Steal from everywhere. Use anything. There is nothing left to create; you can only arrange. No one owns every last idea. Modify. Arrange. Put your name on it, then someone else will cross it out and put his or her name on it after he or she has fucked with it. That’s art. I hope you had fun.

matthewvandegrift:

when i got on the light rail   it was empty
                       save for an   old woman with
         a plastic grocery bag    and three teenagers with
                            bmx bikes    who hadn’t paid their fair
                and got kicked off    by a cop and
                had to pay a ticket     and i was happy
                              since i was     alone
                           but incredibly     sad   
                            because i was     alone 
         the rail passed the stadium    where the baseball
                               game had just    ended
                     and soon the car was    filled with people
                       sunburned and noisy    because their team
                                           had won    or lost
                                 and their beer    hadn’t worn off
                   and the game was the    all-star game
                                so there were    all different jerseys
                                      and caps    being worn
                       and now i was not    alone
                               but was still    alone
                 and i wished for the   life of me
               that i could smoke a    cigarette in the car
             but couldn’t because    it would attract
                              attention    and i was carrying
            hundreds of dollars    in my backpack
                    and none of it     was mine
                      and i wished     i were a baseball
                            stadium     so when the show
                         was over     everyone would quickly leave
                 or a cigarette     so when i had given my last
             someone would     throw me on the sidewalk
                and crush me    with their sole

(Source: mlvandegrift)

I’m developing an idea for a novel and I’m very excited about it.

More info to come later. I expect I’ll work on constructing it all summer.

I realize if I’m ever going to make it in publishing I will need to be able to read voraciously. I originally planned on reading 3 novels this summer, but I think I will make it my goal to read a book and a half every week. That’s a good start, I think.

I am thoroughly enjoying coffee, cigarettes, and The Great Gatsby on a hot Phoenix afternoon. Now that I’m not being graded and forced to read it I am in love with this novel. (Of course I can’t escape the mental image of Mia Farrow as Daisy - she was perfect, after all.) Maybe after I’ve finished I’ll give Tender is the Night another go.

picadorbookroom:

In honor of her last day at Picador, we asked intern Kaci Hamilton to write about what her day to day experience in our office was like. Without further ado, we present…

A Day in the Life of a Picador Intern

8:57 am: Grab a small coffee from the cart man on the way over to the Flatiron, arrive panting and puffing to a queue of 20 other Macmillan employees, all eagerly eyeing the elevator dials, which indicates the elevators are all on the 20^th floor.

9:10 am: Safely in the office drinking delicious dollar coffee (it’s all I can afford people!), I check my email, see that there any many things to mail. Paul Auster, Michael Cunningham, Edward St. Aubyn…review copies, contract copies, giveaway copies, author mail…one of the best parts of my job is having that one degree of separation from some of the biggest contemporary authors.

10:18 am: Continue to package crisp copies of new books to go out to reviewers and critics. Wonder what Jeffrey Eugenides is doing right now as I wrap up a book to send to him personally (!).

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