[fan mail]
The most important words any artist can ever hear are these: “You’ve inspired me.”
If hate mail is the fierce rage fuck after an intense argument, fan mail is the lovemaking in the dead of morning, when the sun has just barely opened its eyes and you have 45 minutes before you have to hit the snooze button for the first time.
When you’re asking yourself why you’re pursuing the always-difficult road of humanities, cursing your therapy bill and mixing Xanax with your morning oatmeal, fan mail will answer that question.
So much “fan mail” is verbal–a quiet recognition during a public reading, watching the reactions form in the audience’s eyes, a “thank you” or the unspoken affirmation as you watch your contemporaries build a colorful kingdom of their own from the basic colors you provided them with. The possibilities are literally limitless, and you’ll never, ever really know how much of an impact you’ve had on the artistic circle.
Art feeds art, the artist devours other artists to create things for other future artists to devour and emulate.
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“There are writers who speak to the minds of us and then there are those few who speak to the SOULS and HEARTS of us. They talk to our GUTS. Do you understand me Julie? They make us shiver and shake with their words and they make us KNOW THEM a bit deeper than we had ever imagined we would. This IS your life….the words which drip from the pages and force those supernovas to occur for those of us lucky enough to be invited into the scene you have set in our imaginations… A wicked tongue is far superior to a wicked ass my dear and have no fear because your tongue speaks VOLUMES and I hear. They will ALL hear if you let them. LET THEM. You deserve to be heard.” - [Miss Tairrie B, vocalist, My Ruin/The LVRS]
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“It’s my favorite underground poet…As always, great material. You really should be published…I get the first manuscript…right?” [- [Mat Devine, vocalist, Kill Hannah] (authoress note: working on it…)
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“You are an absolutely fantastic writer. Thank you.” – [Eric Victorino, vocalist, Strata/The Limousines]
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“I love your website.” - [wiL Francis, vocalist, Aiden]
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“Here’s a note to let you know you did well in the New Millennium Writings competition. Although you didn’t win, you were one of the writers who made it to the final round of judging in our always competitive awards contests. About 250 made it to the final round and were selected from some 1,400 total submissions in four categories. The quality in our contests is high, and you should be proud of your accomplishment. I am. – [Don Williams, editor, New Millennium Writings]
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(re: “Voyeur”)
“If you submit this poem to any other format, or when you do, it’s going to get rejected. This poem will be rejected by most other poetry formats but it’ll make you famous. Time will tell if you’ll be able to do it again.” – [Larry Ziman, editor, The Great American Poetry Show]
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“Raw, like three pounds of raw beef, but only half the blood. Come closer….if she doesn’t sink her nails into your heart, she’ll certainly leave the taste of her mind. It’s staring into a thousand mirrors and seeing it reflect right behind you, a glint of turquoise in her eye and ribbons of jewel wrapping you up. You will never see, but certainly never forget. ” – [Oklahoma City, OK]
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“It’s very well put together, very secretive and trancing and thought provoking and assuming all at the same time…It’s all about putting those things down that live inside, that can’t be spoken, can’t be read in someone’s eyes or the movement of their hips…You do that well, you write things that go unnoticed in the every day world. I like that…Tsk tsk, dear woman….you’re turning me into something vicious.” [Little Rock, Arkansas]
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“Damn. This shit is crazy. ” [A fan since high-school] (authoress note: you’ve known me 10 years and “crazy” is the best you’ve got?)
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“Such beautiful Plathean writing will all go to waste if you take antidepressants.” [Dekalb, Illinois]
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“hi julie, i just wanted to tell you that i love your blog, enjoy your writing…and know what i do? i print it out and read it when i take a hot bath…i love to read in the water…good luck with all you want from life and don´t let any assholes ever drag you down… ♥ ” [Hamburg, Germany]
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“1. your semi nudes, were very sexy and very tasteful. sorry to perv out on you like a normal guy and go right after the nudes, but testicles will be testicles .
2. i sense a tone of pain in you, i like your poetry, but i would rather read your memoirs, you just seem to hold a great deal of swagger that most people don’t carry with them. i know cause i got it too.
if some one else had the exact same life, and told their story it would suck, but if you told the story i believe you would own it, and wear it as a badge of “fuck you” for everyone to enjoy.
3. i kinda feel like you are a pseudo celebrity, and i can say things to you without fear of consequence.” [Birmingham, Alabama]
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“I just went over to your blog and I have to say you are now one of my favorite writers. It sounds as though we have a lot in common, especially the ‘doing things to excess’ part. Vicodin, Xanax, and I are longtime friends and lovers!.. I think I can learn a lot from you, both by reading your stuff and by you reading mine. And you should take that as a hugely insane compliment because I have a massive ego and think very highly of my own talent!!” [Lexington, Kentucky]
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“LOVE THE BLOGS! There are people who think they can write, and then there are people who turn words into images, phrases into feelings. I believe you fall into the catagory of the latter! Keep it up!” [Fremont, California]
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“i took a peek at your blog out of curiosity and i must say you are quite prolific – i wish i was as disciplined in my own writing. also, you look good in a smiths tee.” [Location Unknown]
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“I checked out your site a bit. I really enjoy your writing. It’s very conversational but intellectual all at once.” [Athens, Georgia]
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“By creating you inspire. Can I thank you in advance. In case we as humans ever come to a disagreement. Doesn’t it feel nice to be a creating machine?…You sound to be a living example of dreams being most fullfilling.” [Location Unknown]
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“I saw your site. Your writing is impressive. Highly likely that you are bipolar (which all the linguistic genius’ are).” [Location Unknown]
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