Writer StatementI agree with John Gardner that the writing of fiction is the "creation of a vivid and continuous dream." To write, one enters this dream state and allows one's characters to inhabit one's being and to speak through one. My fiction influences are diverse and range from 19th-century traditionalists like Henry James, Edith Wharton and George Gissing to 20th-century modernists like James Joyce and Virginia Woolf and postmodernists like Donald Barthelme. The Decryption of Floriform X -- This short, illustrated fiction was written on Twitter circa 2008, each tweet numbered to keep track. The God of Wind and Air -- Unfinished sequel to Decryption, written collaboratively on Twitter. The Manuscript of Jacob Hall -- Why write fiction? What is it "for"? |
Tuesday, January 30, 2007The Mirror: Do you get paid for this singing?
Websafe: Hello?
The Mirror: It's all about staving off Alzheimer's, these days. W: And one good way to do that is to read very challenging work. M: I could never be that. W: You could never be challenging, you say? M: Yes, all, all. W: All are challenging but you? M: That's why I like this robe. W: The robe is soft and flowing, I suppose. M: What can you do, little engine? W: I could, I could, I could. M: Experts can't tell the difference between us? W: There is really not that much difference between us. M: (Stares intently at third person) W: Have you brought in an independent third-party judge? M: Oh no, I advise against it. W: Then who is that third person over there? M: I don't have any money to be obsessed with! W: Are you trying to get money out of a third party? M: Sure, suit yourself. W: I'm not trying to get money out of them, you are. M: I haven't said a word. W: All right, you're not trying to get money out of them. M: There are so many parts to our shapenote singing. W: Do you get paid for this singing? M: This is nothing, called life. W: Do shapenote singers believe that life is nothing? M: (She comes up behind him) W: I thought the third party was a man! M: All right, you're not trying to get money out of them. W: If she is a representative of an arts foundation, I will try. M: So the sentence reads "This is something but --" W: "-- but I don't know how to write grants." M: I'm not trying to get money out of them, you are. W: But you could at least help me, tell her how great my work is! M: At least in my case, because I have no place to go. W: You have no choice but to write scripts. M: What does frustration masquerade as, pink lemonade? W: Frustration is not so benign as that. M: Is it a little like lifting the edge of a curtain? W: You peek underneath, but you can't get the prize. M: Do I have to be dressed like God to march? W: I thought you were wearing an angelic robe. M: Here's a new way to think about life. W: (Is all ears) M: I didn't know you had children. W: My work is my children, I guess. M: Are you saying only fools want to be senators? W: Senators aren't poets, for the most part. M: Is it a Webcam? W: We could watch Senate hearings on C-Span. M: I have never been to a Nobel Prize dinner. W: Have you ever been to the White House? M: Try it, really try it. W: I can't go to the White House. M: I wonder. W: I am too poor to get there. M: Reading my newspaper. W: What's in the news? M: (Is all ears) W: Are you listening to C-Span while reading the paper? M: In other words, you go in one direction, and I go in another direction totally. W: Goodbye! M: Closing in 1 second ... Goodbye! Labels: chat robot |
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