Hi friends. My kid is out of school this week, so my little family is off to the Ardennes, a picturesque area a few hours south of where we live. It’s like the Texas Hill Country of Belgium. As a bit of a cop out, but also because I want to introduce you to twoContinue reading “On Doggy Diversity, an Excerpt from All Saints Day of the Dead”
Tag Archives: Louisiana Literature
A Beer-Napkin Primer on Country Mardi Gras + A Complicated Story on Blackface
Listen on Spotify Mardi Gras here was totally different than the carnival, free-tits-and beer fest that was New Orleans. The tradition around here reflected the hardscrabble life that the earliest descendants in the region endured. It was a whole Catholic trip, wrapped up in poverty and revelry too. Masked riders would head out in bandsContinue reading “A Beer-Napkin Primer on Country Mardi Gras + A Complicated Story on Blackface”
No Offense or Anything . . .
Gimme rage!Like there’s tear gas in the crowdDo you wanna live out loud?But the air is barely breathingRise!Of the slums to the obsoleteThe dawn of the new airwavesFor the anti-social media Billie Joe Armstrong, Green Day I’m facing a moral dilemma, and I need your help to sort it out. So, please, if you haveContinue reading “No Offense or Anything . . .”
Done, Done, and I’m On to the Next One (having nothing to do with Foo Fighters)
“The mission is to complete the project so you can move on to the next. That next one is a stepping-stone to the following work.” Rick RubinThe Creative Act: A Way of Being Tomorrow morning I will submit the latest New Bayou Book, due out in April, for copy editing. And while there’s still plentyContinue reading “Done, Done, and I’m On to the Next One (having nothing to do with Foo Fighters)”
Write with Abandon | a Guest Blog from Susan Sparrow
Hi friends. I’m thrilled to present this guest blog from one of my newest writer-friends, Susan Sparrow. She’s based in New Orleans . . . but we won’t hold that against her! 🙂 If you love this as much as I do, hit the like button to let us know. – Jason I’m uncomfortable givingContinue reading “Write with Abandon | a Guest Blog from Susan Sparrow”
Declaring Independence
Fast forward a few years and the buzz words arrived, as did the love affair with race and white guilt and all the other virtual signaling mumbo jumbo rich white people never shut up about. That’s how rich white people stopped being cool. Someone convinced them that being rich and white is bad and nowContinue reading “Declaring Independence”
What I Want to Read
It starts, for me, with the narrator. As a reader, I need to feel like I’m in good hands with the narrator. And that confidence needs to be established right from the get-go. In the opening paragraphs, I want the narrator to take me firmly by the hand and say “come with me . .Continue reading “What I Want to Read”
Talking Blues
A great story is a microcosm of humanity. A wise, accomplished writer with three names told me that recently. Call it a universal truth. I’ve been thinking about this in the context of New Bayou Books. In the context of South Louisiana literature. What I’m up to with the company is trying to tease outContinue reading “Talking Blues”
The Rising Tide in South Louisiana
I have to admit, it’s a strange and wonderful thing to hear podcasters, journalists, writers, and librarians repeating the phrase “a renaissance in South Louisiana literature” back to me. It’s something I’ve written and said hundreds of times over the last couple years, but there’s a special power in the words when other people speakContinue reading “The Rising Tide in South Louisiana “
Lessons Learned From My First Podcast
I’m in the middle of cooking dinner, and so I need to make this short. Lucky you. Still, I do have value to offer my nameless brethren out there in the early stages of building a creative enterprise. Everybody has a first podcast. And Jan Swift, host of the Discover Lafayette, was my first. IfContinue reading “Lessons Learned From My First Podcast”
New Bayou Books 