19 Comments

How I love that ceremony of writing the last line of the book on your little bark boat and sending on its way. It's important to mark these special times with a meaningful gesture as you have done on this most special of occasions--completing a book. Congratulations.

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Thank you, Judy! I love how we are aligned on celebrating these milestones, especially since celebrating used to mean something very different for us!

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Big congrats, Jim!

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Thank you, Neal!

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Big ups on the new manuscript, Jim!

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Thank you!

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Huge congrats, Jim! " the most ambitious, the most autobiographical, and most punk rock of all my novels." - awesome. Love the bark story. Bon voyage, Black Van

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Thanks, Aug!

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Congrats. Look forward to reading it soon. Hey -- also enjoyed the latest column in Razorcake. Will have to check out Free LSD soon. Take care.

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Thanks! And your life isn't complete without Free LSD.

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Congrats Jim!

For me, when I am starting the last chapter of a good book, I get really excited. Whether it's been a two-day bender read or a two week 'chip away at it' read, the curiosity in me spikes diabeticly. I want the journey into this new mental world that my mind has created to wrap up in a way that hopefully coincides with how I've imagined it. It could be a funny, surprising, dark, deep, or endearing ending. That part doesn't matter as much as that last line. Does it leave me satisfied that I spent my time wisely? This part is so important to me that I will cover that last paragraph/page with my hand horizontally, only inching it down line by line, so I don't cheat myself.

By no means am I saying anything about you posting the pic, as you should be very proud of it. Obviously!

I'm just gonna have to do a mental Men In Black memory wipe now. ha.

Congrats again!

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Thank you! I think it's very likely that last line (and a lot of the ones that come before it) will change. I've lived with the first line for about 14 months and the last line for less than 24 hours when I sent it down the river.

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Wow! Big longtime enjoyer of SST records here from wAAAAY back in LA. REALLY FUN STUFF! hard to imagine a certain special time for me n my skatey pal without SST records, with Black Flag, Saccharine Trust (dude. We Became Snakes!!), Bad Brains & HR, Meat Puppets, Dinosaur (Jr), Hüsker Dü, St Vitas, thee beloved . . Minutemen, Descendents + others. And of course pre Blue Chip Art by Raymond Pettibon.

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All great stuff and a lot of these bands factor into the novel in one way or another...

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Congrats!!

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Thank you, Alex!

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Big congratulations on finishing the novel! I am already in love with the last line. I really love the bark/boat-in-river ceremony to observe this momentous occasion. Sounds like Tennessee can be really helpful to the creative spirit. I'm happy for you, Jim and can't wait to read Black Van.

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