The decade of the aughts is drawing rather quickly to a close, isn’t it? This month also is seeing the wrap-up of two long-running series on Robert Frost’s Banjo—Dad’s Photos had its final installment on Sunday, & the final installment of Eberle’s Weiser River Pillow Book will be posted in January; there will be a Weiser River Pillow Book post this Thursday, but it won't be the final entry—yay! Still, we haven’t completely solved the problem of filling these slots in terms of series that would run over a course of months, but we are putting our heads together, & we have at least one idea—more on that later.January will
bring a few new periodic features to Robert Frost’s Banjo, as well as bring back a few you’re familiar with—for instance, Monday Morning Blues webcam videos will start appearing again on Monday January 4th, & the Guitarists We Like series will reappear on alternate Wednesdays, starting on the 8th. Other Wednesdays will feature a Blues Jukebox, with three old-time blues videos from YouTube, plus a small amount of commentary on each. On Tuesdays, B.N.’s poems will continue to alternate with my French translations. I believe I’ll also be posting local photos on at least a couple of Sundays per month.One idea that Eberle & I have tossed around has to do with
serializing her first novel. This is a long work, & is unpublished at this time; & this is where we’re soliciting your opinion. I’m thinking that weekly installments of roughly five pages each (in MS-Word terms) would be workable in a blog format, but of course, the proof of the pudding is whether people eat it (& like it) or not. What do any readers who’d care to comment think? I’d also be curious to know if slightly longer installments would be ok. The book is several hundred pages, so we’re talking a very long-running series. I also should add that Eberle & I haven’t entirely decided if this is what we want to do, so apologies for soliciting your input on something that isn’t yet decided. Your input will probably have some bearing on the decision.Of course, The Days of Wine & Roses & Platypuss-in-Boots will continue; the former posts on
Sundays, & right now we’re in the middle of a sequence I wrote in the 90s (& then sequestered) called Sonnets for Lily Yukon; Platypuss-in-Boots posts on Monday, Wednesday & Friday & right now the gang are in the midst of describing the Christmas wedding lollopalooza involving a bear & a giraffe.Tomorrow will be the final installment of The (Blues) Christmas Train, & as I said, the Weiser River Pillow Book will conclude on Thursday. In the meantime, Eberle, Audrey, B.N. & I would like to thank all of our wonderful readers for their support in 2009!
Later update: Superceding the "Late Update" for any of you who saw that. Tomorrow's post will be a memorial to singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, who died on Christmas Day at age 45. I'll also be posting about Vic Chesnutt tomorrow on Just a Song. The final installment of the (Blues) Christmas Train will be posted on Friday morning.
Pix:
Yours truly, with guitar
Eberle, with watercolor
Audrey, with umbrella
& B.N. taken some years ago in a land faraway, with scaffolding, etc.
John, I have so much catching up to do with both you and Eberle.
ReplyDeleteI always look forward very much to anything you have on offer. I have garnered a wealth of knowledge just by reading your blog (and not just in the poetry-realm either).
Of course our Hyggehus gang is anxious to get up to speed with the Goat Island crew too. It may take some time to take everything it, but I'll get there and so will the animals.
Regarding the proposed serializing of Eberle's novel, I am so excited to begin reading it! I would say that for my part, I would prefer the shorter instalments over a longer period of time, rather than the longer posts in a shorter span. My eyesight isn't great with these bifocals and I can't appreciate really lengthy pieces on a screen. There may be others who feel the same way.
I must stress that I am anticipating another wonderful year of articulate, evocative and fascinating material from you and your lovely wife. Your blogs are always at the top of my "Must-see" list.
Kat
Hi Kat: Thanks! We both appreciate your support very much. Do you think approx 5 pages (again using MS-Word as the standard measure) would be too long? I believe that would make it a three-year series given weekly posts! I'm a bit concerned about continuity, too, if we post less than 5 pages/week. Would be very interested to know what you think.
ReplyDeleteHow about 2 editions of 5 pages,per week? Perhaps a weekday edition and a weekend edition. Would that work?
ReplyDeleteHi Kat: I'll think about that!
ReplyDeleteI recommend publishing the novel in a separate, dedicated blog. It will be easier to go back and forth, and someone new to it will find it easier to catch up. You can still link to it when there's a current installment. Also, other bloggers will be able to add a novel to their blog rolls.
ReplyDeleteHi K: Thanks for weighing in--that idea has also crossed my mind. We'll be pondering this for awhile, but would love to hear other folks' opinions.
ReplyDeleteHiya John, I'm weighing in from far away to say that I would love to sink my eyes into Eberle's first novel, in any shape, way, or place.
ReplyDeleteI'm a fan of the serialized novel.
And you, and Eberle. Thanks for keeping on & Happy New Year!
Hi Dani: Happy New Year! I've been reading the SFBG--need to drop you an email soon--tomorrow!
ReplyDelete