John Hiatt and the Combo, 25 August 2010 Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle Eighty degrees Farenheit and a gentle breeze blowing across the North Meadow at the Woodland Park Zoo at show time. There’s an opening act, a young woman named Ashleigh Flynn playing tunes from her latest album called American Dream. She plays guitar and … Continue reading Riding with the king: John Hiatt and the Combo
New excerpt on The Book page
There's a new excerpt from the book up - click here or go to The Book page link in the top right corner to read it. It introduces Gil, who plays an important role in the battle to save or destroy the world. Here's the beginning of it. In his natural form, Gil would remind … Continue reading New excerpt on The Book page
Vaya con dios, Richie Hayward
A sad day in rock and roll history, the death of Little Feat drummer and founding band member Richie Hayward was reported yesterday, August 13, Friday the 13th, sure enough. I was lucky to be at the Feat show in Seattle nearly two years ago, to see Hayward and Payne and Tackett and Barerre and … Continue reading Vaya con dios, Richie Hayward
Why…
Why does the earth forgive us with such beautiful places?
Go down swinging
Back in June, I declared this Mariners’ season officially dismal. A month ago when Cliff Lee went to Texas, the season was over; two days ago, with the trade of veteran Mike Sweeney to the Phillies (a contending team!), the team was done. Today, with the firing of the manager and two coaches, this season … Continue reading Go down swinging
Perspective
When you are home a lot, you discover that the relationships of the kids on a neighborhood street can rival the drama of corporate politics. Yesterday's drama on our street was triggered by a battle over whose turn it was to play with the wagon shared by a set of three siblings, all under the … Continue reading Perspective
How to get your novel published in seven easy steps
With considerable expertise derived from my vast experience (three and a half days at the Pacific Northwest Writers' Association conference), I will now describe how the fiction book publishing process works. Step one: Write the book you love, and make it perfect. Step two: Pitch it to a literary agent, or actually, to hundreds of … Continue reading How to get your novel published in seven easy steps
Some New Stuff
I've reorganized this thing, blog-web page combo thing, a bit. Over on the top right under the mysterious header photo, you'll now see two new pages,"Stories" and "The Book." On the Stories page, you'll find short pieces, mostly fiction, a few little slice of life essays. I wrote the current one on a dare, and … Continue reading Some New Stuff
The Lovely Quotes
We write what we don't know we know. -Grace Paley Art is transferring feeling from one heart to another. - Tolstoy Only truth can do that. - Andre Dubus III, the author and teacher, probably best known for his novel The House of Sand and Fog, at tonight's compelling and hilarious opening keynote of the Pacific … Continue reading The Lovely Quotes
Sweet Lou
Update: Today (July 20) Sweet Lou announced he would retire at the end of the season. Click here for an interview with Jeff Nelson, who pitched for Lou here in Seattle before going to the reviled NY Yankees. Here's the original post from June when the Cubs came to Seattle: The Chicago Cubs are in … Continue reading Sweet Lou
Elizabeth Fountain, Author 