One More Reason I Love the Internet: Neal Barrett Jr. Edition

Neal Barrett Jr. is one of my favorite writers and one of my favorite people in the world, period. You should read any books of his you can get your hands on, because I promise you, you won't find anything else like them. But right now, you should go check out his Facebook page. He's posting some real-life exchanges between him and various editors and agents (with the names removed to protect the not-so-innocent), and they're both poignant and hilarious. Plus there's a lot of other great stuff. Check it out here.

Yarn-spinners

There's a great post by my buddy Kerry Newcomb over on the Western Fictioneers blog this morning.  I'm lucky enough to have known Kerry for thirty years now and have heard him tell this story in person, along with many others.  I've seldom laughed as hard as I have when Kerry would start telling stories.

In fact, that got me to thinking about some of the other times I've laughed so hard.  Fall down on the floor laughter.  One name that immediately springs to mind is Joe R. Lansdale.  Guys like Joe and Kerry are great writers, but sitting down and just listening to them talk is incredibly entertaining.  The wonderful voice that you find in their writing comes through unfiltered, and it's even more enthralling.  That's one more reason I'm glad I became a writer.  It's given me the opportunity to just sit and listen.

I was at a convention a couple of years ago where as one of the programming items, Joe sat down with Bill Crider, Neal Barrett Jr., and Joe Haldeman, and they just swapped stories for a couple of hours while a large audience listened and was very entertained.  That was the highlight of that convention for me.

Of course, not all writers are great talkers.  Some of us are more likely to just sit there quietly and take it all in.  I fall into that category.  But I'm very grateful for the yarn-spinners and glad that I've been able to spend time in their company.

A Well-Deserved Honor

Neal Barrett, Jr., is a great writer and an even better man. Check out this news about him here. (Thanks to Scott Cupp for the heads-up.)