Sun Dog Press & My First Book (1 Viewer)

[VALDEZ]

A small company based out of Northville, Michigan. I had never sent any of my typed stories/poems to anyone before. I found that they discovered Dan Fante, before he went over to Harper, and that they published a lot of Bukowski related material. So I packaged up about 15 poems and sent em off. They were my first try and they -luckily for me- loved it. Ever since then, I've been sending off packages every few weeks, and now we have enough material to put out a full book of poems and short stories, due out in late January/early February.

Al Berlinski (the owner/operator) had some correspondence with Bukoswki himself, in the 60's/70's. The first thing he said, was that my poems looked like Hank's. Ink smudged on the paper, the 'o's all punched out, it was like going back in time, he said.

The guy really believes in me and my work. It's unbelievable. As it just so happens, he's good friends with Bukowski's editor, John Martin, and he sent off 3 or 4 of poems to him. He said it seemed as though, I am 'picking up the mantle of Bukoswki'. He liked it enough to give us a blurb for the book. That was the highest compliment.

The problem is NO ONE has read my stuff, outside of my family and the publisher.

If anyone is interested in some excerpts from the upcoming book, please check out this blog I've created. I look forward to hearing from anyone that's interested. Any and all constructive feedback is greatly appreciated.

http://sweetdannyv.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
Danny V.

 

[mjp]

John Martin [...] said it seemed as though, I am 'picking up the mantle of Bukoswki'.

Good luck with that.

 

[VALDEZ]

It's Hell.

 

[jordan]

is it? you seem pretty excited to have these two old yodas grooming you as the heir to the throne. pomade and pink jackets, son. i can bet where this is going.

 

[VALDEZ]

Hahaha! It's good to have their enthusiasm, yes. But seriously, where is this going? What do you think? I'm not so sure myself.

 

[mjp]

Hmm, I dunno, but I can tell you that if someone had said to Bukowski when he was 26 (or 36 or 46) that he was carrying someone's mantle, I'm pretty sure he would have told them to go piss up a rope. The fact that you find it something that you had to "force [your]self to get on the internet" to talk about is a clear sign that you're nothing at all like Bukowski. If you're looking for signs. Besides, if you were indeed "picking up the mantle of Bukoswki," you'd be writing on a Mac (like he did), not posing next to a god damned typewriter, right? Not to put too fine a point on it.


It's sad, all this irony and nostalgia. I do feel bad for anyone who has to come up in it. It's a shame. But it's also an opportunity to CREATE SOMETHING NEW. I just wish someone would use it. I'm waiting here for the youth of the earth to give me something, and all I get is thrift store dust and "the next Bukowski."

 

[Hosh]

I don't know about his mantle...but someone picked up his door and tried to sell it the other day...

 

[mjp]

I would just like to state - for the record, your honor - that I do have faith in the youth, and I do believe that they will create something new. I would just like to see it before I die, is all. Carry on.

 

[Erik]

Congrats on the book Valdez.
Seems like you've got a clean line.
Just remember that its the long haul that counts.
Endurance is more important than truth.

 

[VALDEZ]

I just want people to read the shit.

Im not Bukowski, and I dont try to be. I dont drink wine, I prefer Rock'n'Roll over Classical music, and I smoke grass.
The womanizing and hard times just come with being who I am.

I'm just another voice, in a different time, in a different place, carrying on the tradition of the mad fool hunching over the machine.

Just read the shit.

Besides, if you were indeed "picking up the mantle of Bukoswki," you'd be writing on a Mac (like he did), not posing next to a god damned typewriter, right?

Computers are unreliable. When Buk was typing on a Mac, he was pretty well off. I'm not. I lost an entire novel to my shit computer and I won't ever go through that again. I'm dirt fucking poor and the typewriter, won't crash on me. It won't fuck up so bad, that something I create, gets lost.

The typewriter is solid. It's a rock, you can stand on. When you get done with something, you can hold it in your hand, punched out with the keys that YOU hit, YOURSELF. It's all right there. No dot-matrix ink-jet shit. If you'd been there, you'd know that. There is no posing involved. This all about the work and getting it all out.

The typewriter works for me. It can't let me down, only I can.

 

[mjp]

If you'd been there, you'd know that.

Well, you've got me there. I don't know anything about the pre-computer world. I can't imagine.

Just read the shit.

I did, that's the problem. It's not good. The prose read like S. E. Hinton with swearing thrown in for authenticity. It falls pancake flat for me, as does your whole Fonzie persona. But what do I know. I'm sure you're a nice kid and your heart is in the right place.

 

[VALDEZ]

I've gotten into fights for people calling me Fonze.

You've got me wrong. You're just another face in a passing car, laughing at the 'Fonze guy with the Elvis hair'.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

no posing at all? everybody has a pose of some sort or another.

and if you use a computer, print your stuff out. it'll never get lost. it's almost as good as a typewriter.

and I've gotten into fights for people calling me Pinky Tuscadero.

 

[Erik]

Here come old flat top
He come groovin' up slowly
He got joo joo eyeballs
He one holy rollers...

And remember dearV: rejection is good for the soul...:hmh:

 

[justine]

someone comes over to a bukowski-dedicated forum and starts talking about how ~certain people~ think they are just so much like bukowski... dude, that comes across as so blow-hard. then you ask people to review your stuff. but then you don't like what they have to say because they've "got [you] wrong", and they're "just another face in a passing car". honestly, i'm already prejudiced against your stuff before i even start reading it.

it sounds like you don't really want actual criticism so maybe don't read the following, because i'm warning you, it's all negative:
you come across like a person who tries to live their life as if they are the star of their own 1950s james dean/jack kerouac movie. that in and of itself is fine, it's a lifestyle choice and that's all coooooool, man... but then you're trying to make other people think it's all real by writing this 'real' poetry about it, which just comes off so... tired. but i'm sure there's a big audience out there for your stuff, because i'm sure you're not the only trying to live your life like a movie.

 

[VALDEZ]

but i'm sure there's a big audience out there for your stuff, because i'm sure you're not the only trying to live your life like a movie.

Wow. You got my number, lady. For what you read, that's exactly the conclusion to draw. That's what I would think too, hell, I'd still have to say you're almost right with it. But there's so much more, you don't even know about. I've lived through some really trying times, from child hood on, and I just want to get all of my memories, my life, written down on paper. That's why I started writing, before I'd even heard of Bukowski. And now someone has taken an interest in it, and they just so happen to liken it to one of my literary idols. How the fuck could I not get excited about that? Wouldn't you? As with every writer, I want people to read it. I have no contact with the outside world at all. Just go to work and type at night. Besides my girlfriend and my family, I havent seen anyone for months. So I come on here just wanting some kind of human contact and feedback, and you say it's not 'real' poetry? And I'm the blow hard? You don't know the first thing about my life or me. So say what you want, make egotistical assumptions about me. I'm gonna keep typing at this machine either way. I don't really have a choice, it's got me by the fucking balls. Do you know?

 

[Stavrogin]

I think Valdez was proud of the fact he is going to be published by Sun Dog Press. I knew when he posted what he did he was going to be given some shit here. Funny how I could predict that. You know I love some of you here but goddamn you for having some narrow-minded bullshit ways with what goes on here. I'll concede to Erik.

 

[jordan]

stavrogin, as a preferred customer, you're automatically spared my wrath for DARING to disagree with my lovely co-publisher.

as for valdez, i think what my lovely co-publisher is saying is that there's putting the raw experience of your life down on paper, and there's putting an idealized image of yourself, where your jacket, hair product, and gun take precedence over real human emotion and experience, and it makes you look like a fuckin clown.

also, please refer to the 'arguing on the internet handbook' for when it is appropriate to accuse someone of not knowing the first thing about you:
Section 5.14.329: If you should find yourself on an internet forum seeking feedback for your poetry, only accuse a forum member of 'not knowing the first thing about you' if said member tries to make direct accusations. If said member says you "come off" or "appear" a certain way, this is in fact a direct criticism that your self aggrandizing poetry makes you look like a fuckin clown, and not an attack on your character. See also: Section 5.14.367 "When is it appropriate to solicit criticism on poetry?" and also Section 3.15.131 "How to ask for criticism and then get all bent out of shape when it is negative."

 

[justine]

I think Valdez was proud of the fact he is going to be published by Sun Dog Press. I knew when he posted what he did he was going to be given some shit here. Funny how I could predict that. You know I love some of you here but goddamn you for having some narrow-minded bullshit ways with what goes on here. I'll concede to Erik.

i totally get what you're saying, and if it was you - a long-time member - coming here to announce the same sort of news, i'd be stoked for you. if valdez wants feedback for his work, writing forums are where it's at, not this forum. this just isn't the way to go about getting publicity for your work, it comes off so badly, reeking of hubris. if valdez wanted genuine human contact, he would have taken the time to get involved in some discussion, get to know some people, and then shared his news. if i had a dime for every person who has registered on this site and then within their first 5 posts mentioned that they are a poet who 'some people' think is the next bukowski, i'd have... at least 10 bucks.

 

[Stavrogin]

jordan - you damn well know I'll dig what you and justine are doing and I'll support your projects for however long you two publish but Sun Dog doesn't just publish toilet paper ramblings. Valdez has a right to be pleased with his contributions.

Sorry justine. I posted this and then saw your post.

 

[roni]

@jordan:
mjp's attorney couldn't have said it any better.

justine & Stavro:
you're both so damn right!

 

[Johannes]

I read the poems after I read this thread and they are better than I'd expected. Fair poems, man. Not bad. A clear clean line and probably very honest.

Of course rather young and with the general intention showing to sort of romantically dramatize the own life up into epic proportions. That's true, too. But we've all been there. Car crashes, fights with wife and baby, bad back and addiction to pain killers are bad enough it they happen to you. Still, something like that happens to us all at one point or another and doesn't automatically turn us all into tragic and mad poets. Or does it?

Congrats on your upcoming book. Feel good about it, you have every right to do so.

 

[mjp]

goddamn you for having some narrow-minded bullshit ways with what goes on here.

If you want to point to a rock and say, "I think that's a rock, but I want to be open minded about it," knock yourself out. But I don't suffer from that kind of indecisiveness.

 

[VALDEZ]

I read the poems after I read this thread and they are better than I'd expected. Fair poems, man. Not bad. A clear clean line and probably very honest.

Of course rather young and with the general intention showing to sort of romantically dramatize the own life up into epic proportions. That's true, too. But we've all been there. Car crashes, fights with wife and baby, bad back and addiction to pain killers are bad enough it they happen to you. Still, something like that happens to us all at one point or another and doesn't automatically turn us all into tragic and mad poets. Or does it?

Congrats on your upcoming book. Feel good about it, you have every right to do so.

Sun Dog doesn't just publish toilet paper ramblings. Valdez has a right to be pleased with his contribution.

First and foremost, thank you, for having an open mind. I appreciate it.

And then there's the 'elitists'. Oh how thrilled I am to meet you happy, farts, and sunshine bunch. You're everywhere. Did you know that? On every forum, of every topic, there's always the top 5 or 10 posters, that take it upon themselves to cut people down, correct everyone, and pronounce themselves as judges of whatever topic the forum regards. I don't care if you think I'm this Fonze-character that thinks he's the next Bukowski. That's great, awesome, go with that. Believe it.

Or put your presumptions aside and give the writing a chance. I wrote a series of vignettes called 'Riding out the Storm'. Check that: http://sweetdannyv.blogspot.com/2011/11/riding-out-storm.html

if it was you - a long-time member - coming here to announce the same sort of news, i'd be stoked for you. if valdez wants feedback for his work, writing forums are where it's at, not this forum.

So if I was already apart of your 'elite' club, then I could get unbiased criticism? But I have to build some kind of bullshit rapport with you 'top posters' first? Piss on your shoes, lady. I didnt want to go to some bullshit writing forum for 'writers'. I hate most writers. The way most poets write is sickening, flowery imagery and words I have to look up to know the meaning of. I came here, because I thought people would be more receptive and cool, to some writing that was honest & to the point. I guess, I was wrong.

But if you really think that all my poetry, is just LostBoyNeoJamesDeanKerouacWalkinTheStreetsLivingInAMovie, you're wrong. Dead wrong. The poetry will prove that. That was just two poems. The only two regarding that subject matter.

But yes, marginalize me as a 'Fonze' type character, that 'thinks' he's the next Bukowski. If others that actually knew the man, and draw those conclusions on their own, how is that my fault? And really? JOHN FUCKING MARTIN of Black Sparrow, says he likes your poetry and you really expect me NOT to gush to someone about that? Well, you can cram it with walnuts, ugly.

The reality is, I'm a working class single-dad, with no car, a mountain of debt to climb over, a back injury that drives me to the brink of madness, and in general a tough road in life. Both behind me and ahead. I write out of necessity, not vanity, or narcissism. That's why Sun Dog liked my writing in the first place. It wasn't some college kid that's showing off his/her extensive vocabulary. I wrote these poems on my porch, in the ghetto and in the call centers. All the assumptions you've made, are just that, assumptions. Everyday I'm posting another poem. I have a stack of over 80 now, so keep checking it out. Or don't, that's cool too.

I'll be in the garage and with my mean machine.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

ok. can we talk about Bukowski now? you know, the guy this site is about? because every since you got here you've only talked about yourself.

as I said before, congrats on the book. enjoy that feeling. seriously. we have your blog link, so we can check that out if we want to, cool. but now, lets hear your thoughts on Buk.

 

[VALDEZ]

Oh jesus. Where do I start? The only writers I had really gotten into, were the beats. Kerouac, Ginsberg, and Burroughs more than anyone. But there was always something about the way they wrote, I felt like it wasnt written for me. Does that make any sense? It spoke to me, in a way, but not like Hank. Once I read Bukowski, those people all just disappeared. I cant even go back and read Ginsberg now, the whole time I'm just thinking, 'I could be reading Bukowski.'

I read Post Office and was literally floored by it. Read it twice in a row. I couldnt believe anyone wrote like this, about such lowlife shit, in a simple way, that brought out the humanity in the ugliness of life. I was searching for that and Hank delivered. He literally lit a fire inside of me. No bullshit, no fancy details about tress and how the weather is, or using words that made me feel stupid. It was straight and to the fucking point.Which is what we need, what I need anyways.

For some reason, I always thought of Bukowski's writing, like The Ramones music.

No bullshit, no filler, no time-wasting. Just get on with it already. That's what I took from Hank.

How about ya'll?

 

[james]

just curious, how did a dead person start a fire inside your body? you do know what "literally" means, right? i mean, it'd be damned amazing for a living person to do that, much less a pile of bones...

also, how does one get literally floored while we're at it? i mean, i guess you read the book and are so amazed you fall to the floor...?

 

[jordan]

i don't give a fuck about you, nor do i want to get to know you. you've done what every troll does and made this thread about you. not your poetry, not your book, not anything but the monument of YOU. congrats. plus, you called my wife 'ugly,' which pretty much makes you a worthless piece of rat shit in my book. can someone please ban this asshole and delete this thread?

 

[mjp]

Seriously? Get rid of Ponyboy?

You Socs and elites are all the same...you don't understand.

 

[VALDEZ]

Seriously? You're gonna be that close-minded and elitist?

The only reason I came on here was to get my poems/stories out to more people. That's it. And you fuckers descend on me like a pack of hyenas, because I got excited by a comparison to Bukowski from my publisher? Are you fucking kidding?

I was only excited about getting published and I wanted people to read my poems. That's the bottom line.

You're the ones that started calling me 'Fonze' & 'Ponyboy'. It's like fuckin high school, all over again. This isn't a persona, this isn't a gimmick, this is who I am.

And James?
Sorry, I didn't have the opportunity to attend college and have an academic background. Really, you're a great teacher. Do me a favor and let me know if you find any other grammatical or punctuation errors in anything I've typed on here? I wanna be smart like you.

There's a reason you people sit on a message board all day correcting others. Think about what that is and what it means about you.

See you in the funny papers,
D.V.

 

[mjp]

The only reason I came on here was to get my poems/stories out to more people.

Huh. I would have never guessed.

On every forum, of every topic, there's always the top 5 or 10 posters, that take it upon themselves to cut people down, correct everyone, and pronounce themselves as judges of whatever topic the forum regards.

You sure know a lot about forums. You know, for someone who has to "force" themselves to go on the Internet (and post in forums and start blogs, etc.).

I don't care if you think I'm this Fonze-character that thinks he's the next Bukowski. That's great, awesome, go with that. Believe it.

You are angry about our impression of you, but all we have to go on is what you give us. You gave us a cliche.

So if I was already apart of

You mean 'a part of'. Apart means to separate. 'A part of' is inclusive.

your 'elite' club...

You joined and participated. I guess that makes you one of the "elite."

I hate most writers.

Then why isn't it okay for me to hate you?

I guess, I was wrong.

Incorrect use of a comma.

JOHN FUCKING MARTIN

Funny, that's what I call him too.

I'm a working class single-dad, with no car, a mountain of debt to climb over, a back injury that drives me to the brink of madness, and in general a tough road in life.

Can I get you a hankie to weep into, bitch?

Everyday I'm posting another poem. I have a stack of over 80 now

Why didn't you say you were sitting on such an impressive body of work?

I'll be in the garage and with my mean machine.

Huh? You said you, "wrote...on my porch, in the ghetto and in the call centers." Was that a lie? Suddenly you have a fancy, college-boy garage to write in? Like some sort of writer's studio? What an elitist!

I wanted people to read my poems.

I did. I didn't like them. I think what you meant to say here is that you wanted people to tell you they were great.

You're the ones that started calling me 'Fonze'

You mean Fonzie.

& 'Ponyboy'.

The period goes inside the quotation marks.

This isn't a persona...

Look up "persona." (<--see where the period goes?)

Do me a favor and let me know if you find any other grammatical or punctuation errors in anything I've typed on here?

Are you sure you wanted to use a question mark there? It seems like a statement.

There's a reason you people sit on a message board all day correcting others.

Yes, to point out how stupid they are.

Think about what that is and what it means about you.

I thought about it, and I think it means I'm smarter than you.

 

[Hosh]

The only reason I came on here was to get my poems/stories out to more people. That's it.

See there...a close reading of your own words might've helped you figure out why you got the reception you did.

And now it doesn't matter how good your words are...not many around here are going to give you a fair read. And that includes the many tremendous publishers that frequent these boards, have published Bukowski, and might otherwise have published you. All you've done is cost yourself a bunch of potential readers (many who've bought Sun Dog books) and a maybe a few potential opportunities.

 

[Short Bus]

That, MJP, made my day.

I will drink another MACLAYS just for you right now.

 

[justine]

yeah i feel like this guy just dug himself further into his own hole... he keeps complaining that no one "gets" him or "understands" him, but there's not much to get or understand when you just blow in and blow hard.

if someone just walked up to me at a bar, or on the street, or at my place of work and spouted the same bullshit he did, they'd get the same reaction. and the whole "elitist" schtick... that is ALWAYS the excuse/lame reasoning that people like valdez fall upon when they don't get the adoration they expect and think they deserve.

 

[Gin Soaked Boy]

I don't understand how you guys have the energy. Just let it go. Why fling poop at each other?

"You're an idiot"
"No, you're an idiot"
"No, YOU'RE an idiot"
"No, YOU ARE"
"NOOOO, YOU ARE!"

It's pointless. You're just hurting each other.

 

[d gray]

later, fonze -

 

[cunningham]

I have an extra Bukowski Mantle that's too heavy for me to carry if anyone wants it.

you just have to pay the freight to have it trucked to your location.

I am not Richie Cunningham.

 

[mjp]

you just have to pay the freight to have it trucked to your location.

Don't fall for this Nigerian's scam. He'll ask you to wire the money via Western Union and the next thing you know your bank account will be empty and you'll never take delivery of the nonexistent "mantle."

 

[lewis hc]

Bit of a wanker that Valdez eh?

 

[gbsupbowl]

That seems to be the consensus