Craig Davidson

Tuesday, August 28th

Back from Edinburgh...

...and a good time was had. By me. Maybe not by all, but by me. Great to see my editor at Picador, Kate, agent Paul, publicist Chloe, to read with Nathan Englander, and malinger about the Scottish moors. I will have a full report later, as it is owed to someone else, but will be linked through here.

For now, something I wrote for Esquire. Called THE LAST LINE. The idea is that you tell why you wrote the last line you did---the last line of a story, the last line you wrote yesterday, whatever. I chose the last line to a short story, the first I've written in years:

Have you ever seen anything burning so brightly trapped so close to earth?

I think I will end up changing "brightly" to "fiercely" but otherwise that's the line. Anyway, you go ahead and read why I wrote it following the link. My thanks to Lisa Myers, wife of Stephen, my Penguin publicist, for the photo; it's not "tough," though that is what was aimed for. Not her fault; she's a great photographer, and as I recall the area we shot in, a depressed section of Toronto, was tough; I was not suitably tough enough for the environs, is all. But credit to Lisa, who couldn't quite pull the silk purse/sow's ear trick, but gave it her damndest.

And of course, all due love and respect to my father, who I wrote this about, though by following this link he'll be reading it for the first time as with the rest of you. I hope he's cool with it---anyway, I'm 2,000km away at the moment, so at least he can't come beat my ass. I don't think he'd want to.

Here it is.

http://www.esquire.com/fiction/last-line/lastline082807

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 08.28.07 @ 02:25 PM EST [link]

Friday, August 24th

Off to Edinburgh

Hi All,

Sorry for the paucity of posts lately, but it's the dog days of summer and not much is happening of note to report on, or surely I would've. I just got back from the post office, where I mailed off my novel in its current incarnation---miraculously (well, really not a miracle, but ...) cut from 570 pages and over 200,000 words to a slim and trim 496pgs, 170,000 words. By far the longest thing I've written; THE FIGHTER was 75,000, maybe, and RUST AND BONE about 80,000. But I had lots of thoughts blitzkreiging through my brainpan so I needed to get them all down. And long doesn't mean good, or better than short; in fact, longer often means "bloated" and "in need of vicious pruning." I was pretty vicious with my first prunings, axing 30,000 words, but more is probably in order; I'm just not the one to make the determinations of which should stay and go, being too closely aligned to it at this point. I sort of got swept away while writing this, wasn't looking at word counts or anything, and when I did a final tally I was a little surprised at the number that spat back at me. If it is ever published, it will probably be shorter than this version.

Anyway, I wanted to get that taken care of, and all my freelance obligations tidied up so I can head off to Scotland for a few days, do a reading or panel or something with the wonderful Nathan Englander (it will be strange to stand beside a fellow writer without the certainty he will, at some point, try to punch me in the face; that's not to say Nathan might not punch me in the face at some point, or that I wouldn't deserve it should he do so).

After that I'm heading to St. Catharines and just ... you know, just taking a break for a month. I've got a few short stories to edit and I will start, in a shambolic way, researching my next novel, but first I have to see if anyone's going to want to publish this one and thus be granted the financial wherewithal to write the one I'd be researching. Otherwise, it's, y'know, back here to Calgary pounding the pavement for a job. Which would be fine if that's how it goes. But it seems like the last 2 years of my life have been pretty much go-go-go: I go to Iowa to get my MFA, my collection comes out, I'm running around trying to keep up with classes and going to tour the book, suffering through reviews, I jack my fool self up on pharmeceuticals while writing my second book and that's a huge schlomozzle, THE FIGHTER comes out, I'm writing my next book, I get in a fight, get my ass kicked, head back to Iowa, teach, write, tour, train, box again, finish this novel ... I'm not really a type-A guy, but that strikes me as a type-A schedule and quite honestly, the last month or so I've felt really haggard. A cloudy day is enough to set me off; I wander around in a funk because the clouds don't part, I don't get the sun on my skin, I feel all withered and dreary and not really engaged with the world around me. I lose a whole day---to WEATHER ANAMOLIES?

No, that's not really me. So I must be a bit gassed. I realize some people realize that will be saying to themselves, "What a fucking candyass. This guy lives the life of Reilly." Which is true, in a lot of ways, and in many others I'm lucky. But I write 7 days a week so there's not really a time I'm able to switch my brain off or properly disengage from whatever I'm writing. So hopefully in St. Catharines I'll be able to do just that; re-juice the cells a bit, let my mind lay fallow or be consumed with silly day-to-day shit, at which point I'll be able to start a new novel or, y'know, start a new job with a clear head. However it goes.

Anyway, how about some links? Okay!

Here's a link a reader sent to the fight with Jonathan. I didn't know it was out there for public consumption (cringe). It's shot by Jennifer, a short film director in NYC. I honestly can't watch it. Can't watch movies of myself getting hit, can't read reviews---yes, I am a candyass.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usYXcnucwig

Hmmm, what else? Oh, my buddy and fellow writer sent this to me. Hilarious, and you should fill it out and goof on your own friends with it. I remember reading the book this series was based on, DARKLY DREAMING DEXTER, and it was fabulous.

http://www.icetruck.tv/index.php?id=32643f1537e11a817f0bd364e6b169b1

...also go grab Brett's book, which recently received a starred review in Quill and Quire:
www.amazon.ca/Down-Brett-Alexander-Savory/dp/1897142269/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/701-4298262-2871503?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187973238&sr=8-1

Okay, well, I don't know how active I'll be on this blog for awhile; it depends, really, on a lot of things. But still, I'll be around to give lowdowns on this and that---I've promised a recap of my Edinburgh situation to someone, but I'll provide a link through this blog, certainly.

All best, Craig.

Craig Davidson on 08.24.07 @ 12:41 PM EST [link]

Friday, August 17th

Dear Author Review

Hi All,

Well, this is an interesting one---interesting in that it's an honest review (not to say that I expected otherwise, or have been subjected to a whole lot of dishonest ones) but mainly interesting, odd, in its placement.

A few weeks ago I got an email from Jane at www.DearAuthor.com She'd seen the fight bruhaha as was covered at the time, read some of the blog here, and got in touch regarding an interview, which I happily provided. She also made sure to read the book---which, every time a woman tells me she's either doing so or plans to do so, a very retrograde and fairly stupid kneejerk reaction on my part wants to warn her not to, seeing as it would strike me there are several less tortuous ways for her to pass a few hours.

Especially so because Dear Author is a website that deals with the romance genre. You go ahead and poke around the site; you'll see. That is to say, 180 degrees removed from any book I've ever written. Not to say I've got any problem with romance novels, but I'm not sure I've ever read one; I did read, I think it was, a Jackie Collins novel while I was living in Japan, about an ingenue reporter who goes to live on a far-off desert island owned by a rakish Greek tycoon, and I do recall many sexy romps and erotic horseplay and various other carryings on. And I read EAST OF MIDNIGHT, by Sidney Sheldon, which I'd sort of put into the broad romantic category---but anyway, I've never written a romance myself. In fact, most of the "love" scenes in my books are so chillingly UNromantic I'm certain many who read them consider a stint of celibacy directly following.

In any case, Jane insisted on reading the book, so along with the interview---which is not yet up, but I imagine will be in time---she reviewed the book as well.

It's interesting to get a female take, because in general the reviewers and readers who contact me are all men. Which is no less than I expected, really, and no less than the book(s) seem to merit. But I am always gleeful to see a woman's reaction, if only to use it to address some of the faults with my writing and make the next books a little more all-encompassing. Which is something I actually tried to do with this latest book. Except for the main character, the next three characters of importance are women---and none of them is a whore, either! Craig, you magnificent bastard, you've done it!

Anyway. The review follows. My thanks to Jane.

http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2007/08/13/the-fighter-by-craig-davidson/

All best, Craig.
Craig Davidson on 08.17.07 @ 12:00 PM EST [link]

Wednesday, August 8th

Reader Question/Comment

Hi All,

Well, taking things easy---really, what is my entire life if not a prolonged series of "taking is easies"---but still, taking it REEEEAAALLY easy lately; new novel has been twice edited and is now off with its first set of eyes, my father, which is a half-superstitious ritual with me but really, my pops is great at a lot of editing stuff, especially chronology-based stuff, so he's great to have look at it. After that I edit it again and will get it out of my hair by the end of August, I would say the 24th of this month exactly, because after that I'm off to Edinburgh to do a reading with Nathan Englander (awesome US short story and novel writer) at the Edinburgh festival and after that spending some time in Ontario with my brother and assorted highschool cronies, so I want that novel to be out of my hair; 15 months of writing it, I need a break from it. In the meantime, writing a few short stories and hanging out outside Mac's Milk with my skater buddies, smoking cigarettes, playing hackey-sack, and mooching dimes.

No, okay, so not that. Fishing a lot. My local lake, which is stocked, is infested with perch---tell me, what sort of loser drops a perch into a lake in order to infest it? The lamest brand of eco-terrorism I can think of---so I'm not catching a lot. If I had a fishing show, it would be atrocious: just me sitting on a rock spattered with dried loon-shit, reading a book while dirty little perch nibble my bait off the hook; the only dialogue would be me grumbling "damn perch!" under my breath, reeling in my line to bait it again. Then again, stick in some ole timey banjo music and I don't know that would be much different than most fishing shows. In fact, it would be exactly like most fishing shows. I should pitch it to a network. CRAIG'S OLD TIME READING AND FISHING---AND CATCHING NOTHING---SHOW (with gaily-plucked banjo accompaniment). I'd wear a big floppy hat stuck with fishing lures and hitch my thumbs into my beltloops and say things like "Whelp, it's a fine day for a spot of angling" and "Lordy, Lordy, the water's as high as an elephant's eye" and "why in the hell did God invent perch?" Yup, I do say I have me a good idear!

Okay, so, I get emails from readers. I do state in my bio at the back of my books that I'm happy to hear from anyone, and genuinely, I am. I will always reply to any I get, even the ones that start: "Dear sack of shit ..." and "You should pay Chuck Palahniuk half you make for ripping him off ..."

This one I got from Brian. I found it interesting, the questions he posed or I guess his thoughts on the world in relation to the book, so I asked could I reprint it here and he said sure, so it follows along with my reply. I can't say all my replies are so wordy or run-on, but some are. In any case, I thank Brian for his email and of course look forward to hearing from more readers, whatever their take on the books themselves may be.
Craig Davidson on 08.08.07 @ 07:05 PM EST [more..]