Author: davidbiddle

“The Ass Hole Club” : an excerpt from a novel-in-progress

~ davidbiddle ~ Leave a comment
This excerpt is getting a major facelift today. It will self-destruct into a few truncated sample paragraphs very soon, so read up now. Please let me know your thoughts in the comments section…

He discovers two bananas, soft to the eye, still stem connected, blacking. He thinks about the heat they must be giving off along with their smell. These fermenting fruits can only partially be seen under a flattened, plastic half-and-half bottle lying on its side and an old pack of birthday invitations with a “Where’s Waldo?” motif, never used. An empty clay flowerpot growing a bit of dark green mold is on the corner of the sideboard. He wonders what might have happened if he had just kept everything clean on his own. That sideboard Continue reading →

World-Class Baseball: The March World Series is Extraordinary

~ davidbiddle ~ 2 Comments

Ah, baseball. I don’t write about it enough anymore. Last night’s World Baseball Classic face-off between the USA and Dominican Republic was one doozy of an event. The DR won in the 9th, busting open a 1-1 tie with scrappy hitting, ballsy base running, and incendiary pitching by their closer Fernando Rodney. The final score of this virtual all-star game between two titan teams was 3-1.

It was a game that all baseball fans — die-hard and casual — would have loved. What’s truly amazing is that it happened two weeks before the Major League season opens. Yes, there were less than pretty moments of fielding, and the US fizzled in the bottom of the 9th not even mustering a last ditch runner on base, but as a whole Continue reading →

Re-Blog: A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist – 2013

~ davidbiddle ~ Leave a comment

Check out the insights into life as a freelancer re-blogged from Nate Thayer. Follow the link and read the comments. Ironic that bad communication is the modus operandi here.

A Day in the Life of a Freelance Journalist—2013

By Nate Thayer

Here is an exchange between the Global Editor of the Atlantic Magazine and myself this afternoon attempting to solicit my professional services for an article they sought to publish after reading my story “25 Years of Slam Dunk Diplomacy: Rodman trip comes after 25 years of basketball diplomacy between U.S. and North Korea”   here http://www.nknews.org/2013/03/slam-dunk-diplomacy/ at NKNews.org

From the Atlantic Magazine:

On Mar 4, 2013 3:27 PM, “olga khazan” <okhazan@theatlantic.com> wrote:

Hi there — I’m the global editor for the Atlantic, and I’m trying to reach Nate Thayer to see if he’d be interested in repurposing his recent basketball diplomacy post on our site.

Could someone connect me with him, please?

thanks,
Olga Khazan
okhazan@theatlantic.com

For more, go here…

Ralph Ellison and the Floating Self

~ davidbiddle ~ 5 Comments
A Young Ralph Waldo Ellison

No one is really sure, but March 1 was either Ralph Waldo Ellison’s 99th or 100th birthday. We have at least three copies of Invisible Man floating around our house. More than likely, if you ask, all three of my sons will tell you that was their favorite book from high school. In addition, my bookshelf holds a hardback edition of his collected essays as well as his story collection Flying Home and his under-appreciated 1101-page unfinished novel, Three Days Before the Shooting…. I posted the very short essay, below, on my first blog 8 years ago. I offer it again in appreciation and honor of this master and genius of American Letters.

Ralph Ellison and the Floating Self

It seems to me that Ralph Ellison may be this country’s most important writer. Not so much for his production or even his style, but because of his deep wisdom and his remarkable understanding of the links between literature, politics, and our national struggle with the culture of Continue reading →

Report from Ex:Urbia: Love is All You Need, or Maybe It’s Just the Beginning of Something Far Greater

~ davidbiddle ~ Leave a comment

Ex-Urbia1I’m deep into finishing a first draft of my new novel, working title Ex:Urbia. Julia Davenport is telling the story. The character is coming out of something quite powerful, deep down in my gut. This is a multi-fabricked story of love, the question of mental illness, struggling with personal demons, and the search for The Big Question. It’s also a story about the poetic effect of outer suburbia on life in America…not really your standard derogatory set of symbols and metaphors, more what it means to live out there at the edge of things.

I’m posting this little report here for a couple of reasons. The first is to note that I recently got wind of another divorce in the loose-knit tribe I’m a part of. I won’t go into details, but this news broke my heart. It would break yours too. Both people in this Continue reading →

E-Book Pricing In the Modern World: Addendum

~ davidbiddle ~ 1 Comment
English: Congestion Pricing Equilibrium
English: Congestion Pricing Equilibrium (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Things move so fast for writers who have taken publishing into their own hands. Since posting my latest “Talking Indies” column on E-Book pricing at TalkingWriting.com, I got to thinking about the need to be more creative about pricing. I knew that Smashwords had a system that allowed for that to a certain extent. But Smashwords is a bit scary when you first check it out. They have formatting requirements that sound a bit Gestapo-esque. And yet, they are known for being part of the new writer’s liberation front. Hmm…

You need to grow a pair or two if you want to be a writer in the 21st century. Right? It Continue reading →

Smashwords Rocks: My Books at Your Price and the Philosophy of Modern Fiction

~ davidbiddle ~ Leave a comment

A few days ago I posted my novel Beyond the Will of God to Smashwords.com as my first experience with the book distribution upstart. Yesterday I posted both of my story collections, Trying to Care: A Story Collection and Implosions of America: Nine Stories.

It’s a bit of a chore formatting your work to run through the Smashwords meatgrinder (why don’t they call it a wordgrinder?), but once you succeed the website is a very writer and reader friendly place. I strongly urge you to go there and buy all of my books as soon as you finish this brief post. Two of the three are set up with the “You Set the Price” payment option. Implosions is still being sold at a premium of $5.99. It will always be sold at that price. Why? Because it’s a collection of damn fine stories that rival any you will find anywhere. See it featured at Short Fiction Spotlight here or check out the 5-Star (★★★★★) review at the Kindle Magazine El Dink here. Continue reading →

Beyond the Will of God: Smashwords Edition and More…

~ davidbiddle ~ Leave a comment
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shitao/4577623227/
Cover Art: Tim Williams, “Gymnopédie”

My psychedelic novel, Beyond the Will of God, is now posted at Smashwords. This means you can download it for reading in a vast array of formats. In addition, Smashwords will make the book available on virtually every major book distribution channel online. So if you use Sony, Kobo, iBooks or whatever, within the next few weeks, a version can be found at an online site of your choosing.

One of the things I love most about Smashwords themselves is that they allow a “You Set The Price” option at their site. Click here for the Smashwords page. You’ll see that the book now has a new cover. I’m quite awed by Tim Williams’ paintings. This cover uses his amazingly sensuous “Gymnopédie.” I don’t know if anything can point to the intent of looking Beyond the of God more than this.

5-Star Reviewed
★★★★★

Also, my book Implosions of America: Nine Stories is featured this week at Jason Varrone’s awesome “Short Fiction Spotlight.” The full feature can be accessed here. Implosions of America was given 5 Stars (★★★★★) back in December in a review by the UK Kindle Magazine El Dink. Check out the review by Barry Purcell here.

As always, besides their many electronic incarnations, you can get my books as paperbacks through Amazon and CreateSpace. And, remember, if you sign up for mailing list (top right of page) you can download a free PDF version of Beyond the Will of God.

May music save your mortal soul!

 

Along With Ecstasy: an Ex:Urbia ex:cerpt

~ davidbiddle ~ 2 Comments

Below is a work-in-progress passage from my novel Ex:Urbia.

Singapore Marriott Hotel

 Along With Ecstasy

I pass a crumpled pickup on the road tonight heading home from the city. I had given a dinner speech at the Center City Marriott on contract fund management. Red and blue police lights spin in the darkness, a slight fog enshrouds distant traffic lights candied lime, lemon and cherry — an awful combination. One person lies on the ground, another staggers toward the police car. It is fragility that drives us inward at moments like this. We see danger, or are reminded of death, and retreat seems the only option. Retreat into the mind. Retreat into fear. And yet, how precious, anyway, this worthless life. It’s all we have. I am Julia Davenport and the world revolves around me the same way it does around you.

Fear was already beating in my chest when I stepped onto the sidewalk away from the shimmering lights that line the driveway to the Marriott after talking about money and public works projects for an hour. I know it was fear. I don’t like that feeling. I was afraid that first night with Danny. I was afraid my first day at work. I am afraid so much of the time. I feel okay by myself at the mall or driving. Being alone out in public has that effect on me. I like Continue reading →