Fox Life

Every once in a while you'll come across a website that will make you want to be a better person. Not often, mind you. Most things I see on the internet make me want to be a cat inside of a box or a turtle eating a strawberry. (They're. So. Happy .) But Sarah showed me SadDeskLunch.com and it made me want to take lunch outside, every day, for the rest of my life. Thanks, SadDeskLunch.com ! I am not by nature an outdoor kid, or at least I haven't been for the last 16 years (about the same time I got my first computer... interesting), but I write to you today from the concrete benches on the corner of Market and Pine using an iPad and a bluetooth keyboard. I can feel the sun, and it's terribly confusing. There's a bare-chested skater, and  a woman who takes awkward steps because her huge handbag weighs down half her body and her choice of footwear has effectively hobbled her. She pauses for a clove cigarette.  Three white guys walk by me with all of the va...

My high school buddy John McKenna has a mustache. He has other excellent features too, and is a genuinely wonderful human being, but anyone who knows him would probably say the 'stache gets top billing. Some might say that growing a mustache is a short-cut to being liked. Perhaps. But to be loved, you have to grow a great one. John is an artist, but the kind of artist who just makes awesome things. He creates with the kind of enthusiasm that only comes from doing exactly what you want to do. Like a ninja bunny. Or this wandering sorcerer. Or the Teenage Mutant Ninja Tutles, if they were actually turtles. It's pretty inspiring. You work hard to kick ass at the thing you love, then you procede to kick ass. And in the meantime, you cultivate a killer mustache. Oh, and at one party, John battered and deep fried a strip of bacon. He is beyond reproach. -Ezra 1/1000

Ah, the internet: Infinite power and we get millions of people telling you to read their stupid blog. Go figure. (Meanwhile, thanks for stopping by ezrafox.com !) The Internet is so full of self promotion it's easy to get burnt out on it. We have an insanely efficient medium for making things and telling people about it, but it gets noisy when everyone's making and telling. Sooner or later, the artists outnumber the audience. For example, I make a podcast every week, but I almost never listen to other podcasts. I've occasionally written a blog here (2 last year!) but aside from my friends'  Anna's and Colleen's , I don't read blogs either. Truth is, I've wanted to get famous for a while, (or at least Internet Famous) so I haven't felt like I had any time to be a fan. In other words, I haven't had time to like people--I've been too busy trying to get people to like me. And if that doesn't sound great reading it, it doesn't f...

So little over a year ago I finished writing a book. And I figured, no problem, all I have to do now is get someone to buy it. Books. Like the one I wrote. Well, it's a little more complicated than that. But I've since streamlined the process and offer you my knowledge, free of charge.* 1. Query some agents. I used Query Tracker , and it was fantastically easy to search through and for tracking my numerous rejection letters. 2. Lose some hope. Not all of it, but a good chunk. 3. Re-double your efforts. This time be a bit more strategic. Ransack your connections for anyone who might know an agent. Find agents who like the kind of thing that you do. Enjoy more rejection letters. 4. I can't stress this enough. You really have to enjoy the rejection letters. My goal was to get up to 100 rejections, at which point I'd say screw it and self-publish the damn thing. 5. Realize that even if an agent liked it, they'd still have to find a publisher that liked it...

My ridiculous podcast will be playing at the Bumbershoot music festival on September 1st. If you happen to be in Seattle, it'll be a good time. We'll be celebrating the oeuvre of Nicholas Cage, specifically his outstanding work in City of Angels, where he's an angel, Ghost Rider, where he's a demon, and The Wicker Man, where he dresses up as a bear and clobbers people. That is all.

So Sarah just finished taking the Bar (!!) and I finished the draft of the novel. I'm not adding more exclamation points onto my accomplishment because, in all likelihood, that's not the last time that I'll be making changes to the book. But it still feels good to have taken the piece to a place where I'd feel comfortable leaving it and moving onto the next thing. Which makes me wonder what the next thing is. Suggestions? Also: