone I don't. What I made this on is simply an insulated cookie sheet. It didn't brown up the crust as much as I would have liked, so I am going to see what maybe running a little olive oil might do. Just the teeny-tiniest bit because too much wouldn't be good either.

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Diane Arbus

Diane Nemerov was one of the lucky ones, insulated from the Great Depression because her father owned Russek's, the famous Fifth Avenue department store. She grew up amongst wealth and artists. Her father became a painter when he retired; her sister was a sculptor; and her brother Howard Nemerov would become a US Poet Laureate.

Diane Nemerov married her high school sweetheart, Allan Arbus, and became Diane Arbus.

A visit to the Alfred Stieglitz gallery brought the couple, who already had a budding interest in photography, inspiration. Diane's father hired the couple to do the advertisement for the store. Allan would photograph the war for the U.S. Army Signal Corps and after the war the couple started a commercial photography business.

Though they both hated the fashion world 200 pages of their editorials would make it into Glamour and 80 into the pages of the fabled Vogue. This work has been described as being of "middling quality".

Vogue 1953. Click to view larger image.

In 1956 Diane quit the commercial photography business. Two years later she and Allan separated. They divorced in 1969, but Diane had come well into her own. Her notable photographs, with their sometimes controversal subjects, for which Diane is known and remembered though in 1971 she told Lisette Model (another female photographer) that she "hated them".

On October 18th (until February 5, 2012) the Jeu de Paume will have an exhibition dedicated to Diane's work. This is the first such exhibition in France and will include all her major works and many never viewed before by the public.

I of course am going to be one of the first people in the queue, if I can't get my hands on some tickets for whatever is happening before it opens to the public. Below are some images of Diane's most famous photograph, Boy With Toy Grenade Central Park taken in 1962.

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Why I Love Wonder Woman

My fourth birthday party was dedicated to Wonder Woman. I had the WW logo on my glasses, my cake, my party favours, my balloons, and I even tried to dress up like Princess Diana of Paradise Island by wearing a blue leotard and taping tin foil to my wrists.

I had a pink plastic jump rope lasso of truth and a backstory. Since I had just moved from an island off the shores of Korea my backstory was rooted in truth. I was a half-Amazonian princess raised on a magical island who left her magical island to be raised in the world of men.

As I think of my backstory, or what comic book fans might call my "origin" myth, I'm reluctant to give too many details. Why? Well that little backstory I concocted in my mind that day and told to all the party guests and my insistence that they not call me by real name because I was now "Wonder Girl" - well that story has stayed with me all my life. It's partially what inspired the series of books I want to write.

The funny thing is, it wasn't the TV show that starred Linda Carter who gave me my love for Wonder Woman. It was the comics. They belonged to an older girl who lived near my grandparents, but by the end of the summer I had the action in the panels nearly memorised and when my birthday rolled around all I wanted to be just like her. Even if just for a day.

Wonder Woman comics weren't popular when I started buying my own comic books seven years later. Still, Wonder Woman remained my favourite even when pitted up against other female superheroes with incredible powers like Stan Lee's "Jean Grey". I was in awe of Jean, but I never wanted to be her.

I'm still a serious comic book fan. I am a frequent visitor to comic book related message boards and I wouldn't pass up a chance to go to ComicCon. I wouldn't go out of my way either though. I'm more addicted nowadays to Alan Moore's work than Stan Lee's continuing legacy.

But then there's Wonder Woman. There's that memory I have of me at that birthday party when somehow the world was a perfect place and I was going to grow up to be a hero and have an invisible plane and the possibility that one day I might save the world.

That's why I went and bought The Wonder Woman Chronicles from Henk's Comics when I was in Amsterdam. They didn't have it in the shop, so I ordered it and paid to have it sent to me. I have a soft spot for their shop. I bought my Tardis key chain there, my The Walking Dead t-shirt, and lots of comics. Though to actually ship me my WW was more than they charged me. Will definitely have to go back and buy more comics from them.

Now let me explain why coming home to my WW Chronicles was the cherry on a near perfect day.

I took the 10h17 train from Gare de Lyon with the intention of possibly going to Fontainebleau to have a coffee, browse some shops, and write near the reflecting pool behind the chateau for awhile.

They rearranged the bus system. The trip that should be 15 minutes max ended up taking one hour and twenty-two minutes.

I had a terribly strong espresso than had to take a pee in a loo that someone had obviously just taken a massive poo in while holding my breath.

Every shop I wanted to pop into was closed.

Walked all the way to the chateau, spotted the swans, ducks, and carp and ended up walking all the way back to a bakery to buy a sandwich that a swan brazenly ripped out of my hands minus a bit of mayonnaise and ham.

Found a beautiful spot on the chateau grounds behind a pedestal (sans statue) to hide behind, had a puff, wrote a bit, and watched waterbugs. Waterbugs are beautiful to watch. They make ripples that are completely different than fish or rain droplets or anything else I've ever seen.

On the way back towards the chateau rescued a duck from a mean little Chinese boy. I'm not sure what scared him more, my accent in Mandarin or that I told him he was doing a naughty thing. Whatever it was, another Chinese couple also scurried off.

The duck I rescued escorted me down the road a bit, met an old French lady, escorted her a little bit, and then another old lady came and fed it some bread. It also got a sandwich out of me. I had a nice little talk with the old lady for awhile and then we both agreed it was very hot, and after wishing each other a good day we went our separate ways but not before she assured me that someone else would come and feed the adorably tame duck we were both smitten with.

I bought ingredients to make delicious pizzas (artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, mozzarella, Parmesan, arugula, and Parma ham). While waiting for the bus (which I missed) back to the train station I helped a lady find a perfume for her daughter and then waited for the next bus. Again the rearrangement of the buses screwed me, so I hopped into a taxi and watched the beautifully lit forest of Fontainebleau from behind a lightly tinted window while people complained about Sarkozy on the radio.

Train station. Paris.

Back home the package was waiting for me. Old school Wonder Woman was all about empowerment. The first female superhero was as strong as Hercules. As wise as Athena. More beautiful than Aphrodite. She also wore a skirt back then in 1941 when she made her first appearance in ALL-STAR COMICS #8.

William Moulton Marston's imagination (influenced heavily by his wife) created a heroine for little girls to look up to and I did. I'm hoping that reading the old comics will inspire me to be a hero like they did all those years ago.

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Now even MORE Ama on Tumblr

I've decided to start blogging a little with Tumblr, though I won't be posting the same types of things on Tumblr, since it's more for short post blogging. Please be sure to check out my new Tumblr blog http://lafemmeflaneuse.tumblr.com/ though it doesn't have much to see yet.

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Reference Books for Writers

I have a big section of my books that when people thumb through them with a quizzical look on their faces, I promptly tell them "that's the reference section". The reference section for me, are books that I never intend to read from start to finish, but they contain a tidbit of information I found worthy of my shelves. They're usually non-fiction, but sometimes I'll buy a fiction book just because I like the blurb on the back. Blurbs are serious business afterall for writers. They help to sell your book(s).

Yes you should own the following:

1. A massive set of complete and unabridged dictionaries in whatever language you write in. I say you should, but I don't. I use the internet. Same thing for a thesaurus. I use the internet because it's much faster.

2. Encylopedias. Again, I say should, but I don't. I do however often fall into what I call "Wiki-wormholes" when I'm researching stuff. I of course verify my info through other sources. I'd personally love the 9th edition of the Encyclopedia Britanica.

3. A rhyming dictionary. Now some might say, you can find these online too and free. This is purely a psychological thing for me. When I used to write poetry I used to make long lists of words that rhymed until someone pointed out there were books full of these lists. I don't know which ones are better than others, but flipping through one is a rewarding way to have some fun with words, which can be vital when words really piss you off because you can't find any and worse when the problem is you just can't find the right one.

4. The Chicago Manual of Style. If only because you need to learn what the proofreaders are going to use when they proofread your work. I have the 12th edition, but apparently the 14th is supposed to be the holy of holies.

5. The Writer's Handbook and The Writer's Market. These books come out every year. In theory you should buy them every year until you have an agent. It's also, as Monsieur Redacteur says, a "good reality check". Wait until you realise how many agents are out there to reject you. Wait until you find the one agent your heart is really set on (for me it's Betsy Lerner). Open this book when you've told yourself you want to be published but not before you've hit your first dead end as a writer.

6. Strunk & White's Elements of Style. This book is mandatory for anyone who wants to write anything. Even if it's just a thank you note and not a novel. It's also been updated a lot. I in fact have no idea how many copies of this book I have, but I do know they're all different editions and the fact that I have different editions gives me some kind of cred. You know, amongst writers who like reference books anyways.

I found a great Flickr site with pictures of Penguin Reference book covers here.

7.  The Penguin Reference Books. I am in love and simultaneous awe of these books that I have only just discovered. I bought The Dictionary of Historical Slang in Amsterdam and have since discovered there are lots of Penguin Reference books I want. It's a great book and I couldn't find it on amazon.com, but there are lots of cheap copies on abebooks.com.

Here's an entry from the dictionary.
abaddon - a thief turned informer. 19th, 20th century. A pun on a bad 'un and the angel Abaddon.

Other Penguin Reference Books I want now:

The Penguin Dictionary of English Idioms (Amazon)
The Penguin Dictionary of Epigrams (Amazon)
Writer's Manual (Amazon)
The Penguin Dictionary of Surnames (Amazon) (because coming up with names is sometimes hard)
Penguin Guide to Synonyms and Related Words (Amazon)
Penguin Guide to Plain English (Amazon)
Penguin Guide to Punctuation (Amazon)

Now I'm going to stop the list here because I have to go to the grocery store for ingredients to perfect a recipe I'm working on for my cookbook, but I think this is a pretty solid list for any writer. If you've got great reference books to recommend, please leave recommendations in the comments. I'm always on the hunt for good reference books!

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Please help!

I don't normally use my blog for this sort of thing, but seeing this cute guy's face and knowing he's at the vet fighting for his life really moved me. I mean, look at him...

Danny is one of five puppies that were rescued by Bullies and Buddies (you can visit the website here), a Redondo Beach, California based organisation that helps re-home pitbulls and their buddy breeds.

Much like Jennifer Rosen who runs Bullies & Buddies, I am a huge advocate for pitbulls not only because Chienne Maisonette is part bullie herself, but because I don't think the dogs should be blamed when they are either treated badly, forced to fight, or purchased for "street cred" and then disposed of when the real day to day responsibilities of being a dog owner start to take hold. If you think I'm kidding I am really not. This isn't just a phenomenon in America where I had to actually worry about my beloved dog being stolen by dog fighters, but also happens in the UK with another bullie breed, the Stratfordshire Terrier.

Yes pitbull breeds have special jaws, but they were bred that way. By people. With the right person, socialisation, and as much love as you've got because dogs will take it all and give you those resolve melting eyes until you find just a little more (and I always do for my furry buddy). My bullie's great with kids, is great with other dogs, and most importantly she is my bitch. Literally.

Right before we left New York, my dog needed a lot of treatment due to my stupid mother leaving chocolate within her reach. Vets aren't cheap, but I don't begrudge a single cent I spent or have ever spent on keeping my dog happy and healthy.

If you have a soft spot for bullies like me and like Jennifer Rosen of Bullies & Buddies, please donate towards Danny's care. As Jennifer says, no amount is too small.

Here is the web address if you'd like to make a donation http://roccobuddah.chipin.com/danny or for those who have Paypal, you can send donations to justskin@yahoo.com .

Help this little pup get the best possible start and if you happen to be in Jennifer's neck of the woods, consider either fostering or adopting. Though I don't know her personally, ever since discovering the work she does (via Kristin Bauer van Straten's aka Pam on True Blood's Twitter feed) with bullies I've been very moved by her dedication and the beautiful dogs she helps to find good homes with loving people.

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Chicken Soup for All

One of the things I promised myself I would do, if I ever decided to open a restaurant was that I would feed people for free, so one of the things I'm working on as I move towards my deadline to move to Amsterdam August/September 2012 is finding delicious, budget friendly recipes because I'd like to open my restaurant one day a week where it's free to everyone and anyone.

Hence my chicken soup.

I don't eat soup out of a can, box, jar, not ever. It seems wrong somehow. If I want chicken soup what I do is buy two roasting chickens, roast them, eat the legs and thighs, and save the rest for the soup. For this recipe I stuffed and roasted the chickens with fennel, onions, cloves, green cardamons, black cardamons, and whole cloves of garlic after rubbing both the inside cavity and the outside of the chickens with olive oil, lemon juice, dried thyme, and dried rosemary.

Use the jus for whatever you're eating the dark meat with, but reserve about half for the chicken stock. The follow morning strip the chickens of skin and other undesirable things, making sure to put aside all the bones (except the third wing joint), leftover juices and fat, and cut the leftover chicken meat into bite size pieces. I also removed the cardamons and the cloves from the carcass before adding the bones, leftover garlic, chopped up stalk of fennel, an onion cut in half, and then salt and pepper to taste.

Make sure the water covers the bones completely and let boil for 2-3 hours, taste, and then reduce to a simmer. Let boil another 2 hours. Pour the contents of the soup pot into a fine mesh strainer, discard everything, and return strained broth to the original pot.

Here are the rest of the ingredients I used:

1/4 cup of peeled and finely chopped white potatoes
2 1/2 cups of peeled white potatoes cut into slightly bigger than bite sized pieces
2 carrots peeled and sliced (make sure to increase the thickness of the slices along the thinner part so all the carrots cook evenly)
1 zucchini sliced into fours, then chopped into bite sized cubes
1/2 cup white mushrooms sliced
1 onion cut into quarters
2 stalks of fennel (1/2 cup) cut into slices
1/8 cup fresh parsley
Salt and Pepper

Add the 1/4 cup of finely chopped potatoes and the bite sized piece of chicken and let boil about 15 - 20 minutes. When you notice the bits of potato have begun to break down (it thickens the broth a bit naturally for a more hearty taste), add the rest of the potatoes, fennel, onion, and carrots. Let simmer 10 - 15 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste and continue to simmer on lowest possible heat with the lid ajar.

Twenty minutes prior to serving, increase the heat to a slight boil and add the zucchini, mushrooms, and salt and pepper to taste if needed. When the zucchini is soft, yet still firm, turn off the heat, add the fresh parsley, taste, and add salt or pepper if needed. Cover for 2 minutes.

Ladle into soup bowls with just slightly more chicken and vegetables than broth. Serve with homemade bread rolls (recipe to come later) and sweet butter (called beurre doux in French).

Now the real point of this recipe, which will make so much soup I'll have to freeze it (about 3 liters or about 13 cups of soup), is how healthy and cheap it is to make.

Chickens: 11 euros
Vegetables:  3 euros

Now sixteen euros isn't deducting the fact that I served the thighs for two separate meals, so I really only used about 5 euros worth of chicken for the soup. Based on the average serving size, from one batch of soup I could feed over a dozen people.

When I open the kitchen it will be from 12 - 2 pm and once the food is gone - it'll be gone, but with 100 euros I could make 12 pots of chicken soup and feed 150 people. Now I can't realistically make 12 pots of soup in my kitchen or in the kitchen I hope to have in Amsterdam even, but I could make 3 or 4.

I could feed 50 people and spend less than I might spend on a dinner out.

This is part of my plan in Amsterdam. I'm going to feed people. I'm going to put the word out there that on Monday afternoons there is a place where you get a delicious, healthy meal and for free whether you're a successful businessman, a student, or someone who just wants to save a little extra money that Monday.

I'm going to put my faith in my chicken soup. This will be the first thing I'll serve for free lunch. Now I just need to find forty seven similar recipes to get me through a year of Mondays.

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Preparing to Write a Cookbook

I want to use my last year here in France before I move to Amsterdam - as the backdrop for photos that will make their way into the cookbook I plan to write and have nearly completed before my big move.

I figure since my plan is to open a huiskamer, which translates literally into English from Dutch to living room, meaning a living room restaurant. I'm going to find the perfect apartment and then see what can and will happen and this will include offering cooking lessons and selling my own cookbook.

The first thing I did when I thought about writing a cookbook was I thought about it for a very long time. Like three years almost. Then after returning from Amsterdam with this idea in my head about opening a huiskamer in Amsterdam, I decided I mind's well just go the full shebang. I wrote down all the "cuisines" I can cook on a piece of paper.

Korean
French
American (general)
Southern (American)
Cajun
Tex-Mex
Mexican
Indian
Thai
Japanese
Chinese
Vietnamese
Filipino
Senegalese
Moroccan
English
Spanish
Italian
Greek
Lebanese
Argentinian
Brazilian
Chilean
Colombian

That's 24 different cuisines where I could cook at least a full three course meal of starter, entree, and dessert though the reality is I could cook any one of those cuisines for at least two weeks without repeating a single dish.

Now I'm damn proud of that. I am humble in many ways about my cooking skills. I still have a lot to learn. For example I can cook a lot of different Italian dishes, even lived in Italy for a year, and still have no idea how to properly serve an Italian meal. When do I serve what? What can be served when? I lack a few cooking techniques that I should really have like being able to consistently braise tougher meat cuts. I am always in the search of new knowledge when it comes to cooking.

Plus I always cook my ass off. Even if it's just for me, I cook. I take my time and do my best. And I love it. Even when I mess things up. I love that I made the effort.

Yet my deepest darkest kitchen secret is that I do not follow recipes. I learn to cook by watching people cook or by eating until I can figure out how to make something. I not only don't follow recipes, I actually can't. I can't write them out either, which doesn't bode well for a cookbook.

I've decided in order to get myself to the point where I can write a cookbook I am going to force myself to follow recipes. To the letter. Even when my instinct says no or yes, I will do whatever the recipe tells me to. Of course I'm not going to just use any old cookbooks. I'm starting with Ada Boni, who specialises in regional Italian cuisine and of course, Julia Child. I've had her two cookbooks on Mastering the Art of French cooking for years and only opened them to glance at recipes to remind me what I already knew how to cook.

My plan is to cook a three course dinner using recipes from Ada Boni's cookbook "Italian Regional Cooking" (I blogged about it here) and from Julia Child's legendary cookbook every week for a month. After that, I'm going to try tossing in one of their recipes in place of something I know how to cook.

Each month I'm going to chose two cookbooks and repeat this process and blog about what I learn, as well as post the recipes I've used along with pictures. I've started a recipe database to keep track of recipes I'll be using this entire time. Hopefully somewhere along the way of borrowing from better cooks, I'll become a better cook and create my own recipes and refine those that I already love and want to include in my cookbook.

I am going to start paying a lot more attention to cookbooks in general too. I don't want to spend time on my recipes only to screw the pooch on format, pictures, or other little details. Especially since I'm planning to use this cookbook as my debut into vanity publishing. Why not? I have a friend who took a pictures of a Thanksgiving dinner I made a few years back and made it look like a spread for Gourmet magazine. (How sad it is that Gourmet is now non plus.) Beautiful photos, great recipes, and a perfect location means I've got a year to write and photograph a cookbook.

I'm pretty excited and I'm sure Monsieur Redacteur's stomach and my friends are pretty excited about my new venture too!

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A'dam in Pictures

Graffitti near the Noordermarkt.

A heron in the Vondelpark.

Free stuff on a stoop. The sign basically says if you need something here, take it but don't take the baskets please.

The kitty who I kept company who lost more weight than I did!

The flowers I bought that stayed alive forever!

A sign in the Jordaan.

I'm pretty sure the person who did this also did the graffitti I saw on the last trip that I thought might be a Banksy but now I think it's someone else.

This appeared overnight near where I was staying.

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