100, Getting Published, Interview, Medium, Mental Health, Mutants, Playlists, Poetry, support your locals, Work In Progress

What’s new?

Hey all! It’s been too long, hasn’t it? I’d love to say I have a good excuse, but of course I do not. A certain pandemic made me lazy. Let me catch you up to speed on what’s been going on (believe it or not, things have happened).

  • I did an interview with Fevers Of The Mind, an incredible supporter of the #WritingCommunity. Quick-9 Interview with Norb Aikin
  • My Twitter account was hacked in February, and I lost the entire thing. Over 5k followers, which is a magic number in the Twitterverse. And switching the link on WordPress from the old account to my new one was absolute hell, because a couple plugins here were not complying in any way. But it’s finally changed and functional now…I shaved my head to avoid tearing my hair out.
  • I’m sure I’ve done some other stuff, but my mind is still trying to un-jello itstelf at times.
  • I did submit a new manuscript, World By Design, to a few small presses. Fingers crossed it gets picked up.
  • And most recently, I joined Medium and published a poem on Put It To Rest, which I’m really proud of. It contains a few tiny Easter Eggs into my life and how anxiety has affected me during the pandemic. Stagefright

Of course, Mutants is still available in my shop and on Amazon, but you’d rather have a signed copy, right? So glad I got the PayPal option in my shop fixed. I’ve got a couple copies left before I have to replenish, and there’s also one copy of 100 remaining before it’s gone for a long, long time (make of that what you will).

So what’s new with y’all? Tell me something good. Hit me on Twitter at @aikinnorb and hashtag it with #somethinggood. I don’t know why I’m doing this, but my community engagement sensibilities are suggesting maybe I should.

Ok, since I’ve already wasted enough of your time today, let’s get to the good stuff…my favorite part of these things, the playlist. And how about a stage fright/medium themed one, just cuz that’s kinda how I roll, right?

  • The Band, “Stagefright”
  • Jimmy Eat World, “The Middle”
  • Radiohead, “Exit Music (For A Film)”
  • Modest Mouse, “Dark Center Of The Universe”
  • Bee Gees, “Man In The Middle”
  • Flickerstick, “You’re So Hollywood”
  • Arrested Development, “Mama’s Always On Stage”
  • Stealer’s Wheel, “Stuck In The Middle With You”
  • Atmosphere, “Between The Lines”
  • Steely Dan, “Parker’s Band”

Hey, thanks for your time! I know I say it every time, but I promise to not be a stranger so much anymore. Of course, that depends on whether or not I have things to talk about, and I kinda sorta did before, but I’mma try to be better and keep y’all in the loop when new stuff happens, ok? Love you guys! Peace!!

Getting Published, Holidays, Mental Health, Mutants, Playlists, Poetry

Your Mutants Pre-Orders Are Here!

Yo yo!! I’ve been waiting for this day for like, forever, because what else is there to do when pretty much everything’s shut down and you’re sittin’ on promises of books to people? I’m happy to announce that the pre-orders for Mutants are finally here!

https://www.instagram.com/p/CAqYbwkB4Qa/

I would’ve had them a bit sooner, but they were delivered on Saturday; when packages that are too big to fit in my mailbox, they sit in the mail room and our building’s office staff (bless them…they’re wonderful ladies) puts a little note in your mailbox. But the office is closed on weekends, and with Monday being a holiday, I had to wait til today. But whatevs y’all…they’re here! A big lotta new book smell in the apartment right now!

I know I know…”So when am I getting my book?” That’s what I’m here to tell you. I know I said mid-May, but I didn’t anticipate shipping to take as long as it did (self-pubbed books aren’t eligible for Amazon Prime shipping if they’re sold to the author). Give me a few days to annotate them all; unfortunately I’m a kinda busy guy right now with physical therapy for my shoulder 2x a week, and tomorrow is another follow-up with my doc (things are going kickass, if you’re wondering…glad I had the work done and there’s no pain; now I’m in the stretch run, which is the strengthening part…grueling at times, but the results are there and it’s worth it). I’m hoping to mail them out by June 3rd or 4th, but please don’t be pissed at me if it takes me a few more days to get them out…believe me, I wanna be done with this and get this book in your hot little hands ASAP!!

Since these are quarantine/lockdown times, I don’t have much else to say. Let’s drop a shipping playlist and get on with our day. Sound good? I can almost hear y’all nodding your heads from here.

  • La Dispute, “A Letter”
  • Blink-182, “Here’s Your Letter”
  • The Tea Party, “The Messenger”
  • Atmosphere, “Postal Lady”
  • Joe Cocker, “The Letter”
  • American Football, “Letters And Packages”
  • Macy Gray, “The Letter”
  • Modest Mouse, “From Point A To Point B (∞)”
  • Cake, “Open Book”
  • Radiohead, “The Daily Mail”
  • Hail Mary Mallon, “Mailbox Baseball”
  • The Get Up Kids, “Red Letter Day”
  • The Postal Service, “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight”

Alright friends, enemies, lovers, and haters…that’s all I got for y’all today. Two weeks ago it was snowing with zero visibility; today it’s 88° and my 12″ oscillating fan has decided to die on me, so please have mercy on my soul if I sweat to death after making dinner and attempting a nap in this swamp-ass-inducing change in the world’s atmosphere. Stay strong friends; we’ll be able to get together soon, I hope. Peace, wear a mask and wash your hands, and know that I love you.

100, Eliezer Tristan Publishing, Homies, Mental Health, Playlists, Poetry, Readings, Road Trip!, Stigma Fighters

So here’s what went down…(Part 1)

https://www.instagram.com/p/BxqrygtBCdn/

Long time no see, folks! My bad…but it’s been a crazy couple of days and it’s time to fill y’all in on what’s been happenin’…

I tend to forget when I’m in this author blog that I’m also a Mental Health advocate. For some reason it never seems to get mentioned here, even though my publisher focuses on that. Let’s tie everything together today…buckle up, cuz it’s been a crazy ride.

On Friday, May 17th, Eliezer Tristan Publishing held a reading/book signing/Mental Health Seminar at a Barnes & Noble in Hartford, CT. A few of the presenters are from various parts of Connecticut; my publisher was coming from Portland, Oregon, another was coming from the Virginia area at the last minute, and I was taking a Greyhound in from the middle of New York state (I have to clarify it’s the state and not the city; an important distinction and you’ll find out why soon enough).

A couple days beforehand, our publisher determines she may need a small but possibly expensive miracle to make it. Commence widespread panic among the other attendees, spawning multiple Twitter conversations and separate Messenger threads about who’s gonna come in when and where, who’s gonna stay with who and where, and how we’re all supposed to pull this even off without her. I’m telling you this because it affected me directly…Sarah Fader (the CEO of ETP) and I were supposed to stay at an Air B&B barn in Fairfield (the first failure occurred when neither of us looked at a map to determine that Fairfield was nowhere close to where we were having the event and wasn’t near any of our online CT friends). This was a bit problematic.

Enter my new best friend ever, Stephanie Paige, who deserves a friggin’ Humanitarian Award of some sort for figuring half of our shit out. She was gonna pick me up at Union Station instead of me meeting up with Sarah, and was gonna let me stay with her for a night until we knew what was going on with more clarity.

Lemme tell ya, brothers and sisters: Clarity deserted us until the last fucking minute. Never rely on clarity, as that will fuck you in no way gently. You’re better off wingin’ it until it’s legit Go-Time!! and seeing what works and what doesn’t and adapting on the fly. I can’t tell you how many times the goalposts were moved before 7pm on Friday, and most of the time the goalposts we were kicking at were on a completely different field. To further illustrate, in all of the chaos and tweets and Messenger notifications, it was determined that Stephanie was going to meet me at Union Station. Sweet…one box checked; now let’s move on and get everyone else situated.

Now, by looking at a map (again, something we never considered doing), one can determine that Connecticut is a relatively small state. Why then, for the love of all things holy and sacred, does a tiny-ass fucking state like CT have not one, but two places travelers can be picked up that go by the identification of Union Station??

I was supposed to arrive around 7pm, but because New York motherfucking City is a disaster traffic-wise, I think I got in around 8. Not a problem; Stephanie was milling around the human rat puzzle known as IKEA. The IKEA in New Haven, right near Union Station. As I began rattling off places I was seeing while trippin’ down the freeway, it became abundantly clear that I was also heading toward Union Station…in Hartford. The Founding Fathers and City Planners in both Hartford and New Haven should be dug up from their graves so Stephanie and I can slap the shit outta ’em. So she’s going back home, and I’m gonna take a Lyft to her place. An unplanned expense.

I input all my info into the Lyft app and it quotes me $75. I take a deep breath, suck it up, and- holdupwaitaminute- I determine based on the app that I don’t think where I’m standing matches the address I’ve put in and what the map is telling me. I take a walk around the block, maybe 100 feet, to a bar on a corner with an address I know will be easier to find. Problem solved…and for some unknown reason, fate smiled down upon me and the price of the Lyft dropped down to $60. Fuck technology y’all…use your damn legs and save some of your hard-earned cash! That 100 feet of walking equals the price of my book! Thank me later when you’re telling me how much you enjoyed it.

Funny side note about the bar: When I walked in to ask for a proper address, right next to me was a man who looked familiar. He was a very good friend of mine about 20 years ago, and we had a ridiculous falling out over I don’t even know what the fuck, so I said his name. And I know he heard me, because I immediately recognized his mannerisms as he looked all around this tiny little bar everywhere but at me standing an arm’s length away. I walked out, chuckled to myself, and said “Fuck you, Chris Okal”. Of all the places to see someone though, right?

So anyway, I finally get to Stephanie’s place around 10-ish? And I’m not gonna lie (and this is what I love about true kick-ass cool people)…we picked up conversation like we’d known each other for, like, forever. No weirdness, stiffness, awkwardness. Just typical straight catchin’ up and figuring out what was goin’ on. After over probably an hour of talk we decided to go to bed (in separate rooms, mind you, ya filthpigs…that’s how rumors get started, and no one needs that). I went to put her WiFi password in my tablet, and right next to where I was standing, a paper caught my eye. A paper containing a typed-up list of several ways to legit get away with murder.

Turns out Stephanie is a True Crime fan and well, I’m here and she’s cool as hell, so I didn’t die and let’s just move on. This entry is already long enough and we’ve barely begun.

Meanwhile, Sarah has posted that she needs two grand to get a last-minute flight for her and her two small children. Before I go on, I need to stress that I love Sarah and she’s wonderful, so don’t misconstrue anything I say about her in a negative way. Every one of us is scrambling to retweet our pleas…it was like watching a fucking telethon on Twitter. Enter Tea Jay, who was instrumental in orchestrating donations to Sarah’s PayPal and ensuring her arrival at some point (and while you’re checking out Taylor [long for Tea], take a looksee at my guest post on her blog, Advice For Writers Who Want It, Or Don’t).

Sarah miraculously found not only a flight, but someone to watch her kids. We all laid our heads down for the night, eased by the knowledge our leader would indeed be present.

Then we woke up.

Stephanie managed to kick in a sizable chunk to the donation pot. I don’t remember what Sarah said when she called me around ten after eight in the morning, but all my sleepy ass knew was she was coming and renting a car. With going back to sleep not being an option, I laid in bed checking Twitter…and boom there’s Sarah, posing like a god damn 80’s rap star in front of this sick-ass vehicle. A bright-ass red Mini Cooper, all Bond…James Bondin’ on it like a pimp. I could not remember at first what kind of car it was; I just knew it was well beyond our pay grades and needs (and boy was I wrong, but you’ll find out why in a little bit…stick with me y’all). I, ummm, did not know how to break this to Stephanie. And then I did.

She thought it was a Fiat, which, hey, easy to mix up, right? All morning, “Red Fiat” was a term of endearment, an epitaph, and a functional source of several WTFs and confusion. Like, a red fucking ’93 Ford Tempo would’ve been sufficient. But hell no…let’s crash Hartford in mawfuggin’ style, yo. Combined with the fact that she flew into NYC (there’s that fuckin’ city again), let’s <insert my “moving the goalposts” metaphor here as well> and I’ll let you decide what to do with all of our eye-rolling wonderment about what exactly was going to happen in the ever-decreasing amount of time we were having. Was Sarah coming to Stephanie’s house? What time? What about everyone else? Sarah’s posting pics of her with her NYC friends in the pimpmobile rental. We still had to pick up Christa Marie somewhere…it’s all a jumbled blur of a blur at this point. One of the Union Stations in CT. Somehow we got her to take a shuttle or a train or a UFO or whatever to the only Union Station that matters, up in Hartford.

I don’t know if you’re confused, but I lived it and I’m still confused as fuck.

Anyway, Christa’s a sweet kid with a heart of gold. I think at one point Stephanie and I realized we’re old enough to have been her parents, and we’d have probably been shitty parents, but not nearly as bad as anything she’s lived through (but that’s her story to tell, and this is mine, so…whatevs, moving on). We scooped her up, said “Fuck it!” and told Sarah to just meet us at Barnes & Noble, and we chilled at Spot Coffee (holy shit, there’s a Spot in CT!! I thought that was a Buffalo thing!). That’s where Taylor was, and that’s where we told Katie to find us.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxl2wa_JX7i/

I think I forgot to mention that Christa finally corralled all of us into one group chat thing on Messenger, which did make things a little easier…until things began to settle and the steam started letting off some and the sarcasm began to bleed out of our confused brains and souls. We eventually found Sarah at B&N, and mad props to my man Rick for hooking us up with water, comfort and ease, high-fiving me for getting his REM reference about the “end of the world” (I feel fine) and a giant adult-sized cardboard standup of The Cat In The Hat, to replace Aaron (the designer of my postcards and some of the ETP covers). Barnes & Noble, you need to pay that man well and make him your straight-up Events Coordinator or some shit; whatever you corporate-speak it.

Personally, after Sarah read the children’s book she co-wrote with her son, Nobody (which you should all buy if you have kids, and if you’re a teacher or parent of kids with special needs, hit me up and I’ll tell you how to get a copy), I read four poems from 100: “Over, under, around, and through.”, “Sinspiration”, something else because my Post-It page tabs have betrayed me in my travels and I can’t remember shit anymore, and “Black Joker”. All were received well, with chants for an encore. With everything else going on, I had no idea what I was going to read, let alone pick something else. To me, it wasn’t my event and it wasn’t about me…it was a Connecticut thing and it was meant to shine the light on these other wonderful authors, with their blogs turned into books and them just being more local to the area than me. I have my own CT stories, but that’s neither here nor there.

As for all of us, we’ve known of each other for quite awhile; some more than others and some through different events, but not this particular group, all together at the same time. Once the eyes of the crowd and the onlookers were upon us, you’d have thought we were sitcom stars holding a panel for the beginning of our 8th season…our rapport was flawless and fun and so easygoing. The way we all got along and got on and meshed with each other, there’s no way you could tell there was so much chaos and behind-the-scenes fuckery it took to get us all in the same place.

These people…I have all the respect in the world for them, and to have finally met and interacted with them, they’re amazing. We all came from different backgrounds with various Mental Health diagnoses, which maybe is our common denominator I guess, but this is my family. I love them all, I’m super proud of them, and I love that I can fuck around with them and be me and they can be themselves and we can (most importantly) share our stories and help people with our words and voices. We fought so damn hard for ourselves, and we still fight every day, but now we can bring the fight to the masses. I miss them, I miss going through what we all had to go through to be together, and I can’t wait to see them again. I know that the next time I’m feeling shitty about life or writing or just myself, I practically have a virtual library on the side of things I can look at and reminisce over and think fondly of and say “Hey, we all did that, together, because we’re amazing fucking people”. I mean that, from the bottom of my heart (when it’s not dead and soulless). And I hope over time you can enjoy them all as much as I have.

My biggest regret is that we didn’t get our hands on one of the B&N event posters. With all that extra empty green space on them, it hit me well after I’d finally gotten home that it would’ve been a great memento for Sarah if we’d all signed it and gave it to her. She brought us all together; without her, there’s no way I’d know that Stephanie and I are alike in so many ways, or that Christa is so sweet and earnest and like many of us at her age (OMG we’re ollllllld now), or that Taylor and her hubby Jonesy and their boy Jack are so much more fucking adorable in person, or that Katie is a stupid-great amount of fun and everything I thought she’d be and more based on reading her book (which, by the way, again…read everyone’s books, because you can learn so much about how the regular people in your lives function with various mental illnesses you’d never otherwise know they have). But back to the posters…that would’ve been so cool and amazing. Fader, we all love you.

With that, I’d like to draw this long-ass first part to a close, because it’s way too much and yet there’s still more. Preview: In Part 2, I’ll talk about what transpired after the gig, and the god damn mess that was my journey back to Cortland…from the dope #barnaf in Fairfield w/Fader, to the bus station journey in CT, sitting in NYC for a legit ungodly amount of time, and then eventually getting home at five-o-stupid-a-fucking-m after a shitty bus ride. When Seuss wrote Oh, The Places You’ll Go, I don’t think he ever envisioned any sort of traffic at all that wasn’t cartoonish. I’ve been to some places…and I won’t go back until they put a dome over them. But enough about that. Let’s jam to some “catching up” beats before I have a great home-cooked sandwich, alright? Aiiiiiight.

  • The Dave Clark Five, “Catch Us If You Can”
  • Elliott Smith, “Let’s Get Lost”
  • The Get Up Kids, “I’ll Catch You”
  • Blur, “Avoid The Traffic”
  • Pearl Jam, “I Believe In Miracles (live)” (Ramones cover)
  • The Beach Boys, “Catch A Wave”
  • New Found Glory, “You’ve Got A Friend In Pennsylvania”
  • Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, “We Call Upon The Author”
  • Public Enemy, “SOC MED Digital Heroin”
  • Busta Rhymes, “Do That Thing”
  • Wilco, “It’s Just That Simple”
  • Ours, “Medication”

Ok, that’s about all I have the patience for today. Sorry the playlist went a little skewed…music happens and if you don’t like it then you don’t like me. Stay tuned for Part 2, which’ll prolly come tomorrow afternoon and will be all kinds of differently entertaining than this might’ve been, if it was. In the meantime, rest up and stay kind to each other. You don’t know who’s going through what anymore…hell, I can barely keep up with myself some days. Peace, be on the lookout in your city for Christa Christa and the Full Force Cult Jam opening at corpse bride weddings for the Sarcastic Assholes as we perform our multi-platinum clusterfuck class-sick “Pour Some Moonshine On Me”, and this place is trying to close so let’s get outta here before they kick us out…just, uhhhh, I guess the apples are free, so take one on the way out. If they’re real.

100, Eliezer Tristan Publishing, Getting Published, Interview, Playlists, Poetry, Selfie-ishness, support your locals

Just your average Friday workday…

Hello again, friends! Second time this week I’m up in here…must be something goin’ on, right? Well, I teased only a little in the last entry and just now on the ol’ Instagram machine…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BvUize2BX4C/

So yeah, shenanigans don’t stop just because St. Patrick’s Day has passed. That’s me, with the laptop I’m typing on right now open on this tab, with a copy of my book 100, only there are a flurry of pink Post-It flags sticking out of it (to go along with some of the blue ones I’ve used before). What’s going on?

Well, I’ve finally set up my own reading event with the Cortland Free Library! It’s literally taken me as long as the book’s been out to do it. I dropped off a copy there as soon as I had one, and I guess they had to send it to their “central processing area” for “verification” or something. After months of waiting, the Summer Of Norb ’18, and watching other Eliezer Tristan Publishing authors doing signings and newspaper interviews and whatnot, I reached out again to the library (only after I requested a book they didn’t have and had to get from another branch). One of the women (kinda cool that they know me when I walk in) mentioned my messaging them as I was checking out, and, well, check this out…

Wherever they shipped out my book to, turns out they still have it. Soooooo, they went the traditional route and ordered one for the library! And she said they’d be getting back to me soon about setting something up during April’s National Poetry Month!! Finally, boom goes the dynamite!

But here’s where I fucked up…she gave me two dates to choose from: one in early April, and one toward the end. And I knew Easter was super late this year, but I didn’t even think about looking at the calendar or anything…I just told her either one was great and I’m mad appreciative. She replied with Tuesday, April 23rd…great! I went to mark it down on my calendar and…ohhhhh shit, Easter is the Sunday right before. Usually I visit my mom in WNY that weekend, and we don’t usually know how long I’ll stay until we get closer to the date and it’s time for me to book the trip. It’s bad enough I missed her birthday last year because I was on my Pacific Northwest tour…but a holiday followed by Dyngus Day (the best Polish holiday of the year)? Hoping she’ll be ok with me having to go home either Easter morning or the following Monday. We’ll talk about it soon, I’m sure.

Anyway, I’ve got a public event coming up!! First one in Cortland! Cannot believe it and I cannot wait…it’ll be an excellent tune-up for my trip to Hartford, CT in May. It’s been quite awhile since I performed in public (not counting the karaoke I did during the holidays last year). Gotta shake the nerves off and sweep away the dust bunnies and get used to speaking out loud again. I’ll be fine. Wish you could be there! Being stoked about it is the best way to overcome the social anxiety that’ll set in and quell the nerves that will no doubt tell me to cancel. It’s a BFD, and I’m gonna rock it y’all!

In other news, I’m also a little worried. Funny story: I cancelled my doctor’s appointment for a checkup in January, because we got a metric shit-ton of snow and I wasn’t going out in that. Rescheduled it for February, but on that day it was super cold with 70+ MPH winds, and of course I wasn’t goin’ out in that either. So in one sense, it’s actually kinda a good thing that I’ve put this off…I woke up one day about two weeks ago and my right shoulder was stupid pissed at me and didn’t wanna comply with the rest of my body.

I tried a TENS unit. I tried a CBD rub on it. I tried arthritis aspirins and those heat patches with menthol or whatever’s in ’em. Nothing worked. I hadn’t done anything out of the ordinary to cause the pain and weakness I was experiencing, so I started to get a little concerned. I have a high tolerance for pain, yet this had me wondering if I should try to move up my appointment or complain at the ER.

A little background first: it’s the same shoulder I broke twice in high school. The first time was before a wrestling meet my junior year, and it was diagnosed as a minor rotator cuff tear. That summer after a football practice before my senior year, I couldn’t lift my arm again. I saw a sports doctor, and he revealed the crack in my socked that looked as if it was starting to fuse. Therefore, a 2x broken shoulder. Nice. And that was like 25+ years ago. My thinking was this is some scar tissue building up, or maybe a pinched nerve.

Nope. The direct quote from my doctor’s email: “Your x-ray shows some spurring in the joint that could be due to tendonitis.” Well, that sounds fantastic. My choice was to either see a specialist, or have him do a cortisone shot (and I opted for him doing the shot). Now I wait to get another appointment with him (he’s a good doc and has few openings, and the nurse I spoke with didn’t want to make me wait a month to see him). It’s not life-threatening or anything, but it’s certainly affecting me and makes being upright more painful than usual (the only time is doesn’t hurt so much is when I’m laying down, but that’s obvs no way to go through life). Let’s hope it doesn’t come to surgery, and let’s also hope this “spurring” thing doesn’t decide to start happening in my other joints as well. I don’t need that and neither do you need me telling you about it, ya hear?

Alright…let’s reel this back in and take back some of the excitement from earlier this entry, k? I’mma scour my iTunes library and hit you with a reading playlist for today to set your weekend up. You’re with me, and I’m with you…let’s do this!

  • Reggie & The Full Effect, “The Fellowship Of The Bling (Featuring Hungary Bear)”
  • Weezer, “El Scorcho (Live at Reading Festival, 1996)”
  • Atmosphere, “Hockey Hair”
  • Guns N’ Roses, “Catcher In The Rye”
  • Nirvana, “Lounge Act (Live At Reading)”
  • Beastie Boys, “Shake Your Rump (Reading Festival ’98)”
  • The Beatles, “Helter Skelter”
  • Blur, “On Your Own”
  • The White Stripes, “We’re Going To Be Friends”
  • Elvis Costello & The Attractions, “Everyday I Write The Book”
  • Son, Ambulance, “A Book Laid On Its Binding”
  • Blur, “Black Book”

Ok, well, I think that’s it for now…time to watch the UB Bulls in the NCAA tournament and figure out some dinner.  Remember, I’m ready and available to be hit up for your interviews, podcasts, general nonsense, and speakeasies. Us people who write gotta stick together, keep pushing everyone up, and keep doing them damn thangs we’re doin’. Have a kickass weekend y’all!

100 WIP, Getting Published, Playlists

The Nuts and Bolts!! (a 100 update)

Hey guys! Hope you all had lovely weekends, whether you were celebrating dads and grads or chillin’ at your pads. I have more exciting news that came in the form of text messages and tweets last night that have just kept my world turning at its current whirlwind pace.

So…let’s sort this all out:

  • Eliezer Tristan Publishing purchased 1,000 ISBNs…meaning books can be sold in retail, cataloged in libraries…it’s basically a book’s identity and barcode. One of those ISBNs is going to be 100. Hopefully another will be it’s immediate follow-up, and the one I’m working on now after that. But let’s go down one road at a time.
  • How cool is this cover, done by the amazing Michelle Hammer (who is also working on the layout of the inside of the book as I’m typing this): 100 Cover
  • Speaking of the layout…I just reviewed and sent back the edits for the insides. Meaning: I just saw what my book is gonna look like in print. I know it’s probably not the same thing and it’s a bad comparison, but this must be what it feels like when parents expecting a baby for the first time see the initial sonogram, or hear the heartbeat. Shit is getting real, and with the quickness.

So that’s where we stand today. Please excuse me for having a Holy shit!! moment (y’all know you’d do the same) and let’s blast some good-time celebratory tunes…

  • Queens Of The Stone Age, “Feel Good Hit Of The Summer”
  • Beck, “Readymade”
  • Run DMC, “Together Forever (Krush-Groove 4)”
  • Wellwater Conspiracy, “Of Dreams”
  • Jay-Z, “Moment Of Clarity”
  • Public Enemy, “Black Is Back”
  • Atmosphere, “Modern Man’s Hustle”
  • Stone Temple Pilots, “Glide”
  • 10,000 Maniacs, “Because The Night”
  • Kanye West, “Celebration”

That’s my word, friends and lovers of this. Tell your people, share share share, like and support the gott damm amazing team at Eliezer Tristan Publishing on Facebook, and keep on keepin’ on being your kickass awesome selves! Peace…#100 #ItsHappening

Throwbacks

Throwback…Tuesday?

Hey all you sexy people of the internet…how’s your Tuesday goin’? In lieu of actually creating my own interesting and original content today, I want to share with you an interview I had with my wonderful friend Elle Schroder a few months back (and hey, give her a shout…tell her I sent ya and spread some love to New Zealand!).

It’s a bit of a long read; it touches on my experiences as both a blogger and a poet…so you might wanna grab a beverage or pee out your last one and get another before jumping in. You can find it here: Interview with Norb Aikin and as I said, please leave her a comment and/or questions for her or me, either on her site or this here mere baby slice of your soon-to-be-favorite internet pizza. Elle really did ask some amazing, interesting, and thought-provoking questions…I hope my answers did her skills some justice.

And hey, feel free to access any of the links she provided in the interview of my poetry or blogs at Writing.com…I’m always available for comments and thoughts and engaging conversation, because I love and care about you.

Peace my brothers and sisters…hope you enjoy the rest of your day!