One of my favorite cartoonists, Jules Feiffer, has turned 85 and recently published his first graphic novel, Kill My Mother. Because the book departs from his usual satirical expression and ventures into tragicomedy, an interviewer asked how the cartoonist arrived at his plot. Fei
Winning the Pulitzer Prize won’t ensure a writer respect from a certain cadre of critics, those who owe their high perches to their employment rather than to any literary achievement. For good or ill, these arbitrators of taste imagine they determine what passes for fine literat
When I last wrote about my play, I’d emailed the manuscript to the Artistic Director of the Post5 Theatre. Soon after, I was assailed by doubts. Maybe I’d sent it too soon, without checking for typing errors, or dropped lines or the need to rewrite entire scenes. Dou
Unfortunately for language purists the “grammatically challenged” continue to contaminate the way we write and speak and have done so since the first, primitive grunt. I confess I am one of the challenged. Recently, I submitted a manuscript for technical review and it was retu
As my play nears production, my 4th novel goes nowhere while I search for an agent. Getting a big-time agent is at the top of my bucket list — someone out of New York or Chicago or San Francisco. I had a brush with one the other day, but she declined my manuscript because th
Those of us who stand at the bottom of their climb to literary success may be surprised to learn that established writers continue to face rejection once they’ve made it to the top. Having produced 4 novels, George Orwell found it nearly impossible to publish Animal Farm, for exampl
I’ve just finished an article in Harper’s about people who serve as life coaches. Though largely unschooled and uncredentialed, these folks make a living advising others on how to conduct their lives. “Why didn’t I think of that?” I asked myself as I put the magazine aside
My last entry concerning my play, Woman on the Scarlet Beast (Blog 5/15/14) ended with my description of how I leapt from my chair when the Executive Director of Post5 Theatre invited me to meet him. Arriving at the designated location, I was greeted by a tall, golden-haired y
In “Hollywood and Divine,” James Wolcott ruminates on the pluses and minuses of giving television fans what they want. (Vanity Fair, June 2014, pgs. 68-73.) While considering the question, he explores some of the more popular programs since Twin Peaks and the X-File — stor
If a reader of this blog has never listened to the radio broadcast, A Prairie Home Companion and heard Garrison Keillor’s stories of Lake Wobegon, I urge you to remedy the situation. Keillor is part of a long and illustrious line of American humorists of the 20-21st Century that s