Pat Perrin's Blog
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Aug.21.2012
Neofoxes may actually said to be specialists in one thing: Story.
Telling, hearing, finding, living … Story.
The first book we worked on together was PragMagic (Pocket Books, 1991). We distilled a decade of reporting that had appeared in Marilyn Ferguson’s Brain/Mind Bulletin, a newsletter...
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Aug.14.2012
Mutant Foxes are shallow.
Or so you’ve likely heard. It’s not a flattering generalization, and I wish people would stop spreading it around. But like most stereotypical notions, it has some basis in fact.
As neofoxes hop about the cultural landscape, across all areas of speculation,...
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Aug.08.2012
New blog post up, new pages, lots of free downloads, and we're even starting to tweet - here …
Pat and I really need to get down to business. As independent publishers we’ve got eleven books in print, and it’s time to start making money off them. A friend of ours, John J. Walters, was kind...
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Aug.06.2012
Mutant Foxes Aug1
“The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.”
This aphorism by the ancient Greek poet Archilochus got quite a bit of currency during the last century. A lot of people asked whether, in the world of ideas, it was better to be a fox than a...
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Mar.01.2012
Every now and then I need to get nonverbal, so I return to visual art. A year or so ago, words began to sneak into the visual as “messages” written on handmade paper and wrapped up with other materials. This little piece was recently accepted into a juried show at an NC gallery.
"Message:...
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Jan.19.2012
I put this up as a comment on the blog about self-reinvention. But that was an older blog, so I decided it might best go here.
Is self-reinvention really planned? Does it happen the way you plan it? (Does life?) Creative experience is about finding out something. Being open to that leaves one...
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Oct.01.2011
This month we're doing a giveaway of the first two books in our Red Monocle series—The Taker and the Keeper and The Death of the Good Wizard—on YABC and their sister site, Kid's Book Central. You or kids you know can see the giveaway and register for the drawing at http://www.yabookscentral....
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Jul.06.2011
We finally got moved! For 13 years, Wim and I lived in the lovely colonial city of San Miguel de Allende, Gto., Mexico. There we wrote novels, did all kinds of freelance work (as usual), were active in the local PEN chapter, ran a scholarship program for at-risk Mexican kids, and adopted a daughter...
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May.11.2011
Jamais Vu again! The new edition of our eccentric early novel has won the Visionary Fiction category of the International Book Awards, a competition open to mainstream and independent publishers. (As mentioned before, it was also on the short list for the Montaigne Medal given by the Eric Hoffer...
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May.06.2011
Just put up a new video — one Wim and I made of ourselves just talking. We both recently became charter members of Authors Speaking , a new site designed to connect authors with groups that would like to hear them speak (via Skype, for example). We made a couple of pretty casual videos — in the...
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Mar.08.2011
We were notified today that The Jamais Vu Papers is a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Awards Montaigne Medal. "The Montaigne Medal is an additional distinction, awarded to the most thought-provoking book each year." The Hoffer awards focus on thoughtful books and quality writing, so Wim and...
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Feb.03.2011
I recently gave permission for Anansi and the Box of Stories to be translated into Spanish for a children's book by a small Chilean publishing house. It's exciting to be able to communicate across cultures. Don't know how long this will take, but I'll let everybody know when the book comes out.
A...
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Dec.02.2010
Year-round near-perfect weather, picturesque colonial setting, perpetual flowers, and relaxed ambiance draw visitors from all over the world to San Miguel de Allende. But be warned, many who come for a brief vacation never manage to tear themselves away; you'll find them here among the permanent...
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Oct.26.2010
We were notified last night that Juggler in the Wind is an “Award-Winning Finalist in the Fiction & Literature: Young Adult Fiction category of the “Best Books 2010” Awards, sponsored by USA Book News.” It's always great to have our words recognized. (Two years ago Anna's World took the gold in...
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Oct.18.2010
Skulls made of sugar, dancing skeletons in fancy dress, colorful masks decorated with flowers ... these are all part of the Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations that spring from deep in Mexican history. The Day of the Dead is not a scary holiday even though it takes place so close...
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Storytelling, like all art, like life, is an act of learning—of finding out. We are mistaken to assume that stories of transformation are only about transformation, mere illustrations. Instead, they are transformation itself, acts of practical alchemy, with the power to alter the reality of every receptive person they touch. (That’s why we must learn to recognize a hate-based tale in any garb, and admit that nothing holy feeds on pain.) As we live our stories and tell them, we learn what they are about … and they change … and they transform.”
—from our memoir/essay “A Mexico of the Mind” (anthologized in Solamente en San Miguel.)
About Pat
I'm a writer and visual artist, the author of books and essays for both mainstream and educational publishers. My husband, Wim Coleman, and I often collaborate, and together we've written, edited, or contributed to some 65 publications. Earlier on, I spent...