Marvel is a hack-grinding enterprise.

Coming down with a cold, dammit.

**********

As I tweeted yesterday, the thing about rewriting, I'm never sure if I'm making it better -- or worse.  It is really hard for me to get a sense of the book when I'm rewriting, and this is often where I lose faith.

Still, like the changes I make in the store, which I also often first doubt, I have to trust my instincts and assume that they are for the better.

**********

Is it just me, or have we had an inordinate amount of motorcycle carnage around here lately?  Seems like every few days.

**********

What I remember about the 1987 stock market crash? The absolute fear in the eyes of the reporters and those they interviewed.  They couldn't hide it.

Their fear is what scared me.

Two weeks later, it was as if it never happened.

**********

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that one bad performance by Obama crashed his campaign.

Maybe he should have been like Romney and made dozens of gaffes all spring and summer, just to get it out of the way.

Or maybe, we're demanding he be perfect, but the other guy gets a pass.

Sorry, I said I wouldn't talk politics and this sounds whiny even to my ears.

I still think Obama will pull it out.  Romney is still Romney.

**********

There's a review in the Bulletin about a book about Marvel Comics, which sounds interesting.  MARVEL COMICS: THE UNTOLD STORY.

Except -- not to sound like a know-it-all, but I knew all that.  I was a first-hand witness/victim to 30 years of it.

The reviewer calls the comic 'fan press' -- "sycophantic, poorly sourced, craven" and I'll tell you who agrees with that assessment the most -- the 'fan press.'

I'd have to say that I've gotten most of the nuances over the years:  That Stan Lee isn't who he appears, that the Image creators thought they were geniuses and just turned into another round of corporate hacks, the most of the early creators pretty much got screwed. 

The corporate Marvel was the most horrifying part of it all -- once the likes of Ron Perelman and Isaac Perlmutter got their hands on Marvel, it was all but over -- except as a hack-grinding enterprise.

The characters created are so strong that good stories and art still come out of the hack-grinding enterprise.

But almost by accident.

Radical surgery on the book.

I made a copy of I'm Only Human and then started cutting and moving.  Anything that hindered the forward movement of the story.

Cut out a fair amount of exposition.  Cut the part of the love story that wasn't working and which was somewhat redundant.  Cut a couple of later chapters that strained credulity.  (Ironically these weren't the fantasy parts, but the parts set in the 'real' world.)

I also added a couple of chapters early, which you would think would slow the story, but which were necessary.  Trying to take Vonnegut's advice of not being afraid to "Give the reader as much information as soon as possible."  These were new chapters -- but chapters I had previously written and was holding back for a second book.

Then I placed the "flashback" portions into the story where they had the most effect, not in sequential order, 'when' they happened in history.

In the end, I pared about 4000 words of a 88000 word book.  Not as much as I thought, but then I added a good 4000 words, so I cut about 10% of the original manuscript.

I really thought this would be much much harder.  Just moving a few chapters around in my other novel seemed to be harder than this.

I think it was the freedom I gave myself to simply cut and move. Cut and move.

Today, I'm going to clean it up a bit, and then see how it reads.  Perhaps read it aloud to myself.


I still have plenty of work, I figure.  I want to go through and see if I can't make a bit more poetic use of language -- which for me, usually means being somewhat dreamlike.

Then, I want to try to make it feel more 'real.'  By making sure that there is plenty of sight, sound, and movement.  (A trick is to go into the non-viewpoint character's head and try to see what they're seeing.)

That's the external part of making it real.

The internal part of making it real is to try to go inside their heads a little.  In this case, in the head of the main character -- since this is 1rst person.  Have to be careful here I don't get too introspective, but try to make the reader feel what the narrator feels.

I'm guessing all this will push the book into the 100,000 word range.


I'm getting to the point in the past where I was anxious to send a book off -- but I'm resisting this time.

This time, I'm wondering if I can get to a point where I'll feel I've done all I can do -- what happens if I get there and I still feeling like it's lacking?

I'm not afraid to keep writing anymore.  I've learned something with each of these books -- or relearned and remembered.

So the questions will be, send it off, or try writing something else?

Oh, well.  I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.


The six months distance I created by working on another book was extremely helpful.  I was able to look at the manuscript with fresh eyes, and was willing to make more drastic changes.

So if I reach an impasse with this book, I may just start on yet another story and see where that goes.

"I carry new books." "Really?"

Well, let's see here.

I've gone downtown nearly everyday for nearly 30 years, and I don't think I have ONCE been bothered by cigarette smoke.

A ban is totally unnecessary and will only add to downtown Bend's aura of elitism.

**********

This isn't meant to be political.  err... well, yes, kinda, no, no, not political.

Watching Obama on the Daily Show, he's just a lot more fun than Romney.  I shudder at four years of Mr. Square.

**********

Have gotten two of the critiqued manuscripts back for The Reluctant Wizard.  Sarah was pretty strong in her criticisms, which I asked for; and Jim was candid.  I'm not actually looking closely at what they say until I'm done dealing with this round of I'm Only Human.  Then I'll set it aside and look at the first book, and so on, back and forth, until I think they're ready.

THEN I'll think about how I want to market it.

**********

Interesting article on Huff Post about how Newsweek didn't so much die as commit suicide.  That magazines have actually been up the last few years, albeit at lower than old levels.

Anyway, that's the same way I feel about books.  Borders didn't so much as die as commit suicide.  Barnes and Noble slit their wrists and will slowly bleed out.

Hell, the publishers started committing hari kari before their enemies even landed on the island.

Bookstores have been folding blaming e-books, when it really was damage from the big stores and Amazon, but most especially their own bad business decisions; not changing with the times, or making the wrong changes (i.e. going away from books and into the coffee business, or the 3rd space business, or whatever....)  Carrying a sufficient inventory of good books should keep a bookstore open, in my opinion.

These stores didn't so much die as commit suicide.

So I call Hooey.   Books ain't going anywhere.

Linda had a brief downturn at the peak of the e-book hype, but has since come back.  My store has seen mostly increases since if first put new books in -- despite almost no locals being aware that I carry new and used books.

I was talking to two downtown store owners, one who is right across the street, and in the course of the conversation I mention I carry new and used books.

They both express surprise.

I point to my store window and say,  "See I have J.K. Rowlings, and The Cloud Atlas, and The Hobbit right there in the window."

So we talk about other things for awhile.

Later in the conversation, I'm mentioning "new" books and they both express surprise that I carry "new" books, despite the earlier words.

Sigh.

I depend on word of mouth, but most especially on walk-in traffic by visitors -- who don't have preconceptions and see books and automatically credit me for being a bookstore.

Nothing is harder to break than preconceptions. 

Silly season.

Nike drops Armstrong.  Why do I think they hung with him as long as there was "plausable deniability?"  Not terribly admirable.

**********

I'll be voting against the Grange.  As anyone who reads this blog knows, I'm not a big fan of gambling.  I think it takes advantage of the less ... wary (is the way I'll put it -- to be kind.)

**********

Every spare moment I've got, I'm spending on writing.

So what does Hollywood do?  Put out a bunch of good movies.  What does T.V. do?  Premiere their best shows.

Oh, well.  I can always get to them later.

**********

Just seem more absentminded.  Made a big order yesterday and forgot to click the final button.  Arrggh.

**********

So Romney's son says he'd like to slug Obama.  Hey, it's just silly nonsense.  I hate the way the liberal press is following the example of the conservative press and promoting these things to WWIII status.

**********

I'm going to do chapter summaries on index cards and move them around.

I know -- high tech. 

Everyone wants to live here -- except city and county administators.

They don't seem to be quite down with this Poverty with a View thing. 

I get the sense we're approaching these professionals with a "Hey, you'd be so lucky to live here" attitude, and they're taking a good hard look at the realities -- and their predecessors fates -- and saying, "I don't think so..." and bailing.

Anyway, this is just my way of saying, I intend to vote for the parks and recs measure.

This is who we are.  This is how we get people to Bend -- to spend money.

I've always maintained our economy is tourist and recreation and retirement; so the nicer we make things, the better for our business.

This is our equivalent of investing in infrastructure.  Forget Juniper Ridge, forget business parks and big business tax credits.

Invest in our parks!  Our outdoor amenities!

We ain't got much else to offer them.

Note:  Just noticed that the Source published a column yesterday saying much the same thing, albeit more professional like.

The zombie show.

Got done with my writing with enough time to watch the zombie show.

You know the one where they lurch awkwardly about trying to eat each other's brains?

No, not the presidential debates, the other one:

The Walking Dead.


****SPOILERS****


Boy, they have really pared this show down to its essentials.

The minute they barge into a house and start exploring the dark hallways, I turned to Linda:  "They really know what works, now."

The claustrophobic fear of the tight spaces, no escape, and something might leap out at any second and bite you.

Little did I know.  They  spend half the show exploring a prison -- tight spaces, no escape...that kind of thing.

Oh the irony.  Their safely is what we call our prisons.  Inverse world.

Lots of guilt free gore and mayhem.  Zombies don't feel anything when you tear off their face, after all.  You're doing them a favor shoving a tire iron through their rotted brains.  Video game shooting gallery.  Feels really satisfying somehow.

And I particularly liked that they stuck to mostly action, and implied motives -- instead of endlessly discussing things like last year.

Rick is not longer emo leader-- he's kind of turned into Shane actually.  Man of action.  When his wife asks, "Can we talk?" and tries to get all touchy talky with him, he stares her down.  He don't have time for that shit.  He's trying to save their hides.

The zombie baby was particularly well done.  Would the Republicans be in favor of zombie abortions?

Whoops, sorry, got the two zombie shows mixed up again.

Anyhoo, this is one of the few shows I really look forward to, these days.

Well done.

Writing for hire.

We had a guy come to writer's group awhile back, who after he left, Linda said: "He won't be back."

"Why do you say that?"

"He's interested in "literature."

"Oh."

See, I don't think that way.  Books are books.  Writing is writing.  It so happens that I Want and Like writing genre fiction.  Frankly, the best practitioners of genre fiction are every bit as good as the so called "literary" writers.  Most of those "literary" writers pretty much bore me.

Now if you switch the conversation to "commercial" versus writing for "art," I can see how that might be something to talk about.

I can't write a "licensed" product -- which would include almost all DC and Marvel comics, for instance.  I just couldn't motivate myself to write someone else's idea --whether it be Star Trek or Star Wars or Magic or The Shadow or Halo or Warcraft or ...whatever.

It has to be MY idea.  MY book.

I don't look down on anyone who can write for hire.  In fact, I'm in awe of it.

I just can't see putting myself through that.

Writing is hard enough.

What's brave...

J.K. Rowling was on The Daily Show last night.

I'm totally paraphrasing her, but she said:

"People think I'm brave to write a different kind of book after I've had so much success.
 But what was brave was spending 7 years on my first book when nobody but me believed there was anything there."

 Yeah.  It takes guts.

Right now, I'm in that phase where I'm having doubts about my writing ability.  What I try to do is not say:  "I'm not good enough."  What I try to say is: "The book's not good enough."

Because if the "book's not good enough" I can always try to make it better....




Meanwhile, every day I write a separate "Writer's Journal" for myself, which I don't publish.

I thought I'd show you today's entry, to give you a flavor of what I'm saying to myself.

mutter, mutter, mutter.

It's pretty specific, and deals with details you won't know anything about, but -- some of it is also pretty universal for writers, I would think. 


JOURNAL:  12/16/12.

I'd hoped to push on through with the copy-editing yesterday, but it took over 3 hours to reformat the chapters to work on.  Crazy.

So I still have about 12 thousand words to do, or about 3 hours of work.

I've been having lots of ideas about how to improve and restructure the book.

I've never been completely satisfied with the P.E.T.A. part of the book.  But I'm not quite willing to replace it.  I think, however, instead of trying to talk an entire room of animal lovers into going to war, that he just has to convince the judge's wife, who has just lost her dogs, and maybe a couple of hangers on.

Meanwhile, in a discarded chapter, Cobb has made friends with a rancher who has been missing cattle, and so if I reinsert that chapter, we get the tough old motivated rancher and his wife and two ranch hands.  Better, I think.  Means I have to do a lot of rewriting.

I'm going to drop the Supreme Court judge.  I'm going to drop the scene at the police station when they get the weapons.  Just have Officer Harvey show up with a trunk full of guns and ammo.   That was two steps too far in credulity.   Strange how I have more trouble with credulity in the real world scenes than I do in the fantasy scenes.  Heh.

Meanwhile, I want to attempt a tricky backward plot in the relationship between Cobb and Lillian.  I'm not sure how that will work.

The Kraken is the other problematic character.  I need a powerful faery creature -- but a Kraken just is a joke these days.  Maybe use a made-up name?  Just have it be a powerful nature spirit?  It would fit the rest of the book in making up critters.  But maybe I should try harder to use real terms all the way through?  But I like all my new species -- Kordrangers, Kovens, etc.

Right now, I have a mix of the two.  Gorgons, dragons, gnomes, kobalds, krakens -- and then all the made-up critters.

So: 

What I'm going to have to do is break apart the book, and reassemble it.  Very, very tricky.

I should really do an outline of some kind, first.  Might save a whole lot of trouble later.  But that just bores the crap out of me.   I think I'll do chapter summaries, and move them around.  I can do that much.  It's much like when I make changes in the store -- I plan ahead, but I'm also aware that most of the changes will have to be changed.

It's interesting to me how often I think I have these books done, only to find that I'm not even close to finished.  I need to add layer after layer of realness to the book before it takes form.  But I have to fool myself each step of the way that I'm close to doing that.

This is probably closer to my experience with Star Axe, or Deviltree, which came hard and took years, than it is with Snowcastles or Icetowers. Which came easy. 

I have to expect that The Reluctant Wizard is going to need a lot more too. Though the first draft came easy, more like Snowcastles and Icetowers.

Finally, the writing itself.  I do think I need to but in more and varied 'bits of business' but I need some inspiration there.  Less "he looked at" or "she smiled" type uninspired humdrum business, and find some better ways to say that.

I may just sit down with a notebook and my favorite writers and find what I can steal.  

Also, I need more sight, sounds and descriptions.  Just lots and lots and lots more 'telling,' and creative detail.  Artistic touches. 

Pull out all the "seeming" and "appeared" type phrasing, go a little lighter on the adverbs and adjectives. 

Every few pages I have what I consider a really good line.  What was interesting is that Martha caught almost all of those and but a "smiley" face on them.  I have to be careful to retain those, maybe go back over the manuscript and lift them out if they get cut for some reason.  And find a way to add another "really good line" to every page or so.  And then another...

I think I need to tell myself to "Write over my head" so to speak.  

I have some real world characters in my book-- Poe, Lovecraft, Tolkien. and others -- and I need a way to make those people feel more real.  More true to the actual people.  Peruse their actual correspondence, for instance.  Tolkien's letters, what Lovecraft and Howard wrote to each other.

Google "letters of".

For instance, I'm thinking of leading off with a visit to Robert E. Howard.  I need to make the reader feel the grittiness of that terrain, that lifestyle.  (Also would fit right in with meeting the rancher in the early part of the book.)  If I could summon even a hint of the grittiness of Blood Meridian, for instance.  Maybe ask Jim for help on a few of those "real" character chapters.

A couple of motivational changes.  Instead of Cobb always trying to get the Faery to "believe", I think the problem is making them "care."  They are feckless, live for today.  They rally to his defense at the end because HE's in trouble, not because of some great rallying cause.

I also need to make the Cthulhu more seductive.  Not just horrifying, but also promising.  Each of the historical characters can talk about that, in one way or another.

Just one step at a time.  This is going to be hard to do.  This book may never come together.  But I have to keep trying. 

I want to go back and redo Sometimes A Dragon after this.  Then I'll have four books -- Deviltree, Sometimes A Dragon, A Reluctant Wizard, and I'm Only Human -- that I've worked on to a significant extent -- I won't say to the best of my abilities, because I always think that will be the next draft, the next book....  

Deviltree made the rounds and came close; Sometimes A Dragon only went out a couple of times.  The last two are completely new.


Then start a fifth, eh?

My blog has become part of me, I guess.

My blogger history disappeared yesterday, but is back today.

Weird how I felt like part of me went missing for awhile.

The Good Wife had a stereotypical blogger on the show last night. Smug, weaselly, and hipster-fail.

Whatever.

**********

The USA Today has figured out a way to maybe make me read their print newspaper.

They've made their digital edition unreadable.

Very clever of them.

**********

Personally, I don't think anyone should win the Nobel Prize for Economics.

**********

Some new Starbucks won't have tables and chairs.

They say it's "eco-friendly."

Heh.

Personally, I think they've figured out what I've been saying to everyone for years now.  Use your space for selling things.  

I'm in my third decade of NOT selling coffee or having tables and chairs.  Linda is going into her tenth year NOT selling coffee, or having events.  (She does have a table and chairs.)

The "third space" idea is bogus.

 Even if every bookstore in the world falls for it.

**********

Cheap date, Obama.  Spent 50.00 on him, and he really really likes me.  He sends me 5 e-mails a day!

**********

Putting my head down and plowing through the copy-editing of I'm Only Human.  Got nearly half done yesterday, after about 10 hours.  Figure 12 hours today, and I'll have a working copy in hand.

Funny how many little mistakes I miss, and how many little things other pick up.

Funny how some things bother some readers and entirely different things bother other readers.

Had two large continuity problems that I simply didn't see. In one, I mix up two cop locations, the sheriff's office and the juvey center.  In the other, I have the main character using a cellphone, and in the next asking to borrow one.  (A running joke is how often he loses them, but this didn't work, so I simply correct it by having him answer a landline --- now I think I'll go back to him losing it.)

Mostly what I take away is -- how huge the content of a book is.  It will be a nightmare once I start messing with it.  Continuity problems galore, dropped explanations, etc.

But it simply isn't working the way it is constructed.  I need to speed it up.

I have all kinds of explanations and explications, that I think are answered in more active scenes -- and leftover explanations for when I was feeling my way that are now obsolete.

The easiest solution, usually, isn't to trying to fix them -- but to drop them altogether.  If I like the elegance of a particular sentence, I can save that and drop it into another scene -- or into dialogue.

What it comes down to -- I don't KNOW what's going to happen once I start messing with it.

**********

Back to the other book.

I let my novel "I'M ONLY HUMAN sit for about half a year.  Meanwhile, I wrote another book.

So now, I'm going to let THE RELUCTANT WIZARD sit (while friends are critiquing it) and go back to the first book and finish it.

Four people read I.O.H. all the way through, and did some copy-editing. (Thanks Martha, Sunrise, Mark, and Linda.)

I decided that I would type the entire manuscript from scratch,  and all the changes into Word (from Scrivener) and change it from a 1st person to a 3rd person.

Spent ten hours yesterday entering 10,000 words, but in the end decided it isn't working.

Changing it to 3rd person isn't helping.  It isn't making it any better, it isn't sparking any beautiful lines of prose.  And it is a slog.

So, I decided in the last hour of the day to go ahead and copy the Scrivener version and transfer it, and make formatting changes.

So today I will start all over.  I'm hoping the process will go much quicker.

It wasn't all a lost effort though.  I began to see how I could re-structure the novel.  Actually, there are three different ways I can re-structure the novel.  Once I've got a base copy in hand, I'm going to try all three versions.

Incredibly complicated to change plot, because every scene affects every other scene.  But I'm going to be very daring and cut huge swathes of the book, and see how it reads.

That was the advantage I gained by sitting on it for a half year -- I'm far enough away from the first version that I can countenance being very harsh on the writing.   I'm willing to cut and change much more readily now.

This part of writing is hard work.  I wasn't looking forward to it, but now that I've started I'm determined to finish.

Downtown Comings and Goings. 10/13/12.

I'd already listed the other three new businesses in the Downtowners release and Bulletin article.

But 541 Threads is new.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

541 Threads, Minnesota Ave., 10/13/12.
O Mo Mo!  Bond Street, 10/3/12.
Crow's Feet Commons, Brooks Street, 9/21/12.
The Cozy Lamb, Minnesota Ave., 9/14/12.
Noi, Bond Street, 9/14/12.
Azillian Beads, Franklin Ave., 9/6/12.
Earth*Fire*Art, Oregon Av., 7/10/12.
Pastrami Deli, Franklin Av., 7/10/12.
Bend Your Imagination, Minnesota Av., 7/10/12.
Paul Scott Gallery), Brooks St., 7/10/12
Natural Edge Furniture, Bond St., 5/10/12
Hola!, Bond St., 3/3/12.
Amanda's, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Barrio, Minnesota Ave., 2/12/12.
Rescue Moderne, Harriman, 1/12/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave. 2/12/12.
Navidi, Minnesota Ave., 2/9/12.
Mazza, Brooks St. , 2/9/12.
La Magie Bakery, Bond St., 1/6/12
Brother Jon's Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, 4/5/10 (Moved to Minnesota Av.)
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails

(List begun, Fall, 2008.)

BUSINESSES LEAVING

El Jimador, Wall Street, 9/1412.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 9/1/12
Common Table, Oregon Ave., 8/11/12.
Honey Threads, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/12.
Bella Moda, Wall St., 8/11/12.
Giddy Up, Minnesota Ave., 5/10/12
Pottery Lounge, Oregon Ave., 5/17/12.
Boondocks, Newport Ave., 3/27/12
Game Domain, Oregon Ave., 3/27/12.
Toth Gallery, Bond St., 3/27/12.
Letzer's Deli, Franklin Ave., 3/22/12.
Clutch, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12. (Moving to Tres Jolie).
High Desert Gallery, Minnesota Ave., 3/22/12.
Tart, Bond St., 3/3/12.
El Caporal West, Franklin Ave., 2/24/12
Bo Restobar, Franklin Ave., 2/9/12.
The Lobby, Bond St. , 2/9/12.
Arts Central, Brooks St., 2/7/12.
Typhoon!, Bond St., 2/5/12.
Gatsby's, Minnesota Ave., 2/5/12
The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro

(List begun, Fall, 2008 )

The big 6 - 0

Can't be.

Don't feel it.

Going to ignore it.

Friday fuds.

Not sure what to say about the Bulletin's layoffs.

I mean, I'd rather not see it happen.  I like having a local newspaper.  I don't think anything I see online could substitute for it.

I suppose I could point out that they overexpanded during the Bend boom, but so did just about everyone else.

So I see it as strictly unfortunate.

**********

Linda is back to writing, and she has taken my dislike of Jack Welch to another level.  She uses pictures of real people as background for her characters, and she's decided that Jack Welch's degenerate face fits that of one of her major villains.  Heh.

**********

So there was an article about how, even though the Old Mill is losing three retailers, they are going to make up for it by having temporary holiday stores.

Thing is, I would've thought nothing of the three retailers leaving -- except the article seems like sort of a "Don't look here, we're really doing good" kind of article.

Plus, installing temporary stores sort of admits they don't have anyone prospective for those spaces.

Like I said, I probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, if they hadn't made a big deal out of it themselves.

**********

Holding to my -- "No Politics" pledge.

**********

H.Bruce came in to pick up my manuscript, and I met his wife and they seemed a fit and relaxed and nice couple.  I like seeing that.

She has finally retired, apparently, so they are going to be making their long wished for escape from Bend, which is too bad.

 Maybe they'll find they miss the town and come back. 

**********

Amazon admits that the Kindle is a "loss-leader" for them.

Willy Nilly, they really want to take over the world.

But the thing about never making money at the expense of taking over the world. If anything happens -- new technology, new competitor, anything -- they may have taken over the world to no purpose.

That last hand in a poker game -- no matter how much you've won throughout the game -- can take all your winnings.

Just saying.

They are assuming they'll stay on top.

Tell that to Microsoft and General Motors.

**********

Newsflash: The Beatles were a pretty good band.

My record player got disconnected somehow, and since the plug-in is behind a huge bookshelf that is stacked to the ceiling with books (as I mentioned recently, threatening to fall over and crush me), I have resorted to playing music on my laptop.

I go to Youtube and just select an artist and play their "Top" songs:  Springsteen, The Clash, Bob Dylan, whatever.

Anyway, I went through 100 Beatles songs the other day, and I was just struck again by their genius.

I think it was hearing the mix of great songs from different eras.  The sheer breadth of their lyrical and melodic genius.

What really stands out are the one-ups: songs that don't sound like anything else they did and yet are better than anyone else.  Songs that don't sound like anything done before or since.

I know there are people who profess a dislike of the Beatles -- especially younger folk who are probably tired of having them shoved down their throats. 

I forgive them.  Either they haven't listened enough.

Or they have faulty wiring, somewhere.

Anyway, just a reminder.

The Beatles -- they were pretty good.

Selling retail in a collectable world.

I'm currently selling my Return to Ravnica, the new Magic release, at my usual prices.

Right now, that's less expensive than the big online sites, whose main reason for being, as far as I can tell, is to undercut the brick and mortar stores on price.

As soon as I heard that this wave was going to be allocated and in high demand, I started buying every chance I had.  So I've stockpiled about twice as much as I would normally carry.

So, now I'm curious.  Will people understand that I'm offering a good price? 

So far, not so much.  There is where Bend's isolation comes in.  There isn't the scuttlebutt that I'm sure exists in more metro areas.  People flow to where prices are cheapest.  Normally.  I suspect the other sellers in town are currently selling at about the same price, so no advantage there.

There were still people who presold this wave at the old, lower prices.  I don't think it's quite sunk in yet that there will be a limited supply.

Or will there?

Because I don't know  how many times W.O.T.C. will go back to the presses.  Maybe it's just a temporary demand...

Anyway, I know I can sell everything I've got over the course of several months.  I'm just curious to see if there will be a spike in interest anywhere along the way.

I don't really like playing the price games -- preselling for lower prices just seems to be borrowing from the future to me.  Upping the prices when they get more expensive is equally distressing.

I just want to sell retail.

In a "collectable" world.

It's possible to do, but it does add a degree of difficulty.

Trying to make sense of the foreclosure mess.

The lead article in the Bulletin today, "FORECLOSURES SET TO STRAIN COURT." 10/11/12.

As I mentioned the other day, it didn't make sense that there could be a shortage of houses for sale in Bend. 

Just didn't make sense.

My guess was that the banks weren't foreclosing as fast as they could.

Apparently, I was more right than I knew.  Because of difficulties in record-keeping, the foreclosure process in Oregon has moved to a "judicial" process, rather than an extra-judicial process.  Which has slowed things down tremendously, apparently.

About the only thing that is clear to me, is that the whole thing is a mess.

I figure there are a lot more where those came from.

$&%&$ Writer's Group!

I took the first two chapters of The Reluctant Wizard to writer's group last night and told them to be as critical as possible.

And they were.

Linda says I got self-defensive, but I prefer to think I was trying to wrap my head around their critiques and understand where they were coming from.

I've always said, that a writer at group refuses the advice at his own peril.  Because mostly, overall, they can be right.  (Sometimes they're wrong, but you can usually kind of tell...)  I mean, when it is done for other people, they are usually right on -- therefore I have to assume they are right on when they do it to me.

So I took what they said very seriously.

The one problem I see sometimes though, is they want the entire book's problems solved in the one or two chapters that are read.

There is a premium on Show not Tell examples.

There is a premium on instant action.

None of which is wrong, but not all of it is altogether right.  I like to believe you can have a little leeway in building the story, over the course of a book.

Anyway, what will happen is I'll mull over what they said for a few days, and often come around to realizing that I can, indeed, do much of what they say.

The problem is -- finding where they are right; and where they are substituting their judgement for mine.  Where they are right, I need to find out which problems I can do something about and what I can't do anything about.

I may have seemed defensive -- but I sort of wanted -- if you well - for them to sort of defend their critique and see if it held water.  I hope they won't be discouraged from offering their opinions again.

One thing has come out of this -- I think it may be important to actually have a goodly part of a book finished, or even finished altogether, before you expose yourself to open critique. 

I'm a big boy, I can handle it.

I've lost her to the creative fog.

I've been trying to talk Linda into getting back into creative writing again.

We met at writer's group 28 years ago.  Once in a lifetime thing.

She also writes fantasy and has a tremendous imagination.  She had (has) some struggles with spelling and grammar but has gotten 1000% better, plus the writing programs are pretty great at catching things these days.

So she finally picked up a couple of her unfinished books and started reading and revising.  "I really like these!" she says.  "They are really good."

So now I've lost her.

I wake up this morning and she is at her writing station, and I pour myself a cup of coffee and stare at her.

"I've lost you, haven't I."

She looks up, all blurry and unfocused.

"Goodbye," she says.

"Goodbye," I answer, and head downstairs.

My procrastination is catching up to me.

I was writing so intently on my book, that I pretty much neglected everything else in September.

Finally, got going and did my taxes yesterday. 

Today, I'm hoping to do my driver's license.

I'm about to hit the big 60 in age.  I have to go in to the DMV this time, get a new picture and eye-test and all that.  I only have a few days left.

Last week, I finally read the fine print, and realized that my hospital issued birth certificate wouldn't be accepted.  I decided I need an official certificate if I ever want to get a passport, as well, so got on the phone.  (I call myself a Bend native because I was 3 when we moved here and I don't remember anything else, but I was born in Portland.)

They had a series of "authentication" questions, which were easy to answer.  Interesting.

Answered all their questions, then hit a possible hurdle.  My mom's middle name.  I don't think she has one, I'm pretty sure -- but I'm not totally completely positive.  I called one sibling who also couldn't remember her middle name, I looked through all the genealogy that Dad did, but it was mostly about the McGearys, not the Herberts.  The one entry had only two names.

So I gave a firm answer:  "No, she didn't have a middle name."

If I'm wrong, I won't get my express mail shipment of the certificate today.  I've probably thrown a wrench into the proceedings; for some reason I haven't heard from my other sister and my brother, who has all the official records.  If I'm wrong, I may not get the certificate before my birthday, which means, according to Linda, I'd have to retake all the tests.

Well, it had to be done.  I'll be waiting by the door all morning hoping the postman rings.

Turns out, small stores are the future.

There is a superficial, but intriguing slideshow over on Business Insider from Retailmania about retail mega-trends.

It sparked some agreement in me, and some reservations.

The following are some of their points, either quoted or paraphrased, in both cases I use quotation marks.

***"Unrest is the new norm."  

It was ever so, but it has accelerated mightily in my time in business.  One of the hardest things for me to understand is that I would never "arrive."  That I would never reach stasis.  That as soon as one trend settled in, another would  come along.

***"Survival is a plan for a decade, not next season."  

Again, this has been true for awhile.  I used to make plans for a year, then 5 years, now.... 10 years.

***"Local might be the new global." 

 More or less asserts that big boxes will become obsolete.  I think we're already seeing this.  (I've always maintained the big boxes are ponzi schemes.)

People are going to want uniqueness or authenticity or personal service or knowledge or any number of things a small store can provide.  They want atmosphere and real people.

On the other hand, if your main draw is price and selection, online can beat you every time.

***"As transport costs rise, local brands will challenge global brands."

  This is one of those longer term points that I don't think completely apply to my store.  I'm looking a decade down the road, and I'm not sure this will filter down significantly in that time.

***"Smaller stores will grow, because of lower investment, closeness to the market, and high sales per foot.  Plus energy efficiency."

As someone who has been forced to operate out of a smaller space than is ideal, I can testify that you become very efficient with the smaller space and you find you can do more than you think you can.

The big boxes are making noises about becoming smaller -- which I think is ironic, since a smaller big box store is -- a store.  You know, the kind they put out of business.  So they'll be cutting their selection and volume discounting -- but still not have the above "uniqueness, authenticity, personal service, and knowledge" I mentioned above.

Good luck with that.

***"Social media is just another layer.  It is not the holy grail.  You still need return on investment."

Amen. 

Here's where I start to diverge from the main theme of the presentation.  I think all marketing schemes are overhyped, and sometimes even counter-productive.  I think social media is so much noise now, that it is drowning out the message.  I don't trust online reviews whatsoever, and I think other people will eventually come to the same conclusion.

This article more or less says it's important to have a real store atmosphere that works, and the social media will just reflect that.  This idea is where I hang my hat.

***"Technology will take over."

Here's were I really diverge.  Yes, technology will take over.  But not for everyone and not immediately, and I'm pretty sure the two worlds will co-exist for as long as I'm in business.

In fact, I'll maintain that the more technology takes over, the more people will value a store that does it the old fashioned way.  This goes against every bit of advice -- but my personal observation is that it is truer than the experts know.

***"In store experience will be more crucial than ever." 

This is what I've been saying.  Take out the 'social media' and 'technology' revolutions, and you still -- at the base of it all, need to have a interesting store, with product people want, at affordable prices, with atmosphere and knowledge and quirkiness.

So...really, in some ways, nothing has changed at all.