Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

I'll need to accompany them to Louisiana, just, you know, to make sure that
everything goes okay, and that they/we don't miss any important restaurants
or key sights, and of course there's Mardi Gras, and I know that they'll
need to be chaperoned.  Don't want them to get into trouble, and if they do,
well *someone*'s gotta bail them out, you see.  So I can make that sacrifice
and just hang out.   Just in case, you see.  Yeah.

Back to Massachusetts:   In the East Coast conference I had made some
suggestions for letters, including
C for chowdah
W for wicked, as in wicked good chowdah
There are more.....

That leads me to my next question:  How about a tongue in cheek parody A to
Z?   Massachusetts lends itself so well, as I'm sure Louisiana might.  While
we're at it, LOTS of states could use a little good natured poke in the
ribs.
  

    
In general, we try not to make it about people.  We mention  historic 
people of course, but devoting a page to a person is quite a bit.

There are so many great people...You could do a biography of each one.  
But as Donna says, that's best left for a different book.

For the RI book, we thought long and hard  about doing W for Roger 
Williams, but  decided to sidestep the issue by talking about him in the 
introduction (and of course, they named the Park and Zoo after him.)

We could have made S for Slater Mill, but decided to make T for Textiles, 
and talk about Samuel Slater (the builder of one of the first textile 
mills, in 1790, and considered one of the Founders of the American 
Industrial Revolution.

I think it's a good rule, not focusing on people, but on their events.
  

    
SLIPPAGE!

I've thought about putting together a Rhode Island pop/culture book (in 
the other topic we talked about it)

C is for Corruption
J is for the Johnston Landfill (sad to say, the highest elevation in RI is 
at the top of the dump!)
L would still be for Lobster
M would be for Mobsters
W for What the F_CK  you looking at?

But seriously, the question remains-- who would buy it?  And why and how 
would it be illustrated?

It might be a fun little book, though.
  

    
And probably C for Cod, and mention the Sacred Cod.  The other possibility 
is to leave F for Fishing, and put the Cod story in there.

The Cod story that I posted above <inkwell.vue.136.129> is 121 words.  
That's half an article right there! 
  

    
Today is supposedly the last day of the interview, but I'll be happy to 
talk about the book as long as anyone wants (and truthfully, probably MORE 
than anyone wants!)  

I hope that if any of you have read the book and like it, that you hie 
yourself over to Amazon.com  <http://makeashorterlink.com/?J1015145>

And write a review of the book and put it there for everyone to see.

You can also visit our website <http://www.riatoz.com> and sign our 
guestbook... (the link is at the bottom of the front page)
  

    
B is for Buddy, the felon turned mayor!
  

    

Adam, I have an emailed question from a Patricia Greene.   She asks:
Adam, have you considered your next career as a *real* lobsterman?? You look
really hot in that
slicker!! I can only imagine how much better it would look colored-in!
  

    
Dear Patricia-- thank you for that compliment!  Our next book will be a 
Lobsterman Calendar in which I will play ALL of the Months.... And I will 
be wearing nothing but a lobster!  Perhaps your husband would be 
interested in purchasing a calendar for you as a... marital aid?  :o)

When I'm showing the book to people, I say-- "In addition to being the 
author, I'm also the Lobsterman (and I turn over the book to show that 
there's a picture of me as the lobsterman).  Hey, you have to wear a lot 
of hats when you write a book.  Literally!"

About 85% of the people think it's great.  Maybe 10% go "Are you really a 
lobsterman?" 4% merely smile coldly and then go back to thinking about 
their petty little lives.  And 1% say "Hmmm... it does look like you. Kind 
of."

I couldn't actually be a lobsterman, because I don't have the calluses on 
my hands.  And it requires hard back-breaking work that I am not prepared 
to do.  I'd be much better off as a Grand Poobah on African safari....
  

    

Hey, I noticed there were no pictures of Donna.  She's WAYYY prettier than
you.  What's up with that?
  

    
I tried to get Donna to make herself into the V for Victoriana and Violets 
woman, but she didn't want to.

Truth be told, I also tried to see if EVERY picture could have a picture 
of me worked into it.  But she didn't go for that either!  :o)

One thing I thought about also was having our colored pictures/bios in the 
book somewhere (and those you could color in) but we didn't have enough 
space, and Donna didn't want to do it.

I guess Donna is the shy and retiring type!
  

    

<I guess Donna is the shy and retiring type!>
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Oh, I mean, really?  I didn't know that.  This must be a definition of "shy
and retiring" with which I was previously unacquainted.  Or, you are clearly
discussing a different woman.  I'm hoping that whatever you've done with the
*real* Donna Atwood (a woman with whom I have eaten a gingerbread
lobster----long story), she is able to re-appear for the next book.

We are all looking forward to Massachusetts A to Z, and this time with
Donna's likeness in strategic locations.
  

    

Just in the interest of strict accuracy, *I* didn't actually eat the
gingerbread lobster, but I was very nearby when parts of it were consumed.
I shouldn't reveal more here in public where anyone on the Web can mosey on
by and see this.
  

    

Right!  Gotta keep some secrets!

Folks, you've been fabulous.  I know that I learned more about Rhode 
Island than I ever thought possible, and you all made it more enjoyable 
than I ever thought possible.  Thanks for the insights in yourselves and 
the process you go through.  I hope that a collaboration with <leroy> 
develops out of this!

Thanks for being with us for the last two weeks.  You are, of course, 
welcome to stick around for as long as you'd like.
  

    
Thanks Linda for having us (and thank us for being had!)

I'm sure that I can speak for both Donna and myself when I say that we've 
really enjoyed the opportunity to talk about the book in a public forum 
like inkwell.vue. 

I'm equally sure that Donna will come along at some point and say it 
again, more eloquently, and better than I.

Also, mucho thanks to our host with the most, the everpresent <dsg> who 
guided us all along swimmingly.

I'll be sticking around for a bit longer if you want to ask more 
questions....
  

    
Thanks Linda and David! A little attention and praise can keep me
motivated for a long-long time. Perhaps we'll have another book at some
point in the future (distant) and another chance to discuss how things
have been going along. I appreciate your thoughtful questions and
enthusiasm.

As for illustrations of me, my first print assignment this semester is
a self portrait. We were not required to be realistic, so I drew a
highly stylized version of myself, buck naked, with a nice serpent
wrapped around me. A bowl of apples rests in the background. I gave
myself exceptionally long hair which flows and curls and mimics the
twists of my serpentine companion. The name of the work is "To Hell
With Adam". 
  

    
And I would just like to point out that I am NOT the Adam in Question.
(at least, I don't think I am!  Don't tell me, I don't want to know?)
  

    

Ha!  But the question I have is:  did you remember to include your most 
charming - IMHO - feature??

 %^)

Hey!  I'm talking about your dimples!  What did you think I was talking 
about?
  

    
I think the market may be ripe for an Enron coloring book!
  

    
Yes, a piggy bank with a vampire at its throat on the cover.
  

    

and a crumbling skyscraper.
  

    
And the state of california all blacked out...
  

    
The ENRON alphabet, a primer on campaign financing and investment.
,
  

    
Today we got a nice big fat order from Barnes and Noble, in anticipation 
of our Booksigning (on February 16)

I also booked another booksigning for the morning!

 I also booked another Booksigning!
 
 My upcoming Booksigning schedule for February:
 
 Feb 16 
 
 11 am  Brown University Book Store, 
        Thayer Street, Providence RI (401) 863-3168 
 
 2 pm   Barnes & Noble
        Route 2, Warwick, RI 401-828-7900
 

When I told the woman at Barnes and Noble that I had booked another 
booksigning, she said "As long as it's not Borders."  They have a policy 
that you can't do a Borders booksigning within 6 months of a B & N 
Booksigning (well, you can't do it at Borders first!)

I haven't booked Borders yet-- we're still waiting to hear about a couple 
of things....
  

    
All right.
  

    

I can't believe they can get away with putting limits on your 
booksignings!