expanding a little..

[mnaz]

a year ago I found myself unexpectedly caught in another "fury of writing," coming immediately after doreen helped me publish a book. I would really like to add the last 11-12 month run (yes, unexpected) before I let that project lie, so I think I'll mix it in and "re-configure" (at least theoretically, some way, some-how)..

tentative list...

1. get away
2. get back
3. motel checklist
4. horizon
5. realm
6. ramble
7. lines and points
8. roundscape
9. red cliffs
10. saint george
11. sept. 10, 2001
12. god wars
13. big woofer
14. badlands
15. jean lake in july
16. joe campbell
17. burning man
18. jesus chapter
19. god particle
20. sept. 11, 2002
21. elevation
22. mirage
23. nevada, part 1
24. vegas, part 2
25. the interruption
26. the beige hole
27. the blazer
28. moving rocks
29. dooby's road
30. geology
31. trees
32. earl
33. lost
34. exit 286
35. drought
36. variables
37. prospects
38. silver
39. gold
40. red's camp
41. lost mines
42. flyover
43. momentum
44. need a woman
45. need a job

(some above are re-titled, and the last two are a "joke"... well, except for the money running out part)

[Doreen Peri]

The last 2 which you said are a joke, are the two I identified with most. Except for I'd rather have a man than a woman and I definitely don't NEED one.. but would be nice to have some male companionship occasionally. For certain, I NEED a job. No doubt about that. #43 would be nice. Momentum. I also identify with the first 2. Get away and get back.

Ever consider finding a publishing house or getting a literary agent to help you find a publishing house to consider your manuscript? Poetry doesn't sell but essays sell bigtime. Not only that, according to a literary agent I met a couple of years ago, personal biographical essays (similar to yours) are the type of works which are currently selling the best, even better than novels.

I suggest hooking up with an agent, doing an online search to find one, sending out your manuscript to agents who find works for publishing houses. It won't cost you anything but time and persistence.

All the best.

[stilltrucking]

Nice work if you can get.
And I know you can.

"How much does it cost I'll buy it." Sunshine

Seriously

Looking forward to it.

[mnaz]

thanks doreen, and jack.

one thing different will be to go away from the chronological format, and mix the scenes together, careening between the "god wars" type storms and the quieter passages. there are potential pitfalls in all of this (including risk of repetition, or "incompatibility" of the added stuff), but it's just something I sensed I need to try to accomplish before I can be satisfied with the overall work.

for anyone who bought the original edition and is interested in this one, I'd like to send a free copy, or maybe I should just set a very low price for awhile.

doreen, if and when I can see this through, I might actually make some sort of stab at getting more exposure for the work. who knows? An independent "editor" beforehand might help too. for now, it will be self-publish I suppose. I know lightning rod is working on some books; maybe I should consult with him on how best to self-publish after I get the larger manuscript done (about 30% "blended," so far...).

the "need a job" thing at the end might work, since (true to life) the whole thing is based on an extended road trip muse/motif (and I ran out of money!)... sorry to hear of your employment difficulties, doreen. I remember we talked about that. my situation is fairly tenuous also. need to get off that gig and "hire myself" at something. I think I can pull that off in the not-too-distant future. man, it's been a hard coupla-three years for me lately. anyway... thanks for checking in. appreciate.

[mnaz]

chapter lineup is pretty much set... 32 of the 44 entries more "intensely edited and enhanced"... the most difficult entries. this whole "god wars" and religion thing was such an intense part of the wandering i did, 6, 7, 8, 9 years ago, whether in contemplation out in the vast sea of creosote bushes, or in the everpresent glowing propaganda box at every motel, that i realized i didn't say enough about it in my previous "memoir". that, and, well, other things...

also, i told myself i was a perfectly capable and critical self-editor last time, but didn't quite get it done, at least not throughout. i've been a lot tougher in the last year of revisiting and expanding, but still, i may have to hire someone else to lend a critical eye. anyway...

1. get away
2. get back
3. motel checklist
4. horizon

5. red cliffs
6. saint george
7. september 10
8. ramble
9. roundscape

10. god wars
11. woofer
12. badlands
13. jean lake

14. moving rocks
15. mirage
16. burning man
17. 9.11.02

18. jesus chapter
19. god particle
20. jumping mountain
21. geology

22. nevada, part 1
23. vegas, part 2
24. interruption
25. joe campbell
26. beige hole

27. exile
28. dooby's road
29. elevation

30. california
31. blazer
32. drought
33. exit 286

34. trees
35. earl
36. lost

37. silver
38. gold
39. red's camp
40. lost mines
41. cabin

42. flyover
43. momentum
44. need a job

the chronological approach is now abandoned, in favor of a sort of "flowing up and down (dark and light) progression, or cycle"...

[judih]

line-up reads beautifully

wraps up with confidence and direction

[mnaz]

thanks, judih. i hope to wrap it up soon. it really is time for me to move on.

(actually, i kind of thought i was moving onto a new project with these ten or eleven added chapters i wrote in the last 14-15 months, but at some point it made more sense to me to integrate them into the existing book. oh well...)

[Arcadia]

but at some point it made more sense to me to integrate them into the existing book. oh well...) Well, that sounds very roundscape...!

[mnaz]

thanks arcadia. i'm almost there. real close. shuffled things a bit:

1. notes in flight:

get away
get back
motel checklist
horizon
red cliffs
september 10
saint george
ramble
roundscape

2. dub-scapes:

god wars
big woofer
badlands
jean lake
moving rocks
on the playa
burning man
9.11.02

3. rock and religion:

jumping rock
geology
theology
jesus chapter
god particle

4. notes on nevada:

nevada, part 1
vegas, part 2
joe campbell
interruption
beige hole
banished
dooby's road
elevation

5. notes on aimless:

california
blazer
drought
exit 286
trees
earl
lost

6. notes on minerals:

silver
gold
red's camp
lost mines
cabin
flyover
momentum
need a job

[Arcadia]

de nada mnaz!!!!, beautiful hexagrama!!!!!

[mnaz]

jeez, 20 months later? ! what?

this has taken forever-- it's embarrrasing, actually, but . . . just about done. revamped, recombined, reintegrated... chapters:

Get away (1) . . . . (done)
Get back (2) . . . . (done)
Motels (3) . . . . (done)
Moving Rocks (4) . . . . (done)
Red Cliffs (5) . . . . (final edit)
September 10th (6) . . . . (done, posted 5/12)
Roundscape (7) . . . . (done, posted 7/12)
Dub-scape (8) . . . . (done)
Jumping Rock (9) . . . . (done, posted 7/12)
Geology (10) . . . . (done, posted 7/12)
Theology (11) . . . . (done, posted 6/12)
Drought (12) . . . . (done)
Blazer (13) . . . . (done)
Nevada, part 1 (14) . . . . (final edit)
Vegas, part 2 (15) . . . . (final edit)
The Beige Hole (16) . . . . (done)
Exile (17) . . . . (need to add the "psychogeography" part)
Lost (18) . . . . (done)
Gunman (19) . . . . (done)
Dooby's Road (20) . . . . (final edit)
Burning Man ( 21) . . . . (done)
Silver (22) . . . . (done)
Gold (23) . . . . (need to add the "mexico's silent space" part)
Lost Mines (24) . . . . (done)
Elevation (25) . . . . (done)
Momentum (26) . . . . (final edit)

[Arcadia]

it's embarrrasing, actually, but . . . hey...!, what was the hurry? great, minucioso work you did there, enjoy it!!!!!!!!

[Doreen Peri]

Just checking in.... what's up with the new book? How's the manuscript coming along? And how are YOU?

[mnaz]

practically done, doreen. i'm laboring a bit over the "theology" chapter-- a few second and third thoughts. i really can't delve too far into theological dissertation at any point-- not the point of this "literary journey"... yet this aspect of my travels, considering when much of it occurred (2001-02) can't be completely ignored either. tough to find the right mix...

just got back from a road trip. posted pics in the photography board... i'm doing pretty well, but i'm kind of sick of my job. i guess i'm lucky to have one, but i still don't think i'll be able to stand finishing out my career at my current job...

[mnaz]

okay, i'm done. just another paragraph or three in the introduction (i hate long introductions) and i'll be set.

here's what i have for the intro ...

One time I visited Las Vegas, Nevada. Like everyone else. Except I didn't fly, I drove thousands of miles to get there, and lucky for me. Otherwise I would have missed rock sculpture and the great arcs into naked oblivion. They defied any sense of scale and devoured powerlines from Vegas . . . Boundless desert visions.
So for eight years I chased the far side of these visions. What do they look like at twenty, forty, a hundred miles out? I took notes, some which are recorded on these pages. They are mostly visual notes, and thus the book is a prequel at best; the other senses are given little detail . . . not that they are much in play anyway between rare rains and their sweet scent of sage, or giddy, foolish croak of spadefoot toads who have mere hours to emerge from mud to mate or be eaten. But what does dust smell or taste like between rains? How do you hear quiet except for the wind?
I even quit my job at one point. Packed up and moved south to live on a landscape that seemed closest to earth's bottomless power, from a different world "older and greater and deeper by far than ours," as the desert poet Ed Abbey wrote. A trip I couldn't rightly refuse, and it changed how I see this hurtling rock of ours. So how will it play out? Will it drive me to some form of eco-activism, like Abbey? Can't say for sure. No doubt the rock is under siege like never before as the population soars and the global corporate machine hits high gear, but eco-activism is hard work, and generally damned unpopular. All I can tell you for sure is that my first forays began as unabashedly escapist.

Unfortunately, when I set out it was a time of great sectarian strife, needless and vain. How does one fight over the heavens? Over unbounded mystery? How did we decide, on religion's long spiritual path, that this was important or necessary? I was going to omit the insanity of September 2001 from the story, but the onset of global doom as I set out to start a new life can't be ignored. It affected and infected almost everything and everyone I met. Trajectory was impacted.
And the insanity of science can't be ignored either. Spend enough time on bare rock and it seeps into your awareness. You ponder its origin, even its rhythms, but the science of rock and its meaningless eons clinically categorized into eternity-past, its far-fetched explanations on national park brochures wild enough to tame any Creationist tale, its immortal mountains routinely eroded to death . . . must be held at arm's length, lest science begin kill the wonder and power, the shape of earth in its now state, the mesas backlit in subtle gold. And that is where I picked up a pen, somewhere in the eons and subtle gold.

The people I met along the way really do (or did) exist, fairly close to how they are described. I invented fictitious names of course, but tried not to move them too far in space and time. And the events are all true as well. I really did get utterly lost out there in foolish wanderlust. Twice, even. The first time I was able to retrace my path, but not the second, not on that sagebrush sea and no landmarks; I needed a bit of luck to get out, and words will never adequately describe the onset of panic. If only I had bowed to technology and bought a g.p.s. device to tell me how lost I was. Foolish pride. Or perhaps a subconscious intent to slip the grid.

the final "contents" list:

Get Away (1)
Get Back (2)
Horizon (3)
Red Cliffs (4)
Moving Rocks (5)
September 10th (6)
Roundscape (7)
Nevada, Part 1 (8)
Jumping Rock (9)
Geology (10)
Theology (11)
Drought (12)
Dooby's Road (13)
Vegas, Part 2 (14)
Blazer Stomp (15)
Beige Hole (16)
Exile (17)
Burning Man (18)
Gunman (19)
Lost (20)
Silver (21)
Gold ( 22)
Lost Mines (23)
Elevation (24)
Momentum (25)

most of the things left out before are now included, now expressed, and some things from before are removed. i had to get rid of "old vlad" for example; he just didn't fit ... just need to collect and insert the accompanying photos and publish. need to figure out the best way to get that done. hopefully that doesn't take me yet another year !