Monthly Archives: July 2012

For decades now I have watched adults in positions of political power betray children who need responsible care, if not by their parents, then by society. We as a species have a responsibility to step up and care for children whose parents are either unable or unwilling to take proper care of their progeny. This responsibility is not just a nice thing to do, it is fundamental to the survival of a healthy society. Government, regardless of your political persuasion, does have a role to play in the development of healthy people. That is the plexus of a society. While we argue politics, children suffer at the hands of the very people that are there to protect them. And as adults they will bear the scars, usually invisible, until they act out or act against themselves. This accounts for both the anti-social element as well as the physical and mental health component for the care of these children as adults.  (A massive social and financial expense to society, not to mention the suffering of these individuals, often for a lifetime. See the ACE study, Gold into Lead,  by Dr. Vincent Felitti, MD, Kaiser Preventative Health, San Diego.) Someone said that a measure of the dignity of a species is in the way they treat their young. As we go to the polls and elect our officials that represent us (we have a representative form of government; sometimes the politicians forget that) we need to think first–how does this person stand in this particular paradigm for posterity. After more than four decades of work in the field of child welfare, I’ve come to trust that if we can find a way to eliminate (I’m not an idealist, so …) or at least minimize the abuse of children in our world, most other problems will resolve themselves.

“There can be no greater betrayal than the betrayal of a child by their parent.” Fm the Preface to A Certain Fall

Note posted above my desk:  1. Rewrite/Polish   2. Minor errors   3. Scenes/Separtate/One POV per scene                4. Check seasons/Pace   5. Need genogram.

I passed page 100 this morning.

Tip:

“The rule is: don’t use commas like a stupid person.”  ~fm Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss.  A fun book to review grammar.

Also, I like Stephen King’s book On Writing.  Part memoir, part writing as a craft; a great read on the nuts and bolts of writing, particularly fiction. Another fun way to learn or refresh yourself on the creative process of writing. I don’t read a lot of King’s work, but this may be his best work.

A decent way to open my first blog.  If you haven’t read Russo’s books, you should start with his first book, Mohawk, and work your way through Interventions.Yesterday (7/11/2012) Janis and I went into Portland to attend a lecture by Richard Russo and his daughter Kate. (We have been to one other event and book signing with him at the Left Bank Bookstore in Searsport a while back.) Their collaboration on the new book Interventions was the main topic, but other subjects regarding other books also came up. I had an opportunity to ask him a question that I’ve waited a while to ask.  I had noted in Empire Falls that whenever the young daughter of the main character Miles, took over, the narrative shifted to the present tense. I liked this effect, but I wondered if he had planned it or if it occurred to him during the writing (inspiration) process. His answer was that it did, and it just felt right at the time so he stuck with it.

I must say that Russo is a likable man. He seems genuinely interested in the population that are his fan base. He spoke openly and frankly about his writing and a little bit about his history. In November 2012 his new book (a memoir) will be released. Seems that, like many of us in our 6th decade, Mr. Russo has been reflecting much on his personal history, friends, parents, and the small town in Gloversville, New York that he remembers with some ambivalence. He confesses that much of his writings are set in, at least the memory of Gloversville, if not the actual Gloversville. Included in the box set of short novellas is a short memoir of Russo’s time in that town as a boy.

For those of us who grew up with such authors as Steinbeck, Faulkner, Harper Lee, and others, Russo is our contemporary, classic writer. His works are filled with characters so real they virtually throb on the page. 

I did get to speak with him briefly after the event and again found him sincerely responsive to my simple questions. I kept it brief. But couldn’t resist the opportunity. 

Today, my agent and daughter, Maya, assisted me in setting up this blog. Janis joined us at Wild Oats in Brunswick for the first hour, and then left us to our work. Maya has some great ideas and she provides me with a little energy in getting around the Web. I’m barely a moderate user. She whips through it like a kid on a jungle-gym. (Those fingers, that are used to playing Schubert, Liszt, Chopin, fly around the keyboard). She makes my work a lot easier to access.

I’ll close this first blog with an honorable pledge to post at least four times per week. I may very well do more than that. But, I will make the four times per week my starting goal. I have to loosen up my tongue (fingers, mind, etc.) to keep this flowing. Perhaps, like Steinbeck, I can use this blog as he did his journals; as a warm up to working on my book.