Kate Robinson's "Idea for the Theater" Inspired by Giulio Camillo's "L'Idea del Teatro"

Here's her strange and mesmerizing video of the "theater." Read about her book, A Search for the Source of the Whirlpool of Artifice: The Cosmology of Giulio Camillo, here.

La Sombra del Sabino, September 6th & Why Attend a Bookstore Reading?

I'll be reading from and signing The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire on September 6, 2009 at the ever-luscious La Sombra del Sabino in Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico (reading in English, Q & A in Spanglish)--- apropos of which I (finally!) posted this little "roundabout," "Why Attend a Bookstore Reading?" with answers provided by varios amigos, among them, Sandra Gulland, Solveig Eggerz, Leslie Pietrzyk, Richard Peabody, Richard Beban, Kathleen Alcala, Tony Cohan, Daniel Olivas, and more.

Hasta pronto.

Trailers for Books: A Selection

Trailer for 'The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire' by C.M. Mayo from ParsingPlace.com on Vimeo.

Working on the soundtrack for a video shot in Mexico City by Deborah Bonello... meanwhile, just had a fascinating conversation with Julia Sussner, specialist in narrative architecture, who made the trailer for my novel, The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire (watch the 47 seconds here) (or click above). It's not yet an established genre. Anything goes. Herewith a few widely divergent examples:

For Sandra Gulland's historical novel, Mistress of the Sun

For Miranda July's short story collection, No One Belongs Here More Than You

For James Howard Kunstler's novel, World Made by Hand

For Stephanie Bennett Vogt's self-help book, Your Spacious Self

For Steven Hart's The Last Three Miles: Politics, Murder, and the Construction of America's First Superhighway
Note: You might want to mute the sound on this one.

For Penny Peirce's self-help book, Frequency

For Anat Baniel's self-help book, Move Into Life

I'd be interested to know about more unusual and/or especially good book trailer videos. Suggestions?

Fall for the Book Festival: Bill Miller over at Art Taylor's Art & Literature

Delighted to announce that I'll be reading from and signing my novel The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire at the Fall for the Book Festival in Virginia this September 26th (details at my events page). What's Fall for the Book all about? Check out Art Taylor's interview with festival director Bill Miller over at Art & Literature.

The Writers Center's Kyle Semmel Talks About Blogs

Check out this piece in DC's Examiner.com. More anon.

Edward Swift in San Miguel de Allende: How to Build a House Without Losing Your Mind

Definitely on my top 10 list of books read this year: Edward Swift's memoir of growing up in the Big Thicket in East Texas, My Grandfather's Finger (University of Georgia Press, 1999). More about that anon. He's not only a very fine writer, he's also an artist, and his works, like his writing, have a playful charm. Here's a portrait of the artist (taken by Yrs Truly last month) in front of his gallery in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico.

He's not only a gallery owner, he's also homeowner and he has some wise things to say (read the article here) about building a house in Mexico and in particular working with such a talented architect as Jesús Zárate. Angular and light-filled--- and filled with his own art--- Swift's small house is surprisingly spacious. View more pictures of this remarkable house on Swift's website here.

More anon.

Blogs Noted: Conversaciones sobre microfinanzas México, Immigration Now, Rancho Gordo, HMS Beekeeper, CA Translation, Creative DC, Louis the Pug

More blogs noted:

Conversaciones sobre microfinanzas México (Mary O'Keefe, et al.)
Immigration Now (Gustavo Cano)
Rancho Gordo: Experiments from my Mostly New World Kitchen and Gardens (Steve Sando)
HMS Beekeeper Blog
Creative DC (Amanda Hirsch)
Two Words: The Blog of the Center for the Art of Translation
Louis the Pug
More anon.

Blogs Noted: Art Taylor's Art & Literature, Dana's Point, Sara Dobie, Charles T. Tart, Eve Konstantine's VQ

Art and Literature (Art Taylor)
Dana's Point (Dana Thomas)
Sara Dobie
Charles T. Tart
VQ: Vibrational Intelligence (Eve Konstantine)
More anon.

Enjoy the Season: The Last Prince of the Mexican Empire @ Bethesda MD's Barnes & Noble

"Enjoy the Season," says the sign--- which I hadn't noticed until, thanks to my amiga C.R., I saw this photo of Yours Truly giving the spiel (note carte-de-visite of the then-prince Agustin de Iturbide y Green circa 1865 to the left) at the Bethesda Barnes & Noble Bookstore back in June. A book tour is a sort of season, after all. This was one of the last events in the cram-packed book tour arranged by my publisher, Unbridled Books, that started at Washington DC's Mexican Cultural Institute and then to California (Palo Alto, Berkeley, Corte Madera, Pasadena, LA, La Jolla, Del Mar), and on to Albuquerque and (whew) four events in a blazing zig-zag across the great state of Texas--- so I was pretty well wiped out by the time I got back up north to Bethesda, Maryland's Barnes & Noble. But in fact, this was one of the most fun of all the events. Several of my writing friends attended this one (among them, Leslie Pietrzyk, Carolyn Parkhurst, Ann L. McLaughlin, and Paula Whyman), as well as many Mexican friends and a leading expert on Mexico's First and Second Empires, Clark Crook-Castan, author of Los movimientos monárquicos mexicanos (Collección UDEM, 2000). I'll be posting something about this work very soon. The thing is: a book tour is about so much more than selling a book. It's about understanding the book in deeper ways as people make comments and ask questions; it's about seeing old friends and family; meeting new friends; and learning about other people's work. A book tour is a season of surprises.

More anon.

Artist Statement

What if novelists made paintings to show what their writing is all about? Seems to me this is the flip-side of the tradition of visual artists offering up an "artist statement." A few examples of the genre by painters:

Kelley Vandiver's Artist Statement

Holly Sears's Artist Statement

Edgar Soberon's Artist Statement

Alas, I'm a lousy painter. But if I could choose a painting to represent the way I think of my writing, or rather, its intent, I might go for Holly Sears's "Lift" or Kelley Vandiver's "Light Shown in the Darkness" or maybe Edgar Soberon's "Nightshade." Or maybe-- if a sculpture counts-- Edward Swift's "Alien Jumping Rope in a Party Dress."

More anon.