Though born and raised in the United States, I recently found myself asking whether I'm an American writer. I concluded that, based on my approach to fiction and despite having been born here, I am absolutely not an American writer. American writers, with few exceptions, believe you need to get to the point. I'm not…
April 25 Plays Nutty Ned’s – Excerpt from Housebreaking the Muse
The following is a draft excerpt from my novel in progress, Housebreaking the Muse. In this passage I present my protagonist, Ray Burke, through the eyes Ubu Reformé, one of the novel's narrative entities. Ubu pays a visit on a more youthful Burke in "them punk rock days o' yore" when Burke headed up an…
Evocations: Ian Curtis
Ian Curtis would have been 58 years old today. This draft is part of a sidebar project on which I’m collaborating with artist Jeff Edmunds. The project is a collection of illustrated biofictional shorts we’re calling “Evocations” because they seek to evoke the spirit of their subjects. For those not among the cognoscenti, you can…
Craft Note: Embracing the Morning
For most of my adult life, and a lot of my youth, I've been a night owl. As a kid, I loved staying up on Friday and Saturday nights to catch Chiller Theater or The Ghoul. Then came "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" and "Midnight Special" and "Saturday Night Live." Later, my punk rock inclination and…
Joe Strummer Along the Westway to Heaven
Joe Strummer: 21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002 This is a reprise of a post from a couple years ago. Hard to believe ten years have passed since Strummer's passing, more than 30 since I saw The Clash at the State Theatre in Akron, OH. In a week, I'll also be marking the 30th anniversary…
Ed Desautels' Maximum Fiction 