"I'm 37. I'm not old."
-Dennis, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
I'm starting this chapter off right with a two-and-a-half week vacation from my dayjob, a trip next week to Readercon, a camping trip with friends the following weekend, and after that, my next NSO gig at the next home derby bout.
For the past couple years, I've tried to obtain writing-related birthday gifts. This year, though, I dusted off my Audible account, and treated myself to Role Models by John Waters. I quoted it a lot recently, having read snippets from it and heard various podcast interviews and readings.I'm listening to the first few chapters now, and thinking about my own role models. I'll blog about them some other time. But this book is making me give some thought to who's influenced, not just my art, but my life as an artist. In Waters, I think I've found a new one. Just look out the quotes I've used recently as well as the links below. If you've been paying any attention to how I feel about writing and how I pursue it, I'm sure you'll understand why.
- Waters' "10 Best Pieces of Advice for Functional Freaks"
- From NPR's Fresh Air, "John Waters: A Bad Influence Picks His 'Role Models'"
- On KQED's The Writer's Block, Waters reads the chapters "Cult Leader" and "The Kindness of Strangers."
- Waters on The Colbert Report