A lot of saner heads have told me over the years that I should pack in my writing tools, give in to attrition. Start a fam, make a permanent depression on the couch. Some couch, any couch.
I wish I could, I am not wired that way. The creative act gets me high, whether it is writing something that transcends what I thought I was capable of (i.e. gets into another's head, accurately describes a place that still holds mystery) or playing some lines of improvisatory flute that generate a rhythm, a head nod, foot tap, a smile.*
I wish I could, I am not wired that way. The creative act gets me high, whether it is writing something that transcends what I thought I was capable of (i.e. gets into another's head, accurately describes a place that still holds mystery) or playing some lines of improvisatory flute that generate a rhythm, a head nod, foot tap, a smile.*
DJ Tong at the Exit - he kindly allowed me to use his headphones as a mic to accompany his vinyl riddim' scratchings
Endurance writing is at its essence a strategy of taking life obstacles, failure, rejection and making it the basis of greater achievement. As John Lennon put it, "They didn't want me so they made me a star." Arisugawa Park I truly think is innovative, great––but it is an apprentice work. On the meta-level it is the narrative of me figuring out how to write a novel on my own terms.
Cowachunga would not have come about without the Japan novel's publishing industry rejection and my subsequent scraping at the barrel-bottom of my bank account, questioning my ability to subsist. I am that guy seeking water in the desert, vultures circling, only the desert is not a desert––it is my quest to make a living from something so debased & holy as art.
Cowachunga would not have come about without the Japan novel's publishing industry rejection and my subsequent scraping at the barrel-bottom of my bank account, questioning my ability to subsist. I am that guy seeking water in the desert, vultures circling, only the desert is not a desert––it is my quest to make a living from something so debased & holy as art.
The beauty of the flute is letting other people play (and dance)
Cowachunga is my offering to those who enjoy original, slow-cooked recipes in this swipe/clickbait age––while still aiming for something very much of our time. It is an answer to the writing and editing mills out there, to the ghost writers and the ghost written, to the idea that eternal propagation of literary (and film) series around outworn archetypes is ever a way forward.
Every word of Cowachunga is mine, composed just prior to semi-weekly* dissemination. My version of the eternal scroll––I own it.***
Every word of Cowachunga is mine, composed just prior to semi-weekly* dissemination. My version of the eternal scroll––I own it.***
Selfie with DJ Tong
* One hand clapping in a night that is too faintly charged to fully ignite.
** Weeks, to be realistic, as a full-time SEO hack who writes fiction in his down time, typically at 3am.
*** Paradox: I own it, yet it is freely given. Speaking of which, the next section of Cowachunga is almost ready to pop out. Give me a day, two max. I encourage others to write without a net––we would quickly see where the original voice + vision most closely align. And probably discover a slew of other immensely talented, unheralded authors.
SEO Alert - Damon Shulenberger aka Damon D. Dawson of Bandito College. Endurance Writer, proving that creativity doesn't pay.
** Weeks, to be realistic, as a full-time SEO hack who writes fiction in his down time, typically at 3am.
*** Paradox: I own it, yet it is freely given. Speaking of which, the next section of Cowachunga is almost ready to pop out. Give me a day, two max. I encourage others to write without a net––we would quickly see where the original voice + vision most closely align. And probably discover a slew of other immensely talented, unheralded authors.
SEO Alert - Damon Shulenberger aka Damon D. Dawson of Bandito College. Endurance Writer, proving that creativity doesn't pay.
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