Comments for Queen of the Bondo http://christineborne.net/blog Stay at home drifter and writer of Rust Belt tales. Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:35:14 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Comment on My name is Christine Borne and they’re telling me to say that I’m a Cleveland artist, but really I feel like less of an artist than someone who just isn’t good at having a normal job. by Christine http://christineborne.net/blog/2012/04/09/my-name-is-christine-borne-and-theyre-telling-me-to-say-that-im-a-cleveland-artist-but-really-i-feel-like-less-of-an-artist-than-someone-who-just-isnt-good-at-having-a-normal-job/comment-page-1/#comment-5339 Christine Wed, 11 Apr 2012 15:35:14 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=542#comment-5339 That's a great question, Alex, and one I should anticipate answering. I wanted to play fast and loose with history and geography, and make this more of an archetypal Rust Belt town rather than a specific one, one that every Rust Belt expat can recognize as their own hometown. It's less of a historical novel than it is a novel about how history makes the present what it is, and TBH Cleveland's foibles aren't funny or egregious enough for me to make as satirical a point I hope to make. And if you get things wrong, or even not quite right, that's all people focus on. For a while, our local newspaper was devoting a column to the details "Hot in Cleveland" got wrong. I don't want to be the object of that. I also think when authors make their settings too local, they risk shrinking the audience, which is something Mark Winegardner experienced when he published Crooked River Burning, the most epic novel of Cleveland to date (in his afterword to Good Roots, an anthology of writing about Ohio, he says that he nearly hit the roof when his publishers revealed they were only going to market the book "regionally.") I think that there's such a large Rust Belt diaspora out there that probably the people who would most want to read my book are the ones that don't live here anymore! I can only hope one of my former high school classmates decides to run for public office someday.... That’s a great question, Alex, and one I should anticipate answering. I wanted to play fast and loose with history and geography, and make this more of an archetypal Rust Belt town rather than a specific one, one that every Rust Belt expat can recognize as their own hometown. It’s less of a historical novel than it is a novel about how history makes the present what it is, and TBH Cleveland’s foibles aren’t funny or egregious enough for me to make as satirical a point I hope to make. And if you get things wrong, or even not quite right, that’s all people focus on. For a while, our local newspaper was devoting a column to the details “Hot in Cleveland” got wrong. I don’t want to be the object of that.

I also think when authors make their settings too local, they risk shrinking the audience, which is something Mark Winegardner experienced when he published Crooked River Burning, the most epic novel of Cleveland to date (in his afterword to Good Roots, an anthology of writing about Ohio, he says that he nearly hit the roof when his publishers revealed they were only going to market the book “regionally.”) I think that there’s such a large Rust Belt diaspora out there that probably the people who would most want to read my book are the ones that don’t live here anymore!

I can only hope one of my former high school classmates decides to run for public office someday….

]]> Comment on My name is Christine Borne and they’re telling me to say that I’m a Cleveland artist, but really I feel like less of an artist than someone who just isn’t good at having a normal job. by Alex http://christineborne.net/blog/2012/04/09/my-name-is-christine-borne-and-theyre-telling-me-to-say-that-im-a-cleveland-artist-but-really-i-feel-like-less-of-an-artist-than-someone-who-just-isnt-good-at-having-a-normal-job/comment-page-1/#comment-5223 Alex Mon, 09 Apr 2012 19:23:38 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=542#comment-5223 Question: Why fictionalize Cleveland? If you use the real thing, at least you'll have people reading it to recognize diners they go to and so forth. Comment: Besides his music, Grant Hart was great for the state of Minnesota when his high school classmate became the Republic governor, after which reputable media (i.e. the free weeklies) went to Hart for awesome snarky commentary. Question: Why fictionalize Cleveland? If you use the real thing, at least you’ll have people reading it to recognize diners they go to and so forth.

Comment: Besides his music, Grant Hart was great for the state of Minnesota when his high school classmate became the Republic governor, after which reputable media (i.e. the free weeklies) went to Hart for awesome snarky commentary.

]]> Comment on On Not Having a Car in Cleveland by Christine http://christineborne.net/blog/2012/02/13/on-not-having-a-car-in-cleveland/comment-page-1/#comment-3381 Christine Wed, 15 Feb 2012 12:14:25 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=488#comment-3381 Imagine how many Smart Cars you could park at the Costco in Avon during a Regina Brett book signing. Imagine how many Smart Cars you could park at the Costco in Avon during a Regina Brett book signing.

]]> Comment on On Not Having a Car in Cleveland by Beardy http://christineborne.net/blog/2012/02/13/on-not-having-a-car-in-cleveland/comment-page-1/#comment-3375 Beardy Wed, 15 Feb 2012 06:35:21 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=488#comment-3375 Smart cars aren't for the enviroment insofar as emissions, they are designed to be easy to park in crowded places not fuel efficient. While they are low powered cars their main goal is to ease congestion. Smart cars aren’t for the enviroment insofar as emissions, they are designed to be easy to park in crowded places not fuel efficient. While they are low powered cars their main goal is to ease congestion.

]]> Comment on Attention Please! I Have Some Announcements by Katheryn Norris http://christineborne.net/blog/2012/01/12/attention-please-i-have-some-announcements/comment-page-1/#comment-2801 Katheryn Norris Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:43:16 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=431#comment-2801 I'm so excited for you, and you know I can't wait to read your book. In my experience, a novel takes three months to write, so I expect a copy in March. Kidding, kidding. Maybe you'd like to use some of your cigarette money to pay for us to take a web design course. Then we can make the CR site even beautifuler! I’m so excited for you, and you know I can’t wait to read your book. In my experience, a novel takes three months to write, so I expect a copy in March. Kidding, kidding.

Maybe you’d like to use some of your cigarette money to pay for us to take a web design course. Then we can make the CR site even beautifuler!

]]> Comment on Five Months Left Until I Can Sit Around Reading Wiener Dog Mysteries! by Kathy Curnow http://christineborne.net/blog/2011/08/02/five-months-left-until-i-can-sit-around-reading-wiener-dog-mysteries/comment-page-1/#comment-1646 Kathy Curnow Mon, 26 Sep 2011 22:25:15 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=366#comment-1646 Glad I looked! Another train and Gaiman and book lover! And anyone who has "whippersnapper" in their word cloud warrants many a read. Enjoying your blog and will delve back into time when I want to escape my own work. Glad I looked! Another train and Gaiman and book lover! And anyone who has “whippersnapper” in their word cloud warrants many a read. Enjoying your blog and will delve back into time when I want to escape my own work.

]]> Comment on It’s Sunday and I made it rain again with my negative attitude by Cookbook http://christineborne.net/blog/2011/08/14/its-sunday-and-i-made-it-rain-again-with-my-negative-attitude/comment-page-1/#comment-1518 Cookbook Mon, 15 Aug 2011 01:46:23 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=374#comment-1518 I did not know that you liked Throwing Muses. SO DO I. Kristin Hersh + her husband owned a home in Cleveland Heights very briefly maybe 5 years ago. I met her at an in-store performance at the Borders in downtown Ann Arbor soon after they moved away and she was very excited to see people from Cleveland! I wish she had more of a Rust Belt connection. Her DIY approach to the music business is very interesting, and she'd be a neat person to interview for CR because of that. I did not know that you liked Throwing Muses. SO DO I. Kristin Hersh + her husband owned a home in Cleveland Heights very briefly maybe 5 years ago. I met her at an in-store performance at the Borders in downtown Ann Arbor soon after they moved away and she was very excited to see people from Cleveland! I wish she had more of a Rust Belt connection. Her DIY approach to the music business is very interesting, and she’d be a neat person to interview for CR because of that.

]]> Comment on The Only Acceptable Excuse for Not Writing Is… by Esti http://christineborne.net/blog/2011/03/20/the-only-acceptable-excuse-for-not-writing-is/comment-page-1/#comment-1145 Esti Sun, 20 Mar 2011 16:00:19 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=354#comment-1145 Last night someone asked me "What do you like about reading?" and I just sort of stared at him, baffled, for about a minute, before saying "Um... everything." I like your glasses-removing idea better for questions of this nature. Also, can “I’ve been too busy reading" be an acceptable excuse for not doing other things? Because it pretty much covers all the stuff I don't get done in my life, from laundry to thesis outlines. Last night someone asked me “What do you like about reading?” and I just sort of stared at him, baffled, for about a minute, before saying “Um… everything.” I like your glasses-removing idea better for questions of this nature.

Also, can “I’ve been too busy reading” be an acceptable excuse for not doing other things? Because it pretty much covers all the stuff I don’t get done in my life, from laundry to thesis outlines.

]]> Comment on The Only Acceptable Excuse for Not Writing Is… by BP Beckley http://christineborne.net/blog/2011/03/20/the-only-acceptable-excuse-for-not-writing-is/comment-page-1/#comment-1143 BP Beckley Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:54:17 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=354#comment-1143 <i>The proper way to respond to such a question is to sigh, take off your glasses, and start rubbing your forehead in extreme consternation. Don’t say anything until the other person starts squirming.</i> Actually, this works for all questions of any kind. Unless you don't wear glasses, I guess. The proper way to respond to such a question is to sigh, take off your glasses, and start rubbing your forehead in extreme consternation. Don’t say anything until the other person starts squirming.

Actually, this works for all questions of any kind. Unless you don’t wear glasses, I guess.

]]> Comment on The Only Acceptable Excuse for Not Writing Is… by Amanda http://christineborne.net/blog/2011/03/20/the-only-acceptable-excuse-for-not-writing-is/comment-page-1/#comment-1142 Amanda Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:51:22 +0000 http://christineborne.net/blog/?p=354#comment-1142 "Would I have written that progressive rock funeral scene before?" Oh. Oh, I can't wait to read this. “Would I have written that progressive rock funeral scene before?”

Oh. Oh, I can’t wait to read this.

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