Savage Press - Michael Savage

NEW BOOK PROJECT

2009-07-02T17:23:00.004-05:00

A week ago I got an order from Northern Lights Book and Gift in Duluth for four books, one being Raised by Savages. Trouble was, I never published it. I wrote a version of it lo these many years ago, but never released it. So, having just finished reading Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, the synchronicity of the request seemed...well, synchronous. As a result I'm toying with the idea of re-writing and combining into one title two books that I wrote many years ago. I'd call it Raised by Savages: How I Grew up Wild in Wisconsin. It could be very sad, like McCourt's Angela's Ashes. Or it could be funny, like Bill Bryson's Thunderbolt Kid. The first chapter would be about me being held for ransom at birth by the flinty eyed Sisters of St. Joseph at St. Joe's Hospital in Ashland. I was known as the 90-dollar baby back then. Seems the bill for the birth of my sister had not been paid for four years. My older sisters had to roll my dad when he came home drunk. Guess what? They failed and an even more creative alternative had to be found to spring me. I'm thinking of starting Chapter Two with the line, "Dad wasn't always a drunk." Chapter Three: "I don't THINK I was born a sociopath." Of course I'll have a chapter describing the hot summer day in 1960 when John F. Kennedy bought me a glass of milk in Iron River, Wisconsin. But, still...I don't know...writing a book is such a pain in the ass, and the financial pay-off is so minimal. Hmmm. What do you think? Should I go for it?

Savage Press - Michael Savage: FIRST CHAPTER OF NLM POSTED

2009-06-25T10:20:00.000-05:00

http://www.savpress.com/Details.asp?ProductID=98Savage Press - Michael Savage: FIRST CHAPTER OF NLM POSTED

FIRST CHAPTER OF NLM POSTED

2009-06-25T10:15:00.005-05:00

If you're interested in reading the first chapter of Lori J. Glad's second Duluth novel, Northern Lights Magic, I've posted it on her book's webpage at:

http://www.savpress.com/Details.asp?ProductID=98

Howard Jones Tribute Poem

2009-06-17T14:39:00.002-05:00

A prairie man.
Tall as June days.

A cabin log,
hand hewn from pioneer stock.

Crowned with silver.

A water man.
Fishing every ocean
and lake
and river
and coffee cup,
for that elusive catch,
JOY.

A book man.
Reading and
writing into the pages,
and into the night.

A word man.
A fish in water.
A noon beer at Coyote Ugly.

A strong cable across
the homestead's long driveway.
Protector of sod-house-dreams and
lifetimes of labor.

A battler against the elements,
cancer,
the status quo.

A river man.
Portraiting the mighty Mississip.
Mighty cousins, both.

A tall tree rising above the others.

THANK YOU HOWARD

2009-06-15T06:59:00.003-05:00

A great man has passed away. Howard Jones, author of two Savage Press, books left us last night. He was a great, great man, a mentor, a friend, and a source of inspiration. He is missed. I loved him like a father. He will be missed. http://www.savpress.com/Details.asp?ProductID=139

MINNESOTA ENVY

2009-06-10T08:06:00.004-05:00

A Senate Race of Our Own

I wish Wisconsin had an eternal senate race of our own.

That Dang Minnesota. They always get the good stuff.

Minnesota got Rich Gannon for a quarterback in 1992. What did Wisconsin get? That crappy
Brat Favre.

Minnesota got idealist Hubert Humphrey. We got mean Joe McCarthy.

Minnesota got the exotic and elegant loon. We got the lowly robin.

Wisconsin did win one. Minnesota got the gopher. Wisconsin the badger.
Badgers…now that’s a bad ass state animal. Way better than a gopher. What state in its right mind would want a gopher as a state animal?

Oh, I don’t know….how about a state that can’t pick a senator? I’m guessing that any state that selects the gopher as its state animal deserves to have a perpetual senate race.

You know what I wish? I wish Wisconsin’s most famous actor, Orson Wells, who was born in Kenosha, would challenge Herb Kohl or Russ Feingold in an election. That would be newsworthy enough to rid the world of Minnesota’s attention grabbing eternal senate race.

Oh, I forgot…Orson Wells is dead. But then, so is Norm Coleman. So what’s the diff?

That Minnesota. They get the good governors too, like that awesome politician and diplomacy icon, Jesse “The Body” Ventura” who wants to waterboard Dick Cheney. Wisconsin got Tommy Lafollette or was it Robert Thompson. I can’t recall…some governor….oh yeah, now I remember. Wisconsin got Nelson Dewey that famous governor who came up with the Dewey Decimal system that the whole world (except the United States) uses as a system of measurement. I may be a millimeter off on this one.

So, there you have it, I’ve got a serious case of Minnesota envy. I should just move to Minnesota and get it over with. Put an end to my miserable Wisconsin residency.

But I just can’t do it. I just love living in a land where the last word in the state is sin.

Life is good. Let’s make it better. I’m Savage, and I’m done.

PUBLISHING CIRCUMSTANCE

2009-06-05T09:32:00.004-05:00

Here's how it goes in publishing sometimes.

Got an interesting query letter from a fellow in Michigan. He has a "railfan" book about Michigan railroads. I was curious, interested in looking at the work. As I was on the road working, I'd opened his query in webmail and didn't delete it with all the SPAM that floods in. Today, back in the office, I looked for his email...not there.

Sometimes the circumstances of publishing can derail a plan. A letter gets lost. An email gets deleted by mistake. I remember Tony Jelich of Solon Springs, Wisconsin stopped by the office to talk to me about publishing his book, Stop and Smell the Cedars. I was out getting the mail. He went directly to Arrowhead Printing in Superior and gave them the disk to have the book printed up. It was a good book. It is a good book. I would have liked to publish it.

But for a trip to the post office.

So, the morel (I've been looking for mushrooms lately) of the story is: Don't feel too discouraged when a publisher or editor does not show interest in your work. It may be that she/he deleted your email accidentally, or the envelope fell between the wall and the desk, or the dog ate it.

Keep pitching your ideas. Be relentless. Back in the day, when I was freelancing in a big way, I had a bon mot taped to my wall: 10% INSPIRATION. 90% PERSPIRATION.

Keep on keeping on. And, if you know a railfan author from Michigan who might have queried Savage Press recently, do your part to get us reconnected, please.

BEAUTY BOOK LAUNCH

2009-05-22T07:32:00.003-05:00

Went to a beauty book launch Wednesday at St. Mary's Hospital in Duluth, sponsored by SMDC Grief Support and Holy Cow Press. Click on the ALL CAPS title above to view the Holy Cow website and check out their new title Beloved on the Earth: 150 Poems of Grief and Gratitude. What made the event beautiful for me was the celebration of poetry. Poets read. Editors commented. Sponsors incited interest and awe. There were 60 people present and books were bought, autographed, and held sacred. It was enough to make a publisher and poet want to weep. Thanks Jim for doing good.

Great Book Review

2009-05-06T05:55:00.002-05:00

Finished a great book. The March by E.L. Doctorow. About Sherman's march to the sea during the Civil War. Outstanding descriptions. Exceptionally vivid characters. Masterful multiple viewpoint storytelling. Vocabulary expanding word choices. Reading this book was like going to war but being safe and warm and well rested. A real gift from a talented caring author to a reader hungry for delicious prose that satisfies.

DIRTY OLD SOCKS

2009-04-23T12:16:00.003-05:00

Had fun with the Middle Schoolers at that workshop last week. Went to the winter sock drawer and pulled out a dozen heavy old socks from my logging days and dropped various objects inside. Passed them around and heard a lot of "Ewwwws!" and "Yukkkks!" I assured them they were freshly laundered and that they wouldn't get any cooties from inserting their hands therein. The writing exercise was to describe the hidden object in twelve words or more. Pretty interesting. Some students wrote two paragraphs. Some could barely get five words down. Some descriptions were general and vague. Some were highly specific. All were entertaining. It was fascinating to watch hands go into Dirty Old Socks and see words come out.

MIDDLE SCHOOL WRITERS

2009-04-21T09:54:00.005-05:00

"Taught" a workshop last Friday. Eleven middle-school writers. What actually happened was, they taught me. Sure I led the discussion. Sure I provided some writing exercises. Sure I knew more about writing than they did. But, guess what? They taught me more than I taught them. The taught me to be enthused about writing. They were gung ho about their words. They read their poems with pride and gusto. They didn't defend their work. They didn't whine about being unpublished. They just wrote what they wrote and read what they read. As they say on the dragstrip, "They run what they brung." Exceedingly refreshing. Thanks folks. You made my day. my week, my month.

On another note. If you want to see an interesting site, visit http://mariahartmysteries.blogspot.com/ Chris Forman is an excellent writer, the real deal.

Finally...any chance you'd be willing to refer someone to follow this blog? It's a numbers game and I enjoy seeing the followers list grow. I keep inviting folks. They say they'll follow, but then they never sign up. Maybe you'd have better luck. It's easier on Facebook. But this is the SPI blog and I'm supposed to "build" it. Why? Because I'm the publisher.

THE WRITER IS GOD

2009-04-16T04:57:00.004-05:00

Been in touch the last couple of weeks with Melissa Ellefson of Duluth, Minnesota. She's a writer who is crafting a compelling life story. You see, Melissa was a drunk. A drunk of Jim Frey proportions. Her first three chapters were captivating. She effectively communicated her craving, her outlandish need for booze, her compulsion. And she describes some pretty out there behavior. Trouble is, the book's not done. She want's a publisher to "believe" in her writing, to use her word.

So, there you have it. Who is going to have faith in this situation?

She wants me to believe in her story, offer to publish it, and go forth into the cold, cruel, world of mayhem known as publishing a book, so that she can continue writing with a guarantee.

Okay, scene change...

My basement. The "warehouse" for 20,000 some odd Savage Press books that have not sold in the last 20 years. I'm looking for a book that we published in 1997. Someone want's five copies. What has driven me into the catacombs to battle a bizillion dust mites with only two partially functioning nostrils? Someone wants five copies of a book that was published 12 years ago. Oh my frikking God! A customer!! An actual paying customer!!!

Okay, maybe I should be writing daytime drama. But, there you have it. Who is going to have faith in a book? It starts with the author writing, without (for the most part) assurance that their story will ever be read. Maybe, if the writer is lucky and the publisher is a blind man searching around in his dark basement for five copies amid 20,000, just maybe, five readers out there in the world of millions and millions of readers, will have the good fortune of getting their need to read met by that blind man.

And the writer? The writer will have passed away years ago never having known that his work would someday be in "popular" demand by five souls still living and breathing and having their being on this plane of existence.

So, there you have it again. Faith. Who has the most faith? From whence cometh faith?

Two words, friends. Two words to the four people who follow this blog.

THE WRITER.

John 1:14 says that the word became flesh and dwelt among us. The WRITER makes the word flesh and it dwells among us. Not the publisher. Not the reader.

THE WRITER

The Old Forge Press

2009-04-13T10:26:00.005-05:00

Met an interesting guy in Ireland named P.J. Curtis, musician, musicologist, author. He lives in the old, old, old, house handed down to him from generations ago. I'd read his book, The Lightning Tree, a fascinating account of life in Ireland before the Celtic Tiger. The book reports on all the old ways, the healing, the herbalism, the mysticism, the "Hunger," the religious abuse. P.J.'s father was the village of Kilnaboy's blacksmith...hence the name, The Old Forge...and did not approve of the boy's love of reading and music, so, at sixteen years young, the boy ran away to, of all places, Liverpool where he played in the era when the Beatles were learning their music. P.J. is a real fascinating guy. The photo is of him holding forth while seated in the hearth of his "loovly, loovly" home filled with ancient artifacts. Visiting his site is pretty informative. The URL is above

chicagocandy: Aly & Candy Duet

2009-04-10T06:29:00.000-05:00

chicagocandy: Aly & Candy Duet

A SIGN THAT DON'T MAKE SENSE

2009-04-08T16:07:00.003-05:00

Hey, sometimes it just make snese to leave the misteak bee. Purposful earerrs kan gather mucho extension & evn chrarm yer reeders. Lik dis sign...

Cents whren does white pines eat dear? I din't no dat pie-ens were carnivvrous even.

CANDY FRASER GUEST POSTING

2009-04-06T12:11:00.002-05:00

This clock is a great reminder that anytime is a good time to read!

I took this picture outside a bookstore on Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts which reminded me that there's so much to read, but so little time to do it.

I'm staying with a friend who owns more books than anyone I know. The house is filled with books of every genre. Bookcases are in every room, neatly stacked with titles ranging from out-of-print collector's items to New York Times bestsellers. Because he was getting over-run with so many volumes, when the Kindle first came out, he was one of the first to pre-order it and is now on the 2nd generation Kindle which he loves even more. Greater storage means more books to read.

But even with the electronic technology available today, nothing compares to holding a real book in your hands and turning the pages.

A restaurant called Cafe Moxie was next to the Bunch of Grapes Bookstore and it burned down last Fourth of July, also devastating the bookstore. Bunch of Grapes, a Vineyard establishment since 1975 has moved to another temporary building nearby which I visited today. I learned that the clock had been stopped at 9:57 am on July 4 since the power went out on Main Street in Vineyard Haven. It was repaired, synced by satellite, and started ticking again on October 22, 2009.

It's a reminder that even though the economy is not great, the conventional wisdom that independent booksellers are a dying business doesn't have to be true. It's also a symbol that the town will once again be moving forward.

The bookstore is due to re-open in a few months and the owner is optimistic that it will be better than ever with an interior that is bound to bid customers to sit and read for a while in new comfortable chairs and a sofa with a book in hand. The owner says she feels confident that the bookstore will continue to flourish because they're living on a very literary Island in a very literary society where people still value the printed word. When Bill Clinton was president, the Island was a favorite vacation spot and he liked going to Bunch of Grapes. They had to close the store down for security purposes so he could browse the books like an ordinary man. The people who were in the bookstore at the time, didn't mind being locked in for a while and ignored him. Then after a while, he went up to someone and said, "Don't you know who I am?" and shook hands with them. Once a politician, always a politician.

Reading takes time, but when you read a good book, it's so rewarding. You appreciate the author's efforts as well as the enjoyment you get out of a good story whether it's fiction or non-fiction. It does something to your brain to make you want to read more books by the same author or the same subject. Like an addiction, books are so pleasurable. It's a good, healthy addiction though.

Keep buying and keep reading!

INTERNET NEEDY

2009-04-04T05:55:00.002-05:00

Been interesting the last day or two, having no access to the blog. I was trying to post a guest blog by Candy Fraser and it wouldn't propagate. Contacted Wizard Larry who went to work on the problem. In the meantime I found it instructive to observe how important the Internet is to me. Even if it is minimally true, I believe people out there are "listening" to my posts. Here's what's important:

I have a voice.

I speak.

People listen.

So, there you have it, the essence of writing.

Think about it.

PS: Sorry about the delay, Candy. I'll get your words and photos up next week ASAP.

WRITE ON REGARDLESS

2009-03-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

There's a car race in the U.P. over by Houghton called P.O.R. Stands for Press On Regardless. No matter the mud hole, no matter the break downs, no matter the weather, the race goes on and the racers press on, regardless. It is sort of like the Baja 1000. You gotta go and you gotta run what you brung. So it is with writing. Last January 8th I started another Dave Davecki novel. Death by Cadillac. I "finished" it a couple of weeks ago because I was bored and frustrated with the story. But this morning, I opened the file again and started "fixing" things. After a time away from the story, the tale was fun again. I'm reading the chapters out loud into my laptop and playing them back to listen to the sound of the sentences, to see if the flow is smooth and easy to digest. It's fun to discover awkward sentences and unlikely dialogue and entertaining to "fix" them up. So it is with writing, no matter the mud hole of boredome, no matter the frustration of first drafting, no matter the doubt about the suitability of the sentences, you gotta go back to writing and you gotta run what you brung. Remember, a blank page can't be edited. Keep Writing.

A MILLION TIMES MORE MIRACULOUS

2009-03-15T06:21:00.004-05:00

Hard to believe I was in Ireland a week ago. There was a play put on by the local people in a village there. It was staged in a parish hall that had fallen on very tough times. Huge slabs of paint had cracked off and fallen away from the walls. The men's room stall had no toilet seat, broken furniture was stacked in the corners. But, you know what? There were over 100 people there and the play was totally outstanding. There were women crying in the audience at the end. It was really a joy to be there. It was a great gift from the actors, the community. There is nothing so genuine as a village. I've experienced such rock bottom, rock-ribbed human joy in village Alaska too. Oh the pure goodness of human endeavor to create beauty in the midst of reality. There is something truly Godlike in art that comes from poverty and love and the basic determination to create regardless of status. The ability to produce and enjoy art that is "less than perfect" is something New York publishing and TV and Hollywood and Broadway rarely, rarely offers, because, I think, wealth's particular brand of beauty is exponentially removed from the beauty of everyday, normal, "lowly" if you will, existance. Hollywood is Hollywood and we are just us and we "down here in the trenches" are a million times more miraculous than slick books and polished television and big budget movies. Thank God the Bible says the first shall be last and the last shall be first, for, I'm believing today, that the greatest art is in the humble.

HONORING BOOKS AND AUTHORS

2009-03-06T02:29:00.005-06:00

I'm finding the newspaper content here in Ireland to be much more literary in slant. It's also more informal and it is more...what can I say...vulgar? Earthy? Bare breasted women on page two could be called earthy I suppose. Using fuck on page one but ***in out cocksucker in the same paragraph could be called earthy I suppose. I've also seen that books have higher regard over here. I'm attending a book festival in Ennis and it seems there is a lot of devotion to the book...the non-electric kind. (Kindle's got its work cut out for it here.) I'm guessing there is more devotion to the book in NYC than there is in Superior, Wisconsin where the last word in the state is SIN, so I can't complain too much when I feel like my corner of the world eschews books for beer. But it is nice to be in a society where authors and books are more revered than cheese and brats. Though, one downside to the reverence is the faint aroma of snobbery now and then. All in all though, it is fun to be living and moving and having breath in a more book oriented, word oriented society. Keep writing.

Mike Savage - Savage Press: George Bernard Shaw

2009-03-02T01:59:00.000-06:00

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=55094456151
Mike Savage - Savage Press: George Bernard Shaw

George Bernard Shaw

2009-03-02T01:42:00.004-06:00

George Bernard Shaw comes to mind this morning. He said, and I quote this loosly I'm sure, "It has taken me twenty years to become dumb enough to entertain the English." This brings to mind the Robert Frost quote, "Any damn fool can start a poem. It takes a poet to end one." These quotes...why are they coming to me this early morning in Ireland? All that suggests itself is...what is the role of ego in the writer's life? I'm of the opinion that 99.9 percent of my writing will never be read. It's almost entirely digitized. A massive EMP would wipe out my hard drives, my back-ups (few that there are), and all the emails I've ever written. I'm writing for the joy of it. Writing for the entertainment it provides. Writing to give my fingers something to do. I'm reminded of the printer who was asked why he went into printing. "Because I like the smell of ink," he answered. Why are you writing? To preserve a history? To create a history? To salve a wound? To entertain? To get revenge? To be adored? To become rich? To heal? To teach? To worship? To be worshipped? To learn to spel? To make a joke? To see if there's anyone out there who is as clever as you? Maybe it is all about ego. Maybe that isn't a bad thing. Write on.

NOTHING TO DECLARE BUT "WILDE"NESS

2009-02-27T19:53:00.004-06:00

Oscar Wilde, was asked if he had anything to declare when entering the U.S. and processing through Customs. "Nothing but my genius," he answered. You have genius inside you. Access it. Write it. Enjoy it. Bask in your genius. Say it with Wilde...say it out loud to yourself, "I have only my genius to declare."

The Old Ground

2009-02-25T17:44:00.002-06:00

Here's what's fantastic tonight. Today I was in the same pub that W.B. Yeats frequented when he was alive and becoming one of Ireland's brightest literary lights. The Old Ground pub in Ennis. Creaky pine parque' flooring, dark smoke-stained woodwork, old photos of past masters like Yeats, and Shaw, and Wilde. Just walking into the place was inspirational. It fairly glowed with the patina of literary excellence. For the pub and the Irish writing tradition to go on and on for so many hundreds of years is humbling. In this modern age of digital expression, I sometimes wonder if all the works I and Savage Press are creating will be wiped out in an instant with a single EMP, thus erasing all the hard drives on the planet. If I were guaranteed that such a disaster was certain, I'd still write. And so should you.

www.savpress.com

CONGRATS TO JON A. SEVERSON

2009-02-19T19:07:00.003-06:00

Congrats to Jon Severson on receiving a nomination from the Northeast Minnesota Book Award (NEMBA) in the nonfiction category. Let's hope he wins! Delivered With Pride is a real winner regardless of the outcome. If you want to see more about NEMBA click on: http://www.d.umn.edu/lib/nemba/index.htm.

If you want to see some of the impressive historical photos from inside the book, go to: http://www.savpress.com/Details.asp?ProductID=157