My good friend Julia over at A Piece of My Mind tagged me for the Tag, You’re It! meme. Except… she asked some of the boys to do it.

The timing of this fits nicely. I’ve got something in the works that’ll allow you all to bring at least a piece of Trevor into your homes… stay tuned for that. But in the meantime, let me hand things over to our favorite bass player.

Six unspectacular quirks? What the fuck?

First off, nothing, and I mean nothing about Trevor Wolff is unspectacular. Got that? Total package. It’s all spectacular. Come closer and see for yourself if you have to.

Probably the only thing in my life that could maybe sort of be unspectacular is Rusty. She’s Mitchell’s wife, but I’m stuck with her. I did my best to make sure that didn’t happen. Trevor Wolff doesn’t fail often, but when I do, fireworks go off. But don’t tell Rusty I said that ’cause she’ll start telling me all about the fireworks she sees when she and Mitchell go at it and that’ll just make me puke. I fucking hate puking.

Look close. I told you six things in there. Don’t hurt yourself, though. It’d suck if you were too hurt to come close and see how spectacular I am.

Check out THIS poem.

Doesn’t it remind you of our favorite Poet?

More from me in bit… be sure you’ve seen Twist, okay?

Back in May, I did something that made me immediately loathed by some of the big-name book blogs and some authors out there: I gathered up a team and launched a blog devoted to listing contests involving books. br /br /It doesn’t sound like the sort of thing that would invoke derision from the very people I’m seeking to talk about. I mean, isn’t it a span style=”font-style:italic;”good/span thing when people talk about you? br /br /But, apparently, there are people out there who are basically contest groupies. They enter everything. And there are the people who win the books and then turn around and sell them on eBay. br /br /During the three years I spent working on a fan convention for my favorite real band (and you regulars know who that band is), I heard more than once about this same type of person. It seems they’re not unique to the book world. So while I marvel that people would act this way with a book, it’s not my first exposure to this sort of person. No matter where we go and what we do, there will always be the shady few among us. br /br /I almost gave up Win a Book after the first week, demoralized when I was told that an author holds contests to give away books to her devoted following, not to gain new fans. My dear friend Breeni talked me into keeping with it, and our following grew by leaps and bounds — but not among the authors so much as among the men and women who devote their blogs to talking about the books they’ve read. And yes, the books they are giving away. In fact, if you mention their contest on your blog, they’ll give you an extra entry. br /br /This community of book bloggers is strong but, perhaps, often overlooked. To help combat that, a href=”http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/”My Friend Amy/a declared September 15 through 19 to be Book Blogger Appreciation Week. And in conjunction with this week, she asked for nominations in a number of categories. When all was said and done with that step, she realized that popular demand had created a new category: Most Altruistic Blog. And Win a Book was one of the nominees.br /br /I’m always pleased to be thought of by others. But to be included in this particular category? It fits, and it fits nicely, I think. Whenever I drop by someone’s blog to tell them I’ve posted their contest at Win a Book, I usually tell them there’s no need to enter me. I’m doing this to help spread the word about the book, the author, the blogger… I’m not doing this to win books. (The exception to this “no need to enter me” rule is if a book is on my wishlist)br /br /Since that rocky first week, I’ve found other authors who span style=”font-style:italic;”are/span willing to have us post about their giveaways. I also post links to guest blog posts by authors whose names frequently pop up, as well as links to interviews. I like to post about sales and deals. I love to hear that I’ve turned people on to books. br /br /Look. I’m a writer. I know all too well how hard this game of publishing is. There are things going on in the publishing industry that I loathe. Win a Book is just one way that I’m trying to make a difference and make things better for all of us writers.br /br /Yep. Altruistic. br /br /Maybe that’s why I don’t care if Win a Book wins in its category. I’d be thrilled if it does, but for now, it’s enough to know that I span style=”font-style:italic;”am/span making a difference. Hopefully that’s only the beginning.br /br /Now, it’s span style=”font-style:italic;”your/span turn to make a difference. Go on over to My Friend Amy’s and vote, will you, please? Even if you don’t vote for Win a Book. But there are a lot of great blogs nominated in a lot of great categories. Raise your voices and make a difference. br /br /Use a href=”http://www.myfriendamysblog.com/2008/09/bbaw-awards-2008-voting-booth.html”this link/a.

Yeah, I know. I put the asterik in there… makes me sick, too, but every now and then, you gotta conform.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to bring these two things to your attention for too long now. Long enough that I’m tired of The Tour Manager closing my Firefox window and the open tabs along with it. And it’s Sunday. Seems like a good time to bring you a Sunday Best.

First off, we have a very cute set of cookie cutter and six cookie recipes from the folks at Punk Rock Kitchen. While this is sort of pink and definitely missing the biting social commentary that characterizes punk rock, it’s still a lot of fun. I’d definitely give this as a birthday present to the younger set.

And next, this is something I’d totally like to track down and get for myself. It’s a new graphic novel (and you guys know how I love my graphic novels *coughJoannSfarcough*) about an all-girl rock band, the Apocalipstix. The book was actually released in July, so it only took a month to cross my radar. Not bad, but really. They could have sent me a review copy and I’d be telling you all to go on over to Front Street Reviews and read what I thought of it.

So there ya go. Some cool shit for a US Labor Day weekend. Make it a good one; it’s the unofficial end of summer. I’m going to miss summer around here. Sort of.

The Sunday Scribblings Prompt this week is How I Met My…. I immediately thought of one of the most important instances in my fictional world: when Mitchell and Kerri met.

BUT, I’ve got a life. And that life demanded that I join the Cub Scouts and the rest of my family (still-infected finger and all) for a weekend up in Cook Forest State Park. Camping. Which means the only writing I did was in my head. I did a lot of writing last night; every time I closed my eyes, I was back on that damn canoe.

Mitchell and Kerri will have to wait until later in the week. For now, it’s all about the old stuff.

I have posted two great stories in this vein here on the blog. Both have their great qualities and it’s hard to choose one to talk about first.

Check out Chelle LaFleur‘s post that started out to be about a local musician named Jock LaFeet and became, instead, about Chelle’s introduction to four guys driving around the country in Dad’s Ford Bronco. Four guys who call themselves ShapeShifter.

Read it here — and laugh with me about how Chelle’s voice has evolved into something I now adore. Hope you do, too.

Whoops. A third introduction crept into my awareness. (Read on for the second; I’m out of order for the moment.) The first time ShapeShifter runs into Deadly Metal Hatchet. I miss DMH. Do you? If you’re not sure, here it is: Trevor and Mitchell first meet. Read it here, if you haven’t seen it yet. Or in a cleaned up form, as a downloadable .pdf, go here.

“How I met…” stories are important in writing fiction. Without them, your characters have no history. That makes it harder to create the all-important backstory that makes them come alive.

Now, if someone can explain why the river came alive behind my closed eyes last night, I’d appreciate it. That’s one “How I met” experience that I could live without. It better think twice if it thinks it’s welcome to return tonight…

I’m going to pick on my fellow writer friend, Amy Ruttan, here. But only for a moment. And only because of the numerous people who’ve asked me why I don’t join RWA, she’s the only regular reader I know of. (Feel free to correct me on this subject)

Now, let me start off by saying that while I feel that only recognizing certain publishers is counter-productive to everyone — and let’s not open that argument here; that’s not what this post is about — that’s not my reason for not joining RWA. To be honest, I think there are a lot of reasons why this organization would be good for me.

But the local meetings are SO far away that I can get to another state or two faster than I can get there. And the local meetings — at least the last time I checked, over a year and a half ago — were all day on a Saturday. I don’t want to miss out on that much family time. Not to mention how angry my cats will get with me for being gone that long.

Yeah, that’s a pretty good reason to keep my distance. After all, isn’t part of the reason we join these things to be able to talk in person to other writers?

Well, there’s Nationals, everyone argues. What a great time Nationals is. I have to go. I’m missing out.

Yeah, okay, sure. After the great experience I had at Romantic Times last April, I can totally believe that.

Except for one thing.

You see, to me, this is what one wears when one gets dressed up and wants to put a good face on for the world to see. Pull on my washable suede pants, add a pair of Doc Martens, or maybe my $2 slip-on tennies with the skull-and-crossbones insignia all over them and … you get the idea.

Needless to say, I’d get thrown out on my skulls. Nevermind that every single person on the planet says to wear what you’re comfortable in, especially if you’re going to make pitches. Nevermind that I write about rock and roll for a reason (that reason being this is who I am).

Nope, boys and girls. It’s all about the dress code. I don’t pass muster, and I have no real desire to play dress up and pretend to be someone I’m not.

Take me or leave me. But do it as I am.

(btw, for you Eagle-eyed groupies and casual link-clickers, yes, that IS the very smoking Rob Zombie in that hoodie I so covet. And for the record, I’m not buying it. If it were a pullover it’d be mine. Hear that, Rob???? Wanna pass that along to your wife, please, since it’s her clothing line we’re discussing here?)

(and is it any coincidence that now that I’m trying out EntreCard, Blogger thinks I’m a spam blog? Didn’t think so.)

I won’t bore you with the chain of events, but suffice it to say I’m taking an antibiotic that’s just making me want to make like Mitchell, in this outtake. (He’s so much fun to pick on!)

So I spent yesterday on the couch with the Olympics on and the laptop sucking me in. That means that today’s the first day I’ve been able to fire up my XM Online and listen to the temporary Metallica channel.

I was right when I said sitting here would be easy and getting up to go to the bathroom would be hard. I’m also a bit concerned that there’s soon going to be food caked everywhere on my desk and carpet… you get the idea.

If you’re not as addicted as I am, you might want to check this out. I got an e-mail from Sneak Attack Media, telling me about this cool indie flick they’re showing online. It’s called Dig! and I can hardly wait to sit and watch it, myself.

Once October comes, and my all-Metallica XM channel is no more.

Of course.

Thirteen things the fans treasure Admit it. You have a shelf, or a box, or a wall, or a closet full of stuff that you keep only because it came from your favorite band. Some things are universal to all bands. Others are specific to our favorite fictional band, ShapeShifter. See how many you have — or how many you wish you have. 1. Anything autographed and yes, it’s true that the boys will autograph anything. Guitars, CD booklets, clothes, and bodies. For the girls, bras are popular. For the guys, it’s their t-shirts. For the desperate with nothing else to have signed, it’s the backstage pass. 2. The autographs that are then turned into tattoos are treasures, but they probably won’t be worth money some day. 3. Any girl who’s played the Steal the Band’s Underwear have quite the treasure. Especially if they’re lucky enough to get something worn for more than five minutes. 4. Set lists. The most valuable of them are lifted right off the stage and still have gaffer’s tape on their edges. 5. Picks, drumsticks… the usual. It’s all customized by tour or event, of course, adding to the value. 6. Wolf Whistle t-shirts. At the end of every tour, the band plays a surprise show at local club All Access under the name Wolf Whistle. It’s usually announced the day before, and no line’s allowed to form until ten minutes before the doors are set to open. Getting in can be impossible. 7. Posters from the early shows. 8. Hell, anything from the early days. The first t-shirts. The demos. The flyers about early shows. Even the bootlegs. 9. T-shirts from special one-off shows, like the Musical Hanukkah Celebration. The only way to get these puppies is to be inside — or to have a friend who’s inside. 10. Magazines featuring the band. 11. Did I mention bootlegs? Audio, video, it’s both good. 12. Personal pictures with the guys. Again, these may not be worth much to anyone but you unless you’ve got a picture of you and a guy in a compromising position — and with Trevor, there is no such thing as a compromising position. 13. Ticket stubs. The unused old style ones or the new computer scanned are the best treasures, but sometimes, anything will do. Don’t know who ShapeShifter is? Click on the link and fix that; you’ll be taken to a bio page of the band. From there, you can click on the names of other characters who populate my fiction and/or this blog and explore my world. Come on. You know you can’t resist.

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things.
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I should have put the pieces together when my XM Radio was flooded with Metallica as we drove from here to points around Virginia, and back home again. I mean, I know how the Big Publicity Machine cranks up right before a band has a new CD to release. It’s fun to watch, particularly if you like the band.

And you guys know I like my Metallica. Okay, the last album, St. Anger. Let’s talk about that in one sentence: DOESN’T LIVE UP TO POTENTIAL. (sheesh, do I have report cards from when I was a kid that says the same thing. Am I in good company, or what?)

I’m hopeful that the new album won’t have this problem. I’d have to threaten to get on the case of the guy who I often think of as the inspiration for Roadie Poet, but he has nothing to do with the music Metallica makes. That would be a waste of my time. Not to mention his; I like him too much to do that to him.

Besides, I’m going to be rather busy come this Saturday, 16 August. I got word today that XM Radio is launching a Mandatory Metallica channel (51 for those of you whose eyes just lit up like mine did). It’ll run the whole way until 30 September, by which point I expect I might be all Metallica-ed out. Maybe. I mean, heck, why not? It’s not like they’re coming to my (lame) city before the end of January.

Writers often talk about “bum glue” (which is a phrase I hate because I hate the word bum when we’re talking about the good old tuchas. I mean, really. Why use bum when there’s this great Yiddish word to use instead??). Tuchas glue… that’s what we often need to make ourselves sit down and write.

Anyone want to place bets on how much I’ll get done with 45 days of Metallica, a definite stimulant to my muse, blaring away in here?

Scary thought, I know. Especially because the real question is how many bathroom breaks I’ll deny myself ’cause I just can’t tear myself away from the one millionth listening of Master of Puppets…

Yep, it’s that time of year again when you guys make me feel the warm fuzzies. You know, it’s hard to write scenes with Trevor in them when I’ve got the warm fuzzies. Trevor, as most of you know, is diametrically opposed to the warm fuzzies. (Between you and me, I think Trevor’s terrified of the warm fuzzies, but I don’t think any of you groupies are surprised by that.)

There are a ton of awards that have been directed not just at this blog, but at my Win a Book blog, too. Let me recap for you:

Allessandra at her place has given Win a Book the Brillante Award. She thanks us for helping her win new reads.

My dear friend Bob-kat has given me the SuperCommentor award. I think all you guys know how hard I try to say something of meaning, so this felt very good, indeed. Read what she had to say here.

More of that Brillante Award. My dear, dear friend Bunnygirl sent this one my way, and coming from her, that’s high praise. Once school starts for my kids, don’t be surprised if you hear more adventures of Susan and Bunnygirl…

Win a Book was actually awarded two more awards, but as they rolled in when I was about to roll off to Cub Scout Camp, I sent them to Breeni and asked her to acknowledge them on behalf of the WaB team.

I’d pass these along because I’ve met even more cool people of late and am dying to acknowledge them, but I’m also about to pop back out of town for another week. (Or I’m already there. You decide.) Once the summer travels are over and life settles down into a pre-school and kids’ birthday hubbub, I’ll see what I can do to make sure you know of the coolness that’s been entering my life.

Awards or no, know I’m grateful to all of you for hanging out with me. And Trevor. And the rest of the fictional folk who populate this place. I may be busy doing semi-interesting things right now, but it won’t last. The fictional gang are still more interesting than I am. That’s not going to change; it’s why I’m a writer.

Every time I try to write something for this week’s prompt, what I wind up with is too long. This is leading to the pleasant swelling of scenes I intend to post on this blog, treasures saved up for a day when inspiration runs low. But it’s also leading to the unpleasant problem of not having anything worthwhile this week. Since I took last week off, I really want to be able to play along this week, especially since I’ll be out of town for the next two weeks, which will make playing hard, as I’ll have no Net access…

Really. Once you get on my bad side, there’s not a lot of hope for you.

Which is why I had to point out that the Pittsburgh Hilton is having a bit of trouble paying their workers.

This Hilton, I’ve learned, is actually a franchise hotel. Its owners claim to be digging themselves out of the financial hole they got themselves into. But the hotel still bears the Hilton name and a franchise or not, it’s still the Hilton company who looks bad. ‘Cause you can’t tell me that the other three Hilton-named hotels I’ve had crappy experiences in were franchises, too. If so, then the Hiltons really ought to consider who they’re letting buy in. I meant it when I said I was done staying at anything bearing the Hilton name.

I know that every single person at the Romantic Times Convention here in Pittsburgh with me are joining me in an impassioned eye roll, snicker, and even, perhaps, a shudder of horror at the memories of that place.

A story in Thirteen parts 1. A few weeks ago, I posted about this website I’d found that listed fake bands. Seemed to me that ShapeShifter should be on there, but the site hadn’t been updated in almost a year. That goddess Winter went and contacted the dude, who said he’s still collecting band names (but it helps if he’s heard of them) but isn’t planning an update anytime soon. Well. 2. Many of you suggested that I make my own list of fake bands. Trevor won’t let me do that, though. Most of you guys know him. He may be fictional, but he’s an original, and he demands that the people around him be brave enough to be original, too. 3. I’d already been playing with this idea beforehand, so I went and made the time and … check it out. A list of Rock and Roll fiction. Yeah, you know. Not just bands, but books about bands. 4. I began by making a list of what’s on my shelves. Then I added in titles I’d run into in other places online. That added up to a long list. 5. As I kept looking around, I found more. You know how it is when you’re looking for a purple car. Suddenly, most of the cars on the road are purple. 6. You may have heard of some of these books, like Reservation Blues, by Sherman Alexie. Or Roddy Doyle’s The Commitments. 7. Maybe you’ve only heard of some of the authors, like Jay McInerney, who wrote Bright Lights, Big City. 8. The best-known might be Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity. 9. Lots of these books were written by people with music industry experience (like me). Check out my favorites, Don Bruns and David Hiltbrand. 10. Nope, I haven’t read all of them yet. Yes, I intend to! And no, I won’t tell which I’ve read and which I haven’t. (Well, okay, except for the above two. Sort of.) Some have been talked about on this blog, but you’ll have to go find them… 11. That means you should read them, too, and form your OWN opinion. I hear lots of complaints about cliches — do you see any? If so, where? (seriously. I want to know.) 12. If you know of any titles I’m missing, you know how to contact me. I’d like this list to be as complete as humanly possible. 13. All the buy links on my blog and website go to Powells. There are lots of reasons for this, but the least is that I get a cut if you buy anything. My plan with that piece of the action is to return it to you via giveaways. I’d love to start doing that, you know… See the list!

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

As Lisa noticed, no Poetry Train from me. I was sort of hoping I wouldn’t get to this point until next week, but here I am.

Here’s the deal. Like most writers at certain points, it’s time to step aside and deal with…

1. a short story I’m working on for submission. Yes, me, who was begged in graduate school to stop writing short stories because I’m so bad at them. It’s time to see if I’ve learned a thing or two, writing outtakes.

2. A project I’ve had in the wings for a long time now. After talking to some really cool people about it, I think I’m going to go ahead.

3. Straightening out the agent thing. This is one of those things that’s surprised me with how it’s played out. In April, I approached an agent with a proposal for Trevor’s Song. She was enthusiastic but wanted to discuss it further. She said the next day. I figured the next week, and I cleared my calendar.

Needless to say, I’m still waiting, and it’s been three and a half months. Phone calls aren’t being returned. Nor is e-mail. I’m thinking so much for that proposal and it’s time to do what Trevor would.

4. Some other projects I’ve been wanting to get to.

5. Finishing up the novel-in-progress. Man, I’ve been drafting it forever. It’s taken WAY too long, but not because of the blog.

and then there’s the personal stuff.

1. I am absolutely ADDICTED to the Tour de France. Addicted, I tell you.

2. I knew it was only a matter of time before this happened, but the conditions in my gym have deteriorated to the point where I had a full-blown asthma attack while doing a program that shouldn’t have had me breathing hard. It’s my first attack in five years. I’ve been making noises for two months now to the Tour Manager that this was inevitable. I’ve skipped working out some days to avoid reaching this point. It can’t be avoided any longer. Time to switch, most likely to the mondo snooty, cliquish, expensive place that’s sadly the only option.

3. It’s that time of year again! I am taking #1 to Cub Scout Camp again this year! If the idea of me in a snooty, cliquish, expensive health club isn’t enough to make you snort your Frosted Flakes out your nose, this ought to be. Me in a metal-frame tent with an oil cloth over it, a platform supporting it, and two cots (with mattresses) inside. Not to mention the latrine at campsite.

Now, stop laughing. I absolutely adore it.

4. After camp comes vacation. We’ll be staying in a very lovely looking B&B, and then moving to a cabin in a National Park. Yep, a return to the idea of going from the snooty to the rustic. I’m still loving it.

I’ll be here, off and on. Make sure you’ve got me in your reader, but stop back anyway ’cause my blog stats could use the love. The better my blog stats, the better my bragging rights about you guys to people who’ll come through in their ambition to get Trevor into print. Think of it that way.

See ya at some point I have yet to figure out…

The prompt this week at Sunday Scribblings is My Oldest Friend.

I’ve never been one to hold on to friends forever. The fact that the Tour Manager has been in my life as much as he has is, in and of itself, amazing. Yet we weren’t friends until about thirteen years ago. Or maybe we were; who can really tell among all that teenage angst and jockeying for popularity and the right crowd?

I suppose it makes sense, then, that this is an issue that I see within my fictional band, ShapeShifter. The four men who make up the band are friends onstage and off. It all began when a shy kid named Mitchell Voss met the outlandish abused outcast, Trevor Wolff. (You can read this episode here on the blog or here as a cleaned-up, downloadable .pdf file. Your pick.)

Trevor had a vision. Mitchell had a guitar. ShapeShifter was born.

(This is one of my favorite posts about the two of them.)

In due time, Eric and Daniel were brought into the fold. Yes, this was the band’s original lineup and yes, it’s the lineup in the band’s adventures here on the blog. It’s also part of the crux of Trevor’s Song, my on-the-market novel that this blog was originally designed to support.

There are other relationships lurking in my fiction. Daniel has had the same girlfriend since he was sixteen. Her name is Val and you can meet her here and here, among other places (click on her name to find them). I love playing with Val because she’s so different from our other long-term woman in the place, Mitchell’s love, Kerri. One of these days, I’ll do even more with the Daniel-Val relationship. Daniel and Val have grown up together; their relationship is complex, a little bit twisted and maybe even a little bit tragic. Yet they endure.

There are other relationships bubbling around my fictional world, too. Music writer Chelle LaFleur has a crush on Mitchell (and who in her right mind doesn’t? He’s a dashing, romantic sort of guy with charisma out the very cute wazoo) — and has since she first saw them driving into town in his dad’s Ford Bronco with a U-Haul on back. Read about it here — and marvel with me at how Chelle’s voice has evolved.

Notice how much of this revolves around Mitchell? That’s what being loyal to the cool people does for you, and one of the coolest people around is Lyric. Read about her first encounters with Mitchell here — and watch for more to come. I’ve got them stashed aside for the right time to spring them on you.

I suspect that as this thing grows, as we get closer to getting Trevor’s Song into some form of print, there will be more characters who are friends of the core crew around here. New friends, old friends — friends are where it’s at.

Says the woman who sits behind her computer all day, with only a cat for company…

(did you buy that last line?)

If you want to learn more about any of these characters, use the Cast of Characters tab at the top of the page.

Lately, I’ve taken to posting about authors whose new releases cross my radar. There are plenty of them, of course — and I’m always looking for more. Since my latest update has thirteen authors with new releases (or re-releases), I figured I’d let the band party for another week and remind you of the good stuff that’s already out there. Buying a book in the first 90 days of its release is a great way to support your favorite author (followed only by buying up everything else they’ve published in the past). Here you go: Thirteen Book Blips on Susan’s Radar 1. Anna J. Evans Wicked Witch of the West Village Devil Take Me 2. RG Alexander Who Needs Another Superhero? 3. Carrie Alexander Nobody’s Hero 4. Donica Covey Tides of Maryna’s Love 5. Dakota Cassidy Accidentally Dead 6. Amy Wallen MoonPies and Movie Stars is now out in paper! 7. Christina Dodd Into the Shadow 8. Shelley Munro Price of Love 9. Jennifer Estep Karma Girl has been re-released in the mass-market-size format 10. Elin Hilderbrand A Summer Affair 11. Lorelei James Tied up, Tied Down 12. Stephanie Kuehnert I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone 13. Vanessa Jaye Felicity Stripped Bare Let me know if you’ve encountered anything great, rave-worthy, or just worth talking about. Yes, feed my small book problem! ** A lack of link in the book title simply means you can’t buy it via Powells. It’s no statement of quality.

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will try to link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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Before we get to the fun, please be sure to stop over at the Midnight Moon Cafe today and wish Tempest a happy birthday!

Now, onto business:

Thirteen ShapeShifter July 4 stories 1. When the band was in their struggling, pre-record deal days, they played a local show at Decade. Ten people showed up. Ten people left around 8:30 to get a good view of the fireworks in Riverview Park. The show started at 8. 2. The year they signed their record deal, ShapeShifter was invited to play the big Riverview Park festivities. Until one of the city councilmen heard their music and went on record as saying, “I don’t care if there’s a Voss in the band. That garbage isn’t polluting my July Fourth.” 3. A year or two after that, the band tried to play a bigger show. Again, no one bought tickets. They got paid their guarantee, but it didn’t feel much like a holiday. 4. Now, the band knows: either be in Europe where the Fourth isn’t a holiday at all and people will come out in droves to see you, or take the week off. 5. Mitchell prefers taking the week off. This is because he’s got a small love affair going with his grill. And what better holiday is there for grilling than the Fourth? 6. I’m sure many of you are expecting to hear how Trevor likes to go wild with the fireworks on the Fourth. Except… he doesn’t. After all, everyone does fireworks on the Fourth and his name is Trevor Wolff, thankyouverymuch. He’s not everybody. 7. Daniel, however, has no such qualms. If they make it, he’s tried it. Usually using Mitchell’s parents’ back yard as his launching pad. 8. He spends a lot of time making nice to the neighbors. It’s not totally necessary, but Sonya and Patterson insist on it. They’re big on doing the right thing, especially after those small fires that Daniel’s experiments started… 9. Mitchell tried using sparklers as lights so he could see the steaks on the grill. It wasn’t one of his better ideas. He got so busy trying to see what he was doing, he burned his fingers. 10. Guitar players plus burned fingers does NOT equal a good idea in anyone’s book. Except maybe for Kerri and Amy’s. But then, when those two get together, whatever happens usually finds Mitchell bearing the brunt of it. 11. Like the flowered apron that Amy managed to not only get over his head, but knotted so well that Mitchell finally took a steak knife to it in order to escape. 12. Of course, when you get four guys in a band together and add beer and a relaxed environment, you get one thing… a jam session. 13. All four guys get to apologize to the neighbors in the morning, including their friend the city councilman. Yeah, the one who didn’t want ShapeShifterly garbage polluting his July Fourth.

Want more? Need some background? Click on the links in the peoples’ names above and you’ll be transported to their bio page at my main website. If you click on the name of the town, you’ll find out why #2 caused some waves…

Get the Thursday Thirteen code here!

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will try to link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!
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I love this week’s Sunday Scribblings prompt. It’s ripe with possibility.

Vision

Do I write about how Scott from Deadly Metal Hatchet wears glasses? Things Chelle observes in her role as a rock and roll reporter for the fictional Trumpet newspaper? What about Roadie Poet? What’s in his vision these days besides a friend named Hambone and a girlfriend he calls More?

I could just post the outtake I have ready to go on Sunday night (so if you’re reading this after Sunday, be sure to check it out). It’s all about a vision Mitchell has. Or I could point you to an archived outtake, like this one. (For anyone familiar with my archives, it’s the Flags outtake.)

But when you get right down to it, this blog and everything on it best represents my vision. My vision of my fictional world, my vision of what it’s like to share it with readers, my vision of what it means to be a writer in 2008. Yes, I’m dying to bring you Trevor’s Song, the novel. No, I can’t even begin to tell you how much richer your reading experience will be because you hang out here with me. Or even stop in and visit from time to time, as many of you do.

I can tell you how much richer my own writing and my own vision for my fiction has become. Because I’ve got this place and because I’ve got readers, I’m constantly pushing myself to dig deeper into this fictional city of Riverview, USA. Not to mention the things I push myself to discover about these characters you read about here. Yes, even the ones you don’t seem to love nearly as much as you love Trevor and Mitchell.

One thing really strikes me in all this: when I began to envision my fake band ShapeShifter (the fake band bit is a reference to my Thursday Thirteen this week and ooh, it hurts to think of these guys as fake. Fictional, sure. Fake? Not so much.), it was Mitchell and Kerri I created first. Trevor has become the proverbial secondary character who insisted on … well, not just his own book, but really running the show.

Yet look at this. Who do you guys relate to the most? Who are your favorites? Trevor, Mitchell, and Roadie Poet (with Chelle running a close second and probably Lyric right there with her, if you knew her better).

They are all men.

I wish I could tell you about the rejection letters I’ve gotten from literary agents who ask me who’d want to read a book about a man. That’s the reason some of them cite for why they don’t want to work with me. They tell me that men don’t read as many books as women, and that Trevor’s Song can’t possibly appeal to women.

Yet Trevor has become the man you can’t help but love. You want more of him and frankly, I don’t blame you. Trevor breaks the rules, and he does so in a manner that irritates a lot of people because he flaunts those rules he’s busy breaking. He blows marijuana smoke in the faces of the school principals while Mitchell hides in a bathroom stall, afraid of what’ll happen once he’s caught and has to face his father. He’s the bad boy with a soft side that everyone but him acknowledges.

I am eager to share my vision with you. I’ve often been vocal about the idea to collect the outtakes I’ve written and self-publish a little volume of them, for no reason other than to let you have some Trevor and Mitchell to hold into your hands. I’m holding off on that for now for reasons I don’t want to get into, but know that it’s something that I just may have to pull a Trevor and do for you. Flaunt the rules, do things my way, on my own terms…

Yeah, that’s part of my vision for myself and for you, my readers. There’s plenty more, of course, so stay tuned for it.

I can’t even begin to thank my friend Winter enough. She volunteered to take my rough idea of the ShapeShifter logo and was able to turn it into something amazing and incredible. Please stop by Winter’s place and rave about what she’s done for me. And if you have ideas of a special pressie as a way of saying thanks, I’m all ears.

One question before I spend the day staring in rapture at it (again): Do you think it’ll help my chances of being listed here? I mean, is that site tailor-made for me, or WHAT? You know I aspire to be there.