next book...

This is a picture I just painted
for the next Good Deed Rain
book. You will soon meet a
world falling in the future
where Seattle is dream full
of sand.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #9

Good Deed Rain's 9th book published in 2018
is a wild collection of essays (and 2 plays),
Elbows & Knees. Here's your chance to read
up on beatniks & B-movies, beauties & beasts,
artists & ostriches. And more! I don't know if
there's another essay book like this around;
it would make a fun read by the winter fire.


Here's an excerpt from "The W. Lee Wilder from
Space":


Burning oil fields, trailing a disturbance. Theremin,
cigarettes, coffee. A crazy reporter with a pipe and
a photo of the moon: "If you want to know how
things turned out, read the Chronicle in the morning."
Chased around pallets, catwalks, hunted by Geiger
counter, The Phantom finally removes its helmet and
suit, escaping invisibly. It may be free, but it is trapped
in the Griffith Institute labyrinth without its radioactive,
magnetic, indestructible suit and its breathing apparatus
helmet. The Phantom's one chance for survival in a
strange land comes when it tries vainly to communicate
with a human named Barbara.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #8

The 8th book published in 2018 by Good Deed Rain
is Fable. Many moons ago, I wrote a little children's
book for our daughter which remained hidden in my
notebooks for years. Finally I resurrected it and
realized how perfectly it fit in with the summer diary
sections that form the first and last parts of this book.
Last summer we were watching the border horror
unfold as this country began separating families
and imprisoning children. Not to mention all the other
shameful governing we've been witnessing. This book
is a parable enclosed by rabbits. It starts with the rabbits
in our Bellingham yard and leads to the shores of
Lake Erie:




I wonder what the Ohio rabbits will be like.
A long time ago when we lived there, we shared
some moments together. I used to take Coral on
walks to Bunnytown. It was only a short way from
our rented house. The road turned a corner, and
folded out next to the buckeyes and tall wild
grasses a Frankenstein power station was built,
surrounded by chain-link fence. You could feel
the hum and snap in the air. Around it was gravel
and mowed lawn. We could always count on a few
rabbits being there. The sight of them would quiet
Coral and she would point and whisper. I also
remember the very early mornings pushing the
baby carriage at 2 AM...long pink streaks of the
sodium street lamps, houses dark and huddled,
the big trees hushing leaves overhead, the plastic
stroller wheels crackling on the cement. The only
other one awake to see us would be a rabbit.




Fable is also as old fashioned a warning as one of
those Grimm's fairy tales. Wondering and wandering.
And it ends with those Lake Erie shores:




Fishing poles lean against the cement ledge.
A lot of people park their cars at this end of the
road. The broken remains of the old bridge head
a hundred feet more into the lake then stop in a
heap of slanting dust and rebar. Sumac and bulrush
grow. People find spots to fish. One guy stops us
and warns us they aren't biting. He's been here two
hours and nothing is happening. That's okay we
say. We step over the rubble and I think of the
cars that used to use this for a road. The ghosts
of them run through us.

movie time

Watched one of my favorite movies again
The Lady Eve (1941). Will be watching
some more Preston Sturges soon.

Perry Roberts

Another peek into the Kennedy book.


This scene, masterfully illustrated by
Fred Sodt, takes place when Avery brings
a book to the town poet, Perry Roberts.
The inspiration for Perry Roberts is a
combination of 2 WWU instructors of
much renown, Robert Huff and Perry Mills.


Perry Mills used to visit me in the library
for blistering conversation! Poet Robert Huff
you'll be hearing more about soon.
I also included Perry Roberts in my gigantic
short story collection The Sylvan Moore Show
as star of the story "Black Space Orbit."
That's a fun book you would enjoy too.


Here is the excerpt where Avery meets Perry:


    The owl eyes were on him again. "I don't
suppose you've ever been in here before. What
do you think of this place?"
    Avery gave another look around the room.
"It looks like somewhere a moth would go
during the day."

clyde christmas

A painting and a poem from
Clyde Sanborn for the Holidaze.
These appeared in his tribute book
Go with the Flow. Thanks to his
sister Jan for sharing these. It's
amazing that all his paper scraps
floated their way into this beautiful
book.

another Kennedy excerpt

This is one of the exciting big-budget Hollywood
moments from Kennedy. Avery is out with his
ne'er do well friends, firing bottlerockets from a
car. (Hmm, I can't imagine doing that!) Illustration
by the amazing Fred Sodt:


    The woods flashed with deep shadows. The car
swung through another tight couple of turns. They
were down at sea level now. Water and islands
showed past the trees.
   After one last turn, they were on a straightaway
and Jerry pointed down the road. Two beads of
light showed way ahead of them. "Okay, here
comes your target."

2018 Good Deed Rain books #7

Kennedy is the 7th book published in 2018
by Good Deed Rain. This is a sequel to 2015's
novel Roosevelt. Well, in another America these
two books would be quite the pair, in libraries
and bookshelves from coast to coast. But alas,
they haven't been discovered yet. Wonder when
that will happen? (All these wondrous books from
Good Deed Rain wonder that). This book takes
place 20 years after Roosevelt. It's set here in
rainy Bellingham, 1962, when this town had
little farms. It follows Avery's adventures going
to school and getting in trouble, during a couple
weeks in those mythic Kennedy times. It's one of
my favorite books that I've written. (But I guess
they all are). It's beautifully illustrated throughout
by Fred Sodt who also illustrated the prequel.
I'm telling you, magical books like these don't
grow on trees.


There are so many things I could excerpt, but
here's a little passage that goes with Fred's
drawing:


Avery looked away as they passed. He was careful
not to step on her shadow, taking an extra step that
he needed not to fall and he was almost floating.
He felt he was walking on air: if his feet weren't
plugged into his white sneakers he would have
been drifting off into the branches, spinning away
like a dandelion seed.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #6

The 6th Good Deed Rain book published
in 2018 is The Robotic Age.
This is a wild ride featuring a magician,
The Great Marconi, and Cronco the robot
who spend the novel searching for three
shipwrecked ghosts. This was really fun to
write and a very entertaining read for you,
with amazing illustrations throughout by
Aaron Gunderson. You'll love it!


This is an excerpt:


77) At the Edge of a Pond


   Behind the Eleanor Rigby was a brick
courtyard with planted trees and flowerbeds
and benches. The birds of the neighborhood
came and went.
   Cronco stopped at the edge of a pond.
The murky water reminded him of the Polly
Ann's resting place. He thought of all those
fishing boats tipped and broken at the bottom
of the sea. Did they all have ghosts? Were
there more, sending SOS on the airwaves?
Cronco sighed. He was tired after two ghosts.
And somewhere there was still a third ghost
out there.
   A bright koi broke the surface like a yellow
submarine.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #5

The 5th book published by Good Deed Rain
in 2018 is Almost Animals. 20 stories
featuring an animal.
Here are 2 excerpts from this book,
"On a Country Road" & "The Voice of
America Bird" :




ON A COUNTRY ROAD


An old pickup belongs on the farm, parked
in the folded grass of a driveway or making
passage between the rows of corn on a country
road. An engine loud as black coffee and every
ripple on the road makes the seat squeak like a
nest of tin birds. We spot the weasel just ahead,
running right beside the tar, its body hunched
almost rolling, like a half-inflated inner tube.
It's going quick, but as we pass, we see it turn
its head to glare. Caught in its mouth is a burly
field mouse and what a sudden, fierce look that
weasel gives us, startling and sharp as a wound,
just before it cuts into the crop it knows by
heart.




THE VOICE OF AMERICA BIRD


It was supposed to be a sort of weapon,
aiming for those antennas on the other side of
the border. What would happen if they heard
the Duke Ellington Orchestra or Elvis Presley
sing? What happens when Nina Simone puts
on her wings, when she flies over fences, landmines,
cement and soldiers and finds someone
like you?

donald sleep

Another excerpt from the 4th book
published by Good Deed Rain in 2018.
This is from the section on Donald Sleep,
featuring an Aaron Gunderson drawing
that didn't make it into the book, I don't
know why!:


If I can remember to, the next dream I have
I'll ask around. He's bound to be on someone's
couch, or a hammock in a garden where the
moon shines and all the flowers spin like
records.

movie time

This weekend watched a great movie
One Way Passage (1932). Oh, they were
so good at making films at that time.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #4

A Hundred Dreams Ago, the 4th book published
by Good Deed Rain in 2018, is a 3-part collection
of poetry messages. I had a great time writing these,
observing our world reaching from the winter sights
of 32nd Street, back in time to Seattle childhood.
Beautiful illustrations by Aaron Gunderson.


Here is an excerpt:


BLUE OVERALLS
In blue overalls, they set up ladders and open
hidden latches full of wires. They're here to
make repairs on the dream machinery.
If it doesn't work right tonight,
they'll hear about it in the morning.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #3

The Lake Walker is the 3rd book Good Deed Rain
published in 2018. This novel takes place around
the banks of our very own Bellingham attraction,
Lake Padden. Rudolph has been given a mysterious
task by an old man who melted into a tree.
How will he spend his days and nights,
walking around (and across) the lake?
The adventure awaits you!


Here is an excerpt:


Almost like some electrical thing, the lake was
shutting down for the night. People were going
back to cars or riding bicycles home. A
yellow gate would be locked and the parking lot
would be empty. Then it would only be moonlight,
dark trees and the black bowl of water...but not for
Rudolph. Around him, like the lights of a city,
there were little blue glows and the deep lake was
a window to more.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #2

Homeless Sutra, the second book Good Deed Rain
published in 2018, was written in the winter through
to early summer, while I was working on Clyde's
tribute book, Go with the Flow.


Four adventures (Homeless Sutra, Mountain Temple,
Instant Crow, Simple Minded Sunshine) featuring
the return of Sylvan Moore, a flying monk, a water
salesman, and a guardian rabbit.


Rivers, snow and rainwater flow without a home.
This is an excerpt from the book:




   Halfway to the top of the stairway, I stopped.
The wood was wet and shined and I put my hand
on the damp rail and turned. The town below had
become miniature, dark trees grown among gray
roads, while chimneys steamed in the air.
   I could open my book and pick out a waterfall.
I could lean over the railing and place it among
the fiddleheads. This could be the first note of an
orchestra.

2018 Good Deed Rain books #1

Good Deed Rain published 9 books
during 2018. The first one was
Go With the Flow: A Tribute to Clyde Sanborn.
This was a real joy and inspiration to work on
and I feel a great thank you to Clyde.
I hope you've had a chance to read this book.

1928

Watched a great movie last night,
Beggars of Life (1928). Would be
an interesting double feature with
Sullivan's Travels.

2018, 9 Books

Good Deed Rain presented you with 9 books during 2018.
Go With the Flow, Homeless Sutra, The Lake Walker,
A Hundred Dreams Ago, Almost Animals, The Robotic Age,
Kennedy, Fable, Elbows & Knees.
Hope you got a chance to read them all.
There are some wonderful books on the way for 2019.

movie time

Watched one of my favorites again

Shop Around the Corner (1940).
Among the many things I really like
about this movie is the way the big
moment at end was filmed without
intrusion of music, done silently as
in real life. It made it all the more
beautiful.

page 42

Page 42 from the next Good Deed Rain project.

As I've been hinting at, it's a novel featuring the

illustrious star of White Pongo. Stay tuned!

Contents for Elbows & Knees: Essays & Plays

The new Good Deed Rain book,

ELBOWS AND KNEES: Essays & Plays

190 pages of carousel spin:

 

CONTENTS:

Introduction............................7

The W. Lee Wilder from Space............13

Trees in the Asylum Garden...........25

Open the Windows, Open the Doors..........39

Entering the Water and Escaping: From Houdini to the

     Hoodoo Sea..........................62

Visions of Raven: Jack Kerouac and Film Noir.....71

Chan & Callahan............95

A Certain Strange Memory......101

The Jimbaroo......111

Haunting Birds.........116

Robert Huff in Bellingham.........127

Little Italy............163

Speaking of Richard Brautigan........169

Elbows & Knees: Essays & Plays

Cover for the new Good Deed Rain book:
"ELBOWS & KNEES." It's a big book full of
adventurous essays and a couple plays too.
"A collection of writing about some of my
favorite subjects, from B-movies to Brautigan.
My interest in writing essays began against all
odds in college, with an essay on Chaucer and
Willie Mays. These essays will take the reader
into unexpected worlds of poetry, poverty row
pictures, revolutionaries, reincarnation, beauty
and beasts. A carnival ride for all readers."
Publication date is the day after Thanksgiving.
The artist is the very talented Madison Dowling.

Election Day!

On this auspicious Election Day in USA
I mailed off a copy of FABLE to my very
talented musician/poet friend Dan Hanrahan.
He has a new incredible CD, RADICAL
SONGS FOR ROUGH TIMES that is a Must-Hear!
Also went back to grade school to reread
a book from those days, The Rabbi and
the 29 Witches. "The full moon was very
beautiful and nobody had any nightmares."

issa

Every winter I dive back into the haiku
masters. As I'm working on a new novel
set in Bellingham with a Japan influence,
I've been reading this great book by Lanoue,
Pure Land Haiku: The Art of Priest Issa.
Of all the books on Issa, this is my
favorite and the translations are excellent.

another Good Deed Rain project

Constant readers will know of my love for Scholastic Books
and thanks to Aaron who brought this one by, How To Care
for Your Monster...Not only timely because of Halloween,
but also because I've been preparing another Good Deed Rain
book. This one is a 3 part collection of unpublished novels
I wrote in 1990, 1991 and 1997. More on this project soon.