Random Musings

Are you a writer if no one reads you?

December 8, 2012 3 Comments

The question seems ridiculous, doesn’t it? If you write, you’re a writer … right? Isn’t that how it works? But the fact is, whether they admit it or not, every writer has grappled with a variation of this question, subtle or otherwise. After all, we don’t simply want to write, we want to be read. We want to be experienced. We want to be RECOGNIZED … … as a writer. And there’s the crux. What separates “a writer” from someone else? When can Joe say it when Bob can’t? The basic answer is that if you write you’re a writer. If the statement isn’t presented in the context of “what do you do for a living” then that’s probably fine. You’re a writer if you…
Read more

Random Musings, Writing

, , , , ,

Why journalists hate their life

December 5, 2012 1 Comment

It’s no secret that the world of journalism is in flux. I spent over a decade in the world of newspapers, those fussy, papery things created by ink-stained wretches, and while I can’t say I don’t have an extreme fondness for those old relics — I think they’re wonderful, actually — I can say that I don’t have an extreme fondness for the visionless people who so often run news organizations. My friends still in the news business don’t disagree. A good friend who is an investigative journalist with a fairly large regional daily has seen his office withering under layoff after layoff. Hey, that’s par for the course with the news business these days … but this story is beyond the pale. At his…
Read more

Random Musings, Rants, Uncategorized

, , , , , , ,

So what’s next?

December 1, 2012 0 Comments

Wait, what? One of my huge problems is attention span. Always has been. Always will be. Just ask the people who had the unfortunate job of being my teacher back in Lakehurst. What this means is that even when neck-deep in a major project or three, my mind is on what’s next rather than what is right in front of me. This is true even right now. It’s not like I’m not busy. I’m currently working on a follow-up to A Year of Hitchcock with Jim McDevitt, the third installment of the Pitched! anthology series with a number of fantastic artists, a series on living through Hurricane Sandy, and whatever odds and ends come my way. And yet still my mind is on what’s next….
Read more

Random Musings, Writing

, , , , , , , ,

I LOVE THIS GRUMPY ASS CAT!

November 24, 2012 0 Comments

By now, Tard the Grumpy cat is Internet famous. When I first posted her to a friend’s Facebook page a few weeks back, knowing this friend would ADORE the amazingly expressive face on this feline, she was still just an out-of-the-blue cat picture I saw that reminded me of my cat loving friend. Now, though, Tard — and that is her name — is a full-blown Internet meme with scores and scores of pictures gracing her grumpy face. Don’t just take my word for it. Google her. She’s HUGE. Liking her is liking Rebecca Black’s “Friday” now. Hell, even referencing “Friday” dates me to the Internet’s dark ages now, given how fast trends come and go here. It’s okay, though, Tard. I won’t turn my…
Read more

Random Musings, Uncategorized

, ,

Why would you write about your lousy little town?

October 26, 2012 0 Comments

I never saw my hometown ’till I stayed away too long. –“San Diego Serenade,” Tom Waits This sort of sums up Lakehurst: Barrens, Blimps & Barons, a book I wrote and self-published about the tiny Pine Barrens town I spent years trying to leave. That’s right. For most of my teen years, I wanted to get the hell out of that place. So if I spent years trying to leave the town — and I jumped ship as soon as I could, fleeing at the age of 19 — why would I spend the time to write and publish a book about it? Tom Waits nailed it in the above lyric from “San Diego Serenade,” featured on 1974’s The Heart of Saturday Night. There is…
Read more

Random Musings, Works by Eric, Writing

, , , , , ,