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Reading Rilke Again

Started by Shaye in Reflections on Life Jun 11. 0 Replies

If your a writer and you haven't read Rilke's, Letters to a Young Poet, do yourself a favor.  It lives by my bedside and travels everywhere I go, I am currently wearing out my fourth copy. –Rainier Maria Rilke (Letters to a Young Poet) “Go into yourself.  Search for the reason that bids you write: find out whether it is spreading its roots into the deepest places of your heart, acknowledge to yourself whether you would have to die if it were denied you to write.  This above all--ask yourself in…Continue

CB Members' Award-Winning Books

Started by Roman Payne in Books We’re Reading Jun 11. 0 Replies

June 11th 2013 - Here are a couple CB members we're showing off today:  Bob van Laerhoven (Belgium) and Lee Case (USA)...CB Member Bob van Laerhoven's novel (written in Dutch) won the Hercule Poirot Prize for best suspense novel of the year.  He now has a literary agent in the USA and has recorded an English language MP3 to introduce CulturalBook members to his oeuvre:…Continue

How best to serialise?

Started by Danny Jorgensen in Publishing Jun 7. 0 Replies

I want ot serialise a story I'm working on, and I'm trying to  work out how best ot start publishing.The story that will consist of around 120 chapters (prob 4000-6000 words each), spaced five years apart for the body of the story. I should be able to start releasing them in a month or so.I was thinking of putting out the first few chapters for free, to get feedback and so on, and then publish them one at a time, every week or two, for about 15-30 cents each. Probably on Kobo, Kindle, and…Continue

Member Opportunities / ♪ by Lee Crase / ✎ by Pietros Maneos

Started by Roman Payne in Free Member Offers Jun 7. 0 Replies

Members, you are invited to share your...  ✎ Literary Quotes✎            and/or       ♪ Audio Files ♪Information Below ▼ But first...Please listen to this audio recording by CulturalBook member Lee Crase: Bleeding-History-Lee-Crase.m4aPlease read today's literary quote (DLQ) by CB member Pietros Maneos: www.dailyliteraryquote.comTo…Continue

Tags: pietros, maneos, crase, lee, literary

DISCUSSION: The Furious Poet and A Damned German Keyboard...

Started by Roman Payne in Music. Last reply by Chalice Divine Jun 7. 8 Replies

Scheiße !! It's the novelist's nightmare: the keyboard on my laptop broke almost 24 hours ago... it is a keyboard in English, as the novel I am writing is in English...  And since I live in Paris, I cannot find a keyboard English very easily.  So, in despair, I first bought an external keyboard French (a language I know fluently); but since French keyboards have the letters all in the wrong order.  But this proved clumsy to write on, so I then bought a keyboard in German (a language I do not…Continue

Tags: music, roman, payne, poet, furious

Colette Quote Today

Started by Shaye in Reflections on Life. Last reply by Curtiss Plaskon Jun 2. 1 Reply

This was an excellent “heads up” for me, just the reminder I needed!  But if I may be so presumptuous as to add: You must become a writer before you can become an author, and that means writing down all the “twaddle” as Katherine Mansfield called it.“I imagine I was always writing. Twaddle it was, too. But better far write twaddle or anything, anything, than nothing at all.” Katherine Mansfield Continue

Just Say No!

Started by Gatzby in CulturalBook the Website. Last reply by Terri Price Jun 1. 8 Replies

In my inbox (my reply follows)-Hello, CulturalBook members. In the past week we've acquired about a dozen new members whose profiles promote some kind of wellness product: colon cleanse, weight loss, wrinkle cream, and other similar products that have nothing to do with the theme of CulturalBook. Also, most of their profile photos vs. profile descriptions clearly show that somehow they have done an excellent job of changing genders.Should these "members" be deleted? Please let me know your…Continue

BOYTA 2012 AWARDS

Started by João Cerqueira in CulturalBook the Website May 31. 0 Replies

 NEW%20BOTYA%20sticker-Finalist%20gold.jpgMy novel The Tragedy of Fidel Castro is one of the BOTYA 2012 Finalists in Translations. The others are Dom Quixote, by Cervantes; The plain in flames by Juan Rulfo; and The world Eve left us by Boston Teran.…Continue

Tags: Religion, Humor, Politics, Fiction, Translation

Prose/Poetry Blog Posts

pruning myself

Posted by Jack Spratt on June 16, 2013 at 5:26pm 0 Comments

Falling, mortally wounded by exhaustion, both physical and psychological, to sleep, I dream and in the dreams are dialogs. And this one was a massive endless conversation about love. In reference of which I now envision pruning…

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loom of dawn

Posted by Jack Spratt on June 15, 2013 at 2:51pm 0 Comments

Woven together on the loom of our time, we the many dissimilar threads, which in their turn are woven by birth and life’s experience form the fabric, or tapestry, of our collective history going forward. Making the bone yard of what…

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The Catch. A Short Story

Posted by Isham Cook on June 15, 2013 at 2:30pm 0 Comments

The more is known about a Shandong woman, the more unknowable she becomes

"Well, what happened?"

"Let me tell the whole story from the start. She's tall with glamorous movie star eyes, tits on the small side but a nice round set of hips. The first time we met she was wearing green army pants, the kind with all the pockets, a tight black shirt and sunglasses, which she took off as soon as we sat down…

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moving forward to a new life

Posted by Jack Spratt on June 14, 2013 at 2:46pm 0 Comments

Moving is a pain in the sit down and heart; a death really, while one wonders is there life afterwards? Yet it, as death, is exactly what I envisioned when first considering the idea. My current residency is within an elderly…

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Isham Cook
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Isham Cook posted a blog post

The Catch. A Short Story

The more is known about a Shandong woman, the more unknowable she becomes"Well, what happened?""Let me tell the whole story from the start. She's tall with glamorous movie star eyes, tits on the small side but a nice round set of hips. The first time we met she was wearing green army pants, the kind with all the pockets, a tight black shirt and sunglasses, which she took off as soon as we sat down in the café. That was important. If there's one thing I can't handle it's people who don't take…See More
Saturday
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Isham Cook posted a blog post

Good Teacher, Bad Teacher. A Short Story

A Chinese English department grows ever more dependent on a foreign teacher found not to its liking"How did you do that?""Watch again." Fifty students stood around him craning their necks - some standing on chairs - as the teacher moved three walnut shells around the surface of a desk. "Now look," he said, turning up each shell to show there was nothing underneath and putting them in a line with a pea sitting in front of the first shell.He placed the center shell over the pea and pushed it…See More
May 29
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Isham Cook updated his/her profile
May 4
Isham Cook posted a blog post

Restaurant Time Warp. A Short Story

A distressing experience in a Beijing restaurant that keeps slipping back in time"I like the decor here. Look at the designs lit up on the wall by a hidden projector, and the silver mobiles over there, suspended in space like birds or fish. Notice the rafters in the ceiling above lighted blue. And that big black-and-white peony mural taking up the far wall."My date is ignoring me, swinging her leg back and forth under the table. She hands me the menu. It's my first visit to the Little Kitchen,…See More
May 4
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Isham Cook posted a blog post

Paradox. A Short Story

The female students of a university class discover they are featured in a nude painting exhibition for which they never posedTo make the nude not look like a manikin, to make it vibrate with weight and hang with gravity, was mere entry level for any professional painter. But to embed light into the flesh, to render the nude not like a nude but a Renaissance still life with velvet bread, pristine pewter and glassware and grapes glowing like green suns, now that takes the caliber of a Lucian…See More
Apr 26
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Isham Cook posted a status
"Free download of my novel Lust & Philosophy (enter coupon code: XT42T; expires April 13): https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/300731"
Apr 6
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Isham Cook posted a blog post

A Little Accident. A Short Story

The Chinese art of "pulling noodles"Liu Yan's new Mazda 6 hadn't a single dent on it in the year since she had bought it. Not bad for a novice negotiator of Beijing's congested streets. She had taught herself how to parallel park without an attendant's help, while her friends would drive out of their way to find easier parking. She was also careful each time she got out of the car, peeking out to make sure no one was coming who might sideswipe the door. She would even slowly open the door a…See More
Mar 29
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Isham Cook was featured
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Mar 18
Isham Cook's blog post was featured

What You Know, You Know. A Short Story

When we must resort to the whipSiran was showing how the seam on her antique Chinese shirt opened up for breastfeeding, and by the time she got through all the knotted buttons - they take as much dexterity to undo as to do up - my cellphone had rung twice. I was praying Debie would not call, but this was an unidentified number. They are usually telemarketers and I ignore them. Whenever it rings a second time it's someone who knows me. It was her mother. Siran was not expecting this. "Oh no,…See More
Mar 18
10 Comments
Curtiss Plaskon commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Well, Terri, you most certainly do not suffer a lack of brevity. You are correct though, too much of anything fails to titilate, in fact it numbs the reader, it fairly lobotomizes the reader. It reminds me of a Larson cartoon where he depicted hell…"
Mar 4
Terri Price commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Boring."
Mar 4
Curtiss Plaskon commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Mr. Cook, among the things from which you no doubt suffer is a lack of brevity. And the most seminal word (don't read too much into that) you used is "trite" and exactly what a piece of wrting becomes when it…"
Mar 4
Isham Cook commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Well, no, I beg to differ. I understood your original comment to be taken quite literally, as "rose/thorn" metaphors can no longer be used without appearing trite, and I just have this instinctive reaction against banality, causing me to…"
Mar 4
Shaye commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Aloha Curtiss, I've come to this party rather late having only just read Mr. Cook's offering. I have to say I'm not a big fan of misogyny in literature even by the greats. As for your perfectly chosen example of the rose, it is not…"
Mar 3
Curtiss Plaskon commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
"Oh, Mr. Cook coyness doesn't suit you, I have read enough of your "images" to be rather certain of that. You knew perfectly well what I meant and there is no need to hide behind parsing. Let the reader decide whether you writing,…"
Mar 3
Isham Cook commented on Isham Cook's blog post What You Know, You Know. A Short Story
""Thorns drawn lovingly across one's face" is a mixed metaphor? A mixed metaphor involves the (typically clumsy) use of two clashing metaphors. My phrase is not a metaphor at all, let alone a mixed metaphor; it's simply an image."
Mar 3

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Q1 : Who am I ?
An American expat writer of essays and fiction who has lived in Beijing, China, for 14 years.
Q2 : What have I done ?
Previously taught English literature, linguistics, and critical theory in university.
Q3 : What am I going to do ?
Publish the novels I'm working on.
Who are my favorite authors? What are my favorite books ? What is my favorite epoch or setting in literature?
1. (top 10 in alphabetical order): Ballard, Beckett, Borges, Dick, Dostoevsky, Hesse, Kafka, Melville, Mishima, Sade.
2. Too many to list here.
3. Modernism.

Isham Cook's Blog

The Catch. A Short Story

Posted on June 15, 2013 at 2:30pm 0 Comments

The more is known about a Shandong woman, the more unknowable she becomes

"Well, what happened?"

"Let me tell the whole story from the start. She's tall with glamorous movie star eyes, tits on the small side but a nice round set of hips. The first time we met she was wearing green army pants, the kind with all the pockets, a tight black shirt and sunglasses, which she took off as soon as we sat down…

Continue

Good Teacher, Bad Teacher. A Short Story

Posted on May 29, 2013 at 1:00pm 0 Comments

A Chinese English department grows ever more dependent on a foreign teacher found not to its liking

"How did you do that?"

"Watch again." Fifty students stood around him craning their necks - some standing on chairs - as the teacher moved three walnut shells around the surface of a desk. "Now look," he said, turning up each shell to show there was nothing underneath and putting them in a line…

Continue

Restaurant Time Warp. A Short Story

Posted on May 4, 2013 at 9:30am 0 Comments

A distressing experience in a Beijing restaurant that keeps slipping back in time

"I like the decor here. Look at the designs lit up on the wall by a hidden projector, and the silver mobiles over there, suspended in space like birds or fish. Notice the rafters in the ceiling above lighted blue. And that big black-and-white peony mural taking up the far wall."

My date is ignoring me, swinging…

Continue

Paradox. A Short Story

Posted on April 26, 2013 at 5:30pm 0 Comments

The female students of a university class discover they are featured in a nude painting exhibition for which they never posed

To make the nude not look like a manikin, to make it vibrate with weight and hang with gravity, was mere entry level for any professional painter. But to embed light into the flesh, to render the nude not like a nude but a Renaissance still life with velvet bread, pristine…

Continue

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