A strange time to be launching a new website, to be sure. I hope it provides a welcomed distraction for a minute or two.
#tbt /
Six Writers /
Here are six novelists who have influenced my writing: Marguerite Duras, John Fante, Reinaldo Arenas, Robert Coover, J.D. Salinger and Walker Percy. I think when I write, I’m often trying to create a narrator as compelling as a Salinger character, a narrator with the emotion of a Fante character. I think I try to create the depth of a Walker Percy character (using my own insights, of course). I strive for the economy and solemnity of Marguerite Duras, even though my natural inclination is to tell too much, and to continue telling it. Reinaldo Arenas helped me realize that it can be okay to experiment with different genres within a novel, that a novel can mean different things. Reading Robert Coover encouraged me to stop taking myself so seriously, and helped me realize that there can be something very serious about that approach.
Moving in Stereo /
Today I launched yoursilentface.com.
Today I listened to The Cars’ tune, “Moving in Stereo,” while I was walking—getting my steps in—and it seemed to take on a whole new significance.
Today I thought about rereading Albert Camus’ novel, The Plague.
Today I tried to balance on the razor’s edge of feeling strong and feeling scared.
Your Silent Face /
Coming soon, digital download options for my debut novel, Your silent Face.
What lies ahead that doesn’t suck? Summer break forces Stuart Page to return home and wrestle with his fraying ties to the East Side of Flint, his memory an archive of cassettes he would like to erase. His freshman year of college was lame; more early Cure than Spandau Ballet, he might be overheard saying. More Gary Numan than Falco.
Flustered by visits from a stoic viking and fueled by an endless supply of beer, Stu picks apart an obsession with the lead singer of Joy Division and chugs the sour dregs of romance as he drunkenly veers through summer hook ups, the malignant effects of blue collar fight culture and Catholicism, not to mention the fresh consequences of Reaganomics in Your Silent Face.