EDITORIAL POLICY

We welcome your comments. Be advised, however, that it is our policy to delete the following:

• Comments that are abusive, off-topic, or excessively foul in language
• Comments celebrating the death or illness of another person
• Comments containing racist, sexist, homophobic, or ethnic slurs
• Comments posted elsewhere on the site (thread spam)
• Comments posted with the intent of provoking others

We encourage authors to approach us about promoting their work. However, we reserve the right to make editorial decisions about what we promote and how it is promoted, and we discourage comments made solely for the purpose of soliciting or advertising products or services that are not within our scope and mission.

Email addresses on file at 49 Writers will be neither sold nor, as a matter of policy, distributed without permission. We send emails judiciously and at our discretion. While we are happy to post news and information on the blog, our policy precludes third party email solicitation using our address bank.

Our community of readers benefits from a diversity of voices. If you would like to write an occasional guest post or if you’d like to be featured as a guest blogger, check out our guest blogger hints and guidelines.

GUEST BLOGGER HINTS, IDEAS, AND GUIDELINES

By serving as a guest blogger, you're helping build the community at 49 Writers, and you're also seizing an opportunity for free (though not blatant) promotion of yourself and your books. Our goal is to feature an Alaskan author each month. We'll post your photo and a photo of one of your books. In return, you email one or more short posts a week - by short, we mean a few paragraphs that you write in fifteen minutes or so.

If you're not interested in a month-long commitment, we still love to publish occasional guest posts of interest to our readers. Contact us with your idea and we'll see how it fits in.

Even well-published writers can be put off by the idea of blogging. What will I talk about? How will readers respond? And most off-putting of all, how much of my valuable time will I spend writing something for which I won’t get paid?

The good news: Blogging is fun. It’s easy. And while we won’t be sending a check, we can (just about) promise a nice pay-off in connections with readers and spreading the word about the great stuff you write (and get paid for).

When blogging, you don’t need to labor over every sentence. Be spontaneous! Have fun! Celebrate your voice! (But please, while we want you to get excited, tuck those exclamation marks away for another use.)

Now - serious tips, some from our own experience and some gleaned from The Huffington Post Complete Guide to Blogging – with 260,000 registered members posting up to 20,000 comments a day, we figure they know what they’re talking about.

• Your audience: Our readers love books and writing and Alaska. Some are well-published; others are somewhere on the road to publication. Others have no aspirations to write but love to know how writers think (scary, isn’t it?)
• What to write: What engages you will engage your readers. Spin off something you read or heard or saw online. Or share a random thought, a snippet of what might develop into a full story or article if you had the time or inclination. Or focus on a specific detail, whether it’s the view from your window or a factoid that gets you riled up or pondering. If you’re really stumped, try a short op-ed formula: state your point, illustrate with an anecdote, give a short history of the debate, argue your side, consider the opposition, and end with a good walk-off. But that’s only if you want to op-ed.
• How to write: No need to fully develop your ideas. Get them out there and let readers join the dialogue. Write like you speak. Your readers want authenticity, not perfection. And write short. More than 800 words probably won’t get read.

And courtesy of Gretchen Rubin (Happiness Project Blog), a few for-what-they’re-worth, take ‘em-or-leave’em tips:

• Be funny (not required, but a little humor never hurts)
• Give smart information (when you have it; some days it’s all we can do to type a complete sentence)
• Reveal your character
• Tell a story
• Give a picture of what it’s like to live where you live

Skim through our posts, and you'll get an idea of how blogging differs from formal publication. Pay special attention to the posts that generate comments. They're not necessarily the longest or the most thought-out; often, it's the short and immediate that connects with readers.

A few mechanical points: Use ALL CAPS for titles of your own books, italics for titles of other books. You can include links to other websites and blogs within your post - in fact, we encourage it. Just copy/paste the URL into your post and we'll magically transform it into a link.

Ready to sign on? Fill out our contact form if you haven't already. We'll assign you a month or give the green light to your topic. Copyright remains yours, of course; if we receive a request for a repost on another site, we'll run it by you first.

ALMOST LIKE CHRISTMAS

The anticipation. The longing. The excitement of waking up early on the long-awaited morning to find...

Alaskan Authors and 49 Writers have merged! No, it hasn't happened yet, but it will in just two more days. More scoop and heads-upping tomorrow, but today Andromeda suggested we share the results of our reader survey (her reader survey, really - I just begged and pleaded with you to hop over there for a moment to share your thoughts). So here it is, copied with permission from 49 Writers, No Moose:

Your favorite features are about Alaska books (95%), as well as personal musings or commentaries (90%), though the numbers were fairly well spread out, which tells us you like a mix, and that's what we'll keep doing. You also appreciate the sense of community fostered by the blog (75% said that).

You want more events and opportunities listings and a reliable calendar that can become THE go-to place for Alaska readers and writers. Heard ya' -- doing it! And we'll need your help to keep the listings current. Please send all announcements after Jan. 1 to Deb Vanasse, who will put them into the Friday Alaskan Authors Roundup; we'll both keep a calendar of listings running at the bottom of the blog.

You don't care that much about contests. (We'll still try to do one every few months, but thanks for giving our wallets a rest.)

Other comments that warmed my heart included:

You are just fine as is. Would hate to see you become like someone else.

You're great the way you are--an original and fun-to-read and informative blog

I like opportunities for lots of folks to weigh in on writing issues/questions, because I like to hear how other writers are dealing with some of those issues.

It's a super blog, and one I find myself checking several times a week. Just keep it up. You have a good mix of material, and you're great at updating it regularly. I wouldn't mind more recommendations about other websites, blogs etc. in the publishing industry, but I do enjoy the ones you already recommend. Thanks!

You're doing a great job, Andromeda, keep it up. And congrats on getting some blogging help, to prevent burnout (I hope).

Yee-hah and amen! (That's Deb talking.) Thanks to Andromeda for putting this all together.

LOOKING BACK

It's that reflective time of year. Being an odd combination of practical, disciplined, and impulsive, I make a business/writing plan every year but refuse to punish myself over any goals I fail to meet. Today, I'm looking back even further, to when I first started publishing, both offline and on.

Politically hopeful, economically devastating, 2008 was a year of transition for me. Defying all logic, I plunged into a full set of life changes in 2007, including a transition to writing full time that began when I moved to Anchorage in April. Living on half a pension and the diminishing returns from my investments, I focused first on the bottom line, taking on any and all writing projects that would keep my bank account in the black.

Now I know I can support myself by writing, even if it means shopping at Value Village instead of Nordstroms. In the last months of 08, with the economy in a tailspin, I've given myself permission to return to my first love, fiction, and to move beyond the children's market, where I first published. That's not to say that writing for children is in any way inferior to writing for adults or that I won't return to it one day. But I have stories to tell that go beyond the genre.

Like many, I tiptoed through the backdoor to embrace my passion for writing. In college, I studied journalism, then switched my major to English. Given the tough road to employment for English majors, my advisor suggested certification in teaching, and in 1979, I became one of three high school teachers in the Yupik village of Nunapitchuk, Alaska. Teaching was a joy, but I set my sights on Alaska's twenty-year teacher retirement so I'd have the time, and hopefully the money, to write.

Twenty years went by fast. I got a Masters in Humanities because an MFA seemed impractical while working fulltime and raising a family. In 1994, I took a summer writing course for teachers. Claire Rudolf Murphy encouraged me to develop a story into a novel for young adults, and when I was done, she suggested I send it to her editor, the venerable Virginia Buckley. In 1997, A Distant Enemy came out, followed by a Out of the Wilderness in 1999, the year I retired from teaching.

My plan to sashay from teaching to writing failed to take into account the outrageous cost of college for my children. So I detoured into real estate, working the market in what proved to be its best years, for the first time making really good money, but always with an eye on exiting once I'd made what I needed to help the kids. Rising early, I'd juggle some writing between real estate calls. I drafted two novels and got an agent. In retrospect, the novels suffered from my lack of attention and my agent, while enthusiastic, didn't have the perspective to see they needed work.

I did what good kids' writers should do - signings and school visits and speaking at state and national conferences. But there were too many plates to juggle. I scaled back, discovered a fantastic regional publisher, and did commercial books that continue to sell nicely.

Fairbanks is a great community for children's writers, thanks to Nancy White Carlstrom starting a chapter of SCBWI that remains active decades later. Anchorage - not so much. I attended the Bouchercon sponsored by Alaska Sisters in Crime in the fall of 2007 not because I wrote mysteries but because I was desperate to connect with other writers. There I attended a couple of sessions on blogging, including a panel by five mystery writers blogging together at Naked Authors. Wouldn't it be cool, I thought, if Alaskan authors could blog like that? A couple authors at the conference seemed enthusiastic, but when it came down to the wire, I did a solo launch of Alaskan Authors a few days later.

Enter Andromeda Romano-Lax, who began blogging at 49 Writers, No Moose with the same idea of creating a forum and platform for Alaskan authors and their work. Acknowleging our similar vision, we began almost immediately to look toward merging our blogs down the road.

And here we are, down the road and approaching the intersection. Beginning January 1, Andromeda and I will both be posting at 49 Writers, No Moose. Knowing how you love to read and re-read my deep thoughts and passing fancies, I'll transfer all my archival posts over there, and next year we'll find other good uses for the Alaskan Authors domain.

Andromeda and I couldn't be more excited about the growing online community of Alaskan authors and their readers. Welcome aboard!

COMFORT AND JOY

Though it's far from family Outside, Alaska is a great place to enjoy the holidays. There's always snow (usually fresh) and good reason to enjoy a warm fire. If you can't find fun outdoors, you're just not looking. Indoors, no excuse is needed for snuggling up with a good book.

Here's to all good books, written and yet to be written. Merry Christmas!

NAVEL GAZING

In the midst of a beach read, my daughter pointed out that she liked the term "navel gazing." I broke my "not over fifty" bikini vow so was engaged in some literal navel gazing at that moment. Take-away point: belly skin burns.

I just finished reading a book on blogging - yes, the irony of reading about an electronic form in print - as an exercise in navel-gazing. Lots of blogs are born every minute, so there are lots of little blog navels to behold. I'm just looking at mine, of course. And Andromeda's over at 49 Writers, if that doesn't sound too kinky or weird.

Blog stat services tell us who's reading when and from where. What they don't tell us is why. Do you like posts about books? Interviews with authors? Random thoughts from authors who happen to live in Alaska? Musings on the joys and traumas of writing and publishing? Whatever pulls you in, we'd like to know. Swing by 49 Writers and take the one-minute survey (I know, I know, I've mentioned it before) or email me at debv@gci.net.

I'M BACK!

Let me just say that non-stop flights from Anchorage to Maui on Alaska Airlines are a very good thing. The red-eye return took a little getting used to, but a couple of hours in my own bed and a full day of fun back home revived me quite nicely. My daughter had a tougher time of it. She battled snow on Vancouver Island to get to Maui, and thanks again to snow, she had to overnight in Seattle and take the train to Portland, where she's now hunkering down for the holidays.

On yesterday's solstice, fog settled in and then lifted to a long and glorious sunset that inked the mountains in shadowy pinks and blues. The boxer went for a long trot in the snow. She's toughening to the cold. Unlike the poor folks to the south, we're hoping for a good dusting of snow to celebrate the lengthening days.

Please remember to take a moment for the survey at 49 Writers, where I'll be posting beginning January 1. Your thoughts will help much with our 2009 launch.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Confession: I am pretty much completely out of the loop this week. But I do want to make sure you take a moment for the survey at 49 Writers. Your input is vital as Andromeda and I wile away the last few days of 2008 forging a new and improved blog for you in 2009.

Watching a hula revue last night (yes, this is what's passing for literary stimulation here at the beach), I was struck by the similarity of dance as story across cultures. Drums, graceful hand gestures, skilled movements, an overriding sense of gratitude for the provision of the land. Cover some skin, add dance fans, and you've got something very close to native dancing, Pamyua style. And in case you haven't heard, Barrow's Suurimmmanichuat dance group will be performing as part of Barack Obama's inauguration festivities. Read all about it over at the Alaska Dispatch.

FOLLOW YOUR GUT

Does karaoke count as creative work? As in, I have no talent so I have to compensate by flailing limbs and gyrating? Ah well. I'll be back at real work next week.

Recently an author did an experiment. He asked writer to critique stories which, unbeknownst to them, had already been published. They told him all sorts of changes for making them publishable.

That's not an excuse to ditch good critiques. Rather, it's a reminder to solicit valid feedback and then follow your gut.

LONE WOLVES

A couple of postcards make up my body of work for the past couple of days, but I did cart Writer magazine to my poolside perch, where I read NBA finalist Anne Spollen's article "A lone wolf meets the pack."

In writing about how she eschews writers' groups, I suspect Spollen channeled the thoughts of a fair number of Alaskan writers. A lot of us are lone wolves by nature if not circumstance. Support - no thanks. We'll tough it out.

Like Spollen, I'm not interested in rah-rah groups. And while I love a good critique, I'd rather swallow the cold, hard truth about my WIP from a writing friend who knows my thick skin and like me, wants my work to be my best. Still, interaction with creative, focused writers energizes my work.

As we plan for next year, Andromeda and I hope our blog will give writers the best of all worlds - no-strings camaraderie and a platform for promoting our work, a place for lone wolves to howl together when they feel like it.

BEACH READS

A little time at the beach, and I'm wondering if there are Alaskan equivalents of the beach read. Or does Alaska not lend itself to that type of reading?

PIPI HOLO KA'AO

That's Hawaiian for "A well told tale travels far and wide." Have a few to tell already but mostly I'm stockpiling Vitamin D for the rest of the winter. I do miss Alaska, but there's something about the beach...

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

The optimism was short-lived. Nielsen reports book sales for the first week of December are down 2 million as compared to last year. The bright spot is children's fiction, up 24%, mostly attributable to a couple of blockbusters. We won't detail all the latest layoffs and pay freezes in publishing. Suffice to say no one's holding out for $77 per hour.

Writers, one of Alaska's political blogs wants your help. The Alaska Dispatch, launched last August, is soliciting commentaries and stories from Alaskans and former Alaskans. For details, read their post, "Where Do We Go From Here?"

Kudos to Willie Hensley, interviewed here earlier this week. His memoir Fifty Miles From Tomorrow was a Publisher's Weekly Pick of the Week.

Finally, if you've been keeping up at 49 Writers, you know that Andromeda Romano-Lax and I are plotting furiously toward a blog merger to launch (we hope) January 1. Look for us to double the fun (and serious stuff, too) with new and exciting features. We'd love your input, so leave a comment or two about any changes you'd like to see.

FROM THE ROAD

Fairbanks author Debbie Miller reports from Boston, where she's doing school visits - the children's author's version of a book tour. In the works, she has:

Survival at 40 Below: Life in the Arctic: illustrated by Jon Van Zyle. (Walker, 2010) This picture book explores the unusual adaptations of animals that live above the Arctic Circle including the Arctic ground squirrel, wood frog, Alaska blackfish, musk ox, caribou, chickadee, and willow ptarmigan.

Wild Moments: a new anthology edited by Michael Englehard (University of Alaska Press, 2009) This is a collection of essays by many nature writers from Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. Each essay relates to a meaningful encounter with a wild animal. Debbie's essay, "Glad Singer", focuses on the American Dipper, the only aquatic songbird in North America. Other Alaska authors in this collection include Richard Nelson, Nancy Lord, Peggy Schumaker, Carolyn Servid, and Hank Lentfer. This one comes out in February.

Thanks, Debbie, for checking in.

BRING ON THE ALPHA

Winter solstice is just eleven days away. For us Alaskans, that's a big deal, because it means that we'll turn the corner and start gaining daylight. Right now, we're down to about five hours of daylight in Anchorage. Make that close to three in Fairbanks. And the folks up in Barrow - well, let's just say they might as well walk around with their eyes closed.

Which is how a lot of us spend our time in the winter. Lest we feel slovenly about the temptation to sleep, it's good for us writers to review studies on alpha brain waves. In particular, researchers say we're likely to wake from power naps bathed in alpha waves, which inspire concentration and enable access to our elusive subconscious.

Not that this is an excuse for writers to sleep the day away. In fact, if you nap too long, you're more likely to to delta waves that make you feel groggy and even more sleepy. And you can bring alpha waves to the fore with other activities, such as yoga and meditation. Even closing your eyes and rolling them upward activates a burst of alpha wave energy.

Still, I'll take an excuse for a power nap on just about any day in December.

NORTHERN LIT?

I'm glad Alaska's Writer Laureate Nancy Lord spoke of John Haines and his take on Alaskan Literature over at 49 Writers yesterday, because it spurred me to think some more about the question of whether there could be a serious course in Literature of the North.

Regional lit courses are nothing new. There's Literature of the American West, Literature of the American South. Granted, there's no Literature of the American East, but that's because the East thinks it IS literature. So what about Literature of the North? Is it true, as Haines contends, that we're generations away from a body of work that will stand on its own?

Note that in proposing Literature of the North, I'm conceding that we need input from our Candadian friends. And I'd include not only writers who live in the North, but also those writing about the North, like Barry Lopez. I'd start with Native legends, then segue into the Gold Rush (Jack London, Robert Service, Tappan Abney). Remember, nobody says it all must be stellar - rather, it needs to be representative, shedding light on where we've been and where we're headed. I admit there's a big dry spell spanning several decades, but then we get to Seth Kantner and John Straley and Nancy Lord and a host of other good writers who really have something to say.

I like the idea of a course in Northern Lit. Sometimes you have to set the bar so people will reach for it.

ALASKAN AUTHORS INTERVIEW: WILLIE HENSLEY

Coming soon (January 2009) from Inupiat elder and activist Willie Hensley is Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People . We caught up with Willie as he's preparing for his first book tour.

Deb: Fifty Miles from Tomorrow is your first book. What inspired you to write it?

Willie: I wrote Fifty Miles from Tomorrow, in part, to inspire our own people to tell their story and to convey their knowledge of culture, history and the natural universe--that we didn't need our story to be filtered through people from the Outside.

Deb: Tell us how the process of writing was for you. What were the greatest challenges, and how did you overcome them?

Willie: I was fortunate to have a good editor who took my early writing and described what she thought would be a successful way to write for me. My sentences tended to be too long and I didn't realize how much my early cultural upbringing affected how I wrote. It is very hard for an Inupiaq to take credit for anything due to our understanding that it takes many people to create success. I didn't find the writing too difficult and I did very little rewriting. I tried to describe the images in my life and my feelings and recollections of the various stages and efforts in my life.

Deb: Memoir is a tough genre, because you end up telling truths that may cause some discomfort for people you love. How did you resolve these issues when crafting your story?

Willie: Very early on I realized there were painful experiences that our people felt uncomfortable in expressing. We have lived in a harsh universe and for over ten thousand years, we learned to suffer through difficult circumstances without becoming whiners. To me, it was important that I not only try to describe our way of life before great changes began to occur--it was also important for us to expose the human toll of government and missionary policies and practices on our people. Before I started the book, I called my relatives to let know that I was going to write a book and they encouraged me--painful subjects and all.

Deb: What has been most rewarding about seeing your project through to completion?

Willie: The reward is the result. I never in my wildest imagination thought that I could write. The thought that I could write something that others will find worth their time and money is exhilarating. Also, I wanted our own people to know that despite my college degree and succession of good jobs and experiences, I also had to deal with my own adjustments to difficult circumstances that we all have faced due to forces beyond our control. I also am proud of that fact that other Americans and the world will have a book that sheds some light on a part of America that people know virtually nothing about.

Deb: What creative work has engaged you since finishing the book?

Willie: I had to work on the book at night, weekends, holidays and on planes--as I had not retired at the time I was writing. Since then, I have retired and tried to learn to be less driven--now beginning the effort to help my publisher publicize the book. I will spend most of January and the first quarter on the road. If the book sells reasonably, my publisher has first option on another book. I have not decided what the subject might be but I have some thoughts. I am not like most writers who are "driven" to write. I would like to try a novel.

(Deb’s note: For a schedule of Willie’s book tour, including stops in Seattle, Portland, California, Washington DC, and Anchorage, go to http://us.macmillan.com/Tour.aspx?id=246)

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Forget Golden Apples. There's no greater reward for a teacher than seeing a student make good with her talent, so I couldn't have been more pleased than to read former student Nancy Slagle's "Fahrenheit Be Darned," subtitled "A Fairbanks Woman discovers the joy and pain of running in winter," in the December/January issue of Alaska Magazine. Nice work, Nancy!

In the December 3 issue of the Anchorage Press, there's nice coverage of Maia Nolan, one of two literary recipients of the Rasmuson Award. Maia blogs at ownthesidewalk.com.

In reading about Idaho author Anthony Doerr, I discovered a new anthology edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey called State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America. Seeing the book was billed as "original writing on all 50 states by 50 of our finest novelists, journalists, and essayists," I was eager to discover who they'd chosen to write about Alaska. The contributor is non-Alaskan John Greenberg.

ARE BOOKS RECESSION-PROOF?

Before the massacre in publishing began last week, there was some talk that books were recession-proof. Thankfully a small shred of evidence now points that way. Nielsen BookScan shows that for the week ending November 30, bookstore sales are up 6% as compared with Thanksgiving week 2007. For the most part, that's without the literally door-busting discounts offered by general retailers. Sales were especially strong with independents and children's books.

Just as rising gas prices made us think more about where and how we drive, let's hope this nasty recession bug reinforces the true value of a book. What makes a better gift than a book that enriches, entertains, informs? Books are good for us individually, and they're good for society. And there's no dilemma about regifting. When you're done enjoying your book, you do the environmentally friendly thing and trade at your local used book store. Why buy anything else?

The company delivering this morsel of hope is the same Nielsen that compiles ratings used to decide which TV shows stick and which get canned. In a related development, Nathan Bransford reports there's a Harper UK website, Authonomy, where books are ranked by readers rather than reviewers in a more formalized version of the Amazon sales tracking phenomenon. But what do these rankings really tell us? This week satirist Stephen Colbert poked fun at the concept by urging viewers to all download his Christmas album at 5 p.m EST on Wednesday, with the idea of propelling it to number one in the iTune rankings.

What does the future hold for independent reviews? Were they ever really independent? And do we need them? Or do shall we all just follow the herd, tracking with the cult of the masses?

ABOUT THAT NOVEL

How much will you say about your work in progress?

It's a weird writer thing, the perception that only novices talk - and sometimes, indeed, talking supplants actually writing. We have a big need to feel safe, and telling too much means putting ourselves out there. Someone might expect us to actually perform, and from the initial spark of our project to actually seeing it in print there's an outrageous amount that's beyond our control. Some of us get downright superstitious, as if in saying too much we'll jinx the whole deal.

Dysfunction or survival? Non-fiction projects aren't such a problem. Even if you don't have a contract, it's not that tough to spit out what you're up to and where you are in the project. But novels are scary. We know how easy it is to fall short.

In this big fat recession, angst piles on angst. If you're feeling especially masochistic, check out Nathan Bransford's low-down on the latest blood-letting among publishers. Then remind yourself how people succeed. They take risks. They set goals. They persevere. And they're not afraid to believe in themselves.

I know, it would be a lot more fun to stick your head in a big mound of snow and hope by the time it melts things have turned around. But have courage and faith, and talk about that novel.

REALLY BAD VERSE

From a wannabe Alaskan author, here's a portion of a poem inspired by - you guessed it - our fair governor. The poem was posted on a website called TeamSarah.org, a hang-out for Obama-haters and Sarah-lovers.

"We are the people that don't watch the news,
except for FOX.
We are the people that even after the election,
are wearing buttons.
We are the people that can watch youtube videos of Sarah,
and never get tired of them.
We are the people that have Sarah Palin ringtones,
making our liberal friends uncomfortable.
We are the people that are thinking about moving to Alaska,
just to be closer to Sarah to protect her from the smears."

I don't know about you, but I find those last lines truly frightening. If you're a glutton for punishment, you can read the entire poem in the Alaska Dispatch article "Team Sarah out for Blood." Be warned: much of the chat quoted in the article is exponentially more disturbing than this doggerel.

ABOUT GRACE

We enjoyed a big, beautiful snowfall this weekend, the kind that settles in a hush over the landscape and propels you on walk after walk. Even my little boxer puppy plowed bravely through the (for her) chest-deep snow.

It's no surprise that in Anthony Doerr's masterful novel About Grace, snow is the unifying theme, for what spawns more grace than a single crystal of snow? Spanning Alaska to the Caribbean, this is the tale of snow enthusiast David Winkler, who flees the north in hopes of outrunning a terrifying vision of his daughter's death.

"Snow fell in the city; ice reached across the ponds; the sea groaned as it collapsed, again and again, onto the wharf," he writes. Doerr lives in Idaho but he understands this place, landing his book on my list of best reads on Alaska, and snow.

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS

As we're hammered by news of plummeting sales and other publishing woes, it's nice to know that two Alaskan authors are among twelve recipients of the Rasmuson Foundation's Individual Artist Awards.

Gretchen Deimer of Wasilla received funds to promote her new book of poetry, Between Fire and Water; Ice and Sky. Maia Nolan of Anchorage will use her grant money to take four months off from her day job so she can complete her first novel.

This recognition is in itself a gift: "The Foundation believes that the artist's energy, ideas, and creative drive cannot bear fruit without periods of time devoted to experimentation, education, and personal reflection." Well said, and many thanks.

NO MORE ACQUISITIONS

In a move said to be unprecedented in publishing, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has announced an indefinite moratorium on manuscript acquisitions. Not just unsolicited manuscripts - all submissions, though Vice President of Communications Josef Blumenfeld said "the right project" might still go before a review board.

Blumenfeld tagged the company's decision to shut off the spigot and work only with books in the pipeline "a symbol of doing things smarter" and called it "doing good business." Though many had looked for publishers to adopt new and better business models, no one expected a halt in acquisitions as the new standard of practice. Yikes.

In all the fuss over the failing auto and banking industries, is anyone worried about the production of books grinding to a halt? Job losses for editors, agents, and authors?

A literature bail-out? Unlikely.

BOOKFORUM

I just received the latest copy of Bookforum, with my review of Willie Hensley's Fifty Miles from Tomorrow: A Memoir of Alaska and the Real People.

As I wrote in the review "...Hensley’s memoir is a compelling tale of doing what had to be done and recognizing the spiritual depth and profound love it takes to become a real person in Alaska, or anywhere else."

Hensley's book was a pleasure to read, and the editors at Bookforum wonderfully professional. Check back later this week to learn more about Hensley and his thoughts on writing his first book.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Attention, young Alaskan authors. The Oakland Public Library is once again sponsoring a short story contest exclusively for teens. Your 1500-word submission must include "May I call you a cab?" You folks in Bethel, the cab capital of Alaska, could do a lot with that line.

Speaking of young writers, few Alaskans have done more than author Dana Stabenow to promote opportunities for students through the Authors to the Bush program sponsored by Alaska Sisters in Crime. Dana has now posted Chapter Two of her latest Kate Shugak novel Whisper to the Blood. If you're not up to speed on all of Kate's adventures, check out Dana's new YouTube trailer.

One week from today, we'll be celebrating the stories of folks who may not have had a chance to tell them. StoryCorps has declared November 28 the National Day of Listening. The idea is to set aside one hour to record a conversation with someone important to you. Check out StoryCorps' free Do-It-Yourself guide, and make a commitment now to participate in this effort to get everyone to share their stories.

JUST ONE BOOK

What if you could write only one book? One shot at your best story? What would it be?

What if's can be silly, but this one's worth pondering. Heart-driven books are the ones worth writing. And reading.

WITH A WHIMPER

Poet T.S. Eliot postulated that the world would go out not with a bang but with a whimper. That's how Alaska Senator Ted Stevens' political world ended two full weeks after the election, when Anchorage absentee ballots gave Democrat Mark Begich an insurmountable lead over the longest serving Republican in today's Senate.

To whimper is hardly Ted's style. So far he has said not a word about his defeat, nor has he called to congratulate Begich. When he does, let's hope his tone is more conciliatory than outraged. The Associated Press reports his combative attitude sealed his fate in court. Apparently he's one of the many defendants who are better off not taking the stand in their own defense.

Ted's legacy doesn't need to end with a whimper. A memoir reflecting on his years in Congress, assessing his triumphs and follies, would have a whole lot more substance than a Sarah Palin memoir. He might not get a seven million dollar advance, but writing it would be good for the soul.

THE AUDACITY OF ALASKA

Seven million is a big chunk of change for an Alaskan author. Really big. I'd wager it's bigger than the sum total of every advance paid to every Alaskan author, ever.

According to the Canberra Times, seven million is the figure being tossed about as a possible advance by publishers and agents clamoring for Sarah Palin's first book. No doubt those of us who question whether she will write a book worthy of such a sum will be accused of being jealous.

Some say it will play out just like it did for president-elect Obama: rousing convention speech + bestselling book = move to the White House. Indeed, the audacity of hope pales in comparison to the audacity of Palin.

One thing is for certain - our local papers can quit wasting editorial ink asking our governor to quit politicking for 2012 and focus on the issues facing our state. Seven mil will buy a lovely wardrobe she can keep, finance her move to DC, and a whole lot more.

Too bad we can't work a deal like we do with oil - appropriate Palin as an Alaskan resource, and dish out a portion of the royalties to Alaskans every fall.

ALASGLISH

Remember all the flap a couple of decades ago about non-standard English - Spanglish, Ebonics, Yinglish, and the like? In her article "English Die Soon," Annalee Newitz notes that although 2 billion people speak English worldwide, only 300 million of those speak what could be called "standard English." Between techno-acronyms and dialectal speakers, what we used to call standard English is fading fast.

Not that we should necessarily be alarmed. Language always changes. As long as we understand each other, how much does it matter if, for instance, we all drop "ed" as a past tense marker and accept "Yesterday I walk to the store" as appropriate?

When it came to our changing language, conservative proponents of the "real America" were at one time the biggest alarmists. Now one has to look no farther than Alaska's governor to wonder whether these folks have either dropped their insistence on good American English or decided that the best politicians are those who look pretty but talk gibberish. In "Our Country Deserves Better," the Alaska Dispatch reports that a conservative California-based political action group is, through a series of ads, lauding Palin an an “articulate, straight-forward and uplifting champion of common sense conservative ideals.”

Meanwhile, in his NY Times blog "The Wild Wordsmith of Wasilla," Dick Cavett bemoans inarticulate Palinisms like:

"My concern has been the atrocities there in Darfur and the relevance to me with that issue as we spoke about Africa and some of the countries there that were kind of the people succumbing to the dictators and the corruption of some collapsed governments on the continent, the relevance was Alaska’s investment in Darfur with some of our permanent fund dollars."

Given our vastly differing ideas of what makes one articulate, maybe English is already dead. I just hope folks don't think Palin is talking some new-fangled Alasglish. Because, really, we do know how to talk up here - when we have something of substance to say.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

I love visiting Sasquatch Books in Seattle. They're always upbeat, positive, and focused on the market. Alaskan titles debut in the spring, but the fall list includes plenty of books of interest to Alaskan readers, including a re-release of The Encyclopedia of Country Living, Bretz's Flood (what Alaskan can resist a subtitle that includes the words "rebel geologist"?) and, perfectly timed for our roller-coaster stock market, Good Drinks for Bad Days. I also got to see the beautiful cover of Picture This, Alaska.

Also here in the Pacific Northwest is a fine opportunity for writers in the form of the Whidbey Writers Workshop MFA in Creative Writing Program. It's the nation's first MFA program offered by a writing organization instead of a university. What a concept: it includes practical coursework on matters like evaluating a publishing contract, finding an agent, and understanding copyright.

Today I'm off to Portland for my first-ever visit to the legendary Powell's Books, and to visit my daughter in grad school at PSU. I'm eager to browe the Alaska collection at Powell's.

HOPE FOR THE BREAKOUT

Just when I suggested that selling a breakout book in our lukewarm (ice cold?) economy will be no easy task comes word that Amazon and Penguin will be accepting up to 10,000 first-novel submissions between February 2 and February 8, 2009, for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. The prize is a contract from Penguin, including a $25,000 advance. For details, visit www.amazon.com/abna. So stuff that sorry bank statement in a drawer and get back to writing your novel.

MORE DOOM AND GLOOM

A recent analysis showed Alaska is, for the moment, the only state in the union where the economy is expanding. Hopefully that means Alaskan books will also continue to sell, especially if our state's recent notoriety results in an uptick in tourist travel.

It's no secret that the bigger picture for publishing is not so rosy. Publisher's Weekly reports on a recent address by Carolyn Reidy in which the CEO of Simon & Schuster calls for industry reform in these difficult times, citing declining backlist sales, demands by retailers, and the overall economic nosedive among the hurdles publishers face.

From authors to retailers, we'd all be happy to see positive industry reforms along with indications that books really are recession proof. While brand names continue to do well, authors may do better writing than selling that breakout book. No one's taking risks these days.

MADE TO BE BROKEN

Reading John Staley's Death and the Language of Happiness also got me thinking about common "rules" for writers that can and often should be broken. One is that every character and every scene must move the plot forward.

Straley's hero Cecil Younger travels to Washington with roommate Todd to piece together the ties between two missing IWW members from the Centralia massacre and a woman found dead decades later in a Sitka hotel. In one memorable scene, Todd disappears in a bus station. Though the characters who surface during Cecil's frantic search don't technically move the plot forward, they richen the narrative. Likewise, the characters encountered by Cecil and Todd as they forego the bus and hitchhike to Centralia add rich texture, though the plot would work just fine without them.

A lesser writer might have condensed these scenes, writing off the minor characters as distractions who play no significant role in advancing the plot. But Straley understands that it's the fleeting moments and the passing glances that flavor our lives, and he knows enough to bypass the "rules."

THE LANGUAGE OF HAPPINESS

You Alaskans will be happy to know that the weather has cooled a bit in San Diego, down to a respectable 65 degrees or so. Yesterday I went sailing in blustery conditions that reminded me of Alaska's seas, a way toned-down version of the stuff you see on The Deadliest Catch. My adrenaline surged with the swells, and my very competent son at the tiller said he wasn't sure anyone had ever made such good use of the grip rail as I.

I'd just finished reading John Straley's Death and the Language of Happiness, with scenes set in Unalaska that should be required reading of Deadliest Catch fans. Straley tweaks the PI genre with his self-proclaimed passive-aggressive cynical hero, Cecil Younger, who manages to both fit and defy the stereotypical screw-up detective. Minor characters are lovingly quirky and charmingly realistic, from a hook-handed child to Younger's "special needs" roommate to the free-wheeling Unalaska chief of police.

In an earlier post, I commented on the comparatively small amount of Alaskan literary fiction. But Straley's deft prose is a delectable blend of the commercial and the literary. I'll have more to say later about how he accomplishes that.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Sunny, eighty degrees, not a single cloud marring a stunning blue sky, walking the boardwalk along the ocean, watching a seal bob up in the water, sipping my mango-green tea smoothie.

That's right - I'm not in Anchorage anymore. Not for the next few days anyhow. Taking off for San Diego, the woman seated next to me complained that Alaska was just too cold. I was ready to stick up for my home, enumerating all that's wonderful about life in the Far North, but now that I'm here, well, I have to admit warmth is a very good thing.

On the flight down, I read some great John Straley, which I'll comment on next week. I kept thinking of what Sophie R. said in the 49 Writers discussion last weekend: "For me, all John Straley’s writing is infused with a feeling of homecoming. I can open any of his novels, including ‘The Big Both Ways’ which I read as soon as it came out in spring, open any one, anywhere at all, start reading, and instantly feel comforted, reassured, safe. And this is not because unpleasant things don’t happen. We know that his books aren’t like that. Lots of bad things happen to his characters - physical violence, emotional abuse, unfortunate circumstances, foolish decisions - and all those awful things lead to pain and loneliness and something close to despair. But the despair never wins."

If you didn't get a chance to participate in the discussion at 49 Writers, it's well worth going back to read the many insightful comments.

Speaking of despair, the economics of writing keeps getting worse. Harper reported 3rd quarter losses of $3 million. At Scholastic, workforce reductions are underway. Look for a leaner and meaning publishing industry. Another reason to enjoy the sunshine while I can.

THE HARDEST PART

What's the hardest part of writing a novel? In A New Chapter in Our Lives, YA author May Vanderbilt posts about how she struggles with a book's beginning. In contrast, I love beginning. The project feels fresh and new. It's fun to work and rework the first few chapters, discovering people and places that inhabit the world of your story.

Middles are tougher. The adrenaline surge fizzles, and the end is nothing but a vague promise. Tough questions surface. Do I really know these characters? Will readers get what moves them? Poking at soft, saggy places in the story, I have to remind myself that this is just my crappy first draft. I feel like I'm teetering on a narrow ledge between the need to just finish the dang thing and the need to analyze everything I've written so far.

Because they're so satisfying, I find myself sprinting toward endings. Pacing is one of those many areas where it's crucial to get the perspective of another reader. Truth be told, none of it's easy. Even at the end, the very end, when the manuscript leaves your hands and moves into print, you feel an unease not unlike waking up as we did yesterday, the morning after a big election. It's over. Now what?

WHO ARE WE?

You don't understand me.

Leave me alone.

It's not my fault.

That's not fair.

I need money.

If you've parented a teenager - or if you're honest about having been one yourself - you recognize these refrains. Having spent many years teaching as well as reading and writing about them, I must say there's nothing quite as exhilarating - or exasperating - as the quirky adolescent mentality.

Alaska is a young state, still thrashing around in the throes of adolescence as we struggle to find our way in the world. With a balance of red and blue representation at the state level, we demonstrate a healthy mix of viewpoints and attitudes. But in sending the Old Guard back to Washington, we're wallowing in our adolescent ways, flaunting the belligerence of our convicted Senator and arrogant Congressman.

In literature, adolescents confront fundamental questions about who they are and progress toward healthy, responsible adulthood. The journey isn't easy or pleasant, but there's satisfaction in growing into a sense of oneself. Some, however, get stuck in adolescence. They spend their lives shirking responsibility, whining about being misunderstood, and blaming everyone but themselves.

Alaskans are better than that. We will one day let go of our childish ways, foregoing our sense of entitlement, replacing rebellion with healthy skepticism, and coming into a fuller understanding of who we are.

At least that's how it ends in all the good books.

WRITING HISTORY

Today we're all authors. If you haven't already, get out and vote in this historic election. Alaska, the nation is watching.

ALASKAN ANGST

Normally I figure I'm beyond the adolescent angstiness of worrying what others think, but in the face of tomorrow's election I've regressed. "What will the rest of the country think of Alaska," I fret, "if we re-elect a convicted felon and a buffoon who has spent a million dollars on legal defense? And if they wake up with a vice-president whose foreign policy experience amounts to supposedly seeing Russia from her home state?"

Even though I've heard Alaska's getting positive attention from all this flap, I didn't believe it until I read "Author Gains from Interest in Alaska" in today's Publisher's Weekly. Sales of Seth Kantner's two remarkable books, Ordinary Wolves and Shopping for Porcupine, have soared during the past several weeks, and he's drawing crowds at public appearances, presumably without the name-calling and slurs that Palin stirs up.

In his PW interview, Kantner reiterates that while she may claim to know the real America, Palin is bad for real Alaska. If her candidacy is helping the sale of good books, I'll set aside my angst. But I'd still prefer we Alaskans not embarrass ourselves tomorrow.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Ketchikan writer and mayor Dave Kiffer explains in the My Turn column of the November 3 issue of Newsweek that it's not so swell for a community to be nationally branded Nowhere. "But we will get over it," he says. "We will even make up with our governor, no matter what happens on Nov. 4. That's what Alaskans do. We pull together to make a go of it in a place where survival—physical or economic—is not necessarily a given." Well said. You can read the whole article at Newsweek.com. While you're at it, check out Kiffer's monthly musings on Alaskan history at Sitnews.

In the area of language faux pas, I doubt I'm the only Alaskan who's been waking up lately with the urge to apologize to the nation for the nonsense we generate. In addition to the congressman who thinks "constituent" means "people who voted for me" and the governor who thinks "violated ethics statute" means "vindicated," we now have Senator Ted Stevens who claims he has not been "convicted" because he plans to appeal. How stupid do these people think we are?

And after the Palin Truth Squad announced that he'd been fired for being a "rogue," former Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan must be getting a kick out of the fact that Palin herself is now the RNC's "rogue." Apparently "rogue" is the new black.

Changing the landscape in the world of books is this week's $125 million dollar settlement that paves the way for Google to continue its Google Book program that will allow readers to view and purchase out-of-print books online. An arrangement for compensating authors holding copyright is part of the settlement.

PASSED OVER

Several days ago, I was met at the entrance of our local Borders by an Alaskan author signing copies of his first book. A sincere and no doubt talented man, he engaged customers as they came through the door, offering facts about how long he'd spent writing the book and a few tidbits about his specialized, regional topic.

Signings are a lot like middle school dances - unless your book and your signing have been heavily promoted, there's a lot of sitting around, hoping someone will notice you and trying to pretend it doesn't matter when they don't. Handselling works, but it's tough. When you think of it, what are the odds that a person looking for just your kind of book is going to wander into a book store during your three-hour time slot? Mix in a not-so-hot economy and you start to feel quite the wallflower.

It's nothing personal. There are a lot of books out there, and whether they realize it or not, the reading public relies mostly on bookstores and publishers to guide their reading selections. In his recent post On Being Skipped, Marketing Manager Andrew Wheeler offers an indepth look at how chain stores decide which books to carry and which to skip, which lead of course to the continuing debate over chain stores vs. independents.

Authors have to put themselves out there. Handselling to individual readers is good. Handselling to booksellers is even better. Target marketing is better still. Above all, understanding the realities of this business - and it is, as Wheeler points out, a business - is a huge asset for writers and tangentially, for their readers.

PICTURES FOR WORDS

For my next book (Picture This, Alaska: Historic Photographs from the Last Frontier, Sasquatch, 2009), I got to sort through 25,000 photos from Alaska's archival collections to select 110 crisp, well-composed, emotionally evocative pictures to tell the story of how our state grew up. In the process, I developed (no pun intended) a huge appreciation for the story-telling talents of Alaska's best photographers.

Many of those who shot photos for my book are no longer around. But we've got plenty of talented professionals capturing timeless images today. Author Seth Kantner (see my post on his latest book, Shopping for Porcupine) is among them. Then there's prolific nature writer and photographer Kim Heacox of Gustavus, likened to an Edward Abbey of the North. Another Alaskan photographer brought recently to my attention is Brian Adams, who has repped us beautifully in several national publication.

Roy Corral does amazing nature photography, featured in a variety of projects including My Denali and A Child's Glacier Bay, both books for young readers. Another among my favorites is James Barker, for his remarkable black and white renderings of Yupik culture in Southwestern Alaska. The title of his classic collection, Always Getting Ready, won me over even before I saw the photos.

Browsing the work of these Alaskans, it's hard for even the fustiest wordsmith to argue the adage that a picture is worth a thousand words.

FISH OUT OF WATER

On Sunday I had the delightful experience of listening to Alaskan storyteller Brett Dillingham tell the tall tale of a pet fish that drowned.

With Alaskans suffering more than their share of tall stories from politicians who do one thing and say another, it was refreshing to enjoy a real fish out of water whopper. I found myself wondering which is tougher to fathom: a pet catfish who walks on a leash, or a US Senator who maintains innocence after conviction, despite his own recorded voice saying the worst he'd get for his misdeeds was "a little jail time."

Dillingham, who lives in Juneau, is an acclaimed storyteller working most recently with Performance Library. He's also the author of Raven Day, a book for young readers.

TELLING OUR STORIES

My first Alaskan book project wasn't really mine. Even though I was a first year teacher, principal (and now artist) Michael Murray entrusted me with an oral history project he'd begun with our students under the supervision of Ann Vick, working with Doubleday's Anchor Press. The result of our collective efforts was The Cama-i Book, published in 1982.

The project was a spin-off of Foxfire, a project by famed educator Eliot Wiggington, affectionately known as Wiggs, in which high school students interviewed Appalachian elders and published their stories. In the Cama-i (a Yupik word of greeting, pronounced chah-my) project, students gathered wisdom and stories from elders in Kodiak, Bristol Bay, and the Yukon-Kuskokwim region.

Our tiny high school of 30-some students was responsible for the entire YK Delta section of the book. Gertrude Jacobs, Elena White, James Chaliak, James Chase, Anna Wasillie, and a handful of others did the hard work of interviewing, selecting, compiling, fact-checking, and writing narratives that would otherwise have been lost, translating from Yupik to English throughout.

That was over 25 years ago. Now the entire state of Alaska is embarking on an oral history project through StoryCorps, a six-month initiative to collect oral histories in Nome, Dillingham, Fairbanks, Unalaska, Juneau, and Barrow. The American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress will archive the 40-minute interviews, and participants receive their own CDs to keep. The national StoryCorps effort began five years ago, with 20,000 interviews recorded so far. You can catch excerpts from some of the most compelling each Friday on NPR's morning edition.

Behind StoryCorps is the wonderful premise that, writers or not, all of us have rich stories to tell. To find out more about StoryCorps in Alaska, including information on how to participate, visit their website.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

If you've ever wondered why you hear lots about some books and not so much about others, this week's guest blogs by Michelle Moran and M.J. Rose, for agent Nathan Bransford, are required reading. You'll get the inside scoop on what authors should spend on PR, publicist pros and cons, dealing with bad reviews, cover art, and a whole bunch of other fascinating stuff.

Those keeping current with how technology is changing books probably already know about XML, Extensible Markup Language, which allows the sharing of structured data through the internet, which translates into customized delivery to readers. For the rest of us, Publishers Weekly gives a more complete explanation in "XML: Code of the Future."

Anchorage readers will be sad to learn that the independent bookstore A Novel View is closed for a time due to the death of owner Patricia Tegtmeier. Memorial arrangements are pending.

IS BIGGER BEST?

For the record, I'm an Alaskan hockey mom whose wardrobe includes outfits suitable for different seasons and climates in all 50 states. If the Republican National Committee wants to outfit their Caribou Barbie and family with a $150,000 wardrobe from the likes of Niemann Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue, they're going to have to come up with a better excuse than our climate.

In the flood of unhappy facts I learned about Sarah Palin after McCain added her to the Republican ticket, there was one nice surprise. The old Sarah shopped, at least occasionally, at an upscale consignment boutique in Anchorage. I'm a big believer in small shops, recycling, and consignment. No big surprise that the Republicans, in keeping with their reckless notion that we can spend our way out of any crisis, shopped big, spendy, and (dare we say) elitist stores to dress their champion of blue-collar "real America."

In the book business, elitist equals literary equals small and low-revenue. The axiom is that authors might have to start small and, as their careers warrant, hope to jump up to big. In his recent post "Going From Small Presses to Big Publishers," agent Nathan Bransford discusses the challenges facing authors attempting the leap from what some call "second tier" to the Big Eight (or whatever the number is today - companies get gobbled so fast it's tough to keep track).

Yet many of the best books by Alaskan authors on Alaskan topics are pubbed by smaller independents, including the two I mentioned in yesterday's post. Milkweed brought us Kanter's Ordinary Wolves and Epicenter Wallis's Two Old Women. The good news, according to Bransford, is that "as the big house publishing industry moves to a blockbuster model, small presses will increasingly fill the gap of really good, riskier books that the big houses are overlooking, particularly debuts. And inevitably, those small presses are going to be testing grounds for bigtime talents."

Some of that talent likes where it lands and stays there. Even in a huge state like ours, we know that bigger isn't always best.

IS FIRST BEST?

Authoring is not a race, so there are a couple of arguable points on the question of whether first is best in this business. One is how often books that top the charts in sales are actually the "best books." I'd love to hear other opinions on this, but my sense is that, unlike the mass market, chart-topping regional and specialty books are likely to also be of high quality. In regional markets, big marketing and promotion bucks aren't thrown selectively at certain books. Alaskan books, for the most part, must stand on their own merit.

The other prong of this question is whether an author's first book will likely be his best book. PW Shelftalker Alison Morris ponders this question in a recent blog, with readers weighing in on both sides. Logic would say that writers improve with every book, so their books would keep getting better and better. However, there's not a ton of evidence to bear that out. Some stunning first books have been followed by mediocre efforts. Reader and writer psychology comes heavily into play. The thrill of discovering a new author is bound to diminish. On the author's end, the organic process of writing doesn't necessarily lend itself to systematic improvement.

Among the highly successful first books of Alaskan authors are Seth Kantner's Ordinary Wolves and Velma Wallis's Two Old Women. I don't know if the first novel phenomenon played into Kantner's publishing next in non-fiction, but it seems a wise choice, taking some of the edge off expectations and worries over the success of the next book. Wallis has published two more good books, but neither sells like her first. Then there are one-book wonders, like Kim Rich's Johnny's Girl and Natalie Kutz's Road Song, powerful memoirs that would be tough to top.

What do you readers think? How often is an author's first book her best?

REAL ALASKA: SHOPPING FOR PORCUPINE

Having just finished Seth Kantner's Shopping for Porcupine , I was reflecting on how, in a few short paragraphs, I could convey the way Kantner spreads the real Alaska before his readers like a humble gift. Stark. Powerful. Intimate. In stunning contrast with the un-Alaskan theatrics being played out on the global stage by Governor Sarah Palin as she stumps for a big promotion.

Then I read Kantner's essay "That Sarah Palin is one unreal Alaskan," posted today in the Alaska Dispatch. In typically unassuming style, Kantner nails it.

So does his book. No preaching. No politics. No cliches. Raised in a sod house by parents who left the city to follow the traditional ways of the Inupiat in the arctic, Kantner writes of a life that's raw, unusual, and tough. His books pulses with the real Alaska, the one most will never see.

Get this book, and read it. For me, it was like coming home.

ANNABELLE AND BUDDY

There's still time to read John Straley's The Big Both Ways, a featured Alaskan book this fall at 49 Writers. In online book club format, you're invited to stop by 49 Writers on November 1, post your comments, and read comments left by others.

I'm nearly finished with this newest book of Straley's, and while not his typical mystery, it's definitely worth the read. You'll meet quite a few characters in the early chapters. Once I got acquainted with Annabelle and her yellow bird, Buddy, I was hooked. The novel earned a couple of starred reviews, a notable achievement for Alaska's former writer laureate and for his publisher, Alaska Northwest Books.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

Prolific and popular Alaskan mystery writer Dana Stabenow announces that the first chapter of her 17th Kate Shugak novel Whisper to the Blood is now available for an online sneak peek. You can also preorder a signed first edition. If you're one of the few who are unfamiliar with Stabenow's work, fair warning - it's addicting. If you don't believe me, check out the Danamaniacs, who are hosting a chat about all things Stabenow on October 20 at 5 p.m. Alaska time.

The Alaska Writer's Guild is featuring Professor John Strohmeyer, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for editorial writing, at their monthly meeting this Tuesday, Oct. 21, at 7 p.m. at the Anchorage Barnes and Noble. Strohmeyer is also the author of
Historical Anchorage.

Also in Anchorage, novelist and former Alaska writer laureate John Straley will speak tonight at the Alaska Historical Society conference; $45 will get you dinner at UAA's Cuddy Hall and a chance to hear Straley's thoughts on "The Gray Area: Liars, Storytellers, and Private Detectives." Finally, authors Velma Wallis, Harold Napoleon, and Aaron Leggett will speak Monday, Oct. 20 at the UAA Bookstore from 5-7 p.m. on "Alaskan Natives Looking Forward."

For writers who've tired of slogging through the gatekeepers of publishing, another online option has come on the scene. At BookRix, you can publish your opus and make it available for all to read online. Is this information overload or another chance to get noticed, like the latest self-pubbed sensation The Lost Epistle of Jesus, which is being shopped at this week's Frankfort Book Fair.

BABY, IT'S COLD OUTSIDE

Cold is what our early Anchorage winter has delivered, but it's not how most of us want to characterize our careers, unless we're professional skiers or snowmachiners like the newly-illustrious Todd Palin.

With the economy sending pre-Halloween shivers down most every spine, the book industry is not exactly in fine shape. Indeed, as the New York Observor reports in "Baby, It's Going to be Cold Outside in Book Publishing," the puddle from the meltdown is about to freeze to the bottom in publishing.

Before you give up on that break-out book, remember publishing is notorious for examining its navel and pronouncing itself dead. Still, Leon Neyfakh makes some good points in his piece, not the least of which is that for a book to grab the attention of editors and agents these days, it needs to be "riveting and brilliant."

If I had one word of advice to new writers, it would be to post those adjectives, along with others like "compelling" and "pageturning" alongside their computers. Time was when just writing pretty well about a great place like Alaska snagged contracts and readers. Not so anymore.

And that's one of those good things, like generosity and reflection, that can come of hardship. In our books, as in politics, we're poised to embrace the highest standards.

THAT'S ALASKA

With the election less than three weeks away and the gap in the polls widening, it looks like Alaska may get its governor back - or some semblance of who we thought she was. Having penned coming of age novels, I hope we'll look back on these past few months as a coming of age of sorts for our state, from which we emerge from tumult and naivete into some semblance of reflective, mature adulthood.

Writing will continue to help us grow. Of recent note are an insightful essay by Nick Jans in Salon, "Sarah Palin: The View from Alaska," and today's ADN front page story "Polarizing Journey." We know our governor better now, and more importantly, we know ourselves.

One point we've been trying to drive home for folks Outside is what it means to cherish and care for a place that reaches into the core of who we are, all with precious few to lead us. Despite what our governor claims, we're not a microcosm of America. We're not like everywhere else.

A few days ago, I braved a chill wind to cheer on the North Pole Patriots at the high school football playoffs. My team lost, but guess who plunked down in the bleacher below to support athletes from the conservative railbelt community? None other than Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell and State Representative Gene Thierriault. And here's the thing - it was no big deal. No handshakes, no attention. Just a couple of guys hanging out at the game. That's Alaska.

(Pictured above on June 28, 2008, at a statehood anniversary celebration, from left to right: Alaska's governor Sarah Palin, lieutenant governor Sean Parnell (who lost a primary challenge to Congressman Don Young in the Repulican primary), and Anchorage mayor Mark Begich, Democratic challenger for the seat of Senator Ted Stevens (now on trial for federal charges of fraud)

NEW ALASKAN AUTHORS

Today we're celebrating new Alaskan authors, a whole book full of them, from Alaska's Kuspuk School District along the middle Kuskokwim River. Last fall, mystery author Donna Moore visited Aniak, Kalskag, and Sleetmute as part of Alaska Sisters in Crime's Authors to the Bush program. There it's safe to say she fell in love with our state and the warm folks of the region.

Last night she returned to Anchorage, all the way from Scotland, with beautiful anthologies in tow - polished, professionally bound collections called "Imagine," featured stories and poems by Kuspuk students. Today Donna, on vacation from a day job in what she calls "the exciting and thrilling world of pensions," headed back to Aniak and surrouding villages for ten days of work with students. "I can't think of anywhere I'd rather go," she said.

Nick, an anthology contributor from Aniak who, like many villagers pushed out by rishing costs in the Bush, has relocated to Anchorage, was on hand at an Alaska Sisters in Crime reception last evening to see his published work for the first time. "She was the key to the door I didn't even know was there," said Nick, pictured above with writer Donna Moore.

ILLITERATE ALASKA?

Eleven percent of Alaskans function at the lowest level of literacy, according to the National Institute for Literacy. Sad to say, it appears our governor may be among them. The same woman who claims to read everything put in front of her reportedly hasn't bothered to read the 263-page report on her Troopergate misdeeds.

And her comprehension is so low that when informed of Finding 1, in which independent investigator Steve Branchflower says, "I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.100(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act," Sarah maintains that she has done nothing illegal and has been completely vindicated by the report's findings.

Forget No Child Left Behind. We need No Governor Left Behind.

Eighty-nine percent of us do read. We do comprehend. And we're insulted to be treated as if we don't.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

We're in the midst of a meltdown. Not just on Wall Street, which is alarming enough, but on Main Street Anchorage. Okay, Anchorage has no actual Main Street, but we're riding a roller coaster of early winter snow and a major meltdown thereof. Seasonal shifting, not so strange. May the market recover as quickly as our snowcover undoubtedly will.

Speaking of market meltdowns, I hope you caught Stephen Colbert's uproarious spoof on commie lending practices at our public libraries. And speaking of libraries, Ketchikan librarian Charlotte Glover spoke with Library Journal about book selection in small towns like Ketchikan and Wasilla. While not condoning Palin-style banning threats once books are on the shelves, she points out that with limited budgets and less-than-diverse clientele, librarians have to be prudent and selective.

Speaking of Palin, I'll bet you're not surprised to learn there's another Sarah book in the works. The Alaska Dispatch reports that Sarah Takes on Big Oil, by Kay Cashmen and Kristen Nelson, comes out this Sunday, October 12, released by PNA Publishing, a division of Petroleum News.

And finally, don't forget that today is the last day to RSVP for the Alaska Sisters in Crime event this coming Monday, October 13. At the reception, the group will receive the 2007 Alaska Contributions to Literacy Award for the outstanding work they've done promoting literacy in our state. Also on hand will be Scottish author Donna Moore, AKSinC's 2008 Author to the Bush, who'll do a short presentation on her work with students in Aniak. AKSinC invites you to join them for refreshments, door prizes, live music, and special guests, starting at 6 p.m. at the BP Energy Center. Be sure to RSVP today to info@aksinc.org.

LITERARY ALASKA

So many great books have been written in and about Alaska. With a few notable exceptions, most are nonfiction.

It's not that we don't recognize the value of book-length fiction. Seth Kantner's novel Ordinary Wolves was chosen by readers at 49 Writers as the best book to send to candidate Barack Obama to help him get to know Alaska.

And note that I'm not speaking of genre fiction. A number of Alaskans pen regional mysteries. I'm wondering about literary fiction, which I define simply as good, publishable books that don't fit in the usual genres - books find in the general "fiction" sections at libraries and bookstores. (For a more insightful definition of literary fiction, check out this post by agent Nathan Bransford.)

Literary fiction is hard to sell, so maybe it's a combination of our collective practicality coupled with lingering insecurities over being so far removed, internet aside, from the "real" publishing scene. And as Kassia Krozser points out in a recent Booksquare post, most of publishing isn't about the literary stuff anyhow.

Still, I'd love to see another Ordinary Wolves, written by an Alaskan and about Alaska. Heck, I'd love to write it. But right now I have to get back to my genre project.

ONLINE ALASKA

A few concluding thoughts (with no promise I won't return to the topic) on the medium we're sharing at this very moment - blogs, and more generally, the internet. Fascinating especially to Alaskans, who like others in far-flung corners of the world, stand most to gain - and lose - from the medium that has changed our lives. Thoughts, in no particular order, prompted by the book I've referenced before, Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur:

--Keen refers to blogging as "ego-casting...[a] Darwinian struggle for mind-share." He may be overstating, but whenever power opens to the unempowered, i.e. the formerly isolated, expect, ahem, interesting results.
--Keen calls the web "a smokescreen for truth," promoting superficialities rather than deep thought. As in the Palin candidacy, which was hailed as being good for Alaska but seems only to have made us a parody of ourselves, misinformation abounds.
--"Amateur journalism trivializes and corrupts serious debate," writes Keen. Blogging is many things, but it's not journalism. That doesn't mean it's not worthwhile, only that it should be taken in perspective. Likewise, news is not a conversation, despite what we see on many 24/7 cable "news" shows.
--When you only listen and talk with people who think like you, it's hard to find truth. On blogs, radio talk shows, and specialty-interest "news" shows, narrow views are reinforced. After only 50 years of statehood, Alaska is barely out of adolescence. This is no time to retreat to corners where we're bolstered with self-talk.
--Keen points out that when information is distorted and skewed, people switch off. Alaskans already too prone in that direction, as we revel in our differences, our separateness, and our "unique" mindset.
--Though there's lots of talk about online communities, consider how many participants are anonymous. Is that real community? Contrast with Alaska's native cultures, where community is authentic and meaningful. At first blush, the cyber-notion that content is common property seems like it fits with native notions of sharing. But in fact Alaska's natives are cautiously and judiciously protective of their intellectual property. They recognize that stories are the essence of who they are.
--According to a Stanford University study, one in eight adults is addicted to the internet. Ouch. Between that and Keen's assertion that creative work stalls when there's no monetary reward, we're back to that question of whether the internet is bad for writers.
--Alaskans want to be connected, but we love our privacy, too. Given how data is tracked and stored, not to mention sites that promote voyeurism, Internet privacy is an oxymoron.

Ready to quit reading and shut off your computer? Forego online shopping and make do with the local store? Talk to your dog instead of your online friends? Go back to the village phone where everyone stopped playing pool to listen to what you said to the folks back home?

I didn't think so. What Keen advocates is simple: awareness and prudence. Read blogs by folks who know a thing or two, writers who have a track record. Remember that real community happens not when you associate only with people who think as you do, but when you stretch your notions of truth by considering other points of view. As you read, give yourself time to think, reflect, and engage in genuine dialogue with people who use their real names.

BOOK TRASHING

A couple of weeks ago, I trashed a book. Don't worry - it was my own. It had a long life in draft form, spanning several years, but it had a fatal flaw that I was never able to fix. I knew it and editors knew it and then a respected agent pointed it out and I decided to trash it. For now, anyhow. I'm generally good at throwing things away, but I rarely actually toss a manuscript. Sometimes, years later, you reach an insight that breathes life into the dead.

After pouring yourself into a manuscript over a period of months and years, you lose perspective, which is why we have gatekeepers - editors and agents who size up our writing critically and more or less objectively in terms of what will resonate with the market. Though they love discovering new talent, gatekeepers are particularly tough on amateurs.

These days, writers can circumvent the gatekeepers and opt for self-publishing, online or in hard copy. For some niche projects and folks who lose patience with the slow and sometimes illogical wheels of conventional publishing, these options work best.

Is it simply tradition that keeps us from ditching gatekeepers altogether? Will electronic publishing lead us to full democratization of the publishing process, equalizing all voices? We're hearing a lot about elitism from our own Sarah Palin. Ridding ourselves of editors and agents would banish elitism from publishing.

Recently I wrote a review for Bookforum, a print publication. Had I been reviewing the same book on Amazon or on this blog, I would have drafted and revised once, maybe twice. But because I was being paid for my work, I wrote to a higher standard, revising several times. A fine editor suggested more rounds of changes. A fact-checker asked me to elaborate on one of my statements.

The result: a well-crafted review. Readers are a discerning bunch. Serious readers and writers welcome a certain reach of elitism in publishing, even though it means some manuscripts will never see the light of day. Some books - my own included - need to be trashed.

IS THE INTERNET BAD FOR WRITERS?

In a recent LA Times blog post, Carolyn Kennedy quotes two writers who say they physically remove themselves from internet temptations in order to get down to the serious, concentrated effort required to write their novels.

One of my theories about Alaskan authors is that we are, in general, folks who are happy being several degrees removed from the mainstream. We enjoy a certain degree of isolation. One downside was not feeling connected with the literary mainstream and, to a certain extent, with our audience. Another was geographic distance that made book promotion difficult, especially for children's writers who depend on school visits to get the word out. My writer friend Claire Rudolf Murphy left Alaska several years ago partly for these reasons, and she is still much missed.

I've noted the downsides of Alaskan isolation in the past tense. Though the internet hasn't erased them, it has definitely blunted their effects.

The internet is just one of hundreds of potential distractions for writers to drift away from the hard work of developing characters or unsticking themselves from the tough middle of a novel. At the fingertips that should be busy penning a saleable book is one of our powerful distraction.

Perhaps more important is the effect of the internet on language and thought. Collectively, our minds are shifting to texted sound bites. In twenty years, who will have the patience to read - or write - a complete sentence, let alone novel? Since the advent of television, we've had doomsday predictions about the slow slide toward illiteracy. In many ways, the writer's best research friend may also be her worst enemy.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

What do book bloggers do all day? Former Alaskan (but still with Alaskan connections) book blogger and reviewer Colleen Mondor posts an enlightening explanation at Chasing Ray . Don't get any ideas - my day is not at all like hers.

When I posted yesterday on style vs. substance, I pointed to Sarah Palin's convoluted response concerning Supreme Court decisions (other than Roe v. Wade) with which she disagreed. While you're at Chasing Ray, check out Colleen's post on how Sarah missed the obvious as she stumbled over herself to not answer: the recent Supreme Court decision concerned the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

In June, Sarah made a rather eloquent official response deriding the court's Exxon Valdez decision, yet now she can't even recall she disagreed with it. More evidence that, sadly, the Alaskan leader most of us used to sort of like is just the propped-up, say-whatever-they-tell-me-to gal we saw last night. And don't even get me started on how she can't name one single publication she actually read to enlighten herself while all you rich kids were out there seeing the world.

I do appreciate that Sarah occasionally makes us think. As part of her non-response to the question of what she read, she also said that "Alaska is like a microcosm of America." A longtime Alaskan told me after last night's debate that Alaska is a northern version of the American South. I've never thought of us in either way, but I'm interested in what the rest of you think.

Finally, don't miss Andromeda Romano-Lax's interview with the author who opted out of writing Palin's biography.

WHY ELOQUENCE MATTERS

Tonight millions of viewers will watch the highly anticipated debate between Sarah Palin and Joe Biden, and we'll explore another facet of the cult of the amateur - whether eloquence matters.

Sarah says we need an American in the White House who represents "Joe Six-Pack." But can't a vice president represent Joe Six-Pack and also speak in complete, coherent sentences? Take a look at "Sarah's Grammar," posted by my fellow blogger Andromeda Romano-Lax. Then consider Sarah's response when asked by Katie Couric whether she disagreed with Supreme Court decisions other than Roe v. Wade:

"I believe that individual states can best handle what the people within the different constituencies in the 50 states would like to see their will ushered in in an issue like that...I would think of any, again, that could be best dealt with on a more local level, maybe I would take issue with."

This isn't a random sentence plucked out of context to make her look bad. Her entire response had the same woeful construction. Joe Biden had it easy because he had an actual answer to the question: he disagreed with the Supreme Court's decision on the Violence Against Women Act.

It's not just the pressure of the national stage that reduces Palin to gibberish. Consider her response, reported in today's ADN, when asked during a gubernatorial debate to explain how she would pay for new health programs:

"Proper role of government is providing the tools that those in the private sector aren't able to gather themselves, and critical health care will be a priority. I will cover that as your governor, I will make sure that we are fulfilling our constitutional, mandated provisions there, that are laid out for us. Again, education, basic solid infrastructure, public safety - in public safety is health care, so it's a matter of priorities."

Confused? Me too. Her thoughts aren't clear, complete, or coherent. They're a far cry from eloquent. Any English teacher can tell you why. When people don't know what they're talking about, they speak and write in circles. To cure this kind of doublespeak, you have to go back to the drawing board, think through your ideas, and make sure you have something to say.

Tonight's debate will be style versus substance. Sarah's style is limited to poise, looks, confidence, and sarcasm. I suspect Sarah would say eloquence is for elitists.

The public will have to decide if they want leaders who actually know what they're saying. The best way to tell if they do will be to examine how they say it.

CULT OF THE AMATEUR

As I mentioned last week, I've been reading Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture. Keen proposes that blogs are part of the problem - a big problem - so perhaps a blog is an odd forum for discussing his observations. But there's a lot to ponder in what he says, especially for Alaska.

The most obvious connection - with apologies to those of you who don't want to hear another word about Sarah Palin - is McCain's selection of an amateur for his running mate. It's not the first, it won't be the last, and yes, some make a case for Obama being, if not an amateur, not exactly an expert either.

This isn't the Alaskan spirit of doing the best you can with what you've got because it's all you've got. What's unfolding in the Palin candidacy is the notion that amateur status isn't something for which you must apologize, compensate, or explain. With a big boost from the internet, Keen proffers, we've thrust ourselves into a frightening extension of populism, the celebration of the amateur.

That's why some scoff at qualifications and education and judgment and say they wish Sarah Palin could be President because she's just like them. That's why her Truth Squad has the audacity to conduct daily bashings of "partisan politics" and "the media elite" as if they're some sort of plague from which we must be quarantined. It's why, if we're not paying attention, we could get confused and believe something is Truth just because a Squad says it's so.

The cult of the amateur calls for a ditching of the experts, those with the facts. Get your news from the man on the street, the blogger with all the answers, the smart guys that call in to radio talk shows.

Here's what I like about Alaska. It stretches you beyond your perceived limits, and it also puts you in your place. But in the cult of the amateur, you're neither stretched nor corrected. You can blather on and think it means something. And maybe it does, if enough people believe it.

Our current economic crisis is another proving ground for the strength of the cult. Will Congress listen to economists or amateurs? So far, the amateurs have prevailed. In a climate of distrust and a cacophony of voices, the question is how far they can go, and what damage will be done along the way.

There's more to be said about what the cult of the amateur means for both Alaskans and authors. We'll use this forum - the forum of amateurs - to explore those ideas later this week.

WHY I LOVE TO PICK BERRIES

Thanks to our celebrity governor, it might seem Alaskans are all about bagging moose and shooting wolves from planes. Truth is, most of us revel in simpler and less controversial pursuits like picking berries.

This hasn't been an especially good year for berries. They arrived late and are hanging on late. But I spent two glorious days surrounded by mountains, gathering blueberries from leaf-swept bushes and plucking clusters of cranberries hanging low to the ground, marveling at the bounty undeserved and the seemingly limitless supply. Kneeling in lichen and prickly crowberry leaves and spongy moss and minty labrador tea, you see layers of goodness that mostly just get stepped on.

Picking berries requires little. You decide whether this berry is big enough or that berry is ripe enough. You swoop on size and quantity, and you toss aside obsessions with picking them all. There's a satisfaction to filling your pail, but mostly you love the smell of smoke wafting from the chimney, the rattle of leaves fluttering to the ground, the explosion of colors on the fall tundra, the flutter of little white moths indifferent to the brevity of their lives.

Things you've felt in your gut gather in ways that make sense. Picking berries on the wide-sweeping tundra, I realized something bigger than me was in charge of the world, and that was very good. Picking berries in the shadow of mountains, I finally figured out that when who you are and what you want are overshadowed by what someone else wants you to be and what someone else wants you to want, that really is an irreconcilable difference.

When you pick berries, there's always hope. Antioxidants are a nice plus, but I love berries because I love to pick them.

ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP

The Alaska Sisters in Crime have much to celebrate. On Monday, October 13, the group will receive the 2007 Alaska Contributions to Literacy Award for the outstanding work they've done promoting literacy in our state. Also on hand will be Scottish author Donna Moore, AKSinC's 2008 Author to the Bush, who'll do a short presentation on her work with students in Aniak. AKSinC invites you to join them for refreshments, door prizes, live music, and special guests, starting at 6 p.m. at the BP Energy Center. Be sure to RSVP by Friday, October 10, to info@aksinc.org.

Another Palin book is crashing to market. Assembled in a week by the folks at Collins (don't we all wish we could produce a book that fast?), Terminatrix: The Sarah Palin Chronicles will feature satire and digitally altered photographs ostensibly gathered by the Wasilla Iron Dog Gazette. They say even negative publicity is good publicity, but is anyone else doubting the rhetoric that the Palin candidacy is good for Alaska?

Google Previews, coming soon to your favorite websites, will allow readers to preview up to 20 percent of a book. I've been reading Andrew Keen's Cult of the Amateur, a timely analysis of the effect of the internet on our culture, and will have more to say on that next week.

Seems we may have to clone Mr. Whitekeys. No sooner had my friend invited me to his political show built around next Thursday's VP debates, and we learn the Whitekeys event is sold out. Stay tuned. After McCain proposed canceling his debate with Obama tonight and conveniently bumping the VP debate to reschedule it, anything could happen. Joe Biden could be left standing on an empty stage like Obama almost was, and we'd have to send Mr. Whitekeys as a Sarah stand-in.

Given our governor's stellar performance with Katie Couric this week (answer to why Alaska's proximity to Russia counts as foreign policy experience: "it's funny that a comment like that was kinda made to...charac...you know...reporters"), McCain must want to cancel her debate out of fear she'll upstage him. I'm sure glad I heard the Couric interview, because I discovered I've been asleep at the wheel these last 29 years. Turns out - according to Sarah - Russia has been buzzing all over our airspace and none of us knew it. Dang Russkies. But rest easy - "we've" been keeping a watchful eye on them.