CHICKEN SHACK
Verbal Sparring 101: English proficiency is required
I was in Subway yesterday, waiting patiently in line to order my roast beef on wheat, when the customer in front of me decided that it was time to act like a jerk. Dissatisfied with the number of cucumbers that had been placed upon his sandwich, he said, “What? You can’t give me no more…
Read MoreMy book has been hijacked by a couple of no-nothings.
I have been betrayed by my book. As I come closer and closer to completing the manuscript to CHIKCEN SHACK, the story continues to veer off in unintended directions. When I began writing a year ago, I thought I’d be telling the story of two rival brothers and how their familial relationship did not preclude…
Read MoreElmore Leonard’s rules of writing
Elmore Leonard posited some writing rules in the New York Times way back in July of 2001, when the towers still stood and water boarding was presumed to be an odd reference to surfing. I just found his list of rules today. For the most part, I agree with Leonard’s assertions. Several even echo Stephen…
Read MoreMy abyss
Nathan Bransford writes about his nervousness when starting a new book. He writes: “I liken it to staring down at a deep, dark abyss. You know it’s a long way down, and it’s pretty scary to jump.” I have never felt this way. In fact, for me, it’s completely the opposite. I have about a…
Read MoreI can’t help it.
I logged onto Facebook this morning while walking my dog and saw that most friends had posted wishes for a happy new year. These status updates seemed benign enough, but instantly, I felt the need to do the opposite. Reject the norm. Resist the pull of the majority. Post a status update to the contrary.…
Read MoreHonesty gets you nowhere
I must have been living in a cave four years ago when Ayelet Waldman published this piece in which she says she loves her husband more than her children. In talking about it now with friends, it seems everyone was aware of it then. Except me. Of course, in reading about the history of the…
Read MorePeople-pleasers
As I was getting dressed this morning, I turned on the television. The channel was tuned to HBO, airing a movie I later identified as Bride Wars. Based on the scene I watched, I will not be watching this film anytime soon. But I did catch a piece of dialogue, a phrase really, that I…
Read MorePotato chips, dead people and armed barbers
Chicken Shack, the working title of the book I am writing, features a combination funeral home and fried chicken restaurant. The idea came to me while driving through my hometown of Blackstone, Massachusetts, with my wife. Blackstone, a tiny town on the border of Massachusetts and Rhode Island, had a population of about 5,000 people…
Read MoreWhere have all the rebels gone?
Blogger Jason Kottke recently wrote about the differing approaches to “being an adult.” In his post, he establishes two kinds of adults: A: Those who have set aside their childish ways B: Those who rebel against the lack of freedom of childhood. “Basically opposite approaches,” he writes. “Responsible adulthood and irresponsible adulthood.” Kottke continues: The…
Read MoreBusy!
I’m debating over the multiple careers of protagonist Wyatt Mason in The Chicken Shack. Wyatt, owner of The Chicken Shack, is a part-time English teacher at a local community college, an occasional freelance magazine writer, a member of the Town Council, and the local vigilante. I’ve worried that this might seem too much and that…
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