| Jack Ketchum June 9, 2007 |
Post Meeting Write-up
Well, last night marked the return of Face the Fiction to our
sponsor store, Borders GSP, and what a night it was. The Face
the Fiction crowd was the center of attention at the center of the
store, and proved once again that If you are having fun, others
will notice:)
Steve & Jim Spinosa arrived nice and early and sat back with me
for a relaxing chat. We were soon joined by our friends Gene,
Paul, and Brian. The pre-meeting discussion centered around
optics, chemistry (by the way Brian, Mo'Larr is a villain from
He-Man and is the Eternian
Dentist, your chemistry question was a ruse, wasn't it, lol), the
ThunderCats, and A Dangerous Book for Boys (of which I thinhk
the store sold two or three copies, go merchandising display!). As
time passed, the crowds began to gather, with many SFSNNJ
regulars being joined by
fresh new faces.
Starting around 8:15, Steve did a wonder job (as always)
introducing our gracious and cool guest 'Dallas' Jack
Ketchum. Dallas took the floor and began by asking how
many people had read his books, and how many of us were
writers. Taking careful note of the responses, he then
explained that one of his goals at any appearance was to teach
writers the most vital tools that they would need to make it. In a
quick turn of conversation, he began to describe his own,
abbreviated, biography; starting with growing up in Livingston
and proceeding through the point where he pushed a little old
Jewish lady out of the way to get a cab in the rain (which was
completely out of character, and showed him that it was time to
move on from his then employer), then on to talking with Henry
Miller and deciding to quit his job before he turned into even
more of a monster, and finally on to his writing career.
Dallas spent quite a bit of time explaining how he wrote Off
Season, and the outcry that erupted because of that book. The
Village Voice article (written by some hyphenated guy whose
name is lost in the mists of time) that decried the book as violent
pornography helped to generate a lot of interest, however the
problems with distributors and other editing issues (much of the
book was cut at the time though it is now available in the
unexpurgated re-release) meant that he got
stuck in '40,000 copy limbo' for subsequent books. He then
explained the processes that he went through to do books like
Ladies' Night, Red, The Girl Next Door,She Wakes
(described by Dallas as his Ode to Greece as the most sensual
place on Earth, as well as a really nasty book).
We then proceeded to allowing the author to talk about the
things that are the most important to writers. Dallas explained
that the first paragraph, and first chapter are the most important
things to write. If you can catch the attention in the first chapter,
then you have the reader hooked, and
you just need to keep them on for the rest of the book. He also
stated that his old friend Robert Bloch (author of Psycho) had
once explained that you need to know where you are going for
the end of the book in terms of feelings, but not in terms of
actual scenes (Dallas put it rather more
succinctly, and I should have written it down at the time). Dallas
then read from several of the openings of his own books to
show exactly what he meant (and he is a fantastic reader).
Questions and interaction (the best part of every Face the Fiction
meeting) then ensued, with really great questions from both
Steve Spinosa and Steve Herr, as well as Mike, Brian, Ana, Paul,
Ann-Marie, Bob, Bill, and myself. We learned, we laughed, we
cried (well I got teary at the ending to Red, it was heartbreaking,
I cannot speak for anyone else). Eventually we left the store at
about 10:45 and adjourned to the Seville Diner with Dallas for a
great evening (which ran till about 2AM). Ana was reading Red
for much of the evening, staunchly refusing to put the book
down.
This was a great way to kick off our triumphant return to the
Border Garden State Plaza, and I would like to personally thank
our wonderful Guest, Dallas Jack Ketchum, as well as
Ann-Marie, Josephine, and Steve Spinosa. Your hard work is a
credit to us all!
Well, last night marked the return of Face the Fiction to our
sponsor store, Borders GSP, and what a night it was. The Face
the Fiction crowd was the center of attention at the center of the
store, and proved once again that If you are having fun, others
will notice:)
Steve & Jim Spinosa arrived nice and early and sat back with me
for a relaxing chat. We were soon joined by our friends Gene,
Paul, and Brian. The pre-meeting discussion centered around
optics, chemistry (by the way Brian, Mo'Larr is a villain from
He-Man and is the Eternian
Dentist, your chemistry question was a ruse, wasn't it, lol), the
ThunderCats, and A Dangerous Book for Boys (of which I thinhk
the store sold two or three copies, go merchandising display!). As
time passed, the crowds began to gather, with many SFSNNJ
regulars being joined by
fresh new faces.
Starting around 8:15, Steve did a wonder job (as always)
introducing our gracious and cool guest 'Dallas' Jack
Ketchum. Dallas took the floor and began by asking how
many people had read his books, and how many of us were
writers. Taking careful note of the responses, he then
explained that one of his goals at any appearance was to teach
writers the most vital tools that they would need to make it. In a
quick turn of conversation, he began to describe his own,
abbreviated, biography; starting with growing up in Livingston
and proceeding through the point where he pushed a little old
Jewish lady out of the way to get a cab in the rain (which was
completely out of character, and showed him that it was time to
move on from his then employer), then on to talking with Henry
Miller and deciding to quit his job before he turned into even
more of a monster, and finally on to his writing career.
Dallas spent quite a bit of time explaining how he wrote Off
Season, and the outcry that erupted because of that book. The
Village Voice article (written by some hyphenated guy whose
name is lost in the mists of time) that decried the book as violent
pornography helped to generate a lot of interest, however the
problems with distributors and other editing issues (much of the
book was cut at the time though it is now available in the
unexpurgated re-release) meant that he got
stuck in '40,000 copy limbo' for subsequent books. He then
explained the processes that he went through to do books like
Ladies' Night, Red, The Girl Next Door,She Wakes
(described by Dallas as his Ode to Greece as the most sensual
place on Earth, as well as a really nasty book).
We then proceeded to allowing the author to talk about the
things that are the most important to writers. Dallas explained
that the first paragraph, and first chapter are the most important
things to write. If you can catch the attention in the first chapter,
then you have the reader hooked, and
you just need to keep them on for the rest of the book. He also
stated that his old friend Robert Bloch (author of Psycho) had
once explained that you need to know where you are going for
the end of the book in terms of feelings, but not in terms of
actual scenes (Dallas put it rather more
succinctly, and I should have written it down at the time). Dallas
then read from several of the openings of his own books to
show exactly what he meant (and he is a fantastic reader).
Questions and interaction (the best part of every Face the Fiction
meeting) then ensued, with really great questions from both
Steve Spinosa and Steve Herr, as well as Mike, Brian, Ana, Paul,
Ann-Marie, Bob, Bill, and myself. We learned, we laughed, we
cried (well I got teary at the ending to Red, it was heartbreaking,
I cannot speak for anyone else). Eventually we left the store at
about 10:45 and adjourned to the Seville Diner with Dallas for a
great evening (which ran till about 2AM). Ana was reading Red
for much of the evening, staunchly refusing to put the book
down.
This was a great way to kick off our triumphant return to the
Border Garden State Plaza, and I would like to personally thank
our wonderful Guest, Dallas Jack Ketchum, as well as
Ann-Marie, Josephine, and Steve Spinosa. Your hard work is a
credit to us all!
About Jack Ketchum
Jack Ketchum is the pseudonym for a former actor, singer,
teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk -- a former
flower child and baby boomer who figures that in 1956 Elvis,
dinosaurs and horror probably saved his life. His first novel, Off
Season, prompted the Village Voice to publicly scold its
publisher in print for publishing violent pornography. He
personally disagrees but is perfectly happy to let you decide for
yourself. His short story The Box won a 1994 Bram Stoker
Award from the HWA, his story Gone won again in 2000 -- and
in 2003 he won Stokers for both best collection for Peaceable
Kingdom and best long fiction for Closing Time. He has
written eleven novels, the latest of which are Red, Ladies'
Night, and The Lost. His stories are collected in The Exit At
Toledo Blade Boulevard, Broken on the Wheel of Sex,
and Peaceable Kingdom. His novella The Crossings was
cited by Stephen King in his speech at the 2003 National Book
Awards.
Jack Ketchum is the pseudonym for a former actor, singer,
teacher, literary agent, lumber salesman, and soda jerk -- a former
flower child and baby boomer who figures that in 1956 Elvis,
dinosaurs and horror probably saved his life. His first novel, Off
Season, prompted the Village Voice to publicly scold its
publisher in print for publishing violent pornography. He
personally disagrees but is perfectly happy to let you decide for
yourself. His short story The Box won a 1994 Bram Stoker
Award from the HWA, his story Gone won again in 2000 -- and
in 2003 he won Stokers for both best collection for Peaceable
Kingdom and best long fiction for Closing Time. He has
written eleven novels, the latest of which are Red, Ladies'
Night, and The Lost. His stories are collected in The Exit At
Toledo Blade Boulevard, Broken on the Wheel of Sex,
and Peaceable Kingdom. His novella The Crossings was
cited by Stephen King in his speech at the 2003 National Book
Awards.
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