Jay Martel's Blog: Channel Blue Blog
April 9, 2014
On Mad Men in its final glory
Here's a humor thing I wrote for the New Yorker website about the final episode of "Mad Men":
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs...
I'm definitely a fan, though as Don Draper has crawled through the cigarette ashes and empty booze bottles to his final season, it's become harder to not think of the show as a nicely made soap opera. It's a harsh commentary, perhaps, because the writing on the show has been so excellent for so long, as has every aspect of the production, but I think even the best episodic dramas on TV that last longer than three seasons have a tendency to repeat themselves. (The exception that perhaps proves the rule is the brilliant "Breaking Bad," which was able to retain its freshness, partly due to the devolving nature of its lead character.) My piece is a parody of the repeat beats in "Mad Men," which have, even in there occasional monotony, brought me much joy. I will be watching Sunday.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs...
I'm definitely a fan, though as Don Draper has crawled through the cigarette ashes and empty booze bottles to his final season, it's become harder to not think of the show as a nicely made soap opera. It's a harsh commentary, perhaps, because the writing on the show has been so excellent for so long, as has every aspect of the production, but I think even the best episodic dramas on TV that last longer than three seasons have a tendency to repeat themselves. (The exception that perhaps proves the rule is the brilliant "Breaking Bad," which was able to retain its freshness, partly due to the devolving nature of its lead character.) My piece is a parody of the repeat beats in "Mad Men," which have, even in there occasional monotony, brought me much joy. I will be watching Sunday.
March 18, 2014
Ludicrous Fiction vs. Ludicrous Fact
When I set out to write "Channel Blue," I wasn't trying to emulate anything I'd read before. I was trying, with all my heart, to write a new story. But since it's been published, readers of "Channel Blue" have pointed out some obvious and not-so-obvious "influences," the more flattering being "Men In Black," "Network," "Monty Python's Life of Brian" and "Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy." The one that comes up again and again (not surprisingly) is "The Truman Show." I have recently discovered another "influence": "The Truman Show" Delusion, a psychiatric disorder in which the inflicted assume their every move is being watch by millions (see below). So, basically, there have been mental patients for the last ten years or so experiencing IN REALITY what I spent that last ten years or so doing to my fictional protagonist. I don't know who you think you are, Reality, but I wish you'd stop copying me.
http://www.popsci.com/science/article...
http://www.popsci.com/science/article...
March 11, 2014
The reading went well; I fooled them again
I did a reading in a nice neighborhood bookstore on Saturday and it seemed to go well. I say "seemed" because, well, nobody threw anything at me or screamed "YOU'RE NOT DEAN KOONTZ!" or started vomiting. On the other hand, neither did anyone proclaim their love for Channel Blue nor offer me a bag of gold Krugerrands to write a sequel. So, in my mind, that is a reading that seemed to go well.
The truth is, I felt like an imposter the entire time. This is not a unique feeling. I also have it when I go to work and when I go home. But I especially have it when I'm standing at a podium as an "author" answering questions about my book. Not because I don't know the answers, but because I'm always waiting for someone to come running in and say, "You think you're an author?! You're not an author! Get away from that podium! Stop fooling these nice people!"
Is there some word for the condition of secretly believing (or not-so-secretly, now) you're a fraud? Because I have it. Fortunately (in more ways than just this), I'm not the president, because I would probably spend all my time sitting in the Oval Office thinking "Who am I kidding? This is ridiculous."
But anyway, the event seemed to go well. My secret is safe for at least one more reading.
The truth is, I felt like an imposter the entire time. This is not a unique feeling. I also have it when I go to work and when I go home. But I especially have it when I'm standing at a podium as an "author" answering questions about my book. Not because I don't know the answers, but because I'm always waiting for someone to come running in and say, "You think you're an author?! You're not an author! Get away from that podium! Stop fooling these nice people!"
Is there some word for the condition of secretly believing (or not-so-secretly, now) you're a fraud? Because I have it. Fortunately (in more ways than just this), I'm not the president, because I would probably spend all my time sitting in the Oval Office thinking "Who am I kidding? This is ridiculous."
But anyway, the event seemed to go well. My secret is safe for at least one more reading.
March 6, 2014
It's lonely and yet crowded
Channel Blue Blog. Say it ten times. Fast. I'm not much of a blogger, but the process of spending ten years writing and publishing a book has given me an inexplicable need to reach out to those who are sharing the experience.
It's a crazy thing, putting something very personal of yourself out there. You feel at once very lonely and befriended. Most of my work up to now has been in theater, television and film, where the response is either immediate or, in the case of basic cable, nonexistent. The book experience has been quite different. Response seems to come in irregular bursts of activity that either make you feel like there's no one out there who gets you or the exact opposite, that you are sharing the planet with a lot of like-minded individuals.
On rereading this, it all sounds ridiculously abstract. I'll try to blog more specifically in the future. Oh and, by the way, the invasion of Crimea by Russia would be exactly the kind of stunt the producers of Channel Blue might pull. And Putin clearly thinks he's starring in his own hit series. Stay tuned.
It's a crazy thing, putting something very personal of yourself out there. You feel at once very lonely and befriended. Most of my work up to now has been in theater, television and film, where the response is either immediate or, in the case of basic cable, nonexistent. The book experience has been quite different. Response seems to come in irregular bursts of activity that either make you feel like there's no one out there who gets you or the exact opposite, that you are sharing the planet with a lot of like-minded individuals.
On rereading this, it all sounds ridiculously abstract. I'll try to blog more specifically in the future. Oh and, by the way, the invasion of Crimea by Russia would be exactly the kind of stunt the producers of Channel Blue might pull. And Putin clearly thinks he's starring in his own hit series. Stay tuned.
