Monthly Archives: May 2009
So You Think You Know Hayward? Take the Test
(Note: Anyone who does not live in Hayward or who has never lived there may happily skip this post.) I grew up in Hayward, California, a city of about 150,000 people on the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay. When … Continue reading
Filed under Hayward, California
Modesty Forbids…
The fall and winter catalog of California’s leading publisher is out, and it has a great interview with one of California’s best writers about his upcoming new book. Modesty forbids me from telling you who this writer is, but you … Continue reading
Filed under Adventures in Writing, Books, Cars, Wheels of Change
Boys Will Be Boys: Snipe Hunting
Here at Kevin Nelson, Writer, we are introducing a new feature: Boys Will Be Boys. It is separate from, but not unrelated to, The Dangerous Quest, my attempt to do every challenge in The Dangerous Book for Boys with my … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
Answers to Hayward Quiz
Answers to So You Think You Know Hayward? Test: 1. Bill Walsh. 2. The Strip. 3. Duane Johnson. 4. 1/3rd lb. 5. Don Wakamatsu, Seattle Mariners. 6. Hunt 7. Carnation. 8. San Lorenzo. 9. Casper’s Hot Dogs. 10. Larry Graham. … Continue reading
Filed under Hayward, California
The True Story of a Girl Who Shot a Book (1 of 3)
Among the many fascinating things about Lillian Kaiser (pictured here on the year of her graduation from Bryn Mawr), she is the only person I know who has ever shot a book. She did this when she was eleven, in … Continue reading
Filed under Books, Personal, The Dangerous Quest
How to Wrap A Book: An Expert’s Guide (2 of 3)
While The Dangerous Book for Boys, the bestselling manual for boys that serves as the inspiration and guide for this quest, concedes that “wrapping a package in brown paper and string” (p. 180) is hardly a dangerous activity, it argues … Continue reading
Filed under Books, The Dangerous Quest
Give Your Books a Little Hat (3 of 3)
Lillian Kaiser, who studied Spanish literature at Bryn Mawr-she much admired Don Quixote, also one of my heroes and another inspiration for this odd, tilting-at-windmills quest the boys and I are now embarked on-likes to read weighty philosophical and religious … Continue reading
Filed under Books, The Dangerous Quest
Priceless Writing Tips for Free: Observe Hemingway’s Dictum
Hemingway’s dictum for better writing was simple: Run it through the typewriter one more time. We no longer have typewriters but the advice is still sound. Almost without fail a second draft is better than a first: shorter, smoother and … Continue reading
Eleven Myths About Literary Agents
By Kevin Nelson 1. Getting an agent means you’ve taken the first step toward writing success. All it really means is you have an agent, nothing more. An agent should not ask for and you should never give her money … Continue reading
That’s Inappropriate! 52-Card Pickup, Arm Farts, and More
Man, talk about an unexpected turn of events. Last week I stumbled onto the most surprising and astonishing discoveries to date in The Dangerous Quest: Competitive belching. Pull My Finger. Indian rope burn. Ringing the doorbell of someone’s house and … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
Pull My Finger, or Why You Can’t Take the Boy out of the Man
So, as I was saying, in the truly genuine desire to find out more about the secret lives of boys, I sent out this blast email to a bunch of men I know: Okay fellas, I need your help. As … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
More Inappropriateness, and an “Awww” moment
Lest there be concern that I am abandoning The Dangerous Quest for The Dangerous and Inappropriate Quest, well, I don’t think so. I’m not sure where any of this is leading me, frankly, although I can see how well-intentioned men … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
And Now We Interrupt This Blog for a Commercial Advertisement
Last year was a good year for me, financially speaking, and one of the reasons was that book you see pictured here. This year has been a terrible year for me, financially speaking, but one of the bright spots so … Continue reading
Filed under Adventures in Writing, Books
When You Write, Don’t Fight Your First Thought
Trying to write something and you’re stuck? Whether you’re knee-deep in an e-mail, blog, memo, report, article or longer, here’s how to get unstuck: Follow your first thought. If you trust your first thought, and follow it, it will lead … Continue reading
From Secret Ink to Memories of My Father
The latest in my quest to do all the challenges in The Dangerous Book for Boys with my sons in a year … After our last episode in The Dangerous Quest, I asked my sons what they most enjoyed about … Continue reading
Filed under Hayward, California, Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
The Blotting Paper Chronicles, or How We Made—or Didn’t Make—a Battery
Faithful followers of The Dangerous Quest (and you ARE growing in number) deserve an apology because more than a month ago the boys and I started making a homemade battery. (See “Hearing the Voice” and “What the Heck is Blotting … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
Fire! Flying Urine! Our Most Dangerous Quest Yet
For this challenge, we finally put the “Dangerous” in The Dangerous Book for Boys. As many of you know, for the past couple of months I’ve been doing activities with my sons from The Dangerous Book for Boys, a bestselling … Continue reading
Filed under Parenting, The Dangerous Quest
Illustrate Your Blog
By Kevin Nelson Leaf through any magazine or newspaper, and you will see photographs and illustrations accompanying most of the articles. Scan through most blog posts on virtually any website, and you will see words, words, words-often without any art … Continue reading
Wheels of Change Excerpt: George Lucas Totals His Fiat
The spring car show season is kicking off, and a fun northern California event is the annual “Salute to American Graffiti” in Petaluma where filmmaker George Lucas shot the teen hot rod classic “American Graffiti.” Lucas was himself a teen … Continue reading
Filed under Cars, Wheels of Change
Do Writers Need Literary Agents?
Do writers need literary agents to sell their books? Many writers, both published and unpublished, believe that having an agent is a cornerstone of success, but I don’t think that’s true anymore. I had lunch last week with a writer-friend … Continue reading
Filed under Adventures in Writing, Books
