Paris Journals #1

It started as any revelation might start
just another day, nothing really
and creation just isn’t stated that way

Often drinking wine does the trick
and miracles might happen like nothing
like natural traps of the imagination

Walking on water, dancing on smoke
farting illusions of better places
making bubbles in your glass of red wine …

(from “Vacuum Dance,” Beer Songs for the Lonely by F.K. Needles)

Paris Journal Intro

In 1998, I bought a Claire Fontaine 17 x 22 cm 40 sheet notebook to take with me to Spain, so that I could keep a journal, and not have a cumbersome pad or computer to carry around. I wanted something I could slip inside a hand bag and carry with me anywhere I went. I ended up really liking this format, and continued to write in these notebooks for the reminder of my stay in France which ended in late 2004 when I moved back to Austin, Texas. There are 33 of these notebooks, all filled with various writings, rants, poetry, drunken prose, among other stuff. I’d write on my computer as well, then print what I had written, and glue it inside these notebooks, where I made more notations by hand. I also glued photographs of friends and myself, unsent letters, and re-worked many of the poems that eventually ended up in my first published book: Beer Songs for the Lonely.

I called these writings: Daynotes. I will publish excerpts here as: Paris Journals.

I would like to share these, publishing half a dozen to a dozen scanned images taken directly from each notebooks, and letting them tell their own stories. I might add some postcards, letters received or unsent — at the time I often wrote letters that I sealed inside envelopes and never sent out — to these images from my Daynotes. 

Commentaries are welcome.

F.K. Needles, February 2010, Austin, Texas

Denniger Bolton, Wednesday 23rd guest on “Writing on the Air”

Tune in this Wednesday, 23rd of December on WRITING ON THE AIR, KOOP Radio 91.7 Austin, Texas, to meet local crime / mystery novelist, Denniger Bolton. So far, Denniger has written three novels in the the B.B. Rivers Mystery series, published by Javelina Books.

He has a fourth book coming out soon, and several new projects in development.

I’m very excited to have Denniger on the show, and I hope you will tune in to Koop Radio! You can also listen in from anywhere around the globe by going to Koop.org and clicking on the live stream. If you miss it, the show should be up on this website a few days after broadcast.

Among many other very interesting subjects, we will be talking with Denniger about his creative process. How he goes from a simple idea: two kids are murdered at Hippie Hollow, for example; to a full out romp of a mystery novel: Hippie Hollow, Murder on a Nude Beach which just happens to be his first novel in the B.B. Rivers Mystery Series.

We will also be discussing Mr. Bolton’s upcoming projects, a self-help book on how to self-publish & all the nitty gritty involved in the book business, and how Denniger goes about it.

That and so much more!

You should definitely tune in on Wednesday 23rd from 6 till 7 pm.

The hosts will be Mr. Dillon McKinsey, Dr. Dora Robinson, and myself, Francois Pointeau. Unfortunately, Lee K. Davis will not be present, as he will be traveling back home to visit his family for the holidays.

If you simply cannot wait till Wednesday to meet Denniger, you can meet him in person, as well as many other really cool authors such as Robert Stikmanz, Gary Kent, Gabrielle Faust, F.K. Needles, and many many more, at the Keep Austin Bizarre Christmas Bazaar. This starts today Friday 18th, and lasts till Monday 21th.

Francois Pointeau

PS: Don’t forget about New Belleville Press books: Beer Songs for the Lonely, by F.K. Needles, and Neurotica by Elva Maxine Beach. You can purchase them at one or more of these wonderful retailers: Alibris.com & Authorsbookshop.com & Book People & Oat Willies & Sonny’s Vintage, those last three in Austin, TX & Left Bank Books, in St. Louis, MO.

November 16th, 2009. Newsletter: Doing Friday on Mondays!

It’s been a fun last few week!

I’ll make this short and sweet. First thing: NEUROTICA, by Elva Maxine Beach, the second book published by New Belleville Press, is now available on Amazon.com.

This was a difficult decision for me. It probably seems like a no-brainer to most people. However, it wasn’t for me. After a meeting with a local publicist from Phenix & Phenix Literary Publicist – I’m not giving you his name because I didn’t ask him if I could mention him here … however, it’s a great local company that works nationally – he convinced me that I needed to make all my books available on Amazon. And now, THEY ARE!

Not only that, I should seriously start thinking about making my two titles, NEUROTICA & BEER SONGS FOR THE LONELY available on kindle and every other electronic publishing device out there, and I should also start publishing books electronically before going to press. There’s several manuscripts out there that I would love to publish, and maybe that’s the key??? The financial key??? Electronic publishing before paper publishing??? Sounds like the future. In any case, it would allow me to publish more titles than I can at the moment. When and if we sale enough electronic copies to make the paper route plausible, then we go that way. I like the idea, and I need to look into it a bit more.

Second big news, I am now officially a host on Writing on the Air [site currently under construction] a radio show broadcasting every Wednesday afternoon from 6pm till 7pm Central Time on 91.7 KOOP.org. My first show as the main host took place on November 4th, and my first guest was Gary Kent. The show should be available to you online very soon.

It was a fun! And quite stressful. Lee K. Davis wasn’t in town. He was visiting his family. Dillon McKinsey showed up 20 minutes before the show to tell me his wife was being taken to the emergency room in Round Rock, and he needed to go to the hospital – she’s fine, thank goodness – and I was left alone. Or so I thought. I had run the board only once, and most definitely never ran the board and interviewed the guest all at once. Dr. Dora Robinson showed up right before 6pm, and saved my ass! Thank you, Dora! Rick from Excavation Nation stuck around and helped me get going as well. Thanks you, Rick! And Gary Kent happened to be a great guest. Thank you, Gary! Anyway, I survived the experience, and I am now one of the host on “Writing on the Air,” where I will be interviewing a writer ever few weeks.

This brings me to the Wednesday 25th of November show. On that evening, Robert Stikmanz and me will be having a conversation – I like the word “conversation” better than “interviewing” to describe what I’m going for with WOTA – between 6 & 7pm on 91.7 KOOP.org, Austin, Texas. You can catch it locally on your FM dial, or anywhere in the world LIVE on our live-stream on koop.org. If you miss the show, it will eventually be available on my website … though I am not sure when nor how. Robert will talk about his books and his universe, which among other things involve The Hidden Lands of Nod!

I’m really excited about talking with Robert. Not only is he a really nice man, he also happens to be an exceedingly talented writer!

Have you read his books? Do you have questions for Robert Stikmanz? LET ME KNOW!!! Send me your questions, and I will pick some out, and ask them to Rob live on the radio. It could be your question I ask! So let me know.

That’s my big news for the time being!

Currently reading: HIPPIE HOLLOW, by Denniger Bolton. Denny is a friend of mine, and I bought his book at the Texas Book Festival. I’ll let you know more when I finish the book … and that should be VERY soon.

Lots of hugs and kisses to everybody!

Let your hair down, pop a can of beer, sit outside and enjoy this amazingly awesome weather, and love life!

François Pointeau

PS: Don’t forget about New Belleville Press books: Beer Songs for the Lonely, by F.K. Needles, and Neurotica by Elva Maxine Beach. You can purchase them at one or more of these wonderful retailers: Alibris.com & Authorsbookshop.com & Book People & Oat Willies & Sonny’s Vintage, those last three in Austin, TX & Left Bank Books, in St. Louis, MO.

October 11 Newsletter — SALA meeting notes & other news

SALA writers’ group … the Notes!

On Tuesday evening, October 6th, Denny, Lester, Murray, and myself, Francois, met at Spider House to talk about SALA’s Writers’ group. It’s become evident that many people on the “list” of this group are either not interested, or do not have the time to dedicate to SALA.

There is however, a small number of us who do want to continue with SALA. We see SALA as an organization to market our own written works, as well as the written word in general. I am going to continue publishing the notes here on NBP website, so that anybody can see what we are up to, as part of my newsletters. We will stop sending these updates to everybody on the email list, so as not to become yet another annoying “spam” straight to the trash email.

In other words: let us know whether or not you want to be part of SALA. If we do not hear from you, you will be taken off the mailing list. If you do want to be part of SALA, you will be expected to take part in the organization and its activities.

Francois and his small publishing company, New Belleville L.L.C., is wanting to organize an independent writers / small press festival that will take place later this fall, and if successful, will take place every fall and spring, twice a year. Francois invited SALA to be a partner in this festival. We have a couple of different ideas for venues, one in particular: Drungo Ice House on 29th & Rio Grande. They have a large outdoor patio which could easily be turned into various booths / tables for writers to showcase their work. The location is central and easily accessible from most anywhere in Austin, as well as having plenty of foot traffic from the neighborhood and the university just a few blocks away. And also, Mike, GM and restaurant partner, will let us use the facilities free of charge. Go check it out, it’s a cool neighborhood bar-restaurant-cafe. The festival will be open to all writers and small independent publishing companies. There will be a small fee not yet determined and possibly a percentage of sales. This money will go to pay for the festival publicity, hiring DJ’s, musicians, renting equipment, et cetera, and to organize further festivals in the future. This will take place on a Sunday from 12pm till 5pm during which writers will be able to talk directly with the public about their work. There will be a stage where writers will be invited to read from their work, be interviewed, answer questions from the audience, and take part in various debates. We are in the process of looking for a DJ to MC the event & play some music.

Denny reminded everyone that the last book reading organized by SALA went well, that there is really no extra costs involved, and it’s a chance for us to sell and talk about our books.

Staple Independent Media Expo is scheduled for March 6th, 2010. Booths are affordable. I went there last year as a consumer, and was impressed with the number of folks who attended the event. Matter fact, that’s where I ran into Gabrielle Faust, bought her latest book, and where she told me about SALA! I’m going back in 2010 with my sister, Christine who self-publishes graphic novels. We will share a booth where we will showcase all of our works.

We also talked about trying to tie-in to a large already existing festival like SXSW where we could put a proposal package together to start a book festival. This would necessitate a lot of work on our part, to put together a professional package describing our intentions. This would be a great place for writing / book contests, awards, and such that have been talked about in the past.

Another possible event, would be a party at someone’s house where we would have live music. Murray suggested that we rent Scholtz Beer Garten at $400 and organize a party there.

Independent brewery was also suggested - $500 buys you enough beer / glasses for quite a few folks & and the venue for the whole afternoon.

We would like to donate a portion of the money we make from these events to charities. We will concentrate on publicity through local newspapers and radio programs. One the of the charities that I’d like to concentrate on is Inside Book Project.

I’m sure that everybody sees where SALA is heading. We want SALA to be an organization of writers and small publishers that specializes in creating or joining in to  various EVENTS to market our own work as well as the work of other local writers and small publishers.

If you are interested in being part of the core group, let us know. If you are not interested in the organizational part of SALA, but would still like to take part in our events, or at least be made aware of them, that’s great too! We want to keep the core group small, so that every member can be held accountable for what they propose to do. We would like to keep the general group as large as possible, so that we can pursue our goal of marketing and showcasing local writers and publishers as much as possible to as large of a group as possible.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Check out the new NEUROTICA review HERE @ CCLaP, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography. And of course, NEUROTICA, is a short story cycle written by Elva Maxine Beach, published by New Belleville Press.

At Writing on the Air — which I’ve missed the last two weeks — co-host Lee K. Davis has been working on pod-casting the shows. This is in the works. If you’re interested, click here: WOTA 10.07.09. This coming Wednesday, Dillon McKinsey will be hosting the show. I will be back, knock on wood, as well, assisting Dillon, Lee, Dora, and the guest! Tune in on 91.7 from 6 to 7 pm on Wednesday Central Time. You can also catch it on the online live stream directly on the station’s website, KOOP.org.

Have a great day! Thanks!

Francois Pointeau

PS: Don’t forget about New Belleville Press books: Beer Songs for the Lonely, by F.K. Needles, and Neurotica by Elva Maxine Beach. You can purchase them at one or more of these wonderful retailers: Alibris.com & Authorsbookshop.com & Book People & Oat Willies & Sonny’s Vintage, those last three in Austin, TX & Left Bank Books, in St. Louis, MO.

New Belleville Newsletter August 31th on Monday for once even though not two weeks ago I called this newsletter: Doing Thursday on Friday.

Guess I’m just irregular. That’s my nature, stick me with a schedule, and I screw it up. It’s been almost two weeks since I’ve published something here, and it’s definitely not that I have nothing to say, it’s just because I’ve been so darn busy.

For one, school is back in session. Nope, I’m not in school, though I’d like to be. It’s that  my day-job is directly tied to the university life. I manage a liquor / wine / beer store just a few blocks from the University of Texas campus, and boy oh boy, nobody told the kids we’re in a freaking recession! And like me, they like their beer! And thank goodness, because that means that for the time being, I have a job! Thank you kids!

We’re also right smack in the middle of fundraising at KOOP 91.7 radio. Monday morning, this morning, I answered pledge phones, stuffed envelopes with t-shirts, coffee mugs, and other gifts, and took a trip to the post office. Loved it! Every time I go to the radio station, I have a blast. What I love about volunteering / interning at KOOP 91.7 is that I’m taking part in something that is so cool: A community radio by volunteers for the whole community about the community we represent playing the most eclectic collection of music in Central Texas, interviewing local politicians, normal folks, writers, musicians, health experts, among so many others who are members of the community, and doing it both in English and in Spanish. And no commercials. It’s a great place, and I feel so lucky to be part of it!

For the last few weeks, I’ve had the pleasure to intern on the show Writing on the Air with Dillon Mckinsey, Lee K. Davis & Dr. Dora Robinson. Again, and I think I’ve said this a couple of time, I’ve been having a blast! Last week, I got to meet the 2010 Poet Laureate of Texas! Karla K. Morton is a great lady, a true Texan, and a very talented poet who writes not just for the sake of writing, but to say something, to make a difference, and to make people’s lives better by being honest and heartfelt talking about some very difficult subjects. She writes poems in a way we can understand. In her upcoming book, she talks about her experience with cancer. She talks about the experience candidly, never falling in easy cliches and pathos. She talks about herself and her body in a way that makes us all think about our human condition. And yes — here is my cliche — she makes us both laugh and cry, she’s not afraid of any emotion, and they’re all real. Her book is coming out very soon, and she will be touring Texas all of next year, reading from her work, and talking about poetry to students throughout Texas. Karla, if you’re reading this, it was an honor meeting you.

Writing on the Air is on every Wednesday from 6 to 7 pm Texas time. You can listen to it live on the radio if you’re in Austin, Texas, or you can go on KOOP 91.7 and stream it live. For the time being, we are not archiving our shows. We’re working on fixing that, and soon you will also be able to listen to us whenever you want.

If you listen to KOOP 91.7 radio, if you think community radio is important, if you believe in diversity, eclectic music, and again, diversity, diversity, and more diversity, then go on the website www.koop.org, or call us at the radio during your favorite show at  512-472-5667, and make a donation. Everything helps, no matter how small.

This coming Wednesday on Sept. 2, Lee K. Davis will be hosting Writing on the Air, and his guest will be Daniel Whittington. Daniel is a gifted singer and performer. You can check him out here for more information. Daniel will bring a guitar and perform in studio during the membership drive. 

Thanks! Have a great day, love life, be happy, and smile at your neighbor!

Francois Pointeau

PS: Don’t forget about New Belleville Press books: Beer Songs for the Lonely, by F.K. Needles, and Neurotica by Elva Maxine Beach. You can purchase them at one or more of these wonderful retailers: Alibris.com & Authorsbookshop.com & Book People & Oat Willies & Sonny’s Vintage, those last three in Austin, TX & Left Bank Books, in St. Louis, MO.

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