Silly Ol' Internet!

I have been honing my online research skills for a few years now. Investigating my (deceased) childhood abuser has proven to be very challenging and so has forced me to learn to be creative and patient in my searches.

It has also taught me that although we are in the new technology age, the information age, that not a ton of information is available online. Okay, there is a ton, but not as much as one might think or as accurate. In fact, unless one chooses to have an online presence, it is difficult to track someone down without having access to government records (many of which are simply not available to honest lay-people).

For instance, I spent years looking for my good friend Pat. I knew that he left the area when he joined the Air Force, but I didn't know if he was still on active duty, where he had settled, etc. The military doesn't exactly post regular updates about where its people are living/working. I actually sent out several emails over the years hoping to track him down. Eventually it worked, abut 10 years after I started. He made an obscure posting on an obscure website years ago that happened to have a still active email address attached to it. We have been in touch ever since, and I eventually convinced him to join Facebook for more regular contact.

Recently I have been searching another old friend, Flo. I heard from a mutual friend, who is nearly invisible on-line or off, that she had married her long-time sweetheart and said honey was now teaching. I stumbled across his (the honey's) name because he is an active musician and pops up occasionally online. About 5 years ago I sent off an email to the band address asking about her, but heard nothing. This week I found him on MySpace and sent him a message. So far nothing.

Then I found a listing for them both in San Francisco--IN THE ONLINE WHITE PAGES. D'Oh!! I could just call her at home!

That is way too easy. Calling someone at home? Isn't that a little out there? I mean, email is a nice safe way to make contact and just as easy a way to avoid someone. I'm going to have to think about this...

With Some Explanation

Part 2 of my list of favorite non-fiction books, but this time I'm going to include some exploration of what I enjoyed about each one.

Fire in a Cane Break: The Last Mass Lynching in America by Laura Wexler
Lynchings are not a new concept, and one reason many stories are still timely is because the silence surrounding the perpetrators is slowly cracking. This leads, in a few cases at least, to prosecution of the evil doers. This book takes the time to solve a decades old mystery. The author spent probably hundreds of hours doing research and tracking down the living survivors, guilty and innocent, of a horrific and unjustified mass lynching. Wexler takes what could be a fairly simple story and tells it in a way that is always riveting. I find her combination of reporting and suspense building to be inspiring.

Wrapped in Rainbows: Life of Zora Neale Hurston by Valerie Boyd
I originally purchased this book because I wanted to work with Valerie in my graduate program. I did work with her, but didn't read the book until a few years later in preparation to teach a Hurston novel for a community college English class. This book is the first time that someone attempted to unravel the various stories that Hurston told about herself to get to the truth of an extraordinary life. A fascinating story, and great insight, about a fascinating woman.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Why are we fascinated with serial killers? Never mind, don't try and answer that. Just read this book. Larson does a wonderful job of telling the stories of the Chicago World's Fair just before the turn of the 20th century, one of the first serial killers who preyed on people who flocked to the fair, and the detective who cracked the murder cases. The author's only flaw is his tendency to take on the lofty tone and sentence structure of the men of late 19th century Chicago, and to refer to historical happenings that were (sometimes only peripherally) related to the story as if we all know all the stories. It sucks to be on the outside of an inside joke without enough information to find the story yourself.

Let's Not Go to the Dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller
I could relate to most of Fuller's experience even though she grew up in Africa on a ranch and I grew up in a small town in the U.S. The woman simply has a great way of telling a story. An interesting life doesn't hurt.

Autobiography of a Face by Lucy Grealy
On one hand this is an incredibly inspiring book. A young girl lives through cancer, the chemotherapy and years of failed reconstructive surgeries. She is a world-class poet and all around fun gal. On the other hand it is depressing because she ultimately died of a drug overdose. It is still a great read.

A reason for book lists

Here comes the cliche:
In order to be a good writer, an aspiring writer must be a reader.

I do read a lot. I have a very bad habit of going from one book to the next, a bit like an addict I suppose (big surprise). I don't always take the time to digest the contents before I move onto the next fix.

Instead of just chewing them up and spitting them out, I thought it would be interesting to begin a list of non-fiction books I have read (and enjoyed) in the last few years. I'll do this periodically, and possibly add in novels as I go.

Consider this Part 1. Some new and some classics (in no particular order):
The Possibility of Everything by Hope Edelman
Shot in the Heart by Mikal Gilmore
Columbine by Dave Cullen
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

Followed by a nice gentle rejection

The agent from NM that I queried has apparently moved and left no forwarding address as the snail-mail query I sent out was returned undeliverable. There IS a typo in her address, but not enough to keep the letter from making it to the proper destination. There is the possibility that the agent herself didn't like the typo and returned it unopened for that reason alone. She has already ignored my email query (even though one of her clients TOLD me to email her), so after sending an email request for her correct snail-mail address and hearing nothing, I may just give up. I can live with that.

The NY agent who was recommended by another friend sent a very nice rejection today after looking over my proposal, summary and sample chapter. It was short, sweet and to the point. Nothing really to complain about.

Am I disappointed, yes. Devastated? No. Absolutely not.

I'd like to do more research and writing before I send out any more queries or copies of the proposal. ALTHOUGH if someone wanted to send me to an agent, I wouldn't grouse about it.