oregon writers

April 4, 2018

The Bonnie and Clyde Files: How Two Senior Dogs Saved a Middle Aged Man

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Dear Friends:

I invite you to support my latest literary endeavor and help return me to a life of letters and service. The new book is called The Bonnie and Clyde Files: How Two Senior Dogs Saved a Middle Aged Man.

It goes something like this:

In 2017, at the age of 53, I experienced an extinction of self. For the first time in my life, I could not get a job, I was nearly broke, and I had no freedom of movement or conscience. I was an American outcast trapped in a labyrinth known as probation, desperately engaged in the ultimate struggle to stave off marginalization. There I was, lying on the couch, talking to my dead husky, words echoing through the house that was empty because I had performed terrible hospice care on myself and given away almost everything.

Then I found two senior dogs named Bonnie and Clyde, residents of Angels for Sara (dog) Sanctuary, a refuge along the Lewis and Clark River. There, walking two dogs, I resurrected as a human being. I read the river, tracked elk, watched birds, slayed blackberries, skipped rocks, cursed clearcuts, walked in rain and went deep into heretofore unknown areas of my creative mind. With Bonnie and Clyde at my side, I learned important lessons of faith, friendship, family, face-to-face encounters and the timeless remedy of nature, lessons I intuit can enlighten others who experience a cataclysmic personal event. In The Bonnie and Clyde Files, I merge essay, cultural criticism, memoir, streams of consciousness and poetry to create a hybrid of a genre that is unlike any dog book I have ever read. I wrote on instinct, channeled Walt Whitman, and became a dog to better explore humanity, my country and the treatment of men and women at the hands of the state’s criminal justice system. I wrote to understand all the terrible, bizarre and wonderful things that were happening to me.

Please support me by purchasing The Bonnie and Clyde Files direct from Nestucca Spit Press, scheduled for release in the fall of 2018. The book will be unavailable in stores. A special limited print edition of 300 copies, signed by the author (and dogs), is now selling for $30 (plus shipping). A handmade bookmark will be included. Half of the profits are earmarked for the Angels for Sara Sanctuary to continue their excellent work. Customers can order through this blog and use Paypal or make other arrangements for payment by contacting me via email or through the Nestucca Spit Press web site. Barter is also accepted.

I thank you from the bottom of heart. I know I still have good work to do and this is just the beginning.

January 20, 2018

Coaching Service for Aspiring Authors Launched in Astoria

Matt Love NSP Meditations, Oregon Coast_History, Writing aspiring authors, aspiring writers, Astoria, astoria writer, author coach, author coaching, authors, award winning, beginining writer, book coach, coastal writing, editorial coach, Eugene author coach, matt love, nestucca spit press, Newport author coaching, oregon writers, portland author coaching, seattle author coaching, self publishing, self publishing in oreogn, writing a book, writing coach, writing workshop

Writers:

I have officially launched my new author coaching service. If you or anyone you know wants to write a book, please read below and perhaps I can help you.

A memoir. A crime novel. A family history. A children’s book. A collection of poems.

Many people dream of writing a book. But what goes into writing one for a first time author? And then if the manuscript is completed, what happens next? Does the author try to land an agent or consider publishing the book on one of the many self-publishing platforms now available? What many aspiring authors need is an experienced coach to help guide them through these challenging questions.

Matt Love, Publisher of Nestucca Spit Press, and author of 19 books about Oregon, has launched a new and expanded author coaching service for aspiring and established authors in and around Clatsop and Pacific Counties who want to complete a book and bring it out to the world. “So many people have a desire to write and publish book but they often don’t know how to get started and need consistent encouragement,” said Love. “I can help with that because I was once there, too.”

Love, the winner of 2009 Holbrook Literary Legacy Award, has worked informally with many aspiring authors in recent years, including several who went on to produce bestsellers in Oregon. He teaches a bi-monthly writing workshop in Astoria that has attracted writers from the coast, Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. He’s also taught workshops at Portland State University, University of Oregon, Pacific University, Clackamas Community College, the Sou’wester and the Sitka Center for Art and Ecology.

“I’m currently coaching several authors in Oregon and Washington and want to work with more because I find the experience so creatively and personally gratifying,” said Love. “One client is wrapping up a YA novel set in coastal Washington in the 1970s, another is compiling a collection of poetry from 50 years of writing, and another is writing a novel set in the Vietnam War. These are all going to be great books and I enjoy helping the writers achieve their dream.”

The service offers a range of editorial and marketing services to emerging writers and poets seeking an independent and innovative approach to finishing, publishing and distributing their books. These include an initial coaching consultation about a potential project, manuscript review and evaluation, and the ins and outs of publishing and marketing a book in multiple formats. All services are offered via a combination of email, telephone and face-to-face meetings. For more information, visit Love’s web site or email him and get that long-awaited book project going.

September 15, 2017

100,000 Reads and Support for the Blog

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The Meditations Blog recently passed a milestone of sorts—100,000 page reads—according to Google Analytics. People have read it in New York, Florida, Germany, Australia, Portland, Newport, Astoria, Seattle, Olympia, St. Helens, Lincoln City, Gold Beach and beyond. It’s still a mystery to me how people come to find the blog because I’ve done almost no promotion for it.

Thank you readers. Thank you for spending time with my writing. Thank you for sharing it with your friends and family. When I launched the blog in late March, I had no idea where it would go and what I would write. I just felt an overwhelming desire to write and share some of what was going through my mind as I try to navigate this strange, trying and complicated period of my life. Whether the writing will actually aid in a successful navigation remains to be seen. I have no expectations.

Many readers have responded positively to my writing and contacted me directly. Some have not. The detractors are out there still doing their detracting.

I also want to thank those readers who subscribed and made financial contributions to the blog. I’d like to make another appeal to readers to support the blog via a payment via Paypal or other arrangement. I do work hard on these pieces and intuit that some my words are connecting to people and providing some grains of universal value beyond my struggle with my current tenuous situation. Please also consider buying some of the books, particularly The Gigging Life, if you know someone who takes their passion and creativity out to people like I used to do. I think that book has some good lessons in it for creative entrepreneurs.

The blog feels like it will head in a new direction in October. I sense I won’t be writing much about my situation. I’ve said enough on that subject and have another 10,000 words about it that I’ve left off the blog. One day, this material may find a place to be published.

What exactly this new direction will be is unclear to me as of this writing. It will emerge, though. Probably on the beach.

I will continue to write about Oregon Tavern Age, Bonnie and Clyde, driftwood forts, beaches and unexpected surprises.

I have about 8,000 words on growing up in Oregon City that I might share. I think some fiction starts and stuff about tennis are coming, too, the latter just in time for two big tennis movies! (Riggs and King! McEnroe and Borg! And where is the bio-pic about Arthur Ashe, the greatest American sportsman of all time?)

Again, thanks for reading. Thanks to those who reached out. Thanks for any contribution you might make. It does help. I will continue to work hard with my writing and service to others (dogs, too) to honor your faith in me. That not-giving-up-on-me has made the crucial difference in my life.

(If you found this post enjoyable, thought provoking or enlightening, please consider supporting a writer at work by making a financial contribution to this blog or by purchasing an NSP book.)