Golden Woman Sighted at Lancaster Mall

Last night a local security guard thought he heard the clicking of a woman’s heels while on his rounds.

“I mean I could hear my own shoes, yeah, but then there was this other sound…of shoes, heels. I was like, what?”

Rumors of a woman in heels walking the mall at night have circulated among the security staff since the mall first opened in 1971. When asked why this particular guard has decided to come forward he said he had to.

“I saw her. She came around the corner, by the theater, then turned toward Sears and the Burlington Coat Factory. At first I thought she just got done tanning—you know, her skin was all bronze, at first. But then she sort of turned her head back at me, taking these long strides with her golden heels on. Her clothes were all gold; her face; her hair. What the hell?”

When asked how this golden woman didn’t see him, the security guard (who wishes to remain nameless) said that he hid behind a kiosk. The woman vanished as the guard tried to take out his camera phone.

“Yeah, the other guard at the monitors didn’t see anything…just me couching behind some kiosk and fumbling with something. He got a kick out of it.”

The security guard further added that the mall cameras do not have audio.

The Willamette Bubble by Mary-Gray Mahoney

Being at senior at Willamette University, I have a good grasp on something students call the “Willamette Bubble.” This is a strange phenomenon where we feel as though we are our own community entirely separate from Salem. We aren’t usually engaged with events within Salem, and tend to stick to a very small area around campus.

While this can lead to a bit of “cabin fever” for a lot of students, it also allows us to foster a great sense of student community. Like many colleges, we have a school newspaper, a literary journal, and there has been a movement this year towards starting a peer-reviewed academic journal. Being able to read my peers’ work constantly allows me to expand my own ways of thinking and shape my own writing. While it is not a formal critique group, immersing myself in the literary culture on campus is similar to meeting with a group of community members to discuss what we’re writing. I reflect on my peers’ news pieces and the creative work being produced.

The prospect of an academic journal becoming available for students is particularly exciting for me, since I do not write fiction or poetry. I focus my attention on academic analysis of literature, but am not offered many opportunities to actually publish and get my thoughts out there. Working for Gold Man Publishing has given me a head start towards getting this project started and being a major component in making a Willamette University peer reviewed journal a major part of campus life. There are many other students on campus who are not engaged in creative writing and the thought of having a forum for students to engage critically with one another is extremely exciting. Sometimes the literary life on campus can become focused on the same few people. Since this is a liberal arts school, this focus can be very limiting. By publishing an academic journal, more disciplines can be represented. For instance, I would have loved to take more Anthropology classes during my time at Willamette, but it was simply not possible. If I had been able to turn to a database of student work, I could have gained a huge knowledge of these subjects through my peer’s eyes. It is often easier to engage with material written by a peer than a person of higher academic standing or expertise. While these materials are indeed helpful, the peer engagement fosters the community within Willamette even further.

Though the development of an academic journal will not help the “Willamette Bubble,” it does allow students to expand their education beyond a specific discipline, which is truly the goal of a liberal arts education. Once students graduate, this sense of community may disappear, but students will leave Willamette with an idea of how to engage with a literary/academic community and foster the smaller journals like the Gold Man Review.

Mary-Gray Mahoney is an assistant editor for Gold Man Review. To read more about Mary-Gray go to http://www.goldmanpublishing.com/marygray.html

The End of the (Publishing) World As We Know It by Darren Howard

A recent NY Times article, “The Bookstore’s Last Stand," sounded yet another alarm about the death of publishing. Apparently Barnes & Noble is the last hope of bookstores, and therefore of publishers and even of printed books. (January 29, 2012; http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/29/business/barnes-noble-taking-on-amazon-in-the-fight-of-its-life.html

This is part of a larger trend I’ve seen that confuses the online
buying of books with the emergence of e-books. The one persuasive part
of the article mentions that publishers don’t need bookstores to sell
books, but rather to attract authors: “Without Barnes & Noble, the
publishers’ marketing proposition crumbles. The idea that publishers
can spot, mold and publicize new talent, then get someone to buy books
at prices that actually makes economic sense, suddenly seems a reach.
Marketing books via Twitter, and relying on reviews, advertising and
perhaps an appearance on the “Today” show doesn’t sound like a winning
plan.”

But the model of Big Publishing was never really a winning plan. They
ended up primarily looking for just a few big mega-hits to promote,
and as time went on, the only authors they felt they could really rely
on were their existing authors. The only authors who could earn a
living from their work were those who had already written their best
works, regardless of the quality of their future work. Is that good
for anyone?

Clearly it’s not good for readers, and not for new writers, and at
last we are seeing why it was not even good for the publishers. Just
like the music industry, they have brought their destruction onto
themselves.

The implications of this, however, are not that publishing, or books,
are dead. Only that the farce of big corporations controlling what
people read and write is coming to an end. With the rise of
high-quality, fast, and cheap printing, who needs a
publisher—especially a publisher who will take away the author’s say
in the cover, layout, and price of the book? With the co-ordination of
online-purchasing with print-on-demand distributors, who needs a
publisher—especially a publisher who inflates the price of a book to
pay for their bureacracy? With the increasing pressure on authors to
promote and market their own books, who needs a publisher?

Be your own publisher! That’s what we are doing here at Gold Man.
That’s what all these claims about the end of publishing don’t
understand. The change in publishing is not from print to electronic
media. That’s just a small, irrelevant part of it. The main change is
from corporate publishing to self-publishing.

So what does the future hold? My prediction is that for a while
longer, there will be this sense of chaos, uncertainty, wailing the
loss of the Old Way. But the next step is already beginning: the
emergence of printers, marketers, distributors, and even investors for
authors who are self-publishing. We are already seeing the rise of
printers who cater to authors, rather than corporations, like
Lightning Source. The other fields have yet to develop: Professional
marketers, distributors, and investors who cater specifically to
self-published authors. Just as with literary agents, there will
probably be different tiers available to different folks—those who are
good enough, or just connnected enough, will have access to the best
marketers and distributors.

As for the argument that publishers weeded out the bad books for us,
as a sort of filter of crappy writing, all I have to say is, look at
what the publishers have been publishing over the last ten years. How
much of it has struck you as particularly good? Sometimes
entertaining, yes, but really, deeply good? Personally, I can count
them on my fingers. How many books have you read lately that you can
read again several times, with pleasure each time, and each time
seeing something new? My guess is that most examples you can think of
were published a good long while ago.

So while yes, there are aspects of the old way that are nice
(scrolling through a book is very different from flipping through it),
but think of all the room you will have once you have gotten rid of
all those musty, dusty, heavy books (yes, Shteyngart, I know you have
already mocked this, but I know that you know that I know you were
half-serious).

Darren Howard is an editor for Gold Man Review. To read more about Darren go to http://www.goldmanpublishing.com/darrenhoward.html

River Valley Writers Group

We all know how important a writing community is for the isolated writer and just because you don’t live in the Portland, Salem, and Eugene areas doesn’t mean there’s not a group right around the corner from you.

The River Valley Writers Group in Dayville, Oregon meets the first Friday of the month and provides that needed community of support and education to local writers. If you haven’t gotten involved in a writers group, the Gold Man Review editors can’t stress enough how important this is for the writing process. No matter how much research we do online and in reference books, there’s really nothing that replaces that sense of community, camaraderie, and support that can only be found among your fellow writers.

If you’re interested in getting involved with the River Valley Writers Group, check out their website at www.rivervalleywritersgroup.org.

The Need for Critique Groups by Marilyn Ebbs

I was twenty-something and had decided that writing needed to be more important than I was making it. I was taking some courses at Chemeketa, including Creative Writing. After class, one of my fellow classmates caught me and asked me if I would be interested in joining the critique group that she and several other writers were in.

I was honored.

All, but a total stranger tells she likes my writing and invites me to a critique group.

I accepted the offer. I had never let anyone read my writing before. A couple of family members who praised me, maybe, but not really. Not other writers. Not other people who would know whether I was wasting my time. But I was ready to take the first step in taking my own writing seriously. I went to the group. Everyone was older than I was by at least a decade, but they were nice and welcomed me. Then, I read my work, five pages, and waited for the comments.

"Wow."

"Great dialogue."

"I wish I could write dialogue like this."

At that time, it was exactly what I needed. Affirmation that I wasn’t spinning my wheels. I did have some measure of talent. And dialogue takes skill? Not everyone sits down at the writing desk and spews realistic dialogue? That was nice to know.

Of course, there was plenty to pick apart. My weakness? Details. The right details, enough details.

But this group was exactly what I needed to take my writing to the next level. And I needed fellow writers in my life. These women became my mentors, my friends.

Eventually, we drifted apart, went our separate ways. After my writing life had stagnated and I knew I needed something to help me start taking myself seriously again, Heather Cuthbertson and Willamette Writers came into my life. Heather and I started the Salem Chapter and a new critique group.

I took my five pages. Someone read my work. I didn’t get, “Wow.” I didn’t get, “I wish I could write great dialogue.” I got, “A lot of passive sentences.”

"I don't understand what's happening in this scene."

"Why should I care about these characters?"

Exactly what I needed to hear.

Sure, it bit. It hit a nerve. But, at this point, I already understood that I was a good writer. I didn’t need to be puffed up. I needed to know how to be a better writer. I needed to know why I was getting rejections like, “Great writing, but I just don’t have time to give it the attention it needs.”

So those writers, some younger, some older, became my mentors, my friends.

And, like with my first critique group, I became a better writer.

Marilyn Ebbs is the Executive Editor for Gold Man Review. To read more about Marilyn go to http://www.goldmanpublishing. com/nickroetto.html

Keep It Suspended: Why Authenticity Keeps Readers With You by Heather Cuthbertson

The beauty of readers, among so many great qualities, is their ability to suspend disbelief. It’s automatic and they do it without question: “Okay, we’re in a Zombie Apocalypse, I can go with it.” In the author/reader relationship, the reader brings this to the table every time and if the author appreciates the value of his or her reader, then they will work to suspend the disbelief long after the first few pages. The longer the reader’s belief is suspended, the deeper they get into the story and the author/reader relationship blossoms from an initial courtship to a life-long marriage.

Maintaining that sense of disbelief is done through the use of authenticity, which includes using authentic details, dialogue, and characters. For instance, if you’re writing a piece about the Old West and your character says, “That was totally lame,” then you’ve just broken the spell. Do this in the first few pages and you’ve lost your reader completely. Do this after the first 100 pages and you “might” keep your reader, but you’ve made them skeptical of your authority as an author. On the flip side, if you maintain the authenticity throughout, you’ve got a believer for book after book.

Allow me to demonstrate the power of authenticity:

When I was fourteen or fifteen (not quite sure exactly when), I had this major, major crush on Eddie Furlong. I was obsessed. I would read every article that he was mentioned in, stared at the posters I had of him on my walls, and re-watched Terminator 2 and Pet Cemetery 2 over and over again (even though Pet Cemetery 2 actually was really horrible).

The only person I could fully convey my undying love for Eddie Furlong to was my friend, Sarah, who had to listen to my fanatical ramblings during countless phone calls, lunch breaks, notes passed in class, and sleepovers.

Finally, after much deliberation and consultation with Sarah, I decided to take my crush to the next level and write Eddie a letter. I fully expected a reply. I mean, why not? My letter was witty and articulate, I refrained from saying, “I love you, I love you, I LOVE YOU!” and, instead, I commented on his movies, I asked what he did when he wasn’t acting, if he had any hobbies, you know, the usual.

I sent the letter and waited, and then I waited some more, and then waited even longer until life was becoming unbearable. I didn’t understand what was taking so long and I couldn’t vent to Sarah because she was visiting her grandparents in California. I was alone in my panic and doubt.

Then one day, I checked the mailbox and there it was: a letter from Eddie Furlong.

Time slowed. The world stopped spinning. My heart sped up. It was like every cliché imaginable as I stared down at the letter addressed from the love of my life. I couldn’t even read it. I just held it as I walked up my massively long, uphill driveway. I was nervous about what he had to say, but excited to know what he had to say. Would it be bad? Would it be good? Maybe he gave me his phone number? If he did, would I have the guts to call? Would it be too soon to call tonight? All these thoughts sped around my mind like a maelstrom.

About halfway up the hill, I couldn’t take it anymore, and tore into the letter. I think I read the whole first page, past the “Ha, ha, ha’s, I totally got you, I had my grandpa address the letter, and my visit is going good, I went to Sea World,” literally still believing that it was Eddie Furlong writing that. I was confused and checked the envelope. It wasn’t until I reread the letter that the realization dawned on me, slowly and painfully: Sarah had just played me.

Here’s why it worked:
1) She knew I was obsessed with Eddie Furlong,
2) She knew I had been waiting on a letter from Eddie Furlong,
3) She had her grandpa address the letter from Eddie Furlong,
4) She knew that if it looked like guy’s writing, I’d believe it,
5) And I did.

To be honest, if she wanted to take it all the way, she could have had her grandpa write the letter and I would have believed it was Eddie Furlong the whole time. If she had done that letter after letter, I would have been so hooked that even if Sarah tried explaining she was behind the gag, I wouldn’t have believed it. My suspension of disbelief at that point would have been so suspended, it would have probably taken Eddie Furlong himself to say, “Uh, listen, those weren’t my letters, like, seriously …” to finally realize. And even then who knows.

That’s how authenticity leads to the continued suspension of disbelief by the reader, which will ultimately lead to the author/reader relationship going to the next level. When you go back to edit your manuscript, carefully scrutinize those details for their level of authenticity. Would you believe it if you were reading your own work? Does it feel real to you? Luckily, readers will give us that benefit of the doubt from the start, but it is our job to keep them in the story. If we can’t hold up our end of the bargain, then our reader will move on to someone who can, as in the case with my crush on Eddie Furlong. It never was the same after that. He never did write me back and if you’re reading this Eddie Furlong, I’m so over it.

Heather Cuthbertson is the Editor-in-Chief for Gold Man Review. To read more about Heather, go to http://www.goldmanpublishing. com/heatherCuthbertson.html

Look for me around town!