tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62781351694655110442024-02-20T02:43:58.149-05:00Writing and the Rest of My LifeMark Budman's BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-81441591862564338542014-07-21T20:55:00.003-05:002014-07-26T20:35:16.221-05:00To a new writer<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px;">It's not enough to a put a few sentences together and declare it creative writing. You will not stay by the reader's side to explain what you mean. The explanation should be built into your writing.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-57029889219364084022014-02-05T09:50:00.001-05:002014-02-05T09:55:48.881-05:00Facebook is perverted. Someone tells about the death of a friend and the message gets tons of "likes." FB has to come up with a more nuanced set of reactions. Sympathy, love and hate, Mr. Zuckerberg?Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-2358479396061192962014-01-27T10:59:00.002-05:002014-02-05T09:56:20.725-05:00<div class="MsoNormal">
Just writing a story won't do. Writer is nothing without a
reader. Get it published.<o:p></o:p></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-20426380827160744382014-01-24T16:18:00.000-05:002014-01-24T16:18:49.768-05:00Question: <span style="background-color: white; font-size: 18px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What are you trying to accomplish with your work?</span></span><br />
<br />
Answer: <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don't want to accomplish anything. I just want to write and to share my writing with the world.</span>Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-43971520480858995752014-01-24T13:10:00.004-05:002014-01-24T13:10:27.561-05:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsD5d72ttFpshIR8vtEqgeFk38eD1PG7KKnxKy7dpuDAg7J8ipuw" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTsD5d72ttFpshIR8vtEqgeFk38eD1PG7KKnxKy7dpuDAg7J8ipuw" /></a></div>
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<h2>
<b>Beauty is not skin deep. It's what covers the skin</b>.</h2>
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<o:p></o:p></div>
Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-90058426087211493942014-01-24T12:53:00.003-05:002014-01-24T12:53:34.225-05:00A newbie writer complained that people don't read him because his writing is unconventional. My reply? As Henry Ford used to say, "You can have any colour as long as it's black." You can write whatever you want and how you want as long as people read you.Markhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06710486764638364054noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-52282766647169132192013-09-24T08:53:00.003-05:002013-09-24T08:53:28.843-05:00Why is your story rejected?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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It might come as a surprise to you, but the majority of
stories rejected by literary magazines are good. At least, there is nothing
wrong with them. They have a fine plot, developed characters and accomplished
language. Why are they rejected, then? Because writing a good story is not
enough. Your competition—and that’s what the other writers are—crafts well. You
are not competing with half-wits amateurs. Your story has to stand out. It has
to be best of the best. As simple as that. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-54597027437079501522012-10-02T20:45:00.001-05:002012-10-02T20:45:28.880-05:00A Stale Device?I think that giving the name, rank and serial number of the protagonist in the first sentence has become a very stale device. OK, no serial number, just the name. I know it's convenient, and it has been done successfully before, but that doesn't make it any more stale.<br />
<br />
<br />
There are other ways to address this problem:<br />
<br />
From the New Yorker: Gilgulby Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi<br />
<br />
“You know,” she said almost shyly, “that I have the ability, if you wish, to look into your eyes and tell you when you will die?”<br />
<br />
<br />
Thoughts?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-12654116887886394162012-04-30T10:13:00.000-05:002012-04-30T10:14:12.317-05:00Sexy coversI’ve seen a photo of an actress in a recent issue of the Esquire. She stands, supposedly naked, behind a slip hanging on a clothesline. Next to the slip, there hang her panties and bra. The photo is probably rated PG because you can’t see anything, but, if you are a man, you’d want to. That’s the whole idea behind the book cover as well. The author and the design team want you to pick the book, physically or electronically, and open it to reveal the naked woman inside (or maybe future worlds or the ancient history or the recipe to a knock-out dish).<br />
<br />
I’d say the book cover is more than attractive clothing or hair are for a person. It’s more than a nice smile and a firm handshake. It’s the door to the reader. To the reader’s mind. Or to his or her wallet, if you wish. Ignore the cover and perish. There must be content inside the book, of course, but no one will see it unless your cover flashes some skin first.
Happy cover design. Have fun at it.
A few examples to kill for. For the pictures, go <a href="http://open.salon.com/blog/vestal/2012/04/26/to_peak_behind_the_sexy_cover">here.</a><br />
<br />
Mark Budman shows off his own covers <a href="http://markbudman.net/">here.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-80662777237326863592011-09-12T10:49:00.001-05:002011-09-12T10:50:28.582-05:00ARCReceived my advance reading copy from the publisher.<br />
<br />
A unique collection. The only anthology of short-short stories to focus on youth.<br />
<br />
In these stories of no more than 1000 words, well-known and emerging American authors spotlight crucial moments of change during coming-of-age. Their young protagonists face matters of great consequence, such as the death of a parent, unwanted pregnancy, and bullying, as well as lighter, if perplexing circumstances: how to hold a prom when being home-schooled; what to do when the babysitter suddenly sees the Rapture. The stories are of this moment--a girl who falls in love and then is pressured to lose her virginity in a cyberspace world--and they also remember the past: the Nixon era, the Vietnam War, slavery. Here is a glimpse into the way we live now from the point of view of those who will determine the future. Among the contributors are Steve Almond, Peter Bacho, Richard Bausch, Gayle Brandeis, Richard Brautigan, Ron Carlson, Kelly Cherry, Dave Eggers, Pia Z. Ehrhardt, Jim Heynen, Victor Lavalle, Meg Kearney, Naomi Shihab Nye, Maryann O'Hara, Sonia Pilcer, Pamela Painter, Bruce Holland Rogers, Robert Shapard, and Alice Walker.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sudden-Flash-Youth-Short-Short-Stories/dp/0892553715/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_3"><br />
Here.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-29114021503611513922011-08-24T15:22:00.002-05:002011-08-24T15:22:31.506-05:00Short or long?What is your favorite length? No, it's not a sexual or a fashion question. Do you prefer writing novels, short stories or flash? Do you prefer to take your time to develop a story or do you favor concise writing? I've seen many people complain that there novels have to be reduced from 100k or more words because publishers don't like such length. I have an opposite problem: my own novels are too short.<br />
<br />
It's a hard work to trim the fat, making sure you don't break the bones and cut flesh. It's like sculpting: cut, step back, observe, cut again. But unlike sculptors, we writers can always return to the previous edit.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-86702131520606947712011-08-19T14:09:00.002-05:002011-08-19T14:09:28.596-05:00Do you write porn?Do you write porn? I don’t, but once I posted a very short parody on Harry Potter fanfic porn (yes, such genre exists) on a writer’s website. A woman writer was very vocal in her indignation, and as a result the sysop took the post down. I have later discovered that the woman herself was a soft porn writer. <br />
<br />
So, do you write porn? If yes, why? If no, why not?<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-83750033651322006452011-08-18T13:10:00.001-05:002011-08-19T14:10:13.797-05:00A quote of the day from a book agentA quote of the day from Tom Dark, an agent with <a href="http://www.heacockhill.com/">Heacock Hill.</a> <br />
<br />
<i>We’re unusually swamped with queries and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the economy and lots of people imagining the way to make a quick buck is to copy some vampire movie and the like (not kidding)…<br />
<br />
… from where we stand, the market is glutted with … YA paranormal stories. … there’s so much of it going around. The commercial publishing industry put out 350,000 new titles last year and 93% of them lost money. They didn’t specify what the 7% were that made money, but I rather suspect it was in a “captive audience” area like textbooks. They’re losing billions, we know that much.<br />
<br />
We’re both [he and Catt LeBaigue] pleased lately to see that the “Harry Potter” imitators have slowed down, but it’s always somebody they’re imitating. Getting something original published is very difficult—as Rowling’s books were—but flooding the market with imitations does lose money, as we have seen. </i> <br />
<br />
He goes on to recommend self-publishing. Of course, self-publishing requires that the author would become the editor, proof-reader, designer and marketeer. And there will be no validation by the peer review before the publishing. I would rather write and let the agent and publisher do the real work.<br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-47778739742406091372011-08-12T13:14:00.001-05:002011-08-12T13:14:44.983-05:00A Stale Device?I think that giving the name, rank and serial number of the protagonist in the first sentence has become a very stale device. OK, no serial number, just the name. I know it's convenient, and it has been done successfully before, but that doesn't make it any more stale.<br />
<br />
<br />
There are other ways to address this problem:<br />
<br />
From the New Yorker: Gilgulby Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi<br />
<br />
“You know,” she said almost shyly, “that I have the ability, if you wish, to look into your eyes and tell you when you will die?”<br />
<br />
Read more http://www.newyorker.com/fiction#ixzz1UpyHh9Ps<br />
<br />
Thoughts?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-62667100573950088522011-03-11T13:13:00.002-05:002011-03-11T13:14:55.639-05:00Why must a story...?Q. Why must a story contain a resolution of conflict with a change in the protagonist? It doesn't happen in real life.<br />
<br />
A. It mustn't, but it would be a better story that way. As for real life, we know that fiction is lies and that writers lie for money and fame.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-46821273115269638952011-03-09T15:17:00.003-05:002011-03-09T15:19:22.198-05:00Yaroslav blogs here.Yaroslav, the Poslopian shape changer blogs <a href="http://yaroslaval.blog.com/">here.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-40805902262606546202010-10-17T11:06:00.001-05:002010-10-17T11:06:52.942-05:00Have courageOne author withdrew his manuscript from Vestal Review for the following reason:<br /><br />"The reason for withdrawal is: It's going to be rejected anyway."<br /><br />Have courage, fellow writers.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-48309242907093067582010-07-15T13:14:00.001-05:002010-07-15T13:16:05.362-05:00A politically incorrect way of teaching EnglishYour mission, should you decide to accept it, is to come up with a politically incorrect limerick that involves the typical conundrum of a technology project manager, presents a geography lesson and teaches ESL students the usage of the interrogative pronoun “what,” <br /><br />continue <a href="http://open.salon.com/blog/vestal/2010/07/15/a_non-pc_techical_mission_that_teaches_english_grammar">reading</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-11803822316714207772010-05-05T12:46:00.003-05:002010-05-05T12:48:47.435-05:00My Life at First Try in CompLitRecently, My life at First Try was introduced to a Comparative Literature class in one of the California universities. The following are the questions I got from the students and my answers to them.<br /><br />1. Did you intend MY LIFE AT FIRST TRY for a younger audience? Is this connected <br />to your decision to make the book available on Kindle? What about the short chapters? <br /> <br />2. What was the flash-fiction chapter decision all about? <br /> <br />3. Is Alex ever happy? <br /> <br />4. What is up with Alex’s obsession with Annie? <br /> <br />5. How did you pick the chapter titles, and did you have anything to do with the fact that the titles are separated by quite a lot of space on the page? <br /> <br />6. Do you consider yourself a postmodernist? <br /> <br />A comment from a student in the back row in the undergraduate class: <br /> <br />Alex is the most baddass Russian engineer I’ve ever read about!<br /><br /><br />1. No, I intended MLAFT for the kids of all ages. As a matter of fact, I had one chapter (later removed) where Alex turned 80, finally become an adult and met space aliens. As for Kindle, that’s my publisher’s decision. The short paragraphs are intended for modern people with short attention spans who want more for less <br />(be that money or time). <br />2. See above. Also, I love flash. I love it so much that I publish a magazine of flash fiction, Vestal Review, http://vestalreview.net.<br />3. Yes, Alex is always happy. Unless he is not. Happiness is fragile and fleeting and sometimes you can’t tell if a person is happy or sad by observing him. More importantly, is Alex becoming a better, wiser person? What do you think?<br />4. Alex is an explorer. He wants something new, and the less attainable, the better.<br />5. The titles are to add to the action describes in each chapter. As for spaces, that’s the publisher’s decision.<br />6. I have never tried to classify myself. Classification means you have an assigned place on a bookshelf. I don’t want to remain in one place. Like Alex, I want to be the most badass Russian-American writer you’ve ever heard of.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-42295139820986309132010-03-17T13:55:00.002-05:002010-03-17T13:57:54.829-05:00Somali pirates attempt attack on Dutch warship (and no one gets hurt)Today, Somali pirates foolishly attacked a Dutch worship. The heroic Dutchmen beat back the attack, flew over to the mothership “<a href="http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100317/ap_on_re_af/piracy">finding ammunition and rocket-propelled grenades on board… The two skiffs were destroyed and the pirates were set free on the mothership after it had been cleared of weapons.</a>”<br /><br /><br />Now, why did the big-hearted Dutch release the pirates? In olden times, they (the pirates and not the Dutchmen) would have been all hung on the gallows until dead. Right now, losing the weapons and skiffs is only the price of doing business for the pirates. They will use their multi-million dollar ransom to buy newer and better equipment. Of course, the pirates in the olden times were not poor fishermen deprived of their livelihood. Wait a minute? Who were they? Knights of the Garter? Prosperous bourgeois? Rich intellectuals who spent time writing for the Open Salon? The excuse of poverty will never justify robbery and mayhem.<br /><br />Without an effective deterrent, the pirates will continue to multiply, no matter how many flying Dutchmen, armed to the teeth, would roam the seas.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-11759610404221792472010-03-10T19:28:00.002-05:002010-03-10T20:40:06.685-05:00Paradise hotel in the BahamasAfter reading some reviews at Tripadvisor, I didn't want to go to Atlantis, which is situated on Paradise Island in the city of Nassau, Bahamas, but it was much better than I thought it would be. We arrived on February 24 after a 12-hour trip (missed our connection in Philadelphia because of the weather). The hotel was overly expensive--$1500 for 4 nights in the cheapest room not counting food, transportation and entertainment--but otherwise enjoyable. The service was good, the staff helpful (except for the casino bar) and the water attractions amazing. I was worried about crime, but I haven’t seen any signs of trouble. I stayed at the Beach Towers, so the view wasn’t great, but still I saw palm trees from the balcony while they were having a snowstorm in New York. And of course, I couldn’t get into the water back home unless I used a bathtub. Aquatic life was a must-see. Some of the water attractions, such as the Dolphin Cove were expensive, $120/person, but most were free. Turtles, sharks, stingrays, all kinds of fishes. So, not quite paradise one earth, but a good destination for a short winter break.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-52192375872932828792009-11-28T19:44:00.002-05:002009-11-28T19:45:37.090-05:00Updated my website.Updated my <a href="http://markbudman.net/">website.</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-4105492130463817332009-08-30T15:47:00.000-05:002009-08-30T15:48:23.168-05:00An Open Letter to Men Who Don't Wash Their Hands in the Public BathroomAn Open Letter to Men Who Don't Wash Their Hands in the Public Bathroom<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I know this is nothing compared to a roadside bomb, campus shootings or the health care fiasco, but why don't you stop for thirty lousy seconds to wet your hands with water? Perhaps you are hungry for some finger food? Perhaps you long to hold hands with your girlfriend? Or maybe you are giving out those leaflets outside, advertising antibacterial hand-cream and are running back to do your duty? <br /><br />Perhaps you think that the human body is resilient enough to kill your germs? Maybe you are a terrorist on the path of biological warfare? Perchance you think that shutting down the water flow on the faucet will make your hands dirty again, so why bother? But the automatic faucets seem to make no difference. Perhaps you want to make a statement: real man cares less. <br /><br />I would ask you why, but what if you flip me the bird? I am not afraid of you, but I prefer clean, proud birds soaring in the wind, over the filthy, flightless ones. Does that mean I am a chicken who rejects a stand on the public health issue out of fear? How do the foreign men behave? Is there a difference between the Old and the New Europe?<br /><br />I hope that women wash their hands after the toilet. Why else do they spend more time in their bathrooms than men do? With that comforting thought, I open the door of a public toilet, wrapping it with the paper towel first. I am ready to hold hands with my wife. Will she finger-feed me a snack now?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-26321773662440132992009-07-30T21:36:00.002-05:002009-07-30T21:38:45.052-05:00A social experiment on QuechupI set a Quechup profile out of curiosity. My profile is absolutely bland: no picture, no name, no info except for gender. Now,I get daily messages from beautiful young woman. The messages are a fine mixture of vapor, atrocious grammar and flirt. Such as:<br /><br />"Hello there howz you? Have a good one"<br /><br />And the folks at Quechup want me to pay so I would be able to reply to this onslaught. Howz that? Hellooooo :o)<br /><br />P.S. I set up my age at 69 and my height in the profile at 4 feet.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6278135169465511044.post-20851925727872961072009-06-22T16:32:00.002-05:002009-06-22T16:34:56.052-05:00An interview in a Russian magazineA Moscow magazine «/<a href=" http://www.inieberega.ru/node/161">Иные берега</a>/» (Other Coasts) did an interview with me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06317510349456976402noreply@blogger.com0