It`s almost here!
Category: Musing
a “Non-Social Distancing“ Novel en lieu
So, and yeah. . .stand back COVID-19 there`s no “Social Distancing“ in this novel. In fact it begs to challenge that very idea with two strangers who walk into a motel room in “Bar“stow, California. [pun intended]
Book Synopsis (and actual query):
There is no polite way to explain Diane DeMoss and Jack Crawford’s illicit affair only that it’s about to take a bitter turn when their seemingly complicated lives clash against the backdrop of good sex, Chinese take-out, a pack of cigarettes, warm beer and jealousy.
It happens in a grocery store on a warm July morning.
And “It” is war, particularly at first sight when Diane, a pampered 37-year-old housewife unintentionally rubs Jack, a 39-year-old married hard-nosed blue-collar businessman, the wrong way when her twenty-six grocery items overshadow his six pack of beer in a 15 items or less express lane.
But as Diane apologizes for the inconvenience, Jack – not one for other people’s stupidity – accepts her apology by insulting her, suggesting she learn how to read signs. Diane, refusing to turn a scolded cheek, stoops to Jack’s level and suggests he learn how to suppress his opinions to avoid becoming one of those opinionated assholes. Not only does the insult infuriate Jack, he confronts Diane in the parking lot and puts his “asshole” status to use only the outcome isn’t what he expected or what Diane had expected. Because instead of pursuing the idea of wringing each other’s necks with the other’s bold tongue, Jack and Diane instead end up in a motel room. Both stumbling over themselves. Both out of practice and embarrassed.
But tackling to be the best of lovers will become the least of Jack and Diane’s problems when their checkered lives interrupt their affair with each one’s narcissistic and controlling ways; issues that will have them questioning whether they’d go back to being the people they once were before they walked into that motel room in Barstow, California.
In a Motel Room in Barstow, California or Barstow is a 53K standalone Upmarket Fiction novel. The setting of the story takes place – with the exception of the grocery store scene – in a 2 Star Motel over the span of a day. Set against the inspirations of songs like Jack and Diane, Fast Car and Come Away With Me, and challenging the likes of books and films such as Frankie and Johnny, The Story of Us and Blue Valentine which take a genuine look at the upside and downside of love, marriage, abuse, divorce and infidelity – issues that plague both Jack and Diane’s lives. The simplicity of form and storytelling incorporated with fast, yet uncomplicated thought-provoking dialogue and iconic characters could perhaps make this page-turner narrative an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind read.
So there it is in all its hope & glory that one: it will gain representation; and two, avoid becoming another Indie publication. But if it should, well, I can`t say I didn`t try!
Poemless
fields
of whisky
black
under
a sunless day
under
a cloudy sky…
heart is a
cardboard box;
forgotten rhythm(s)
& impotent stroke(s)
numb these thoughts
of thoughtlessness;
versus are shiftless
stanzas wander
prose(s) indisposed ~
drunk is the poet
with a leadless pen in hand
& a tattered notebook
with pages of dirty white
crinkle[ing]
against the wind…
scream;
in quoted brackets
I am read:
[Please Insert Poem Here]
Reviewed: She Poems by Mike Meraz
As the Editor and Founder of BoySlut who’s had her share [aplenty] of reading poems on a daily basis and from some of the most renowned underground poets from around the world, I must admit I was not prepared for what Mike Meraz had in store for She Poems.
Read in as little as 15 minutes, not only was each and every poem cleverly versed and multifaceted depicted (with much respect to the women who inspired such genu~ism) these candid and satirical poetic trinkets are sure to not disappoint and to encourage the idea of what “underground” poetry really and truly is.
*reviewers note: If you haven’t read She Poems or anything by Mike Meraz. . .Shame on you! But here is a list of his chapbooks (in no chronological order): 43, Black~Listed Thoughts, Writhing & Alive, Watching it Burn, Black~Listed Poems; and the link where you can view his online Journal, Black~Listed Magazine:
http://www.black-listedmagazine.blogspot.com/
Self~Cannibalism
greatness
this morning
came in the form
of wall street dogs
barking on CNN, and billionaire
roosters crowing in their
free range hacienda coops ~
i scratched my head beneath chipped nails,
peeling away dead skin from my scalp
like a snake shedding away pounds and pounds
of acidic rodent death
and cannibalism
and everything weighing heavy on my mind
and started fresh
with a half-pot of coffee,
a full kiss on your mouth
and this poem about nothing great
