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May 20, 2009:

WRITE WHAT YOU KNOW

Bruce Kimmel Photograph bk's notes

Well, dear readers, write what you know. That’s what they say and that’s what I’ve done – whether in my novels or these here notes, or wherever. So, I thought for a change of pace I’d write about what I don’t know. Of course, how do you write about what you don’t know when you don’t know? I don’t know. I could write about soccer. I don’t know about that. I could write about heroin. I don’t know about that. I could write about elephant wrangling. I don’t know about that. I just feel I should write about something I don’t know, just for a change of pace. Let’s see: Once upon a time there was a heroin addicted soccer player who also wrangled elephants. He was quite good at soccer, and he knew how to shoot heroin very well. And he was a world-class elephant wrangler and people sought his wrangling abilities far and wide, wherever there were unwrangled elephants. There – I’ve written what I don’t know. I shall now write about what I know. People have often asked if my works of fiction have any fiction in them whatsoever. And the answer is, of course, a little. But most of what I’ve written has much non-fiction – I just pull from things I know, have experienced, or have first-hand knowledge of. Obviously, the three Kritzer books are heavily autobiographical, but there are fictional elements. I used to say what they were, but it actually bothered people to find there were certain elements that were complete fiction. But one must tell the story and sometimes the story needs help and one must do what one must. Writer’s Block, the first book after the trilogy, while wholly fictional and a mystery, has a lot of stuff in it that either happened to me or that I knew about intimately. I can’t really go into detail as that would entail giving away certain things, but especially from the halfway point on much of what’s there is very me. And, of course, the book takes place in New York in 1969, which just happens to be the year I lived there. Of course, there are things in the book that I knew nothing about, like New Haven or Boston for trying out shows, so I read up on those towns and theaters, and also picked the brains of such folks as Don Pippin and Rupert Holmes, both of whom gave me some great stuff. That was followed by Rewind, a complete work of fiction. Right. That was followed by my short story collection, How To Write A Dirty Book and Other Stories. Many people have asked if any of the stories are autobiographical, and I’ve said yes, to some extent they all are. But if I were to be truthful, I’d have to say that the first story, I’ll See You In My Dreams is very autobiographical, at least for a certain part of my life. The title story is obviously not autobiographical, although I do use elements of me and things I know about throughout the story. The third story, Maddie, could, in fact, be a Kritzer story, and most of it is based on fact, with some fictional elements thrown in. Opening Out Of Town is obviously a lark. Your Worst Nightmare, while not necessarily torn from the pages of my life, is based on something I watched happen on the Internet, and then I just expanded upon that and made a nice revenge story out of it – the kind of thing I would like to have done were it happening to me. The Book Scout is my homage to The Twilight Zone, and was one of my favorite stories to write – all of the book collecting elements are real and I’ve been there, done that. Finally, Adventures With My Father – well, if you asked my daughter she would tell you it’s our story, and she’d be quite correct – but there are some fictional things, although not many. Which leaves the three Adriana Hofstetter mysteries, which are, of course, all fiction, although I really have come to know the world in which they take place, and I, of course, am completely in the head and mind of my fifteen-year-old protagonist.

Was I just writing what I know? I actually wouldn’t really know how to write a book that didn’t have something that I knew about. Which is why you’ll probably never see a historical novel from me (unless it’s about LA from a time I could at least research well), or a fantasy novel or a science-fiction novel. Although, I suppose, it would be fun to try one of those. Who knows?

Yesterday was a day that went by very quickly due to having to do so much. I got up, did the long jog, then went to Genghis Cohen and had some lunch, after which I came home, packaged up a LOT of CDs and got them all shipped out, all 1000 of them. That took most of the afternoon. I picked up a couple of packages and some mail, got the big orders shipped out, and finally sat on my couch like so much fish.

Last night, I watched two count them two motion pictures on DVD. The first motion picture on DVD was entitled Star Trek: The Voyage Home, the one Star Trek film I’m really fond of, although after this viewing I’m not sure it holds up very well. But I do like watching the regulars and some of the dialogue is amusing. The Blu-Ray is sourced from a six or seven-year-old transfer, so while it looks much better than its DVD counterpart, it could benefit from a new HD source. I then watched LA Confidential, which I actually didn’t intend to watch – I was just checking out the quality. But I got caught up in the story and I think I enjoyed it more this time around than ever before. The Blu-Ray is mostly excellent, although there are a few times when it seemed a little softer than it should.

Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I’m exhausted and tomorrow looms large.

Looming large today is another Nudie Musical casting session. I think we’re basically seeing candidates for Dick Davis. We’ve got one potential Rosie who’ll be auditioning via Skype or iChat – she’s a Hairspray Penny Pingleton alum. And I’ve pretty much made up my mind about Harry, and I’ve just got to discuss it with the actor. If we can just get those three parts cast, then we’re fully cast and that will be a big load off my mind.

I’ve also got to write the second set of liner notes, and get all that and credits and track titles to the booklet designer. I’m also supposed to see the progress of the new Kritzerland site – hopefully tonight or tomorrow night, because my mid-next week I want to be Beta testing it.

Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the long jog, write, ship out another five or six dealer orders, have a casting session, and eat, after which I shall watch a motion picture on Blu-Ray and/or DVD. Today’s topic of discussion: It’s Ask BK Day, the day in which you get to ask me or any dear reader any old question you like and we get to give any old answer we like. So, let’s have loads of lovely questions and loads of lovely answers and loads of lovely postings, shall we, and don’t forget – write what you know and what you don’t know.

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