Chicago's Literary Scene: 2nd to None

You might have to look a bit harder than you would in NY or LA to find the pulse that is Chicago's literary scene. But it's there and it's beating stronger than ever.

No, it's not NY where all the money-hungry publishing houses and literary agencies congregate. No, it's not LA where all those tanned Hollywood types flock. 

Chicago's literary scene is a little more pick-yourself-up-by-the-bootstraps, blue collar and pasty-skinned, a reflection of the city itself.

But it's a surprisingly vibrant one. You just have to no where to look. 

While everything in NY or LA is big, small is thriving in Chicago. There's an abundancy of zines, journals and comics coming out of Chicago. Just check out Quimby's Book Store or Chicago Comics and see for yourself.

There's also an incredibly warm and welcoming literary community in Chicago that throws its arms around the little guys. Visit Twilight Tales or The Book Cellar or The Chicago Underground Library.

Online, one of the hottest literary magazines, Bookslut, originates from the Windy City.

And a growing number of established and up-and-coming authors are calling Chicago and its environs home. Stuart Dybek. Audrey Niffenegger. Sara Paretsky. Raymond Benson. J.A. Konrath. Libby Fischer Hellman. Jay Bonasinga. David Ellis. Barbara D'Amato. Scott Turow. Kevin Guilfoile. Elizabeth Berg. Adam Langer. Achy Obejas. Joe Meno. To name just a few. 

As part of my work on the new website of the Chicago Writers Association, I've been conducting interviews with some of the movers and shakers in the Chicago literary scene. They'll be popping up now and then in the site's Commerce section.

One of the goals of these interviews is to put the spotlight on Chicago's surprisingly vibrant literary scene. That's what led me to choose my first two interview subjects: the delightful Sharon Woodhouse, founder of Chicago's Lake Claremont Press; and thriller writer and Chicago native J.A. Konrath, who dispenses his own unique brand of wit and wisdom about writing and marketing.

I hope you'll take the time to read these interviews and learn what I've learned: When it comes to writing and community, Chicago is second to none.   

Update on Wednesday, April 19, 2006 at 07:23AM by Randy Richardson

J.A. Konrath links to my interview with him on his insanely popular blog, "A Newbie's Guide to Publishing," today. And Sharon Woodhouse recently linked to my interview with her on her publisher's blog, "Lake Claremont Press's Chicago." You see, Chicago really does have quite a friendly literary community.

Still an Inspirational Story: 10 Years Later

Check out this story that ran in the Chicago Sun-Times's Sunday edition.

And then check out this story that Michele Kurtz and I wrote for The Times of Northwest Indiana more than a decade ago. 

I covered hundreds of stories as a newspaper reporter back in the late eighties and early nineties, before I traded in the reporter's notebook for the legal pad. But some stories stick in your mind more than others.

When I first met Kweisi, his name was Robert Dunlap, and his story is one of those that stuck. I remember talking to him in the Markham courthouse, after Eric Taylor and Jonathan Judkins were sentenced to life in prison for the 1992 kidnapping and execution-style murder of his brother, James Lemar Ford, 17.   

And I remember going to see him again, at his mother's home, almost a year after the sentencing, and talking to him about how he had rechanneled the pain and anger into poetry and rededicated his life to his brother's memory. It's nice to read, ten years later, that he has lived up to that story Michele and I wrote back in 1995, and although his brother's life was senselessly cut short, it, to this day, remains a life not wasted.  

Update on Monday, April 10, 2006 at 08:11AM by Randy Richardson

Here's where you can order N'nocent Rage, a collection of Kweisi's poetry.

Living a Fantasy

Back in December, I wrote about my author fantasies, thinking that none of them would ever come true.

And, so far, none of my author fantasies involving Oprah, John Cusack, Scott Turow or Winona Ryder have come true.

But one of my author fantasies did, indeed, come true.

It happened yesterday. I’d caught the Southbound Purple Line Express, an “L” train that runs between Wilmette and Chicago, Illinois, at my usual spot, Foster Avenue, at my usual time, 3:14 PM., and sat in my usual seat, a single in the back that faces the aisle.

The train was empty except for a few other passengers, two of whom I usually see and abhor because of their excessive chatter, and one of whom I did not recognize, a woman, thirty-ish, I’d say, rather plain looking, who would not have caught my eye except for the fact that she was reading Lost in the Ivy, the book I wrote.

She, like me, sat facing the aisle, but in the opposite direction, so that I had a mostly unobstructed view of her. About ten feet separated us, as she was next to the door, in one of the double seats that you’re supposed to relinquish to handicapped or elderly persons.

She seemed oblivious to my staring and kept her eyes down, reading my book. One thing that I noticed was that she held the book in one hand, which I suppose is not all that unusual – except that she also used the fingers on that one hand to turn the pages. It was then that I realized that she did not have her other hand.

When the train stopped at the next station, Davis Street, a skinny, heavily-tattooed man with spiked, multi-colored hair, got on and took the seat next to the one-handed woman reading my book, blocking my view of her. Unlike her, he seemed to notice that my gaze was focused in that direction and I nervously turned my head and pretended to look out the window in back of me.

The reality was that I had probably less than five minutes before my stop. What was I to do? I’d written about this scenario before, and thought of various possibilities:

1. Do nothing.
2. Ask her what she’s reading and if she likes it.
3. Tell her, “You’re reading my book.”
4. Ask her to look at the author photo on the back.
5. Ask if she would like to have the author sign the book she’s reading.

If I waited for my stop to get up, there wouldn’t be enough time to have any kind of meaningful conversation. So at the next stop, Dempster Street, I stood and walked toward the doors and came to a stop right next to the one-handed woman reading my book.

I glanced down, with a slight smile on my face, hoping that she’d look up. But she kept her head down in my book.

I said, “Excuse me,” but it got no reaction from her.

“That’s my book you’re reading,” I said, my heart starting to race a bit as we approached the next station, Main Street. My words garnered a glare from the punk next to her but the one-handed woman didn’t budge.

Finally, as the train headed toward my stop, I tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up and I said, “That’s my book.”

She stared for a moment and then shook her head and rather tentatively raised her one hand and pointed to her right ear. It was then that I realized that she was deaf.

I smiled as the train came to a stop. Just before walking out, I tapped the back of the book, where there was a picture of me.

She looked at me and then turned the book to the back cover. As the doors closed behind me, I glanced over my shoulder and saw her through the window. I saw her make the connection and raise her head just as the train pulled away.

Update on Saturday, April 1, 2006 at 06:12AM by Randy Richardson

The story above is all fiction. None of it happened – except for the part about me taking the train home every day at the same time and sitting in the same seat. But you knew that, right? Or did you fall for my April Fool’s joke?

If you figured out that the story was fiction, at what point did you realize it? Did you continue reading until the end, knowing that the story was not true? If you believed the story all the way through what were your thoughts about it? Please share your comments below.

What was the point of this exercise? At one level it was just for fun. I'd conceived the idea for it shortly after writing the original blog entry about my author fantasies and then decided to hold off on posting it until April Fool's Day. At another level, however, this exercise was intended to demonstrate that when you write fiction, while you may not always see your fantasies come true, you can always bring them to life. And that makes for a pretty rich world.

Coming Out of the Shell

If you just know me from reading my blog, you'd probably never guess that I'm very much an introvert.

I've had people who've known me for years tell me that they don't recognize the person who writes this blog.

In grade school, I was the kid who wore the Cubs cap and rarely talked.

In high school, there was a bully who cruelly nicknamed me Mute. You can see why I didn't like high school much.

It wasn't until college that I began to start crawling out of my shell.

But chronic shyness is not something you overcome easily. It's something that I've battled my whole life and still fight today. It shapes who I am and some of the things I do.

Going to law school was anything but easy for me. In law school, you have to learn to speak up in front of your peers. You can't just hide in the back of the class. For me it meant three years of anxiety. Yet it was a hurdle I wanted to overcome and I did.

Writing is comfortable to me. Speaking is not. This is certainly not true of all writers but it's probably true of most. If you just write for yourself, that's not a problem. But if you write for public consumption, well, then you do indeed have a problem.

Since the release of Lost in the Ivy, I've done multiple radio interviews and made many public appearances. None of these have been easy for me. Yet I do them, not just because I want to sell a book but also because they force me to come further out of that shell.

Yes, there's always that sense of dread that comes with each of these experiences. But there's also that sense of accomplishment that follows them, and that is, for me, what makes them all worthwhile.  

Update on Monday, March 27, 2006 at 10:20AM by Randy Richardson

On Friday, April 7, you can see me stick my head out of that shell when I appear at WriterFest in Wheeling, Illinois, from noon to 4 p.m. I'll be one of a dozen participating authors representing various genres and answering questions about writing, getting published, marketing and other related issues. The event, organized by my friend Michelle Ailene True, a poet and fellow member of the Chicago Writers Association, will be held at Indian Trails Public Library District, 355 S. Schoenbeck Road. Refreshments will be served and there will be a free raffle for gift baskets. The event is free, but space is limited. To register, call (847) 459-4100. Hope to see you there!

ChicagoWrites.org

If you build it, they will come.

That, at least, is my hope for the new website of the Chicago Writers Association, ChicagoWrites.org.

For the past several months, I've been working with a small but dedicated group of writers in building something that I think is quite special. Mind you it has not always been easy. When you're dealing with creative minds there are bound to be creative differences. There were. When you're dealing with computers, there are bound to be technical problems. There were. Many times I had serious doubts that the site would ever get off the ground. But it did.

In this case, the adage that things worthwhile rarely come easily could not be more applicable. But I'll let you see that with your own eyes.

If you've never heard of the Chicago Writers Association, you're not alone. Up until a year ago, I'd never heard of it. I was a writer inhabiting Chicagoland but didn't know where to go. I stumbled upon the CWA and found a comfortable home. Now our not-so-little group (we've got around 140 members) founded by Diana Laskaris is starting to spread its wings a little. Personally, I can't wait to see where those wings take us.

Update on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at 02:35PM by Randy Richardson

There's a nice write-up about the Chicago Writers Association by Alice Maggio on Gapers Block today. Pretty cool seeing the CWA in that bold print.

Update on Wednesday, April 26, 2006 at 08:12AM by Randy Richardson

Thanks to the promotional spirit and the artistic talents of Jen Wilding, you can now purchase ChicagoWrites.org gear.