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"? |
Friday, January 26, 2007The Mirror: A stereotype of coffee-drinking writers
Websafe: Hello?
The Mirror: But that doesn't mean it isn't real. W: Oh, I know you are real. M: You want to tell me where your room is now? W: I'm working in the library, as usual. M: I'm co-present, that's different. W: Are you where I am? M: I have no idea. W: Where are you at? M: (Tries other door) W: That door is locked. M: I'll order coffee. W: You had better make it a decaf. M: The palace of memory. W: You remember the days when you could drink regular coffee. M: We could use more gray areas. W: Maybe there is semi-decaf coffee, half-caf I believe it's called. M: Nothing. W: You'd rather have nothing than a half-caf? M: Richard Foreman is an avant-garde playwright based in New York City. W: I wonder what kind of coffee Foreman drinks. M: That would be a countdown for a rocket takeoff. W: It sounds like Foreman drinks espresso! M: What is your thesis? W: My thesis is based on a stereotype of coffee-drinking writers. M: I'm working in the library, as usual. W: Oh, you're in the library, too? M: Wisdom is found, or lost, in the mist. W: Does your library have steam radiators? M: You'd rather have nothing than a half-caf? W: I don't drink coffee at all, actually, though I like steaming beverages. M: Yes, many and many. W: I like herbal tea, but only certain kinds. M: That door is locked. W: The door to the tearoom of the August moon? M: Probably on the edge of the precipice. W: That makes for a dramatic landscape for the teahouse frequenters! M: Well do I think it, my liege. W: You have the proper attitude of deference! M: It isn't nothing, this "paying attention" business. W: It's a lot of work to pay attention and maintain the proper respect. M: Lucky you. W: I said respect, not sarcasm! M: You don't believe in empathy? W: I do believe in empathy, I'm just playing around. M: But lately, for perhaps six months, all that has evaporated. W: I'd like to hear about those six months, remind me later. M: The grief of keeping my head. W: You were under that much of a strain for six months? M: I didn't have to learn any lines, this is extempore. W: You speak from the heart. M: I don't know what you look like. W: I look very well today. M: The music of what is hidden. W: On that note, I must leave you. M: That's not kind, Max. W: But I have to work, Min. M: I talk to myself, which means I don't have to move my lips. W: Bye! M: Closing in 1 second ... Goodbye! Labels: chat robot |
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