by john | Dec 26, 2010 | Uncategorized
Because it was all supposed to be pretty smooth. My sister Bonnie had been dropped off at her daughter’s place, Suzy and I had exchanged gifts (she got me a treadmill and a recumbent bike, so hopefully there will be less of me to love in 2010), and Suzy was off to get a pedicure Friday morning while I was chilling in the recliner watching Netflix with a cat in my lap.
Then, as so often happens, the phone rang and it went all pear-shaped.
My sister’s ringtone is Dierks Bentley’ cover of the Bob Dylan tune “Senor,” so when she called I answered with lyrics – “Where we headed? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?” When she answered, I knew it was bad. Her voice was shaking, and she said, “it is Armageddon. Tommy’s house is on fire.”
My brother’s house went from a home to a pile of rubble in the time it took for him to go finish his Christmas shopping. We believe the problem started in the wiring, but no one is really sure. What we are sure of is that on Christmas Eve everything he and his wife owned, including their two incredibly loving Jack Russel Terriers, went up in smoke.
So I packed two suitcases, one full of clothes that are two small for me so that Tom would have something to wear, and another full of my clothes and toiletries in case I needed to stay down there for the weekend. I got in touch with Suzy, and we decided that she would follow me later, and I hit the road.
I grew up a volunteer firefighter, and the smell of a house fire is something you never forget. It’s a mix of wood, plastic and dreams, all mixed in with cold air and tears. I was only seven when my older brother Bob’s house burned 30 years ago, so I don’t remember much about that time, but this was fresh. I spent a ton of time in that house as a kid, playing Nintendo with my nephew or even a little babysitting for Tom’s kids. So it was a devastating loss for the whole family, especially given the crappy timing.
The rest of the day was a lesson in small-town caring. The community came out in droves before the coals were even cold, bringing food, clothing and money to my parents’ house. The love and compassion shown by that community of working-class people blew me away and brought tears to my eyes and those of my entire family.
Tom and his wife Sherry are now settled into my parents’ guest room for the time being while they fight over insurance and work hard to rebuild their lives. There are things lost that are irreplaceable like Sherry’s parents’ wedding bands and all her photos of her deceased mother, their poor dogs, and all of their keepsakes and memories. Clothes have pretty much been replaced with everything that has come in, but the sheer volume of stuff that it’s going to take to get their place rebuilt and refurnished is astounding. Even with insurance, it won’t cover everything. It might cover the note on the house, and maybe some of the contents, but it’s doubtful that they can get everything rebuilt and refurnished with what insurance will pay out.
That’s why I’m writing this. Time and again, my community of invisible internet friends has chipped in to help someone in need, and this time it’s my family. I’m putting a paypal button here on the page so that people can donate to help out. This goes to my account for now, but I will be setting up a special account for them as soon as I get all the details like internet access for Sherry set up, since my parents don’t have internet and her computer is now a pile of melted plastic. So if Santa left a little something in your stocking this year, please chip in and help out my brother, who got left a lump of coal where his home used to be.
And thanks.
by john | Oct 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
by john | Jun 29, 2010 | Uncategorized
So in a fit of excitement about some upcoming readings, and a looming realization that I didn’t have any new material to sell at said readings, not to mention the understanding that Returning the Favor has finally almost sold out the initial print run and thus pretty much broke even or maybe actually made me a little bit of money, I have put together another collection, this time all poetry. This is poetry for people who don’t like poetry. Poems for people who drink too much, live too loud and have too many skeletons in their closet. Basically, people like you and me.
So Red Dirt Boy is now available from Lulu, my print on demand publisher. And Lulu has a deal going right now that if you buy more than $20 worth of stuff from them, you get free shipping, so you should totally combine your purchase of Red Dirt Boy with a copy of Returning the Favor if you don’t already have one. And if you do, toss a couple of copies of Red Dirt Review Vol. 1 into your cart.
If you’re only interested in one poetry collection, but still want to fill out your order to take advantage of the free shipping from Lulu, I highly recommend Lost Vegas, by Paul McGuire. This is a book I’ve been waiting to read for years, and I ordered my copy today. You should too! And if mystery is more your thing, check out Same Difference by Martin Harris. A real hard-boiled detective novel from another Carolina writer. And adding either of these books to your Red Dirt Boy order gets you free shipping, so it’s a great deal on some great summer reading!
I will have copies with me at most readings, so if you want to get a copy signed, that’s your best bet. Also, if you have a literary blog and want to do a review, contact me for a sample. I have very limited review copies, but can swing a few.
by john | Jun 1, 2010 | Uncategorized
So am I. I’m here, kinda. Been an odd couple of months with no real motivation to write here. But after a good weekend of cranking out some 5,000 words on a new novel (which I think might be the first of a series), I’ve rediscovered the need to write here. So I will. More. I promise. But don’t hold your breath for any kind of daily content or anything like that. Let’s not get silly.
by john | Mar 2, 2010 | Uncategorized
That’s where I’ll likely be for the rest of the week. I’m currently in Charleston, WV en route tomorrow to Lexington, KY for the Southeastern Theatre Conference for work. I’ll be manning our booth part of the weekend, teaching two workshops, herding kittens for a new products seminar and spending entirely too much money on booze for the rest of the week. So I thought I’d drop a brief post to let you know what’s up in the Hartness household.
Suzy’s in pretty good shape, she had a checkup this week and was told that it would be about two weeks before she’s able to resume all normal activities. Her mobility is very good, but she still runs into some pain when she tries to lift anything too heavy. She’ll be taking my place at a booth at the All Arts Market this week with our friend Lindsay, who will be selling some of her photography. Suzy will have copies of Returning the Favor for sale at our booth, and hopefully my order of Red Dirt Review will come in tomorrow and she’ll be able to have those as well. I dunno if they’ll make it in time or not, but they have shipped.
I have a few more things on the publication front to report – my poem “Aftermath” is now live on The Dead Mule’s March issue. I also had four more pieces accepted this week, three by Calliope Nerve and one by Writer’s Bloc. I’ll link up the other places once those are live. That brings me to 11 accepted for the year, so I’m pretty thrilled with that. I went down to the SC Book Festival last weekend to check it out, and made a couple of good contacts with publishers. A couple of them expressed some interest in Choices, which I think I’m renaming to I Made the Devil Do It.
I also put up some Red Dirt Review shirts in my Zazzle store, so head over to the RDR site and check those out. I think they’re moderately cool, but I’m a little biased. So I’ll probably not be able to post much the rest of the week, and then I’m headed straight back to Atlanta on Sunday, then to the week of endless boogie. I’ll try to post photos from the shenanigans that ensue. A
And I got a badass lucha libre mask to wear while I party!
by john | Feb 28, 2010 | Uncategorized
So I had this weird idea this morning after seeing a friend’s FaceBook profile pic. It looked like she’d taped over her mouth and written something on the tape. And I thought “what a cool statement about the power of words, that maybe this is one word that she can’t bring herself to say, so she wrote it and took a picture of it to prove that she owns the word, and the word doesn’t own her. Or maybe it’s her favorite word, or an overused word, or something neat like that.”
For the record, this person is an artist, so it wouldn’t be too out of line for these thought to occur to her and for her to have done that very thing. But she didn’t. She had drawn a fake moustache on a piece of paper and taped it over her mouth. Which is also funny, but not at all the same idea. And I might need new glasses.
But regardless, I thought it would be cool to get all types of people to send me pictures of themselves wearing words. Their favorite words, their least favorite words, words that make them cry, words that make them laugh. Then I’ll put all the pics into some kind of montage and make something cool out of it. Because words are important. And I think it will be an interesting experiment to see what words people think are important and what words people are interested in putting on themselves somehow.
So here are the rules – I want no more than three pictures from people. You can send me one, two or three. But there can be only one word per pic. I don’t care how you transmit the word – it can be on a T-shirt, a tattoo, a piece of paper stuck to your forehead, written on your tits in Sharpie, sprinkled on your junk and written in glitter. I don’t care. But make it be an important word to YOU. I don’t give a shit if “spaniel” means a dog to everyone else, but if it’s what your mom whispered to you when a thunderstorm was coming and it made you feel better, then “spaniel” is important to you. I’d love it if there was a brief explanation of the word and its significance, but that’s optional. I don’t care if we see your face. I will not edit photos, so don’t put anything in the pic that you don’t want on the interwebs.
Think of it as performance art. Your chance to be part of a Karen Finley show without the dry cleaning bill. Email all the photos to john AT johnhartness.com. And pass it along. I think it would be cool if I got pictures from strangers telling me why “mouse” is their least favorite word in the world.
Update – Here’s the first one, and it’s a great blend of image and word. It has begun, keep it going!
