Pretty cool.
I'm not sure what the protocol here is, but I've reproduced the article here:
Duncan McGeary still 'writing like crazy'
• After a 25-year break from writing, he's tapping into his literary prowess with a number of projects
By / The Bulletin
Published: August 13. 2013 4:00AM PST
In 2011, Duncan McGeary overcame a 25-year spell of writer's
block. Since then, he's more than made up for his long fallow period.
McGeary, the owner of Pegasus Books in downtown Bend, moved to Bend at age 3 in the 1950s and returned after going to college at the University of Oregon. After publishing three fantasy novels in the 1980s, he switched his focus to his family and business and let his literary ambitions fall to the wayside.
“When I first came back to writing a few years ago, it was a struggle," McGeary said. “I had to rework my first book, 'Nearly Human,' four times, but about a year ago it clicked and I've been writing like crazy since."
“Nearly Human" follows a private detective around Bend. The detective, Cobb, is an exiled fairy in human form who is less concerned with hunting recreation pass violators than with chasing down creatures not well known on the High Desert.
McGeary is already at work on a sequel concerning werewolves, and he plans for the third and fourth books to address ghosts and aliens.
While composing a four-part supernatural detective series may seem like a decade-long endeavor, McGeary's energy has also produced a “historical horror" take on one of the West's most macabre expeditions — “Led to the Slaughter: The Donner Party Werewolves."
Other projects include a vampire trilogy and what McGeary casually referred to as “a book about modern art full of philosophy."
One of his more attention-grabbing projects is titled “Freedy Filkins, International Jewel Thief."
“It's so weirdly nerd-specific that I'm not sure if the general public would like Freedy," McGeary said. “It's a modern story that parallels the Hobbit, but it isn't like the Hobbit. Instead of a ring, it's a flash drive, the one flash drive to rule them all."
Linda McGeary, Duncan's wife and the owner of The Bookmark, a used bookstore on the corner of Greenwood and Third Street, thinks he deserves to spend his time writing.
“I love it," she said. “The fact that he writes and writes and writes is great. He worked and worked and worked for nearly 28 years; it's time for him to get back to it."
Linda is also at work on a book, one she began 14 years ago but put off finishing.
“My husband keeps pushing me," she said.
Like many other writers, McGeary is exploring nontraditional routes to circumvent the declining publishing industry. Some of his books are available on digital devices through Amazon and Smashwords, an e-book distributor accessible online. Both “Freedy Filkins: International Jewel Thief" and the first in his vampire trilogy are on his Smashwords site for $2.99. However, McGeary says he's still experimenting with how to best make use of the Internet to get his books out to readers.
For now, though, he wants to focus on writing.
“My entire flow has been toward writing, and I've been really focused on that for a while," he said. “If I go in the publishing direction, I think I will lose it. I don't feel there's a hurry. I can always put it online or go to an agent, but you gotta write it first."
Prestige titles
McGeary's prolific nature doesn't end with his novels, as he has also blogged every day since 2006.
“I took a 25-year break from books; I'm so intense about writing, but blogging I can do in the morning when I drink coffee," he said. “Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. It doesn't always come easy."
Linda credits her husband's ability to stay so focused on writing his books and blog as a result of his introverted nature.
“I'm social; I need to get out and talk to people," she said. “But he can just stay in for hours and write. It's incredible he's be able to stay committed to his blog for so long."
The topics McGeary addresses on his blog, “Best Minimum Wage Job a Middle Aged Guy Ever Had," are far-ranging. Recent posts have touched on Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post and an evaluation of Bend's commitment to high-brow graphic novels.
While business has been good, a necessary condition for McGeary's writing habit, he did describe his decision to carry certain titles as more missionary than pecuniary.
“I carry these titles because that's my job as a comic shop," he said of his more demanding and literary graphic novels. “Old Hollywood had prestige movies that never made money; having these titles for sale is the equivalent."
On his blog, he noted, in particular, his inability to sell a copy of Chris Ware's critically praised “Building Stories," a collection of comics in different formats that address the lives of residents in an old Chicago walk-up.
“I hate to say it, but Chris Ware's 'Building Stories' was the last straw," McGeary wrote on his blog. “For 10 years now, I've tried to carry every significant independent title that is put out there. There are dozens per month, of which a few are super important. So I've always tried. And they rarely sell. At all. Month after month."
Despite the difficulty McGeary has faced moving certain titles, he cites his carefully curated stock as the reason he has been able to succeed while so many other independent bookstores have failed.
“If I had a store paralleling the best-sellers list, I'd be up against Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which can offer deep discounts," he said. “It's better for me to bank on the guy who comes in off the street after walking around downtown and says 'I've been looking for this everywhere.' That's the kind of business I'm in."
Familiar treasures by Faulkner and Hemingway dot the store, but so does a slightly delayed set of recent hits, the books that endured past their days on the New York Time's best-seller list, titles like Jennifer Egan's 2010 “A Visit from the Goon Squad" and Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir “Fun Home."
“People are generally submerged under new best-sellers," McGeary said. “I have no sympathy for a comic store that doesn't take the time to carry something as great as 'Fun Home.'"
McGeary, the owner of Pegasus Books in downtown Bend, moved to Bend at age 3 in the 1950s and returned after going to college at the University of Oregon. After publishing three fantasy novels in the 1980s, he switched his focus to his family and business and let his literary ambitions fall to the wayside.
“When I first came back to writing a few years ago, it was a struggle," McGeary said. “I had to rework my first book, 'Nearly Human,' four times, but about a year ago it clicked and I've been writing like crazy since."
“Nearly Human" follows a private detective around Bend. The detective, Cobb, is an exiled fairy in human form who is less concerned with hunting recreation pass violators than with chasing down creatures not well known on the High Desert.
McGeary is already at work on a sequel concerning werewolves, and he plans for the third and fourth books to address ghosts and aliens.
While composing a four-part supernatural detective series may seem like a decade-long endeavor, McGeary's energy has also produced a “historical horror" take on one of the West's most macabre expeditions — “Led to the Slaughter: The Donner Party Werewolves."
Other projects include a vampire trilogy and what McGeary casually referred to as “a book about modern art full of philosophy."
One of his more attention-grabbing projects is titled “Freedy Filkins, International Jewel Thief."
“It's so weirdly nerd-specific that I'm not sure if the general public would like Freedy," McGeary said. “It's a modern story that parallels the Hobbit, but it isn't like the Hobbit. Instead of a ring, it's a flash drive, the one flash drive to rule them all."
Linda McGeary, Duncan's wife and the owner of The Bookmark, a used bookstore on the corner of Greenwood and Third Street, thinks he deserves to spend his time writing.
“I love it," she said. “The fact that he writes and writes and writes is great. He worked and worked and worked for nearly 28 years; it's time for him to get back to it."
Linda is also at work on a book, one she began 14 years ago but put off finishing.
“My husband keeps pushing me," she said.
Like many other writers, McGeary is exploring nontraditional routes to circumvent the declining publishing industry. Some of his books are available on digital devices through Amazon and Smashwords, an e-book distributor accessible online. Both “Freedy Filkins: International Jewel Thief" and the first in his vampire trilogy are on his Smashwords site for $2.99. However, McGeary says he's still experimenting with how to best make use of the Internet to get his books out to readers.
For now, though, he wants to focus on writing.
“My entire flow has been toward writing, and I've been really focused on that for a while," he said. “If I go in the publishing direction, I think I will lose it. I don't feel there's a hurry. I can always put it online or go to an agent, but you gotta write it first."
Prestige titles
McGeary's prolific nature doesn't end with his novels, as he has also blogged every day since 2006.
“I took a 25-year break from books; I'm so intense about writing, but blogging I can do in the morning when I drink coffee," he said. “Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's hard. It doesn't always come easy."
Linda credits her husband's ability to stay so focused on writing his books and blog as a result of his introverted nature.
“I'm social; I need to get out and talk to people," she said. “But he can just stay in for hours and write. It's incredible he's be able to stay committed to his blog for so long."
The topics McGeary addresses on his blog, “Best Minimum Wage Job a Middle Aged Guy Ever Had," are far-ranging. Recent posts have touched on Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post and an evaluation of Bend's commitment to high-brow graphic novels.
While business has been good, a necessary condition for McGeary's writing habit, he did describe his decision to carry certain titles as more missionary than pecuniary.
“I carry these titles because that's my job as a comic shop," he said of his more demanding and literary graphic novels. “Old Hollywood had prestige movies that never made money; having these titles for sale is the equivalent."
On his blog, he noted, in particular, his inability to sell a copy of Chris Ware's critically praised “Building Stories," a collection of comics in different formats that address the lives of residents in an old Chicago walk-up.
“I hate to say it, but Chris Ware's 'Building Stories' was the last straw," McGeary wrote on his blog. “For 10 years now, I've tried to carry every significant independent title that is put out there. There are dozens per month, of which a few are super important. So I've always tried. And they rarely sell. At all. Month after month."
Despite the difficulty McGeary has faced moving certain titles, he cites his carefully curated stock as the reason he has been able to succeed while so many other independent bookstores have failed.
“If I had a store paralleling the best-sellers list, I'd be up against Amazon and Barnes and Noble, which can offer deep discounts," he said. “It's better for me to bank on the guy who comes in off the street after walking around downtown and says 'I've been looking for this everywhere.' That's the kind of business I'm in."
Familiar treasures by Faulkner and Hemingway dot the store, but so does a slightly delayed set of recent hits, the books that endured past their days on the New York Time's best-seller list, titles like Jennifer Egan's 2010 “A Visit from the Goon Squad" and Alison Bechdel's 2006 graphic memoir “Fun Home."
“People are generally submerged under new best-sellers," McGeary said. “I have no sympathy for a comic store that doesn't take the time to carry something as great as 'Fun Home.'"
— Reporter: 541-633-2160, tleeds@bendbulletin.com
1 comment:
Woohoo, go Duncan! :D
Post a Comment