December 15th, 2010 / 4:14 pm
Craft Notes
Mike Young
Craft Notes
Actually I Like That Bulgakov Book With the Dog But No One Comments Unless Things Are Contentious
What is the most exciting non-human creature in your novel? Mine is a capybara. If you say “dog” or “adorable dog” or “talking dog” then you are everything that’s wrong with contemporary literature.
Tags: actually i like the way the text looks in this post now; it looks like a hamburgler who can never find clothes with the right cut, blake is going to get mad at me about these irrelevant tags; they confuse google blake says, i have a lot of serious posts planned but i only have time for the stupid ones like this one, nick antosca just made a post about raccoons, see there is continuity at HTMLGIANT
mine is a bird. too many birds to count.
mine is a bird. too many birds to count.
mine is a bird. too many birds to count.
a buffalo. christy call drew it: http://notapunkrockpress.com/am/img/buffalo.png
actually i hate birds. i prefer dinosaurs. and lazers. and rocketships.
actually i hate birds. i prefer dinosaurs. and lazers. and rocketships.
a snipe.
“something more primordial” than Aphrodite (Aphrodite being, in this instance, an impulse and set of capabilities more than a concrete being) that manifests as a manipulative British soap opera vixen in tailored suits and pumps. This is a young adult novel.
What died in your Annalemma story? A fish? I like that story.
My mom can’t stop talking about THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, and I’m like, Really? She just read and disliked FREEDOM, said she couldn’t remember a single character’s name one week later. My current plan is to give her Kyle Minor’s IN THE DEVIL’S TERRITORY for Christmas.
oh i was confused. i still like birds.
oh i was confused. i still like birds.
parakeet did. other pets did too probably. hamster?
parakeet did. other pets did too probably. hamster?
I do remember multiples.
I do remember multiples.
Me too!
Me too!
A talking dog is right up there with suicide. So, for me, a story needs a talking dog or suicide, or both, like a dog talking about its own suicide.
A talking dog is right up there with suicide. So, for me, a story needs a talking dog or suicide, or both, like a dog talking about its own suicide.
A talking dog is right up there with suicide. So, for me, a story needs a talking dog or suicide, or both, like a dog talking about its own suicide.
A talking dog is right up there with suicide. So, for me, a story needs a talking dog or suicide, or both, like a dog talking about its own suicide.
a chupacabra
yes, i actually always get capybaras and chupacabras confused. i try to remember: one is real, one should be real. that is what i tell myself about myself too, so i end up just getting extra confused.
Oh man, didn’t know he had a book on the way. I will try to remember that. Maybe I can manage a review.
Talking/adorable dog.
i like when Mike and Ryan try to act snippy, it’s like watching a woobly little spaniel pup jostle around a stuffed pink mouse chew toy
another good idea for a comment for this post would be a poem called “Michael Vick Would Someday Like To Own a Dog Again” / background material: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=5922161 / actually i will buy a used tambourine off ebay and send it to anyone who writes a really good poem called “Michael Vick Would Someday Like To Own a Dog Again” and posts it in the comments section of this post / it is important to foster community
When I was in college I used to write about capybaras, armadillos and ospreys. The armadillo in one of my stories was the Armadillo God[ess]. She met the hero under Egg Tree Hill, after he dreamt of an enormous fork penetrating a desert, and ultimately introduced him the Book to End All Books.
…I was a silly boy, when I was in college.
I no longer write about weird animals. Now I only write about weird people.
An end to the dog narrator! Forever!
mine is a bird. too many birds to count.
a buffalo. christy call drew it: http://notapunkrockpress.com/am/img/buffalo.png
i like birds too. and insects.
actually i hate birds. i prefer dinosaurs. and lazers. and rocketships.
chupacabra’s good.
i had a chapbook dedicated to but largely excluding jackalopes. when i saw a stuffed one in a gun shop as a kid, my step-dad told they were real out west.
the weasel family’s appealing.
a snipe.
“something more primordial” than Aphrodite (Aphrodite being, in this instance, an impulse and set of capabilities more than a concrete being) that manifests as a manipulative British soap opera vixen in tailored suits and pumps. This is a young adult novel.
What died in your Annalemma story? A fish? I like that story.
My mom can’t stop talking about THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN, and I’m like, Really? She just read and disliked FREEDOM, said she couldn’t remember a single character’s name one week later. My current plan is to give her Kyle Minor’s IN THE DEVIL’S TERRITORY for Christmas.
a fish that turned into a person, then back into a half manfish. there’s also the roach that tapped danced and sang o happy day sarcastically in this one long poem i did when i thought long poems were the shit.
oh i was confused. i still like birds.
parakeet did. other pets did too probably. hamster?
I do remember multiples.
Me too!
I wrote a story with lions, it wasn’t a novel.
Talking dogs aren’t ALWAYS dumb:
http://www.adhousebooks.com/books/duncan.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/cc/Canvey.JPG
Immortal Jellyfish: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turritopsis_nutricula
A talking dog is right up there with suicide. So, for me, a story needs a talking dog or suicide, or both, like a dog talking about its own suicide.
wow
that motherfucker freaks me out. that’s almost as bad as a horse becoming immortal.
Oh, yeah, I’ve also written about a talking dog. But this one was an “origami dog” and it required petting before it would agree to talk. [rolls eyes]
I have some malformed pig babies in mine that I like pretty well.
Holy shit how did I not know about this. Jack do you have a newsletter to which I can subscribe?
don’t know if jack has a newsletter (he should), but pretty soon you’ll be able to order his book (which is totally amazing) from here: http://bluesquarepress.com/books
Oh man, didn’t know he had a book on the way. I will try to remember that. Maybe I can manage a review.
My newest book, The Pickled Apocalypse of Pancake Island, is about a depressed pickle who falls in love with a pancake. That one also features a creature-thing called the cuddlywumpus.
My first book is about a world overrun by flying sharks and a guy who can turn anything into a mannequin form of itself.
I think there are non-human characters in most of the things I’ve written.
michael vick would someday like to own a dog again
michael vick
would like to chase angels
through the windows of prague
would like to
fill libraries
with
stacks of losing lotterry tickets
scratched bare years ago
would like to
elect bearded men to public office
walk under ladders
saunter into churches
and put out all the candles
with a damp rag
michael vick would like to be young again
would like his mistakes
ahead of him, again, please
would like to reenact the plot of
old yeller
or even just
marley and me
michael vick would like to own a dog again
someday
minotaurs, snakes & eels, & air
Oh, yeah, I’ve also written about a talking dog. But this one was an “origami dog” and it required petting before it would agree to talk. [rolls eyes]
Ha, I wish I had a newsletter of general curiosities. Good idea.
email me your mailing address for your free tambourine mr. wackomet: mikeayoung at gmail dot com
microwave chicken
Mr Hooker is the entertaining and intelligent, though not exactly “exciting”, narrator and co-protagonist of Shakespeare’s Dog.
[A reasonable perception of being “everything wrong” might be one of Leon Rooke’s ambitions.]
jackalopes are definitely real, and you can make stew out of them
Come to think of it: I’ve never written about Gullyflugs, before. Perhaps, some day, I will.
…But, were I someone else, I wouldn’t count on it.
I think you should exempt Kafka’s “Investigations of a Dog” here too.
thanks man
A lion. His name is Jerome.
the antlers would make a good belt buckle
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_N3AIr4ozFyM/SXs8Spiw_5I/AAAAAAAAAjY/J0j1-2pV8W8/s400/antler_buttons_2903-02a.jpg
Mike, have you read Sandra Beasley’s “Capybara” in the latest Best American Poetry annual? It’s quite an amazing piece.
i haven’t, but i’ll check it out! UPDATE: i’m guessing you mean “Unit of Measure,” which i just found on the internet. i like it. all love is either lovelier or not lovelier than a capybara.
The one with the cat is good too.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Behemot.JPG
That’s the one.
Sad sack blobfish: http://fishindex.blogspot.com/2009/02/blobfish-psychrolutes-marcidus.html
I mean, doesn’t just looking at it depress you?
Nice lettering in the header, though. I might not’ve been able to take my eyes off it if it weren’t for the ugly fish just beneath it.