What Was I Thinking?

I've been thinking a lot about what to do with this blog. It was originally a place where I serialized a couple of fiction pieces. That was fun, but after a while I was ready to move on, to "re-purpose" this space, as they say in modern lingo. This change of heart about serializing stories could be related to Stephen King's advice to "write the first draft in private" (see his memoir, On Writing). The way I was doing serialized fiction was to basically publish short sections of a long story as I was writing it for the first time. It's kind of like inviting everyone in the world to read your first draft. Now I'm writing the first draft of my new novel in private and, frankly, it's a lot less stressful.

Meanwhile, what do I do with this blog? Answer: memoirs. This was motivated, in part, by a recent unpleasant experience in the job market here in Seattle. By that I mean that I interviewed for a job and didn't get it. I was seriously bummed by this. I was telling my wife that I should write about it, and while I was at it maybe I should document some of my other spectacular failures over the years. I've pulled some boners, but they didn't seem so bad at the time. They still don't. They seemed like re-direction, or re-purposing. There I go with that word again. Then my wife said, "Why don't you write an essay about each year of your life?" At first I thought she was implying that I had at least one spectacular failure per year to write about. It's probably true but that's besides the point. Important note to husbands: your wife can freely address your, ahem, less successful moments. As it turns out she was really suggesting that I write about the most important thing that happened to me in each year of my life. I thought that was a pretty cool idea.

Here's my general plan for documenting the last 52 years or so:


2008 - How I Didn't Get A Job At Amazon.com

2007 - Leaving the Catholic Church

2006 - My Great Publishing Adventure - Part 1 of 3

2006 - My Great Publishing Adventure - Part 2 of 3

2006 - My Great Publishing Adventure - Part 3 of 3

2005 - Hurricane Katrina, or How My Mother's Funeral Got Rescheduled

2004 - Go West, and Learn to Play Jazz

2003 - Ten Weeks At A Hellhole In Kentucky

2002 - Death On The Back Roads Of Georgia

2001 - A Clear Blue Morning in Washington, D.C.

2000 - A Mother's Day I'll Never Forget

1999 - Big Time Internet Tycoon

1998 - Claire

1997 - Learning the Piano by Starting Over

1996 - Philadelphia Story

1995 - Alex

1994 - Family Reunion, or Chaos in Pensacola

1993 - Sluglines: a D.C. Tradition

1992 - One Day at the Carmel Mission

1991 - Backpacking in the Sierra Nevadas

1990 - Paradise Found on Monterey Bay

1989 - Company Commander

1988 - On the DMZ

1987 - OK in Oklahoma

1986 - Stung by a Southern Belle

1985 - Germany

1984 - Lieutenants, Clue Optional

1983 - Benning School for Boys (and Girls)

1982 - A Detailed Study of Pentagon Happy Hours

1981 - Murillo Manor Daze

1980 - A Roommate Too Far

1979 - Hay Street

1978 - Airborne Journalist

1977 - Reporting for Duty

1976 - Basic Training

1975 - The Only Trophy I Ever Won

1974 - Music School

1973 - High School Graduation

1972 - Philmont

1971 - St Charles Streetcar

1970 - Uptown Living

1969 - Jimi Hendrix

1968 - Man on the Moon, Me on Celeste Ave

1967 - Life at St Matthew's

1966 - Altar Boy

1965 - Spanked by a Nun

1964 - Poughkeepsie, New York

1963 - A Big Birthday Party

1962 - First Communion

1961 - Waiting for the Mailman

1960 - No Doughnuts for Billy

1959 - My Life As An Orator

1958 - Boutte, La.

1957 - Resor Street

1956 - Lots of Diapers (the kind you wash)

1955 - Hotel Dieux

I hope to post these essays about every other week.

While I'm on the subject of memoirs, I'm reading two now that I really like. The Desert Remembers My Name, by Kathleen Alcala; and The Year of Magical Thinking, by Joan Didion.

In both of these I am inspired by the quality of the writing and the way the subject matter is handled.


Bill Branley