My short story “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others” has been accepted by Grey Wolfe Publishing for their anthology Write To Woof. The anthology is scheduled to be released in February, 2014, of which the proceeds will benefit Almost Home No-Kill Animal Shelter in Southfield.
The theme of the anthology is dogs and/or no-kill shelters, and will contain poetry, short stories, and personal experiences by owners of adopted dogs. “Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others” is a short story that features Trevor Aldabra, the attorney who represents the paranormal. Aldabra assists in solving the cause of death of Muriel Capra, an employee of a no-kill shelter. Aldabra is assisted by Ms. Capra and her predeceased dog, Snowball.
Trevor Aldabra was recently featured in a story titled “Confession” published in Grey Wolfe Publishing’s anthology, Legends: Autumn 2013 (available at www.GreyWolfePublishing.com).
Ah, the end of the year. Let’s look back and see if I’ve accomplished my goals.
Goals? What goals?
As I wrote last year at this time, I declared I had no goals for 2013; no goals “other than enjoying life, including the uncertainty of it.”
So how did that work for me? Let’s see:
-First novel published – The Y in Life (Grey Wolfe Publishing)
-First book signing as an author at Purple Tree Books in Cheboygan, MI.
-Short story finalist in 2013 Michigan Bar Journal Short Story Contest
-Two short stories and one essay published in Written in the Mitten 2013 (Heron Bay Books)
-Two short stories published in Legends: Summer 2013 (Grey Wolfe Publishing Anthology)
-Two short stories and one essay published in Legends: Autumn 2013 (Grey Wolfe Publishing Anthology)
-Became a member of Detroit Working Writers
– Won first trial.
– Had numerous cases dismissed, maintaining the innocence of several clients
– Finished the 2012-13 bowling league with my highest average to date.
-Attended every Detroit City FC home match, caught an away match, and attended two Columbus Crew games.
Not a bad year, considering I set forth no goals.
Goals are more of a hindrance to living a happy life than not. In a survey commissioned by Steve Shapiro, 41% of adults agreed that achieving their goals had failed to make them happy, or had left them disillusioned, while 18% said their goals had destroyed a friendship, a marriage, or other significant relationship. Steve Shaprio, Goal-free Living (Hoboken, New Hersey: Wiley, 2006) cited in The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking by Oliver Burkeman (Faber and Faber, Inc. 2012).
Seriously. It can’t be said any clearer than this:
The optimism-focused, goal-fixated, positive-thinking approach to happiness is exactly the kind of thing the ego loves. Positive thinking is all about identifying with your thoughts, rather than disidentifying from them. And the ‘cult of optimism’ is all about looking forward to a happy or successful future, thereby reinforcing the message that happiness belongs to some other time than now. Schemes and plans for making things better fuel our dissatisfaction with the only place where happiness can ever be found – the present. ‘The important thing,’ (Eckhart) Tolle told me, ‘is not to be continuously lost in this mental projection away from now. Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.’ Another staccato chuckle. ‘And that’s a revelation for some people. To realize that your whole life is only ever now. Many people suddenly realize that they have lived most of their life as if this were not true – as if the opposite were true.’ Without noticing we’re doing it, we treat the future as intrinsically more valuable than the present. And yet the future never seems to arrive. Oliver Burkemann, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking (Faber and Faber, Inc. 2012) p.116.
I know the goal-setting crowd likes acronyms, and mine for GOALS is Ghosts of Attaining Life Satisfaction. Yeah, it’s a stretch. But to chase these ethereal creatures and to attempt grasping them in order to experience a satisfied life seems to be a waste of energy and focus, and a distraction from the happiness of now.
I will look back on 2013 for the year that it was, reflect on it, savoring its joys and reflecting on its missteps and challenges. But for the future? All I have is now. This time next year I can review what another collection of 365 days of now-moments create.
2014 is uncertain, and I’m satisfied with that uncertainty. It is foolish of me to set a goal, for example, of writing and publishing another novel in 2014. If something happens to alter that goal I’ll have excuses or disappointments to chastise myself with. With no goals I have no quota to meet. I’ll just look back and see what good was created, and be all the happier for it.
And I just might be surprised at how awesome a year it can turn out to be – like 2013 was!
Sherman Alexie, National Book Award winner and author of over twenty books, issued a letter on September 1, 2013 to authors to become “a superhero for independent bookstores” by spending Small Business Saturday (November 30, 2013) hand-selling books at their local independent bookstore. When I first saw the letter, I was intrigued, but The Y in Life was not out yet and I wasn’t sure where I could do this, or if even a local bookstore would be interested in doing this. After all, I’m no Sherman Alexie.
In early November, I saw Used on New Books & More’s owner, Lisa Taylor post on Facebook a link to Alexie’s letter, praising it and commenting that they weren’t going to have a famous author visiting, but that she had recently been published in the local newspaper twice. That got me thinking.
Used on New Books & More and its companion store Weirdsville Records is on New Street in downtown Mount Clemens. It is just a block away from my office and from the 16th Circuit Court. Lisa Taylor and her husband Davey have owned the stores for just over two years. The first time I entered the store shortly after it opened, I recognized Lisa right away as a former Borders manager from the Utica, Michigan store. In fact, the shelving in Used on New were former Borders book shelves. After she posted the link to Alexie’s letter, I stopped in and asked if she was interested in having a not-so-famous author be a bookseller for the day on Small Business Saturday.
Lisa Taylor, owner of Used on New Books with me.
So on Saturday, November 30, 2013, I got to spend four hours as a volunteer book seller at Used on New Books & More. Along with a wide selection of used books, Used on New carries a few new books by local authors (including The Y in Life). Weirdsville Records carries vinyl records (and turntables upon which you can play them) and other cool stuff, owned and managed by Lisa’s husband, Davey, who is also known as Sir Graveson of The Sir Graveson Show.
Used book stores are as important as new book stores, and are independently owned. At new book stores, you can buy the latest titles. Libraries are a great place to borrow books. But many books have been read and kept in the libraries of individuals. And sometimes these readers need to part with them, leaving the loved books homeless. Used book stores offer a shelter for these books until a new reader finds and purchases them, giving them a new home. No one likes to see books in recycle bins or worse, the trash.
Needless to say, I had a blast. Spending four hours in a book store is easy for me. Doing so while engaging with customers and selling and signing The Y in Life was even more fun. Surrounded by Borders’ bookshelves and the company of Lisa and Dave Taylor, Used on New Books & More and Weirdsville is a funky place for the reader and music aficionado to enjoy.
Signing a copy of “The Y in Life” for an adoring fan (and family member – Jill Robertson)
My son-in-law is from the Philadelphia area. When he and my daughter toured northern Michigan recently, he told her that he had heard of Cheboygan and thought it was a fictional place.
Works of fiction (and nonfiction) have an adorable place to hang out before they are purchased in this real town at Purple Tree Books. This sparkling amethyst is located in heart of downtown Cheboygan on Main Street, slipping into the place of Log Mark Book Store. Purple Tree Books opened in late September, 2013, and it has hit the ground running, scheduling Michigan author signings just about every week. Emily Clare is a wonderful host and a knowledgeable bookseller, having studied her trade at Horizon Books in Petosky.
The changing of the name from Log Mark Book Store, which had been in the community for a number of years, to Purple Tree Books has more meaning than a change of identity. Emily’s niece was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis when she was six days old. Purple is the awareness color for this incurable genetic disease, and Emily named the store to enhance that awareness in honor of her niece. All donations from the self-service coffee provided in-store go to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
It was a drizzly, grey afternoon when I appeared on November 9, 2013 after my annual trip to Traverse City for the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan conference. I signed copies ofThe Y in Life, met customers, and shared a fun afternoon with Emily and Grey Wolfe Publishing’s Associate Publisher, Diana Plopa. My first visit to Purple Tree Books was as a guest author to do a book signing and to feed my book addiction. It is now a must-stop when I make my travels to the northern part of Michigan.
Cheboygan may be a fictional place to those outside of Michigan, but a great true story has begun in this Northern Michigan town, authored by Emily Clare called Purple Tree Books.
Purple Tree Books
334 North Main Street
Cheboygan, MI 49721
Photo by Diana Plopa
Photo by Diana Plopa
Emily Clare, Mike, Diana Plopa Photo by Christopher Chagnon
I love book stores. I especially love independent book stores. These are businesses where the owners have a true love for their product. They care about books because they love books. Their business is focused on their community and the readers within it. And they are knowledgeable about the vast area of books and authors and publishing houses.
And though Borders had grown to become a large chain before it closed, each store had a knowledgeable staff and it’s own character. I know. I tried to apply for a position at the Borders in Novi, but was not qualified to become an employee. They had a pre-employment test about authors and books and their subjects, which I must not have passed. As for independence, I could only purchase my annual “Haiku: Japanese Art and Poetry” calendar at the Birmingham store because it was the only one in the Metro Detroit area to carry it.
The current chains are not like that. My experience of them have been that books are fungible items, and from my observations the staff always rely on the computer to locate the book a customer seeks.
With The Y in Life now released, and as promotional efforts move forward, I’ll be sharing my photos of signing books at these wonderful establishments.
On November 6th, 2013, Brilliant Books in Traverse City, Michigan stocked The Y in Life. I was in town for a conference so I stopped by to sign the copies they had on their shelf.
Brilliant Books is a relatively new book store in downtown Traverse City. They have a great selection of books, including a solid bookcase of works by Michigan authors. They offer a membership club that grants a variety of discounts, and they provide free shipping for orders. They also provide a Surprise Book of the Month program where, for a fee, they will send you a book each month that, based on your reading preferences, will be a surprise pick by the store. With the City Opera House just a few doors down and the National Writers Series an event at the Opera House featuring authors, Brilliant Books also has a collection of signed editions available for sale.
November. It’s an interesting month. The days grow colder as the darkness grows longer. We flip our clocks back an hour. Every November since 2008 I’ve made the pilgrimage to Traverse City, MI for the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan conference. My birthday falls in November. And since 2010, I’ve participated in National Novel Writing Month.
Image courtesy of National Novel Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month was born in 1999 and has become a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization promoting the writing of stories. In 2013, over 340,000 writers participated in NaNoWriMo.
The object is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. This averages 1,667 words per day, or roughly seven pages a day. But word count, not page count, is what matters.
It seems like an ambitious exercise, especially considering the Thanksgiving holiday and merchants bombarding us with their seasonal sales. However it is doable, and it can result in the rough draft of a novel you will be able to revise and publish later.
I’ve done this three years running, surpassing the 50,000 word count each time. Last year’s draft is the novel I am currently revising, to circulate for publication when ready. Here are some tips that I’ve found helpful in successfully completing NaNoWriMo.
1. Be prepared. You don’t have to know all the details of the plot, or all the characters that are going to inhabit your fictional world. But you do need plan. You need guideposts along the way that you are writing to. If you begin on November 1st without one you will find yourself sooner or later stuck with nowhere to go. You’ll get frustrated and give up.
2. Be flexible. You’ve created your guideposts, but realize they are not set in stone. As you write, characters and logic may drive the story off its original course. Pretend you’re in the forest. Stray from the path, but don’t let it slip from your sight.
3. Be forgiving. This is not the time to be worrying about spelling and grammatical correctness. Break up contractions (“don’t” = one word; “do not” equals two). Just get it out. This is your rough draft. You have permission for it to include some of the worst writing you’ve ever put in Word. That’s fine. Revision takes place the other eleven months of the year.
4. Be on-target. Don’t stop to research something. Memorialize within that this requires research. “Johnny rode his (manufacturer and make) motorcycle over the (name of highway) into the night.” Save the research for the other eleven months.
5. Be realistic in planning. Look at the month of November and realize where writing is going to be hampered due to work, school, or holidays. I factor in that I will be in Traverse City for a few days in the month, and find the dates where I’ll make up the words. For example, I’m currently planning on writing 2,020 words per day on 22 days, 2,000 words on 2 days, 520 words on 3 days, and zero words on 3 days.
6. Be off and running on Day One. Get off to a fast start. I have always tried to block November 1st from any distraction and exceed the word count I’ve planned for that day. It’s better to be running ahead in case of any surprises during the month than it is to be behind.
These are the suggestions that I have found to have helped me churn out 50,000 words in the month. Everyone works at their own pace and with their own style, so do whatever works for you. In the end, it’s the 50,000 words that matter, after which you could revise and get published like Sara Gruen did with Water for Elephants and Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus – two of many NaNoWriMo projects that became published novels.
The Y in Life launched at the Troy Community Center in Troy, Michigan on Tuesday, September 17, 2013. If you were unable to attend, the video is of my reading from the book, and a couple of questions from the Q&A session. My son, Colin Kitchen, shot the video and the follow up photos.
The Y in Life is now available through your local independent book store. I’ve included links to four of my personal favorites – Literati Bookstore and Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor and Brilliant Books and Horizon Books in Traverse City;
or check your favorite independent book store’s website. I’ve found using the ISBN number to search the best way to find it right now. The ISBN is 9781628280128.
I was in her city
She was not there
or so I thought.
Silly mind.
Saturday, I participated in a photo walk. Held semi-annually in the spring and fall, Bija, a Buddhist teacher from Still Point Zen Temple in Detroit, leads us through the Woodbridge neighborhood of Detroit, south of Wayne State University campus, armed with cameras to capture images of our world. It is, for me, a meditation. Sitting on the cushion, mindful of breath and the current of thoughts flowing through my mind is one way I meditate. This photo walk, and when I isolate images of the instant through photography in general, I find myself in that same, silent space. Aware of my surroundings, my chatting mind goes silent and I see the world differently.
Saturday was a beautiful day in Detroit. Sun and a moderate temperature where a t-shirt and light jacket was perfect attire. And as I had in the previous Buddhist photo walks I’ve taken, a number of interesting images were captured. These are but a few:
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
It was around 3:30 when we returned to the abbey. We flipped through our photos and added a few more from within the Buddhist temple.
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Upon leaving, I felt calm and centered. On such a beautiful day, I didn’t want the feeling to end. I considered parking the car downtown then move about the city to shoot more images. But something didn’t feel right about it. It would have felt forced, almost touristy. Instead, my attention shifted to the book launch of my novel in a couple of days. My first published novel. But not my first published book. And the subject of the first book guided me.
On August 14, 2004, the book launch for Down Through the Years: The Memoirs of Detroit City Council President Emeritus Erma Henderson took place at the Detroit Public Library’s main branch. The five years leading up to this monumental moment passed too quickly. My only regret being that I was too busy with job, law school, and recording, researching and writing Erma’s story to journal my own observations and insights along the way. One of the things I did recall was Erma’s love of Belle Isle. This became my destination.
I had been on Belle Isle only two times previously: once when Erma asked me to drive her around the island in the early part of this century and once for the launch of an anthology which included three of my shorter pieces at the Detroit Yacht Club during a blizzard in February of this year. This would be my first solo adventure, and it did not disappoint.
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
I stopped at several points along the island where I then stepped out and took in the view. Like Erma and others have told me before, Belle Isle is a gem, with spectacular views of the Detroit and Windsor skylines and the glistening water, sparkling like a river of diamonds. I’d take a photo or two, then take in the sounds and sights silently. It was just like I was back in time, when Erma was alive and I in her home. And across the river stood The Jeffersonian, where her apartment was on the south end of the 28th floor.
Photo by Michael Kitchen
I wanted to go back up there, to her apartment, tell her about my novel, listen to her stories and the affirmations she’d want to plant in my head. To do so, however, would seriously confuse the current resident of that apartment. So I got as close as I could. Next to The Jeffersonian is the Erma L. Henderson Park & Marina, where I made the final stop on my day’s photo walk.
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
Photo by Michael Kitchen
The walk through her park from my car out to the sign on Jefferson Avenue is when I told her about the novel. I knew if she were here she would have had one of her many friends read her all 475 pages. Then she’d share her thoughts with me about it. It would have been a fun conversation.
A theme in The Y in Life is how a person’s life can change when someone who had an influence on him is no longer there. Standing in the park, looking up to that 28th floor apartment, I understood how Erma’s trust in me to write her memoirs gave me the confidence in myself to write this novel. I helped her write her story; she helped me write mine.
In one week, I’ll be at the book launch for The Y in Life. It’s been a long road.
The proof arrived on Thursday via UPS, after I had left for bowling. I did not receive it until 10AM Friday when the apartment’s front office opened. It was quite surreal. I opened the package in my car and looked at the cover. Amazing. I felt its weight in my hands, and the burden of the clock ticking away the minutes that I had to read through these 417 pages, red pen in hand, before delivering it Sunday to my publisher at the Kerrytown Bookfest in Ann Arbor.
But of course, I had to show it off around town, first.
Photo by Diana Plopa
There I am, outside BD’s Mongolian Grill in Roseville, where my eager publisher, Diana Plopa met me to see how the paper proof turned out. There was much rejoicing.
Time to get to work. I read through the first 195 pages Friday, and the remaining 222 pages on Saturday, without sacrificing the Columbus Crew match (though really, the way they played, it wasn’t much of a reward!). I read it out loud, to my two Russian tortoises, Uma and Mariska. At times their curiosity brought them to face me as they heard my voice, but eventually they’d slip back into sleep.
Then it was on to Ann Arbor Sunday morning to deliver the proof. It didn’t bleed red ink, but I did scratch it up some. I thought it would be easy to turn over to finally put this novel to bed. The manifestation of something that I’ve written and re-written over the past six years was difficult to let go. But if I didn’t, it wouldn’t become the final version of this story and these characters that have lived with me for quite some time. It was time to release it into the world and allow it to become whatever it becomes.
The Y in Life is no longer in my hands. And in a week’s time, it will be in the hands of readers. I trust that the characters and story willtake the reader on a journey that inspires and entertains.
Meanwhile, I’m working on a new story, with new characters that I am finding fun and interesting to explore.
Two books on the shelf now. One, the fascinating true story about a remarkable woman; the other, the first of many novels within my imagination and various stages of progress. Nine years separate the publication of these two books. The next novel will be published well before 2022. I promise.
DoHaeng Michael Kitchen 