Getting to Know Get Lit! Authors

Get Lit! is a opportunity for the community to enjoy authors from a wide range of genres, backgrounds, and cultures; and though these authors may share themselves with the audience through their literature, the audience may only capture a glimpse of the great 'inner anecdote' of these writers. So in the interest of understanding and sharing, several of the authors have submitted a questionnaire and these were the telling and rather humorous results:

Buddy Levy
Q: What would you like to be your epitaph?
A: Here Lies Buddy Levy—tell him to get up!

Q: Who are your favorite heroes/heroines of fiction and why?
A: Oh, perhaps the Old Man in Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea, because of his dogged single-mindedness and perseverance. Writers can learn a lot from his attitude and approach to life.

Charles Baxter
Q: If you could choose what or who to come back as, what would it be?
A: A hedgehog.

Q: Finish the sentence, “If I ruled the world ...“
A: I’d resign immediately.

Q: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A: “He looked off into the distance.”

Glenda Burgess
Q: What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?
A: Insomnia. I learned quite some time ago to keep a pad and pen on the nightstand. Lying awake in the dark, a complete prisoner of circular thoughts, has led to some fascinating break-out attempts by my inner creative.

Q: What would you like to be your epitaph?
A: I am wrestling with two. Having just finished a long manuscript editing cycle, the simple and declarative "STET!" appeals. Then again, so does...."WAIT! Hold the elevator!"

Ken Letko
Q: Can you describe yourself in three words?
A: I love wood.

Q: Do you have a good scar story?
A: I don’t really have a scar story, but when I was about eight years old, my best friend shot out one of my front teeth during a BB gun fight. There was no anger, hatred, or malice in the incident. We were just having a BB gun fight, and I should’ve ducked.

Oliver de la Paz
Q: What is your greatest extravagance?
A: Definitely my music collection. According to iTunes, I have 170 days-worth of music.

Q: Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
A: “Bird.” I have too many birds in my poems.

Laurie Notaro
Q: What is your motto?
A: "I can get it cheaper."

Q: Do you have a good scar story?
A: The scar on my pinky is from a fight I got into with my younger sister when I discovered she had eaten my piece of leftover pizza for lunch. We were in grade school, but her hands had the pinch of a lobster. Brutal. She's still mean to this day.

Martha Silano
Q: What turns you on creatively, spiritually, emotionally?
A:
a. kitschy old books like Chain Saw Savvy and How to Be fit and Healthy at 29
b. when one of my kids asks me a philosophical question ("Does the world end?"); my kids in general
c. the hodge podge of a second hand store
d. various theories/beliefs about the origin of the universe
e. most any nonfiction
f. poorly-translated-into-English restaurant menus
g. the button on my stove that reads, "Stop Time"
h. potentially anything except a beautiful sunset

Q: What natural gift would you like to possess?
A: I don't know if this is natural or not, but I would like to be able to run 8-minute miles without too much pain. It would also be nice to have a knack for learning languages, playing the guitar, and knowing how to sing.

Sherry Jones
Q: What would you like to be your epitaph?
A: "So many books, so little time."

Q: What is your favorite word, and why?
A: "Islamopanderer" is my favorite. Some conservative bloggers intended it as an insult against me for writing The Jewel of Medina, and I love it.

Q: Who are your favorite heroes/heroines in real life (dead or alive) and why?
A: Salman Rushdie, for living, and writing, courageously. Benazir Bhutto, for daring to dream a better world. Hillary Clinton. Oprah Winfrey. Gloria Steinem. A'isha, the protagonist of my first two novels, for defying the constraints of her culture to reach her highest potential.

Jane Smiley
Q: What would be your perfect day?
A: I have one at least three or four times a week. Writing, riding, reading, cooking, eating.

Q: What is your favorite word, and why?
A: My favorite word is "crisp." Don't know why. Because it's delicious, maybe.

Q: Choose three people, dead or alive, to invite to dinner. What would you talk about?
A: Harriet Beacher Stowe, Barack Obama, Oscar Wilde, Emile Zola--I have NO idea what we would talk about. That's why it would be interesting.

10 Best Books of 2008

And the winner is...

They do it in the movies all the time. They pick the best. Sometimes it's arbitrary. Sometimes it's much needed recognition. With the scent of the Oscars in the air this weekend, I thought noting the best books of 2008 would be in order.

Seattle Post Intelligencer beat me to it. John Marshall, their book critic, has named the following his favorite:

OUT STEALING HORSES by Per Petterson

NORTHLINE by Willy Vlautin

APPLES & ORANGES by Marie Brenner

OLIVE KITTERIDGE by Elizabeth Strout

FINAL SALUTE by Jim Sheeler

KNOCKEMSTIFF by Donald Ray Pollock

TRAFFIC by Tom Vanderbilt

THEM by Nathan McCall

THE GEOGRAPHY OF LOVE by Glenda Burgess

THE ENGLISH MAJOR by Jim Harrison

Glenda Burgess...she's one of our 2009 Get Lit! Festival authors!

John had this to say about her latest book: "An unlikely love affair blossoms into an exemplary married and family life in this inspiring memoir by a Spokane writer who previously has written two novels. Even when her husband, Kenneth Grunzweig, develops cancer, they continue to act upon "the instinct to seize a sure and ebullient happiness, or go down trying." What might sound like a two-hankie Hallmark TV movie is elevated into affecting art through Burgess' superb handling of intimate material."

You can come to a reading with local authors Glenda Burgess and Sherry Jones on Saturday, April 18 at 10:30am in the South Hill Library.

Now, while John obviously has very good taste, we'd like to hear your favorites of 2008! Here's the kicker: you can only pick ten!

Getting to Know Two Local Graphic Novelists

We asked our authors to do a little 20 question quiz. No, not one of those you find in Elle magazine...much more literary then that! Local authors Manny Trembley and Eric Anderson work together so they decided to answer together as well. In fact, I am beginning to wonder if they aren't maybe the same person with a split personality. They seem inseparable. You'll get to hear about their work as graphic novelists during the festival. But here is just some fun insight into the psyche of the two(?) GNers.

What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Manny- White Chocolate Raspberry Mochas. I mean, the pursuit of creating content. It's always on my mind to tell stories. Spewing out narrative, in any form gets me excited.
Eric- Chocolate Cherry Mochas. And also telling those story things. And watching lots of movies. So we can steal their ideas for use in creating a comics empire.

What is your motto?

We don't have one but here you go:"Create the content you want to see in the market." Don't pander to the man or the woman or the child for that matter. Make "your" entertainment.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Manny- Short. Stocky. Balding.
Eric- Tall. Stocky. Hirsute.

What is your favorite (or least favorite) word and why?

Manny- Curmudgeon is a sweet word, so is austere and velour. I'm partial to quandary and meander too.
Eric- Ooh, good question. I'm going to have to go with "octagonal." It's got everything: tentacles, cage matches…you name it.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

Eric- Manny says "rad-tacular" a lot. It's really annoying.

Who are your favorite heroes/heroines of fiction and why?

Manny- Don Quixote: The representation that chivalry is both alive and dead, all wrapped up in one character. Eric - Easy question, Kermit the Frog because he represents every man and yet he is green and not a man.

Who are your favorite heroes/heroines in real life (dead or alive) and why?

Manny- Dan Cragg, my High School art teacher. Cliché, I know. But there it is. He pushed me as much as he encouraged me. My aunt Jean bought me my first art table. That's got to count for something special in the worlds of artsy-ness.

Choose three people, dead or alive, to invite to dinner. What would you talk about?

Manny- Chuck Jones, Mr. T., and Will Ferrell. I wouldn't direct the conversation, I'd simply watch Mr. T's gold chains sway to the wild riffing of Will and Chuck. It'd be hypnotic. Eric- Jim Henson, Hayao Miyazaki, and George Lucas. After dinner, Jim, Hayao, and I would berate George for making the last 3 Star Wars flicks.

What are your favorite names and/or how do you name your characters?

Weatherby Ian Poppington III and Wikkity Jones. Manny came up with Wikkity and Eric birthed Weatherby. They were both created to represent the absurdity of both characters. I think we succeeded.

What is the first job (or the best job) you ever had?

Manny- McDonalds. Half priced food was a HUGE reward.
Eric- I worked in a little antique shop and repaired lamps. I never managed to electrocute myself even once. Shame, really.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?

Manny- Juggling cats. I can kind of juggle, but if I could juggle cats, the world would be my oyster cracker.
Eric- Laser vision. That's "natural," right?

What has been your favorite journey?

Manny- My marriage to my wife. Not to get all sentimental on you. But being married rocks the box.
Eric- Sorry, I can't answer this because I'm still too misty-eyed from Manny's answer.

What would be your perfect day?

Manny- Waking as I see fit to slither over to the creative weigh station to write, draw, or drink delicious beverages of choice; a simple day indeed.
Eric- Same thing Manny said… only less meaningless weigh station references. It'd be nice to make a living just telling stories and making content—maybe someday.

What makes you laugh out loud?

Manny- Bad puns.
Eric- Jokes about pirates.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Manny- Beef jerky.
Eric- Expensive electronics.

What item are you never caught without or what item is your most treasured possession?

Manny- Treasured possession is my stacks and stacks of art that I completely mistreat. I love it, but I keep it on my floor. My wife had a special cabinet made to store it, but up until recently, I stored it in disorganized stacks. I took pride in those piles of landfill.
Eric- My turn to be sentimental. I'm going to say "my wife," although I guess counting her as a possession means that I might like… end up selling her or something or like losing her at cards. That didn't end up as sentimental as I intended.

What is the oldest item of clothing you still wear…what's the story?

Manny- I still have my baseball glove I had when I was kid and I still use it. It's a Cooper.
Eric- I still wear an old pair of antique eyeglasses I picked up like 15 years ago. They are oh-so-comfortable. And un-trendy!

Do you have a good scar story?

Manny- My sister chipped her tooth on my head. Does that count?
Eric- No, only the emotional kind.

If you could choose what or who to come back as, what would it be?

Manny- I have no interest in coming back.
Eric- I'd come back as me, only hopefully less stupid next time.

What would you like to be your epitaph?

Manny- The date I was born and the day I died. Those would be good things to have. Beneficial for all those grave robbers to identify how decayed I am. Oh, and I'd like my name—for clarity.
Eric- I'd try and break into Manny's graveyard and change his epitaph to "Free Headstone."

Bonus: Finish the sentence, "If I ruled the world ..."

Manny- "If I ruled the world ...I'd rule the world."
Eric- No bonus homework for me. It's the weekend.

Graphic Novels, from Post-it Notes to Publisher
Saturday, April 18 at the Spokane Club (1:00)
Two Spokane comics creators discuss the ups and downs of creating graphic novel content for both the web and print. Eric Anderson and Manny Trembley have created two original graphic novels as well as two mini-series published through Image Comics. They will share their experiences breaking in to the comics industry and be happy to answer questions as well.

Proud to Speak Poetry Out Loud!

On Thursday, February 5, Get Lit! Programs will be hosting the regional 2009 Poetry Out Loud competition at the MAC. Join us as students from area high schools--Bryant, Central Valley, East Valley, Havermale, Mead, Okanagan, and Phoenix--compete by reciting both classical and contemporary poetry. Last year, Kevin Ma and Sarah Woodroof from Mead High School (Kevin's the second on the left) were our regional finalists that we sent to state. We hear they might be coming back again this year...

Poetry Out Loud seeks to foster the next generation of literary readers by capitalizing on the latest trends in poetry - recitation and performance. The program builds on the resurgence of poetry as an oral art form, as seen in the slam poetry movement and the immense popularity of rap music among youth. Through Poetry Out Loud, students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about their literary heritage. The program is sponsored by the Washington State Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Poetry Foundation.

In 2008, BreAnna Jones, a 10th grader from West Valley High School in Yakima won the state competition and went to Washington, DC for the nationals.

Winners advance from classroom competitions to school-wide, then regional, and then state level competitions, with one student from each state going to the National Finals. Each winner at the state level will receive $200 and an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, DC, to compete for the national championship. Poetry Out Loud will award a total of $50,000 in scholarships and school stipends at the National Finals.

This event runs from 6pm to 8pm and is free.