I Saw a Successful Writer Last Night

I went to Willamette Writers' monthly meeting here in Portland yesterday evening where we always have a speaker, and I ALWAYS learn something. Last night I mostly just had a great time watching a young fellow describe his experience of "winning the writer's equivalent of the lottery." (Quote by Cynthia Whitcomb who introduced him.) Daniel is the man who sold his first fiction novel -- when he had written 100 pages -- to Steven Spielberg. The finished book "Robopocalypse" opened in 13th place on the NY Times Best Seller list. He's been consulted all this past year by Dreamworks about the robots they're building, and rightfully so because he has a Ph.D in robotics.
See this isn't really a lottery. This is a smart guy writing about what he knows and what he has a great passion for. Everything he has written (non-fiction up to now) has been successful because he is a hard worker, clever, quick-witted, and passionate. And yes there was some luck involved, but not as much as you might think.
What did I learn this time? Don't hold back, use everything I have, this might be the only book I write so do my best, and follow every lead for a shot at publishing/agent/etc. Daniel has used everything he learned in academia to aid him in his writing career. Smart man.

I Am a New Yorker

Never mind that I do not now, nor have I ever -- in thisd lifetime -- been a resident of New York. Since the first time I read about NYC I wanted to move there, live there. The first time I flew into La Guardia I had this feeling in my stomach: I'm coming home. By the next afternoon, as I was walking the streets of Greenwich Village, people were asking me directions, and I was giving them -- correctly. I have a good sense of direction and I pay attention. I don't know why people ask me for directions, but it happens.
I saw many, many Off- and Off-Off-Broadway shows on that first trip, no Broadway shows. It was 1979. My collaborator and I were there to visit with American Place Theatre about the possibility of their producing our play, but they weren't comfortable with our requirement of an all-woman cast, so there went that dream, onto the next.
Over the years I have returned to NYC as many times as I could afford it. I have made many friends in NY, and friends have moved to NY. I've subscribed to The New Yorker since 1981 and read the blurbs about the current shows, arts, music as avidly as if I were planning my weekly outings. I read the New York Times for news and arts the same way.
So what keeps me from moving to Manhattan, Brooklyn, or Queens? Not money, though I have none to speak of. I live small and frugally, I could manage. No, I stay where I am because of family.
I was born with a huge case of wanderlust. I love to travel. I have, in fact, travelled. Now that my resources are so limited I just want to be near my family. And they don't want to live in NYC. Nor could we afford to, as a family. So I'm looking to my next visit to New York, my real home.

What have I learned so far from my big fall?

I've been trying to think about what it means to be injured -- not horribly injured, as in paralyzed or blinded, but definitely sidelined. If I were a sports player, I would be benched. I'm having to type with my left pointer finger. Not so great. I also find that my concentration is limited, and my memory is pitiful. I have left things behind, forgotten words and names, and I feel pretty cranky in general. So maybe I've learned nothing yet. I'm taking in the fact that I have a great many friends who are concerned. I appreciate so much the ones who have been able to bring me food when I couldn't get out, and run me on errands when I couldn't drive. I can only barely drive yet.
I have a feeling there is a lesson still to be revealed. If you have been injured I'd like to hear from you. What have you learned, if anything?

Old Enough?

During the Vietnam War the people of the US put enough pressure on Congress to lower the voting age to 18 because young men were being drafted at 18, fighting, dying for our country at 18. I know the drinking age was 18 in some states as well. I don't know if that was nationwide.
The voting age remained. The draft was abolished in favor of an all volunteer military. But during the Vietnam War, it was rare for people to do more than one tour. Now they do three or four. Our volunteer military goes way above and beyond the call of duty IMHO. But that is not my subject today.
Age is. We are an aging population in the US. I had many friends who went to the war I protested. I worked for the US Army Recruiting Main Station before I became a protester, so I witnessed literally hundreds of young men going off to war.
One thing that never occurred to me to protest was the age limits for holding office. This morning I read an article on this topic. John Seery is proposing an amendment to the US Constitution to lower the age requirements. I agree with him. Read his article and see what you think.
http://www.salon.com/news/politics/war_room/2011/06/26/john_seery_age/index.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

down ... temporarily out

like humpty i took a great fall. yesterday at weiden & kennedy, missed the last step, went down hard on left knee and right hand. hand so hard that i broke my elbow. now typing one-fingered with left hand. don't expect a lot of words for awhile! i'm in a cast.

Intention of my work

Today I am completing an application to further my work as a playwright. I haven't written a lot about my playwriting here on this blog. When I started here I thought I would. I thought I might even put up scenes from plays here. So far, no. I thought I might put up poems, and I did put up a few, then I learned that posting poems on one's blog was considered "publishing" them and I stopped. Good grief. I was looking for feedback on fledging poems, but that was my naivete. Now that I know, I won't be posting poems here until after they have been published elsewhere. After I have already sent them out into the world. Scenes from plays can always be reworked. Playwriting is a whole 'nother ballgame.
Anyway, the app asks, as one possibility, for a person to describe her intention of her work. Today I think I might choose that option. So, I am here to explore with you or in front of you, that intention. And then, I'd love to hear from you what YOUR intention is about your own work, any piece of your work. Whatever you are working on in your life. Put it out there. For example, for a long time I worked in the field of disability. I was an examiner for Social Security. Then an analyst for that insurance company, then a supervisor, then a manager. Then I left to become a person who represented Social Security claimants at their hearings before Administrative Law Judges for their disability benefits. I was good at it. Because my intention in that job was for a win-win-win. I felt that what I did benefited not only the claimants by obtaining their benefits for them, but the insurance company by reducing their payout, as well as Social Security by assuring that only the people with genuine claims were being represented. I should add a 4th win, because of course, my company also got paid. I loved that job. That's the one I retired from.
My intention for my work as a playwright is similar. I want my characters to overcome their obstacles, my plays to have the proper structure so my audience feels the satisfaction from a story well told. Above all, I want my audience to be entertained. Not necessarily happy, but moved in some way, changed from the time they entered the venue.
How about you? How do you get satisfaction from your work? Does intention help you?

Supreme Court Rules for Wal-Mart against 1.5 million women today

The Justices ruled 5.4 to throw out a discrimination suit against Wal-Mart today brought by almost 1.5 million female employees of Wal-Mart who alleged that the employer discriminated against them because they were women. Didn't pay equal wages for equal work, didn't promote them the same as men, and so on. Same old same old. Case is thrown out. I have this to say about that: we would not have to sue for equal wages, or sex discrimination if we were equal citizens under the law. Women are do not have equal rights in this country. We never have had. We have yet to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.
We have tried. We have come THIS close. We could still do it. We are THREE STATES away from passing the ERA. Still. I know, it seemed like we lost back in 1978, and many of us gave up hope, and the whole Women's Rights movement pretty much fizzled out at that point. There are still feminists, even Second Wave feminists. Now Third Wave feminists. But there is now legal interpretation that shows we can still pass the ERA itself if three more states will ratify it. We need to put life into the movement once again. For this we need new blood. We need our BROTHERS, we need our ALLIES, we need everyone who is willing for women to have equal rights to stand up and be counted.
Please go to http://equalrightsamendment.org/ and read up on this issue. See what you can do, and then take some small (or large or ANY size) action. Be a hero for women's rights. Do you have equal rights in your state? Are you a feminist? What does the word feminist mean to you?