Lee Maynard's Blog
January 6, 2015
Cinco Becknell review from Writer's Digest
From the 2nd Annual Writer’s Digest Self-Published eBook Awards:
What a fascinating story this was! Lee Maynard has written a novel that captured my attention from the very first page.
From the minute I met the man with no memory of his past, I was caught up in his story. The little glimpses into what happened to him were just enough of a tease and gave me enough information to start putting it all together and to care about Stick.
The writing was smooth and flowed. The details and the understanding of street people helped with the realism. The characters were well drawn and the reader will be swept up in their lives. Even though some of the storyline can be predicted, the way it is written and revealed is well done.
If he has not done this already, Maynard should publish this novel.
What a fascinating story this was! Lee Maynard has written a novel that captured my attention from the very first page.
From the minute I met the man with no memory of his past, I was caught up in his story. The little glimpses into what happened to him were just enough of a tease and gave me enough information to start putting it all together and to care about Stick.
The writing was smooth and flowed. The details and the understanding of street people helped with the realism. The characters were well drawn and the reader will be swept up in their lives. Even though some of the storyline can be predicted, the way it is written and revealed is well done.
If he has not done this already, Maynard should publish this novel.
November 11, 2014
What are my 10 favorite books?
Readers often ask what I consider to be the "most influential" books.
I can't answer that. At least, not without listing every book I have ever read. To me, all books are "influential". They either drive me toward improvement in my own work, or, quite frankly, are examples of our need to more fully grasp the artistry and music of the language. Either way, they certainly are influential.
It's easier, and more fun, to think in terms of favorites. What are my ten favorite books? I've included a list. But there is a problem. If you had asked me for this list a year ago, it would have been a different list. If you ask me again next year, it will be a different list.
The point is, I don't want my mind to be tied to the same writers all the time. I want to find out what else -- who else -- is out there, writing truly great material. As my red-haired Appalachian mother used to say, "I reserve the right to change my mind." Bless her.
Anyway, the list, in no particular order of preference:
(You will notice that I have included only two dead white guys, and none of the really old dead white guys. Everybody includes those guys. Why? Because they were good. Okay, we know that, so let's include some others . . . )
Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Perhaps my favorite book of all time.
Cormac McCarthy: Suttree
This is a book to sit and read very, very carefully, or you will miss it.
Chuck Kinder: The Last Mountain Dancer
You won't know whether to laugh, or cry, or scream "bullshit!" It won't matter. It is pure artistry, and you will love it.
Richard Currey: Fatal Light
If you can read this without crying, you are a better man than I, Gunga Din.
N. Scott Momaday: House Made of Dawn
A classic, not just of Native American literature, but, in my opinion, of all literature.
Louise Erdrich: The Master Butchers Singing Club
I doubt if Ms. Erdrich will ever run out of material -- or talent.
Breece D'J Pancake: The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
I never knew ye, brother, but I miss ye.
Evan S. Connell: The White Lantern (non-fiction)
Just read it -- and learn something.
Sandy Johnson: The Book of Elders
Only Ms. Johnson could have treated such precious material in such a magnificent way.
Erskine Caldwell: Tobacco Road
I carried a paperback edition of this book around in the pocket of my jeans, until the pages literally came loose and I lost them. (But I was a lot younger, then.)
A note:
If you have never read anything by Jayne Anne Phillips, you have missed one of the great experiences of reading. Pick one of her books. Any book. You will end up reading them all.
I can't answer that. At least, not without listing every book I have ever read. To me, all books are "influential". They either drive me toward improvement in my own work, or, quite frankly, are examples of our need to more fully grasp the artistry and music of the language. Either way, they certainly are influential.
It's easier, and more fun, to think in terms of favorites. What are my ten favorite books? I've included a list. But there is a problem. If you had asked me for this list a year ago, it would have been a different list. If you ask me again next year, it will be a different list.
The point is, I don't want my mind to be tied to the same writers all the time. I want to find out what else -- who else -- is out there, writing truly great material. As my red-haired Appalachian mother used to say, "I reserve the right to change my mind." Bless her.
Anyway, the list, in no particular order of preference:
(You will notice that I have included only two dead white guys, and none of the really old dead white guys. Everybody includes those guys. Why? Because they were good. Okay, we know that, so let's include some others . . . )
Ernest Hemingway: For Whom the Bell Tolls
Perhaps my favorite book of all time.
Cormac McCarthy: Suttree
This is a book to sit and read very, very carefully, or you will miss it.
Chuck Kinder: The Last Mountain Dancer
You won't know whether to laugh, or cry, or scream "bullshit!" It won't matter. It is pure artistry, and you will love it.
Richard Currey: Fatal Light
If you can read this without crying, you are a better man than I, Gunga Din.
N. Scott Momaday: House Made of Dawn
A classic, not just of Native American literature, but, in my opinion, of all literature.
Louise Erdrich: The Master Butchers Singing Club
I doubt if Ms. Erdrich will ever run out of material -- or talent.
Breece D'J Pancake: The Stories of Breece D'J Pancake
I never knew ye, brother, but I miss ye.
Evan S. Connell: The White Lantern (non-fiction)
Just read it -- and learn something.
Sandy Johnson: The Book of Elders
Only Ms. Johnson could have treated such precious material in such a magnificent way.
Erskine Caldwell: Tobacco Road
I carried a paperback edition of this book around in the pocket of my jeans, until the pages literally came loose and I lost them. (But I was a lot younger, then.)
A note:
If you have never read anything by Jayne Anne Phillips, you have missed one of the great experiences of reading. Pick one of her books. Any book. You will end up reading them all.
July 5, 2014
The Crum Session
Did you know that Crum has an accompanying CD? Here's what musician Pops Walker had to say about creating the music that would be featured in the Crum audio book..
"Sometime in late 2005, Ross Ballard approached me with the idea of using my music for the background of his audio book, “Crum”, the novel by Lee Maynard. This kind of project was a first for me and I was intrigued. It sounded like it would be fun. I had no earthly idea. Ross gave me a copy of the book and I was stunned. It was simply brilliant. Yes, it’s crude, sexist, bawdy, and crass. But it’s arguably the best coming-of-age novel ever written about growing up as a lower class country boy. It’s especially piquant if one is from the South, or anywhere else in the backwoods of America. “Crum”, though a novel, is the truth, nothing but the unadulterated truth.
I wrote two tunes specifically for the project and had several previously unrecorded pieces that seemed to fit the timbre of the book, that being a mixture of melancholy, glee, hope, introspection, and potential catharsis. We recorded them all on a cool November day in 2006, and I could sense that Ross, Donnie, and I, shared the same feeling – that we were onto something special. But that special nature had little to do with me. The three of us were merely latecomers, lucky enough to hitch a ride on a phenomenal literary train, a work of dazzling (if off-colored) truth. I’m honored to be a part of it, even if only vicariously. Thanks Ross; thanks Donnie; and most of all, thank you Mr. Maynard for chronicling my (and many others’) adolescence."
"Sometime in late 2005, Ross Ballard approached me with the idea of using my music for the background of his audio book, “Crum”, the novel by Lee Maynard. This kind of project was a first for me and I was intrigued. It sounded like it would be fun. I had no earthly idea. Ross gave me a copy of the book and I was stunned. It was simply brilliant. Yes, it’s crude, sexist, bawdy, and crass. But it’s arguably the best coming-of-age novel ever written about growing up as a lower class country boy. It’s especially piquant if one is from the South, or anywhere else in the backwoods of America. “Crum”, though a novel, is the truth, nothing but the unadulterated truth.
I wrote two tunes specifically for the project and had several previously unrecorded pieces that seemed to fit the timbre of the book, that being a mixture of melancholy, glee, hope, introspection, and potential catharsis. We recorded them all on a cool November day in 2006, and I could sense that Ross, Donnie, and I, shared the same feeling – that we were onto something special. But that special nature had little to do with me. The three of us were merely latecomers, lucky enough to hitch a ride on a phenomenal literary train, a work of dazzling (if off-colored) truth. I’m honored to be a part of it, even if only vicariously. Thanks Ross; thanks Donnie; and most of all, thank you Mr. Maynard for chronicling my (and many others’) adolescence."
Screaming with the Cannibals wins at The Audies
My audio book, read by Ross Ballard was a finalist in the Audio Drama category for the 2014 Audies awards. Check out the review below:
Jesse is a young man who is trying to find himself in the American South in the 1950s while living and working with poor, black people. Narrator Ross Ballard II draws the listener into the story with his spot-on characterizations of the many characters, including a middle-aged black man who can talk like Stepin Fetchit if the situation demands and like James Earl Jones when he's with his own people. Jesse himself is figuratively color-blind, but the people around him are not, and the local sheriff is bound and determined to get rid of Jesse before his freethinking spreads. Ballard makes all of the voices sound real and excels as the confused, angry, and clever Jesse, who manages not only to survive in a world stacked against him but also to win. M.S. 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine - See more here:
Jesse is a young man who is trying to find himself in the American South in the 1950s while living and working with poor, black people. Narrator Ross Ballard II draws the listener into the story with his spot-on characterizations of the many characters, including a middle-aged black man who can talk like Stepin Fetchit if the situation demands and like James Earl Jones when he's with his own people. Jesse himself is figuratively color-blind, but the people around him are not, and the local sheriff is bound and determined to get rid of Jesse before his freethinking spreads. Ballard makes all of the voices sound real and excels as the confused, angry, and clever Jesse, who manages not only to survive in a world stacked against him but also to win. M.S. 2014 Audies Finalist © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine - See more here:
