Travis Millard, Mark Dischler (Narrow Books), and myself.

Travis talked for about 40 minutes about his art and how he’s found an audience for it: the why and how of the galleries and companies that have sought him out. (Travis told me he gets emails from young artists and art students all the time asking how he’s “made it”, and it’s a task every time to explain that his career has been more about sitting at the drawing board than a by-the-numbers “this is how you become a professional artist” plan.)

So the talk Travis ended up delivering was sort of a letter to the kids who email him. He talked about his early days drawing as a kid, his blessedly failed efforts to get and keep a job as a designer, the dumb or ballsy moves (depending on your attitude) he took when first asked to do things he’d never done before (album art, animation, magazine illustration), and the odd sorts of anchors that ended up being more important than he could’ve guessed, like bar bathroom art installations he did at the Max Fish bar in New York and the Little Joy bar in LA.

It was a funny and informative talk, and with luck, Google will put the entire thing up for viewing on the web soon. For me, it was nifty to see a Google office, and Mark and I got to meet Travis’ art buddy, Kiel Johnson, whose work I’d seen before and dug. (We also got to check out Kiel’s feature spread in the new issue of Hi Fructose magazine.)

Mark, Mel Kadel, and Kiel Johnson checking out Hi Fructose before the talk.

Tomorrow he’ll be accepting three awards—that’s right, count ‘em for a hat-trick—from the Society of Illustrators for his work, including one for his cover for the Criterion Collection DVD of John Huston’s Wise Blood adaptation. (Full details here.)

Josh provided the wrap-around cover art (pictured above) and illustrated several stories for our anthology, which you can pick up from the Narrow Books webstore.

The Smart Gals have installed their Reading Preserve—a “sanctuary for the endangered act of reading actual books”—before at the WeHo book fair; this time the preserve will be part of both the Los Angeles Municipal Gallery’s ongoing “Actions, Conversations, and Intersections” exhibition and Smart Gals’ own anniversary. (They’ll also be showing all of the awesome bookmarks Smart Gals commissioned their Speakeasy reading events over the years—shown here at left is the bookmark Esther Pearl Watson made for our event a few years back.)

On Thursday, February 4th, 2-3 pm, I’ll be quietly reading a book (from my library, but not written by me) in the preserve, surrounded by comforting pillows. You can join me or… watch me?

Other participating authors include Janet Fitch (White Oleander), Aimee Bender (The Girl in the Flammable Skirt), and Cecil Castellucci (Boy Proof). You can find more from the reading preserve author schedule.

One cool thing is that on Sunday the 7th, the Smart Gals will include writing from the participating authors (for example, from me, an excerpt from my novel in progress) on hand-made pillows that will become permanent elements of the reading preserve. Outstanding, right? Forever printed on a pillow…

The film’s called RIDE THE NINE. Taking it on was interesting, to be sure… A prime reason (why it was interesting, that is) was because the main character’s a long time pool hustler. We’re talking decades. So I get to play with a lot of fun ideas: noirish dark corners and dangerous men… But then there’s also this game, right? Pool.

Then on top of the game, there’s the very fact of the game, which is to say: if there’s a game in a movie, there’s an assumption that the game’s going to be played on film… unless of course you’re so timid as to totally cop out and, for example, make a movie about a football player that has no football in it.

So there’s a game, and the game’s definitely going to be in the movie… How much?

A lot, actually. We’re not using pool (nine ball, specifically) as a prop or “colorful backdrop” for this story. It’s pretty integral… So let me be the first to say that there’s a whole lot of pool in the film. There are so many long games, ugly opponents, tables and halls, cue sticks, chalky blue cubes, wooden triangles, smoky lights, and bankrolls of greasy dollar bills that you could be as intimate with them as if you’d spent decades standing around the table yourself… disturbed yet?

Anyway, we’ve just put together a site at ride-the-nine.com to be a home for news and updates about the picture.

1. The Lone Star International Film Festival is held in Fort Worth, Texas. I can’t tell you how excited I am to screen in the state after using it as my fictional setting. We’d come close with the Dallas Video Fest, but there was some confusion, as you can read about here. The cool thing is: it’s the Lone Star organizers who had recommended us to the Dallas fest, and now have invited us to screen in Fort Worth.

2. The Zero Film Festival is designed to support “authentically” independent movies. If you’re wondering “authentic” means in this context, it’s really no puzzle: the key is that all films are self-financed by the filmmakers. Based in Brooklyn, but they’re putting together tours of the fest’s films to other cities.

3. NewFilmmakers NY doesn’t have a typical “fest” structure—rather, they put on ongoing film programs at the Anthology Film Archives in Manhattan. TEXAS 1960 was chosen for the winter series and will screen in February.

First: Freak City / October 25th

A sale event at Freak City’s grand opening of their amazing 5000 square foot space on Sunday, October 25th. Featuring vendors and participants including Dim Mak, Flock Shop, Evil Genius, Delicious Vinyl and Rojas.

Narrow Books will be there offering hardcover titles from Megan Whitmarsh and Esther Pearl Watson, T-shirts by Mark Todd, and this awesome Travis Millard poster courtesy of Blood is the New Black.

2PM to 8PM, followed by an after-party till 2AM with DJs, drinks and… a taco bar!? Yeah.

But also: DesignerCon / November 21st

DesignerCon at the Pasadena Convention Center on Saturday, November 21st.

[Save the date on this one-- I'll have more information on this show soon.]

We were recommended for inclusion to the fest organizers on short notice… Unfortunately, it turned out we were selected as part of their “Texas Show” showcase on the final night of the fest, which is reserved for Texan filmmakers. Though it pained me to do it, I had to come clean that we weren’t from Texas. Our cast includes folks from Lousiana, New Mexico, Georgia, even Hawaii… I’m from Missouri… but no Texans.

Of course the film was de facto disqualified, but the organizers were very gracious about the mix-up… they even told us their jurors took an extra bit of time looking for a way to include the film, which was great for us to hear.

But anyway, you heard it here first, and now, if you will, you can un-hear it. Congratulations to our little crew anyway, especially the actors! If a Texas-based festival liked the film enough to include it on short notice, that’s quite a kudos to their performances with regard to dialect and accent. Jessie Birschbach, one of our actresses, took the time to prepare and share a digital package including MP3s of West Texas dialect which we sent around to all the cast before shooting, and I think her work paid off.

The steps involved are pretty simple, and they’re summed up nicely here: “Getting Clearance, DIY”.

There are two types of clearance you’ll need, synch rights and master rights… The first pertains to the rights of the song’s author, the second to the actual recording being used.

(Just so you know, once you’ve asked to negotiate a price for a song, the rights owner probably won’t forget about you. I decided to wait on final negotiation and payment of music rights on TEXAS 1960 (which uses two period songs, one by Marty Robbins and one by Chet Atkins) and was surprised when the rights owners (a mighty music conglomerate) contacted me (relatively speaking, a fly speck) again recently to find out when I was going to pay. Don’t get me wrong, they were totally friendly, and agreeable when I told them I planned to finalize only after the film was accepted into a festival… but once on their radar, well, you’re on their radar.)

I wouldn’t bother trying to make a special plea for cheaper rates on your song use, at least not initially. I’d had guidance from a friend who used to work in rights clearance, and most of the time, things are pretty rote… They look at how long you plan to use the song, what your budget is, how popular the song is… Don’t bother with a lengthy explanation of how you can’t afford much, that you’re on a shoestring… Later on, if you do get sticker shock, then maybe try to ask for leniency… Ultimately, though, I thought the figures I was quoted were fair.

Next time though, we’ll record all the music ourselves. Just to be extra safe. And cheap.

Starring Milly Sanders, Shawn Petersen, Dixie Perkinson, and Jessie Birschbach.

From a synopsis: In West Texas circa 1960, two men stumble into the hills after a robbery gone wrong. Witnesses recount details of the crime, but the more the Sheriff hears, the less he really gets.

The Kogi Taco Truck will be there, and the Narrow Books crew (Myself, Mark, and author Joseph Mattson (Elana couldn’t make it)) will be spinning LPs while you barter. August 15th from 1-4 pm at Book Soup, don’t be late or the good reads may go home with someone else!

UPDATE: Photos from the event. A load of people showing up, of course, for those famous tacos.