The Man Behind The Author – Part III

This post will conclude the series I’m doing on the man who makes all my writing possible, my husband—Herman Chin.

One of the things that first attracted me to this lovely man was the fact that he is Chinese-American. Although born and raised in San Francisco, his parents both migrated from a farming village in Southern China.

I know what you’re thinking, that I was attacked to his tawny skin tones, his dark hair and almond-shaped eyes, his porcelain smooth skin. Well, perhaps a little, but what really drew me to him was his quiet, understated demeanor.  His parents developed that manner while living on a farm and working the land, and they instilled it into all their children.

But even as that first blush of romance and attraction faded, I continued to love Herman’s connection to his Chinese heritage. It’s not just a love of good Chinese food or celebrating ethnic holidays and rituals. More than anything it is a devotion to family. Herman comes from a large clan, and his family roots grow deep. There is profound respect for elders, and joy lavished on young people. They meet often to help each other, and simply enjoy being together. It is a bond I have not experienced with my own family, and I love the fact that Herman’s family has included me so that I can experience this kinfolk love.

Herman forms most of his identity from his family and his heritage, as I suppose most of us do. But unlike many people who shun or ignore that part of their life (like me), Herman embraces it.  It colors every part of his being. It keeps him humble and gives him his self respect, his sense of existence. And to me, it forms much of his attractiveness, an inner beauty that goes bone deep. 

Interview with Poet, Christopher Stephen Soden

I recently reviewed a volume of gay-themed poetry entitled: Closer by Christopher Stephen Soden, and was so impressed that I asked Mr. Soden for an interview. The following is our conversation:

Q: When did you start writing and how many books have you published?

I started attempting poetry when I was in high school, and Closer is my first full-length collection.

Q: Was there someone in your family, a teacher, or perhaps a favorite book, that inspired you to begin writing?  

My second semester in college, I took an Intro to Poetry Class, where I met Jack Myers. At the time I was an acting student, and had no particular aspirations to be a writer. At the end of the semester, Jack said he needed to see me. I was afraid he was going to read me the riot act. He looked me in the eye and said, “You need to be writing poetry.” At that point I was convinced it was divine intervention. I changed majors and Jack became my mentor, father figure and lifelong friend.

Q: What is it about poetry that draws you to it?

I think the richness and density of language, the music, the precision, the immediacy.

Q: What was the first poem you ever wrote about?

I’m a bit fuzzy, but it was in high school, and included some fairly graphic details about Aztec warriors and human sacrifice. Throbbing hearts and all that.

Q: Do you prefer writing poetry over fiction, or does it make any difference at all?

There are fiction writers I love ( Flannery O’Connor, Raymond Carver, Carson McCullers, Ethan Canin, William Faulkner, Jerzy Kosinski) and I must admit, I briefly attempted fiction, but it soon became clear that I had a propensity for poetry.

Q: Who are the authors who most influence you today?

Tracking influence can be tricky, but if I had to speculate I’d say : Phillip Levine, John Berryman, Russell Edson, Joan Larkin, Timothy Liu, Bruce Weigl, Robert Duncan, Ellen Bass.

Q: What’s the strangest source of inspiration you’ve found for your poetry?

That’s an impressively pointed question. Conceding that it would be difficult to pinpoint just one strange source, probably men’s communal showers. Though it doesn’t seem strange to me.

Q: Your latest book, Closer, has garnered an excellent review at http://glfictionreviews.blogspot.com/

Can you tell us about it?

I have been crafting poetry as my vocation for more than 35 years. Over that period I’d been sending out manuscripts to publishers on a regular basis. I have been blessed to be published in journals and anthologies, but Sven Davisson and Rebel Satori / Queermojo Press is the first to publish (June 14^th, 2011) a full length collection of my poetry. It represents the best (near as I can tell) some of it more than 20 years old, others quite recent. It includes poems written in first person, some of them made up, some of them actually happened. Many address my life as a queer male in American culture, others examine different issues. I think Closer covers a full range of emotions from playful and celebratory to angry and intense. I believe it can offer insight into the homoconnective experience for people of all orientations.

Q: So, if you don’t mind sharing, would you tell us about your latest work in progress?

I have been trying to organize the manuscript for my next collection and collaborating with a friend on an extended dramatic piece, based on the contents of Closer.

Q: Name a book or movie written by someone else that you wish you had written, and why that one?

Mullholland Drive. It astonishes me. I just adore David Lynch and the way his films blur the dividing line between dreams, nightmares and reality. Lynch's audacity always feels so nonchalant.

Q: What do you like to do when you’re not writing?

Naps, eating out, long, hot, luxurious showers, cooking, dog park, theatre, movies.

Q: Do you enjoy writing, I mean, do you find it fun?

Like so many writers, if I go too long without writing it throws me off balance, so in that sense, it’s more like a drive or passion or pressure valve. But yes, I do also find a pleasurable aspect, that makes it possible to spend prolonged amounts of time, perfecting a poem, tinkering, revising, gauging the line-breaks. I actually think it’s crucial that as artists we give ourselves permission to play, because that pleasure of submerging ourselves in a medium we enjoy (language, sound, image) also connects us to the reader.

Q: What, more than anything else, fills you with rage?

This homicidal, Draconian code of manhood that some men are indoctrinated to, that makes them think they have the right to impose it on other men at will. Remember the Scott Amedure, Jonathan Schmidt incident from the Jenny Jones Show on secret crushes that never aired? One man killed another because he professed his romantic love on a television show. Now, whatever may have happened between the taping of that show and the actual execution, somewhere in his past, someone (or a succession of people) told Schmidt he had the right to end another man’s life, if his manhood was challenged. Or whatever ridiculous motivation he embraced. Now any gay man could tell you, it’s just as likely Amedure was honoring Schmidt’s manhood, but somewhere we need a translator to negate this hysterical, toxic culture that says virility and compassion towards other men is impossible. Our queer brothers and sisters are dying left and right, and somewhere, somewhere their persecutors are being given permission to treat us like monsters. To demonize us.

Q: Can you tell us something about the place you call home?

I live in a hotbed of intolerant conservative ignorance called Dallas, Texas. I should add that it’s easy to surround yourself with open-minded people when you’re into the Arts. I’m a theatre critic, and belong to two poetry workshops, and around here, it’s unusual to find much homophobia in the creative community. I’m also told we have the sixth largest LGBT Community in America, so we do have our support centers and gay friendly congregations. I have to admit, it could be worse. On the home front I share a condo with my mother and Chloe, our rescued Shih Tzu. Both my elder sisters live in Dallas and my family and friends know I’m gay.

Q: Do you have a web page or blog where people can find out more about you?

Still working on my web page (I’m so technically challenged) but here are my FACEBOOK pages :

Author : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Soden/136834636368165

Closer : https://www.facebook.com/pages/Closer/231817783495638

Q: Anything else you’d like to share?

I truly believe that art can change the world, and for that reason, I guess I’ve straddled the fence when it comes to my poetry manifesto. It is my fervent and devoted desire to craft poetry that is intelligent, meticulous, layered and subtle while also making it intriguing, avid, energetic, vibrant and accessible. I have no problem with erudition, but as Pauline Kael (the film critic) so often pointed out, you can excite and entertain without pandering. My second strongest wish is that, in addition to reaching other members of the LGBT Community with my poetry, I just might provide a bridge for straight-identified people who need to understand that same-gender eroticism is just another aspect of our shared humanity.

Book Covers

I was part of an online discussion of writers, recently, where we discussed what types of covers sell best. Most of the people in the discussion were romance and/or erotica writers, so there was a strong bias toward showing lots of skin on the cover. Personally, I loathe headless torsos. A headless, naked male torso, or two, is the surest way for me to snub a book.

There are many factors that go into the process of a reader selecting a book to read, the most predominate is author name recognition. Other factors are title, cover art, blurb by a known name, reviews, and recommendations from friends.

I think a strong blurb does the trick, but in order to get the reader to read the blurb, one needs an eye-catching cover. Of course, what is eye-catching to one person is a turnoff to another. Different people have different preferences regarding sexy vs. tame, headless vs. visible faces, iconic vs. character-based, painted vs. photo, what types of models they find attractive, etc. If the cover art has a subject matter that interests them (something as random as a ship or a tank), it may also catch their eye even if the overall cover is distasteful.

But the less subjective factors that will consistently and reliably catch the human imagination are strong composition, good use of lighting, contrast, and color harmony. Good use of visual storytelling helps, and something unique will also get noticed.

From my perspective, the most important factor about a cover is that it accurately depicts the nature of the story. The goal is not to sell the book everyone, but only the people who will want to read it. Thus, a cover should be honest—in mood, tone, atmosphere, and subject—in matching the writing and story.

Writing Tip #35 – Dialog Is About Attitude

Yesterday, I was having coffee with James Dalessandro, a noted screenwriter, and we mostly talked about dialog. He said, “Dialog is the characters passing information to the reader, with attitude. And attitude is more important than the information.”

The best example he gave was a prison movie where Clint Eastwood, a prisoner, was meeting with the warden:

Warden: “What was your childhood like?”

Eastwood: “Short.”

The subtext, of course, is that Eastwood’s character found himself on the streets fending for himself at a very early age. But more important, is the attitude that comes across with that one word answer, which says: “Screw you. Why are you asking me these bullshit questions? Mind your own f*&%ing business!”

That is a lot to say with just one word. It speaks volumes about the character, yet it is just one word, five letters and a period. Brilliant.

So, when thinking about what your character will say, give even more thought to how s/he will say it. What are they feeling, what are they trying to get at that moment. It’s all about attitude and impact. 

Tuesday Spotlight on Backlist, Island Song

This week, for my promo Tuesday, I'm highlighting my first published novel, Island Song, Winner of the QBliss Magazine, 2008 Excellence in Literature Award. 

My favorite fan, Fausto Unamzor,  made a video trailer for Island Song, so I thought I’d share: : http://tinyurl.com/yjfnl5n

Buy Link: http://tinyurl.com/4l2oxlc

The blurb:

After watching his lover’s long and painful slide into death, there is no peace for Garrett Davidson. Grief eats at him. In a desperate bid to survive, he flees to a secluded Hawaiian refuge. There he intends to write a memoir about his relationship with Marc, hoping the process will bring closure, restore his sanity, and kick-start a career in writing. 

He meets a captivating island native, Songoree, who offers promises of enlightenment and spiritual healing—but Garrett can only achieve it by abandoning his personal history. Can Garrett endure an excruciating journey that will tear him to pieces, wreak havoc among his friends, and break his despairing heart? Is it possible to attain fulfillment, even love, by surrendering everything you cherish? To survive, Garrett must find the answers.

Excerpt:

Garrett slept through the night undisturbed until light bled through the open window. With the growing light came the dream. Within the universe surrounded by his skull, he relived an experience that he and Marc had had several years earlier while scuba diving off the coast of Baja, Mexico.

They swam in a blue-green world thirty feet below the surface in the Sea of Cortez. Garrett loved to swim facing up so he could watch their bubbles float away, mingling together as they raced to the surface. It seemed magical.

The freedom of weightlessness brought a joy so intense it was agonizing.

They darted around the hull of a sunken freighter like sea otters until a giant manta ray glided up from beneath them, serene and graceful. The manta spanned fifteen feet across, dark gray on top and virgin white on the underside. It flew up to and around them, performing a slow-motion ballet.

Caught in a vise of fear and awe, Garrett’s hair prickled while an electric charge ran from his brain to his testicles. He had never been that close to any creature so large or so incredibly beautiful.

Marc, the bold one, kicked his legs and glided to the ray’s back. He grabbed hold with both hands near the eyes and began to soar away, riding the ray like a magic carpet. Garrett struggled to catch them and soon both divers rode the creature, performing unimaginable acrobatics.

The giant saucer winged its way into a school of squid, thousands of glistening milky bodies with flowing tails. The vision was electrifying. Garrett knew that he would never again experience such magnificence until death took him, and in the water, as on his bed, he smiled, grateful for the experience being given to him.

He ascended, floating on the edge of consciousness. His hand reached for his crotch and he began to rub. This part of the dream always reminded him of gliding in an ocean of semen, the squid looked so similar to sperm weaving their way to the one destination that would make them whole and fulfilled. The image never failed to excite him.

The Man Behind the Author, Part II

In my continuing series about my husband, Herman Chin,  I offer up the cartoon below, and explain that Herman would say that my writing career is stuck in the last three frames.

 

I share this to illustrate the only true bone of contention between he and I, my writing. He has no interest in my stories, my writing career, and worse, he seems to begrudge the time I spend at my desk instead of being with him. 

I’ve talked to other writers who say their spouse is a hundred-percent supportive, helping to proofread their manuscripts and bragging to friends about their latest releases.  I can’t help but be a little envious.

In Herman’s defense, he never reads anyone else’s work either. He is simply a man who never reads books, and doesn’t seem to care about literature. I’m beginning to believe that it is a good quality for him to have because it helps balance us as a couple. lol

Dear Mom

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Dear Mom,

I’ve been thinking about you all morning, remembering the things you’ve taught me over the years, and also everything you’ve shown me.

You taught me things like: if you do something, do it well; never turn your back on a friend; finish what you start; and have something saved for a rainy day.

                                                    

But you showed me so much more. You demonstrated, through your own example, strength and determination, and not letting a handicap stop you from doing what needs to be done. You showed me that family is the most important thing we have, and being a devoted spouse is our principal task. You showed that being humble brings many simple treasures, and to take pleasure in those little, unimportant things in life.

But I think the most significant lesson you showed me was to always be myself—I don’t need to put on airs or pretend I’m something I’m not because I’m fine the way I am.  In fifty-nine years, I’ve never once seen you try to be anything but a loving, honest, Christian wife and mother, and that was always more than enough.

Today I want to thank you for setting a fine example for me to live by. I know it has not been easy, and we’ve had our share of disappointments. But today I simply want to acknowledge your life, and thank you, and let the world know that I love you, heart and soul. I am very proud to be your son.

Happy Mother’s Day