Star Sightings...sort of

I took the bus to Chicago 3 weeks ago. The trip was long and horrible, but I brought a good book. A great book, actually. This book: Danny Gospel, by David Athey.

I can't put my finger on what exactly makes it so great, which, I'm sure, is what makes it so great. It feels like a stream of consciousness. I actually reveled in the frustrating subtlety. It was beautiful and frenetic and I was never 100% sure what was going on but it was such a fantastic thing. Good books make you happy while you're reading them. Great books make you feel uncomfortable while reading and exultant afterwards. As Dale Ahlquist, President of the American Chesterton Society said, "What is a song? It is a perfectly expressed emotion. It is words that dance. It is a place one returns to again and again, like a rhyme, like a home. It is a cry to heaven. Danny Gospel is a song. David Athey sings it."

Fast-forward three weeks to today. My boss Dave is standing at my office door saying, "You read Danny Gospel, right?" [I nod.] "The author, David Athey, is going to be in today." [My mouth drops.] Dave continues: "Want me to bring him by so you can meet him?" [I nod my head furiously.]

And then, 10 minutes later, David Athey is sitting in the chair across from my desk, asking me about Professor Stepanek from Wheaton's English department. I was simply stunned. He was so friendly and down-to-earth. We talked for a while about Wheaton and my internship at Bethany, and then I mustered the courage to ask about DG. Amazingly, he was willing to talk about it.

"It took me 18 years to write it," Athey said. "I didn't have an outline for this book, I had a character that talks in first person." Athey's novel certainly is an anomaly among other BHP novels. Most are plot-driven (as opposed to character-driven, like Athey's). And most are written in the third person past tense (Athey's is first person). Today in my office, he told me that his writing process was a lot like acting: he allowed this consuming character of Danny Gospel to do the talking, and Athey wrote it down. "Sometimes I would write two pages of dialogue and then realize it wasn't what he would say at all," Athey told me. "So I would get rid of it and try again."

And then, just like that, our conversation ended. "It was such a privilege to meet you, Mr. Athey," I enthused. I truly cannot ever remember being starstruck before. I've stood behind Meg Ryan in a line for the ladies' bathroom. I've screen-tested with Dennis Quaid. I've met Josh Duhamel at an autograph signing. And not until today did I ever get butterflies in my stomach while meeting someone of relative fame.

I think that says more about where my priorities are: that I would hold a novelist/poet/professor in higher esteem than a Hollywood celebrity assures me that I have my English-major head screwed on straight. Thank the Lord that I kept my wits about me enough to actually listen to what Athey was saying, instead of just marveling that he was actually talking to me.

My one regret? Not having my copy of Danny Gospel on hand to have him sign it.

Thank you, David Athey, for being so down-to-earth, for sitting in my little office and telling me about writing your first novel. Thank you for reminding me that writing is my passion.

And now, just because I love the book so much, read the opening lines then go out and buy it.

"We played our first concert by torchlight near the river. Free of charge, our old-fashioned act attracted a crowd to the hymns and spirituals that most people know by heart....We performed free concerts all over Iowa - at fairs, festivals, and churches. And we became so famous that people began forgetting our family name. Everyone started calling us the Gospel Family."

The Missing Phenomenon

Though I hate writing 2 completely unrelated posts in one day, I've got a lot on my mind right now. I've left me no choice.

I just checked in on my (past/present/future/forever) roommate Ashley's blog, and in her most recently post she published a list of things she misses. While I heartily agree with most all the things on her list, and even copied it with the intent to paste it here in my post, I think it may be more cathartic for me to write my own. She did such a great job, though, I'll embed her list in mine. Ashy, just think of me as your personal PR rep. I'm getting your name and your ideas out there!

Things I miss: being the good kind of stressed, having a reason to write, checking in with my Admissions office moms every day, making spaghetti for 20 of my closest college friends, going to the beach for labor day ("guys, i have a new most embarrassing moment"), those stupid but endearing get-to-know-you games on the first day of class, New Testament with Huizenga, Grande Grupo and the Reunion Tour in Spanish Lit, always having a standing dinner date with the roomies, yelling out of windows (read: throwing water balloons) in Terrace, the shower caddy that always fell down, yelling "Sayrah Bayeth" an obnoxious number of times, doing group yoga at the condo in CO, shinsplints from walking to and from Terrace 4 times a day, even in the winter, Jukebox meetings, walking to Jesse's after work on Mondays and Wednesdays, Life Church with Ashley, screaming at football games, going to Macaroni Grille 10 million times, dance parties with glowsticks and Graham, almond-crusted stuffed french toast from Egglectic, $60 trips to Target, celebrating birthdays, interviews and article-writing for the Record, seeing my name in print 3 times, collapsing exhausted into bed after writing a paper or getting off work, borrowing my friends' cute clothes, the Christmas party of 1047 B3 & B4, dancing to Chris Brown and (dare i say it?) Miley Cyrus, stuffed peaches in saga, watching Project Runway on youtube, the Thursday night Office crowd, lunch right after chapel, not ever doing my homework until the last minute, Jayj falling asleep on the couch every weekend night, cramming into Amy's room in Fischer, getting free therapy from the roomies, sitting on the blue couch and crying with Ash over Into the Wild, just sitting together in the apartment and contemplating being ourselves.

Accomplishments

Welcome to Internship Heaven, where meetings are not boring, where people thank you for your hard work and assure you of a job well done, where you complete a 699-page proofreading project 6 days before deadline. Welcome to the Best Day Ever.

I've had galleys for an omnibus (4 books in one) of Janette Oke's Seasons of the Heart series on my desk since June 17th, due July 8th. It was a massive brick of blue paper 7 inches high. And after logging an estimated 20+ hours poring over pages (and pages and pages and pages), I finished my first official proofread today.

Granted, it wasn't the most difficult of manuscripts - these 4 books were published years ago and edited many times before going to print - but it's been a while and times have changed. I managed to catch quite a few errors, of which I'm quite proud, including some glaring misspellings and even a politically incorrect phrase. Nota bene: It is no longer appropriate to print the phrase "gypped out" because that is derogatory towards ethnic Gypsies.

I've also been given a new project evaluating proofread manuscripts. It feels so great to have control over this project, so to speak - to set the parameters, establish a system, and weigh the practical value of the project. I'm glad they've entrusted it to me and I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from completing each manuscript.

Today I also sat down for a meeting with Dave, Vice President of Something-Something Fiction (editorial acquisitions, maybe? I can't remember). He encouraged me that I'm doing well as an intern and am actually contributing to the work of the company. Everyone loves a pat on the back, and today was simply glorious.

Unpaid or not, I'm loving this internship.