WORD!

Fall Edition 2003

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POV

Location, Location, Location:
How a Move to San Diego Helped My Writing
by David Hale

Wilmington, Delaware, is a city of approximately 75 thousand people located just 30 minutes south of Philadelphia. It is home to tax-free shopping, minor league baseball and the corporate headquarters of more than half the Fortune 500 companies in the United States. Few frequenters of the Wilmington's mall(s?) are actually there to enjoy the benefits of tax-free shopping; most are simply looking for a diversion from the monotony of life in Delaware. And thanks to business-friendly tax laws, those corporate headquarters Wilmington boasts are usually nothing more than a PO Box at the local Mail Boxes Etc.

Despite its convenient location-nestled within a few hours drive of such cosmopolitan hot-spots as New York City and Washington, DC-Wilmington is in many ways culturally vacant. The people of Wilmington and of its surrounding suburban landscape are much more likely to spend a Saturday afternoon in an office cubicle than an art museum. Twelve-hour workdays are far more commonplace than dinner with the family. Using the drive through at McDonald's generally qualifies as an outdoor activity in Delaware. Wilmington was hardly the place for an aspiring writer to find his voice.

It was no real surprise then that throughout my last several years in Delaware my writing aspirations had all but disappeared. Upon my graduation from high school I had been certain that my life's direction would be to flee the state in which I had spent the entirety of my youth and pursue writing at a college as far from my Delaware home as possible. But as has happened to many people far more determined than I, my life's direction took a U-turn and left me in Delaware for another four years at a university just 15 minutes from the house I grew up in. By the time I graduated I no longer considered writing as an essential part of my future plans. I was prepared to join the "real world"- with a job in accounting, sitting in an office, saddled with a car payment and credit card bills, and a comfortable routine of consistency. After all, when you live in Delaware, that's what you do.

After two years of life in a cubicle, however, I began to question the decisions I had made that had resulted in the thoroughly vapid life I was now enjoying. For two years my life comprised little more than 40 hours a week staring at a computer screen and a weekly 55 hour respite, lasting from Friday afternoon to Sunday night, that rarely consisted of anything more than discussing work with equally uninspired acquaintances over an excessive number of drinks at a bar I'd been to a hundred times before. I was in a rut and I needed a way out.

My only real escape was writing. The problem was I wasn't a very good writer and I rarely liked anything I wrote. My writing was uninspired. It lacked direction, perspective and voice. These things were hard to come by when my life was also lacking such essential attributes. I was determined to escape from the monotony that had consumed me for so long and pursue the life I had given up on after high school. I decided it was time for me to leave Delaware.

I didn't have a lot of requirements in selecting a new hometown. I wanted to go somewhere with better weather than Wilmington. I needed to be within an hour's drive of a major league baseball team and a large body of water. I needed to be in a city that offered some semblance of culture. After a minimal amount of thought, I came to the realization that the weather doesn't get much better than in Southern California and there aren't many larger bodies of water than the Pacific Ocean.

San Diego seemed like the place for me. I liquidated what assets I could, collected on my accounts receivable and withdrew all dollar values printed in black ink at the bottom of my bank statement and left Wilmington with the sincere desire that accounting would no longer be a part of my life.

I spent my first few weeks in California overwhelmed by all that San Diego had to offer. It was everything that Wilmington had not been. The city offered a breathtaking coastline, dozens of museums and countless outdoor activities. Families crowded the beaches and parks, even on weekday afternoons. The postgraduate twentysomethings I had wasted countless nights with at some dive in Delaware were now more likely to spend their weekends perched upon a surfboard than a bar stool.

Not that there was a lack of nightlife. San Diego offered its share of bars and clubs that provided ample diversions from job hunting. After my first month in San Diego I had spent far more time enjoying the ample distractions the city had to offer than I had looking for a job or furthering my writing. I needed to crack down. I sat down at my computer in an effort to find a writers group that would afford me some inspiration and motivation.

After just a few minutes of searching I came across the San Diego Writers' Cooperative. The website offered a calendar of events for writers in the greater San Diego area, resources for writing, and a mailing list to interact with other writers. After ten minutes of research I had found more literary opportunities than I had in 25 years in Delaware.

Over the next several weeks I joined a monthly writers' group, attended several literary functions, and found dozens of people who had the same interest in writing as I did. I found that I was not only writing more but I was writing better. I now had access to a community that supported my aspirations as a writer instead of the stale monotony I had lived with for so long.

After six months here in San Diego I am still not a very good writer. I haven't found the perfect story for a novel or even finished a work I felt was particularly readable. I'm still forced to earn a living in an office rather than at a typewriter. But I have found some perspective and direction that I was lacking before. I've gained a better understanding of myself and my writing. I've found a community rich in culture, history and beauty. And perhaps most importantly, I've found other writers who share my interests and aspirations and are anxious to provide the support and advice that any writer, regardless of talent, requires to grow.

Around Town

Tuesday Night Open Mic at Claire de Lune
by Terri Trainor

As I look out over the balcony, I can feel a large swell of emotion. Authenticity arising all around. And tonight, Tuesday night, at Claire de Lune, it's looking big and real and mildly overwhelming. It's Poetic Brew open mic night, and the lush sofas and comfy chairs below are filling up fast.

Yeah, I'm nervous-vulnerable. It's my first time, new experiences always make my heart pound and tummy tumble. But I'm not alone. Shy smiles and tentative friendly glances quickly establish the fact that tonight I'm truly NOT . . . alone. The desire to deeply share and connect is fritzing through the electric air.

I get myself a beverage and sit down to watch what happens next. Slowly, almost reverentially, people start going up and putting their names in the hat on the round stage at the front of the room. Now, I knew this was what happened; I've been here before-but have never done this particular ritual. So I sip, and struggle with my own inner resistance. I'm prepared, with my one pathetic little poem, and I have promised to write this article. But did it have to be tonight? Um, yes. No. Oh, for heaven's sake, quit acting like poultry . . . So yes! Yes. I'm standing up and walking. Yes! Not because of deadline pressure but because I told my friend Eber I would do this and he would be arriving any minute now. I'm not wearing feathers tonight.

As I walk away from my new commitment, the glances get bolder and the nods and smiles more open. Instant acceptance. Like an initiation has been passed. My shaking knees somehow make it back up the stairs. And I fill with relief. O.K. the first hurdle has been met. I can do this. I can do this. My friend arrives, confidently strides up, waves, drops his name in the hat. He's a regular. This is routine for him. I feel a tinge of envy. He is a gifted poet-I've written all of a half-dozen poems in my life, most of which I tore up almost immediately. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that my poem will suck in comparison to the crafted work of many of the others. But it completely doesn't matter. Compassion prevails here. I know, I've been here before. I'm safe.

The host, Marc Kockinos, has one of the regulars perform a mic check. A polished beat poem fills the air. Marc then invites folks to put their names in the hat. Encourages. Gently. Twice. I know that throughout the night Marc will be kind and welcoming to newcomers. He will have something affirming to say about each poet he's seen before and he will make everyone feel welcome, applauded and glad they came. This explains why there are over 80 people here on the night after a holiday weekend. And why most of us will return. It's safe here. Everyone is welcome. Marc empowers every single reader, every single time. Consistently from 8 to 11 p.m. He will pump us up with "are you ready for some poetry?" and remind us "the people at the end of the evening deserve as much love and respect as those who read at the beginning," urging us to greater attentiveness. I know this. I've been here before, it's safe here.

At around 8 p.m., Marc strides up to the mic and confidently declares, "Whether you read at slams or write sonnets, perform hip-hop or Homeric verse, your words are welcome on our stage!" He then tells us what to expect, from the featured artist, from ourselves. He asks us to vote on which format we'd like: five-minutes or one piece per person (rapidfire). We vote. A few poets get to read before he announces the featured guest. He pulls the first name out of the hat. Just my luck, it's mine.

This ongoing event happens every Tuesday night at Claire de Lune Coffee Lounge, located at 2906 University Ave., North Park (see http://www.clairedelune.com). Sign-up starts at 7:00 p.m.; Poetic Brew begins at 8:00 p.m. The order for the open mic is determined by lottery during the course of the night. Names are drawn randomly from a hat. Marc has a mailing list for details, to sign up go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/poeticbrew. Come share with us!

Writers on Writing

Riding high on the success of her third novel, The Passion of Artemisia, Susan Vreeland recently shared her experiences on some of the nuts and bolts of being a fiction author.

Vreeland transitioned from nonfiction to fiction writing via short stories published in literary magazines. This body of published work assisted her in obtaining her second agent, but not without a complex strategy: "I researched agents and set up a grid of their names, and what they handled, and were interested in handling. Then I checked off everything that applied to me. It helped that I had most of the stories for my second novel and a draft of my third."

She began her current happy association with the Penguin publishing group when it bought the paperback rights to Girl in Hyacinth Blue. As Vreeland said, "I'm very pleased with Penguin. They tour me a great deal. Not every writer gets that opportunity. The staff there really cares about the books, and me personally, and my career," she stressed. Penguin also has a good distribution system, she added.

(Vreeland has never self-published, and when she heard a description of the latest phenomenon, publishing on demand, she said, "I'm quite busy enough. I would never consider it.")

A combination of writers' groups, conferences and courses developed Vreeland into a highly successful fiction writer. "All were helpful," she said, "but in the beginning it's the classes and conferences that lay the groundwork, that help you form the basis for good writing." After she acquired basic skills, she credits her writing group with providing the support for further development. Her group is an informal, West Coast-based collection of established authors with whom she has associated for the last 15 years. They are serious constructive critics of each other's work, meeting twice a year to help one another. "It isn't a group for beginners or just to encourage each other," she explained. They have become her best friends, too.

Learn more about Vreeland and her work at http://www.svreeland.com/ . Viking Press will publish her latest novel, The Forest Lover, in hardback next January. The following year will bring Life Studies, a collection of short stories about famous painters, as well as the Penguin paperback edition of The Forest Lover.

Mark Your Calendar

Writers Mixer
Wednesday, October 15, from 6:30 to 9 p.m., at Current Affairs Bookstore. A "must" if you are a San Diego County writer! For details, see "Calendar" at www.sandiegowriters.org.

Holiday Reading
Saturday, December 6, from 4 to 6 p.m., at The Book Garden. Share your poems, prose and seasonal cheer! For details, see "Calendar" at www.sandiegowriters.org.

Mark Your Calendar thanks to Megan Webster.
A founding member of SDWC, Megan Webster is an ESL author, editor, and poet-and a dramatic reader of A Child's Christmas in Wales at December events. mailto:MWeb5089@aol.org

Strut Your Stuff

Eclipse (Literary journal)
Seeks quality short fiction, poetry, one-act plays
Submit to: Bart Edelman, Editor Glendale College
1500 N. Verdugo Rd
Glendale, CA 91208

Include SASE and cover letter

Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist(Science fiction, horror and fantasy)
Questions: submissions@omnidawn.com

Faultline Journal Seeks fiction, poetry Submission guidelines: www.humanities.uci.edu/faultline/submissions.html
Submit to: Faultline
Dept. of English and Comparative Literature
UC Irvine
Irvine, CA 92697
Include SASE with up to 5 pages of poetry or 20 pages of fiction
Deadline: September 1, 2003 through March 1, 2004

The Great American Poetry Show Submit any subject; any style, any number of poems
Submit to: The Great American Poetry Show PO Box 69506
W. Hollywood, CA 90069-0506
Include SASE No deadline
All contributors receive one free copy.

Literary Potpourri (Online journal for short stories and flash fiction)
Short Story Contest Prize: $750 plus print and Web publication $10 reading fee (PayPal or mail) Flash Fiction Contest Prize: $250 plus print and Web publication $5 reading fee (PayPal or mail) Questions: litpot@adelphia.net