Category Archives: Writing

Happy Inauguration Day

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Calgary Fats

About time for another blog entry. It’s been over a year and a half since my last one. Strangely, that sentence reminded me of the opening line of Catholic confession, or what used to be the opening line: “Bless me … Continue reading →

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Almost a Dropout

Posted on June 13, 2015 by Calgary Fats

I’ve finished three semesters of Lesley University’s four semester MFA program. I considered quitting the program, primarily for the money I’d save. I’m not interested in teaching, so the degree is less useful than would be if I had any … Continue reading →

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Memoir can bring you down

Posted on April 11, 2015 by Calgary Fats

I’m doing a special studies MFA project on the art of memoir. I don’t see myself writing a memoir for publication but I figured it might help dredge up useful material I could use in my fiction. It also seemed … Continue reading →

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“Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash we have very little reason to be interested in them.” ― Pauline Kael

Posted on March 6, 2015 by Calgary Fats

Last semester, I wrote an adaptation of my first novel as a screenplay for an interdisciplinary studies project at Lesley. The novel needed revision, and I figured re-imagining it as a screenplay would help in that process. It was an … Continue reading →

Posted in Movies, Writing | 1 Comment

My yearly blog entry is way overdue.

Posted on February 25, 2015 by Calgary Fats

To bring my many readers up to date, I’m still working on my MFA, and I’m still dicking around with various “Little Magazines” trying to get something published. I haven’t been able to kick the habit totally. To quote Silvio … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Writing | 3 Comments

Now for Something Completely Different

Posted on January 15, 2014 by Calgary Fats

It’s been a year since my last blog entry, but that isn’t to say I haven’t been writing. I’ve forged ahead with my Lebanon novel, the plot becoming more and more convoluted. My slightly chicken-hearted protagonist is now involved in … Continue reading →

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Maybe not a contender anymore

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Calgary Fats

The winner of Boaz Publishing’s Fabri Prize was supposed to be announced at the end of September. I don’t think I’m going to hear from them. Funny thing is, no one has heard from them as far as I can … Continue reading →

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Still a contender

Posted on September 10, 2012 by Calgary Fats

I expect to hear from the Fabri Prize judges any day now, and I’m braced for disappointment. Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen others winning a string of literary contests that I had entered with high hopes. Most recently … Continue reading →

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I’m a contender, for the moment

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Calgary Fats

My book, Now Appearing in Baghdad, is a finalist for Boaz Publishing’s Fabri Prize. The prize includes a publishing contract with a $7,500 advance and a $5,000 marketing budget. Pretty nice. I guess winning the prize means that agents would … Continue reading →

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Mavis Gallant’s agent was a crook

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Calgary Fats

The reason Gallant was a starving writer in Spain was that payments for several stories in the New Yorker were kept by her agent, Jacques Chambrun. She wasn’t the only client he robbed. This entry in the New Yorker blog, … Continue reading →

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