Franzine Kafka

Moved Out/Locked Show/Was Briefly Homeless

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sun, 27 May 2012 21:06:00 +0000

It's been a crazy two weeks. I went to Los Angeles to move out of my apartment and had a nice three and a half day vacation. Even though two days were spent moving, I still felt more relaxed than I do in NYC. As soon as I landed, I felt a sense of release. Just picturing the streets of NYC, I feel very stressed out, like there is no escape from the hassle, the zoo.

Thursday I went to Anne-Marie's book launch at Skylight for Radio Iris. I was so proud of her after seeing all of the hard work she put into her book. She had a pretty good turnout. All of the reviews are glowing. Friday I packed up my apartment. It took all day, but I have OCD and love the feeling of taking inventory of my things, so I didn't mind the task. My friends Susie and Jackson stopped by while I packed. Saturday, my dad flew down from Seattle to help me move the boxes into storage. I hadn't seen him in a long time, so that was good.

Sunday I saw my cat. He was extremely mad at me. As soon as he caught sight of me, he meowed in complaint and bolted from the living room of my friend's house, retreating into deep hiding. Once, when I left him for a few months on the East Coast, he put on a similar display of ignoring me for a couple of days, so that is kind of a bummer! He's better off at my friend's house in Venice, though, especially given the way things have been going lately. By the end of my visit, he wasn't ignoring me anymore, but he would not let me pick him up.

Sunday night I took the red eye. Landed back at JFK in the morning. Got a great seat in the emergency exit row and would have been able to sleep, if not for the guy who tried to talk to me all night. When he finally did fall asleep, he fell on top of me every fifteen minutes, so I felt like I was being tortured with sleep deprivation. I went to work and felt so sick by the end of the day, I thought I might throw up. On my way home, I found out there was an emergency "situation" at the place where I've been staying. It required me to find new lodgings ASAP, which was basically the last thing I wanted to hear when I was so tired I could barely stand up. I hid through the drama of Monday night - I was literally too tired to escape it.

Tuesday - Thursday I stayed with the little sister of a college friend, in Brooklyn. I spent the week "locking" my episode under extreme stress and no sleep. My boss is the type of person who screens something and gives notes about 5 minutes before it's due to the network or due to be locked, so that makes it hard on every one else. Wednesday and Thursday I was overseeing six editors in six different bays to accommodate her last minute changes in time to get this thing to air. I am so happy that episode is done! I've fielded so many round of notes, which always feels like the worst because it requires re-doing something you've done, perhaps multiple times. I am sure any writer can relate to this. Edits, edits and more edits. You just want to tell your boss or agent or editor to shove it at a certain point =) But then the project is finally done, and there is no greater feeling, and you start the whole process all over again.

Next I'm going to be doing half of another episode and then I'll be moving on to a new show.

I'm TIRED!

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Thu, 10 May 2012 03:29:00 +0000

My heart is still racing. My veins are popping out. My stomach feels funny. I can't sit for a subway ride.

Holy cow people. I have had a heck of a week. I just worked my butt off to get the rough cut done. I worked until 10pm Thursday night. I worked BOTH weekend days, including Saturday until 9pm. We were supposed to send the show without notes, but then we suddenly got a stream of notes at the last possible minute, so I had to work like a madwoman to get the cut out to the network.

I am super stressed out and I think it will take me about 2 weeks to wind down from that mess (coincidentally... that is when the episode will be finished). I feel pretty good about most of it, except for 2 acts (that means 8 really good acts). I hope the network likes it! I am seeing billboards for the show around town, and that is super exciting to me - I have never worked on a show with billboards before!

In the meantime, I submitted my first novel to a small press last night and I am dying to get back to my second one. I have been in the mood for it. I want to get those pages down!

Yesterday I booked a new writer/story producer job on a huge new Lifetime series, so I don't know that I will have a day off through November.

It's always hard to balance all of the elements. When I write, I am poor. When I work, I can't write. Life... This year I feel like all I'm doing is working. All of my friends are in California, so I don't really do anything at all besides work. I suppose it's a good thing I like what I do for a living, even if it is a "day job."

I am feeling slightly nervous that small presses will google me and find reality tv credits to my name and then look down upon me, but what can I do? A girl's gotta eat.

Working on Saturday

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:25:00 +0000

Here I am. At work on a Saturday. Looks like we're delivering the "rough cut" of my episode to the network on Tuesday night, which means working through the weekend to get there. Luckily I have my chocolate bunnies, my goldfish, my Starburst and my Fun Dip. I just find that buying candy solves a lot of problems related to how many hours I'm going to be working. Thursday night I was stuck here until at least 10 pm because I had 7 hours (!!) of meetings before I got to do any work. Basically, my phone started ringing at 6 am as the EP watched each act and e-mailed her notes. When I got into the office, I had to meet with someone about them. Then the whole series team had a two hour lunch meeting. Then I had to wait outside the EP's office for an hour so I could talk about the same notes I'd been talking about all day, though with her. Around 4:30 I started working.

I am supposed to fly back to Los Angeles in less than two weeks and move out of my apartment because my landlords reneged on a deal, and I'm slightly concerned about how that's going to interfere with work. Everything here changes every single day. There's no way to stick to a schedule or know which days are going to be emergencies.

Last night I went to the Andrew Bird concert at the Beacon Theatre. I think I started bawling several times. Good thing it was dark. The concert was beautiful. He mostly only played songs from the new album, but Orpheo Looks Back really got to me. Ha, maybe I am just too homesick. I still don't know where I am going to live for the rest of the year.

"Radio Iris" by Anne-Marie Kinney - book trailer out

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:53:00 +0000

I am so excited because my good friend Anne-Marie's debut novel "Radio Iris" is coming out in a couple of weeks. There is a lot of great news on it. It is being published by a cool indie press (Two Dollar Radio), but Oprah's Magazine is going to feature it, and it's getting a stand-alone review in the New York Times. I've read it and think it will be a cult classic, if not a classic classic.

You can watch the trailer for the book below!

Exhibit "B" - On How My Life Is Like A Reality Show

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Wed, 02 May 2012 04:37:00 +0000

On Saturday I moved via subway. It only took three trips, but I did it. I never have to see bananas roommate again. No more living over a dance club appropriately titled "Happy Ending" that thumped until 4 am. No more medicinal/herbal smells in the hallway, roaches in the sink, mildew in the bathroom, rotten milk in the trash or rooms without windows. This week I have woken up not to the sound of my roommates high heels hitting the wood floor at six a.m. but rather to the view of natural light coming into my window.

Last night I had an epic night that involved pizza from a bakery and a broadcast of ABC Family's Make It Or Break It. Epic night. It's funny how when you live in a suburb, an epic night is a great night out or party, but here in NYC an epic night is one in which I get to plop myself down in front of the television for an hour!

Good thing I got that rest in last night, because today was epic in a totally different way. First, I found out they suddenly went from trying to get my show extra editors (since they pulled the editor to work on the season premiere a month ago) to - in the same meeting - deciding we should just deliver the ep to the network on Friday. Uh, what? How did we go from "sorry, we know you need extra help because you're behind but we got no editors" to "let's just send in the complete show with three days' notice!" Okay! We will snap our fingers and make magic happen.

I then stepped out of the office to run an errand and of course got assaulted by emails asking "where are you??????" I NEVER leave the office. I have not had a single lunch out in the entire two months I have been here, so it figures the one day I step out that things would blow up. I rushed back to the office to find that our post supervisor had quit mid-day in a spectacular way, apparently by e-mailing our mighty production company all of the reasons why our executive producer is not doing her job and is a monster. He so thoughtfully decided to cc her on this e-mail too.

Yep. So, the supervising story producer then had to figure out how to make a calendar in icalendar and take over his duties of generally supervising the logistics on this show. So far I've stayed in a drama-free zone, so I have not really had to deal with anyone else's issues! But, I wouldn't trade my job for any other!

Out of the Box!

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 01:08:00 +0000

Woohoo! I turned in the keys and I will never have to live in a tiny windowless box again! No more roaches! Today I did laundry. Next I might sleep for a week.

The last month or so has been really tough. I came from a great situation in San Francisco, where everything was balanced (work, friends, home) to New York, where I only expected to rough it for about six weeks. I think the moment I realized I would be here longer was about the turning point for me when I started to get ueber stressed. If I wanted to live inside of a capsule, I would go to Japan!

This is basically what my room was like, minus the TV.

I would be happy to never return to Chinatown or the LES again. The only thing I will miss is the sesame pancake sandwich with egg. ($1.75).

My show premieres soon. Which means I gotta get my episode done soon. Hmm.

Apartment Search

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 00:28:00 +0000

I was going to check out the place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn over the weekend, which I was going to do just in case the Internet horror stories of bodybags weren't fair. Had to chuckle at the google maps photo of the people sitting on the stoop.

Darn

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:11:00 +0000

One week from today I was scheduled to be on a plane back to San Francisco. But then there were delays at my job here. And more delays.

And then I found out on Thursday I can't go back to my job in San Francisco because of the huge delays out here. =/ I'm going to miss their entire spring busy season, so they won't need me by the time I wrap up my episode. If I leave next week on my original out date, I'll leave the episode and series I'm working on in shambles, so that's not going to work. I'd like to be proud of this episode I've been slaving away at. A lot of people are going to watch it.

As I mentioned last time, things are getting rather hairy over here. I had a full-fledged midnight shouting match with my dirty personal space-oblivious roommate. This was not expected - I tend to avoid conflict, but this person will not leave me alone and is offended that I spend my time at home in my room (as does the other roommate). He also prevents me from being able to sleep, so I had the shakes for two days this week, have a migraine today etc.

All I do is fantasize about space. Chairs. Windows. Desks. Dinner with an episode of Modern Family. These seem like incredibly luxuries at the moment. I've been looking for a new place to live. Thought I found the perfect escape for the cockroaches - a friend's sister's 1 BR in Brooklyn. A seemingly unattainable goal the past 6 weeks... then oh so close, until I googled the neighborhood and found out there's shootings and bodybags in the playground and whatnot. I'm sure it's fine for an experienced Brooklynite, but that I am not. I am an experienced Angelino. I do not know how to not get mugged on that street.

Looks like I'm stuck with cockroaches and no sleep for two more weeks! At least I won't get mugged, raped or shot by them, most likely.

In many ways, I feel like my life is beginning to resemble a reality show. The series I'm working on is going off the rails. We work in close conditions in a house-like space, now often late at night. The producer of episode one has been blacklisted. The network is very upset with that episode and it's the reason why I'm stuck here longer than planned. I'm kinda afraid I'm going to be stuck out here forever! Gosh darnit, last year I didn't work that much but my life was all settled, and this year I am working every week, yet the rest of my life is in a blender. Not sure which one is better!

My Life As A Reality Show Producer. Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:02:00 +0000

Welcome to the latest installment of my life as a reality show producer.

Well, things at work have gotten rather hairy in the past week. All of the episodes are way off schedule, and it's sort of a domino effect... I refuse to let my episode catch the plague, so I'm trying my hardest to stave off those issues!

Here's an example of just how nutso things are getting. Monday I got stuck at work very late because we had pick-up shoots Tuesday and Wednesday and there were big last-minute changes. Before going home we were told to wake up every two to three hours to check our e-mail and see if notes had come in. If they had come in, we were to address them in the middle of the night and send revisions by six a.m. before the shoot started. Yep. I woke up every two hours right on the nose. No notes. Not a single time.

Today I was hoping to sleep in a bit, but I was awakened by my roommate's hour and a half long Skype conversation with his girlfriend, held at full volume beginning before 7 AM. I put on headphones with music but could still hear him through it. So, I got up and took a "my roommate is an a-hole" run and then went to the bank. By the time I came back and hour and a half later, he was still on Skype. I grabbed my towel to shower and ran into him wearing only tightey-whiteys. Ew.

I'm dying to get a new apartment. I still have not gotten over the two times he plopped on the couch next to me, cuddled up and stared at my computer screen. I was talking to (whining at) a co-worker today and he said I definitely don't give off approachable vibes. Um yeah, thought so. Franzine does not invite small talk with unproven strangers. Now I'm wondering if this person is autistic or aggressively coming onto me and ignoring clear signals to back the truck away.

In the meantime, I'm having the flipside problem I had earlier this year. I'm once again deciding between San Francisco and New York, except this time I'm currently in New York. Let's do a new pros and cons table.

San Francisco pros: friends, sun, quality of life, exercise, it's on the correct coast

San Francisco cons: job is not ideal for long-term, pee smell

New York pros: tons of work. TONS they say. i'm hearing about so many jobs. i want job. job is good. pays for stuff i need.

New York cons: far from home, stalker roommates, dirty, don't know how to find a decent apartment, just too dang old to settle down in a place that's more foreign to me than Germany.

Okay, I'm not dense. Obviously I won't stay in New York forever. The question is more what to do in the coming months.

Passed the Test

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 15:26:00 +0000

Crazy week. I got super sick several days ago and had to walk a mile home with a fever. I realized there weren't any alternatives here, as the streets were too gridlocked to take a cab. I remember how I got sick when I landed back in 2007 and had no idea how to be sick in this city. Groceries, gatorade? Five flights of stairs? Not happening.

It was also a big week at work. I hadn't yet met the executive producer of my show, and suddenly I had meetings booked for Wednesday, the day I had the highest fever. Great! Also, she was suddenly going to screen half of my show a week and a half earlier than scheduled. Double great!

But Wednesday's meeting got pushed off to Thursday, and then Thursday's got pushed off to Friday. All the while I fretted about her seeing my work for the first time. Friday my meeting was canceled and then reinstated on 20 minutes' notice, so we had to scramble. Call my editor back from lunch, run up to the edit bay and get it ready to show (all the while the show is being worked on, so things are not necessarily presentable without a lot of notice). There's been a lot of drama with other episodes, so some things have been tense.

She loved it, though! Woohoo. So happy that she loved how I portrayed the characters, and she texted everyone that I did a good job. So yay. Glad the meeting got pushed back or I would have had snot running down my nose during the whole thing.

It was another producer's birthday, so at six pm we all gathered in an edit bay and surprised her with champagne, a cupcake and a giant singing card. Afterwards, 20 of us went out to a dinner at a Korean BBQ place in the East Village and then rented a booth for karaoke afterwards. Definitely love these bunch of guys. I learned during karaoke that one of my co-workers was in Les Mis on Broadway as a child star. Then she spent her teen years touring as a back-up singer for Disney stars like Hilary Duff and whatnot. Who knew?

Homesick

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 01:48:00 +0000

I have not been posting for awhile! So here's the update. My cat is in LA. My car is in San Francisco. And I've been living out of two suitcases for 4 months and counting. My job's end date in New York has now been pushed back from mid April to mid or late May, due to complications with another episode.

I love producing reality TV! I still love my job. I am excited to be part of such an amazing show that the majority of my friends have actually seen.

New York was great for a few weeks, but I'm starting to see a bunch of the warts now! Let's start with my apartment. My living situation leaves much to be desired. I have lived on my own for eight years, and I'm reminded of why that is the case. I think this will be my last experiment with roommates, even in New York, where rent is astronomical.

One of my roommates is 22 and has yet to acquire life skills. Sample behaviors: tossing out a carton of extremely rotten milk in the trash without emptying it out and leaving it there to continue to rot all day. He is unaware that the trash ever needs to be taken out, so it is left in an open container to rot ostensibly forever. Also, I was on my laptop alone one evening, and when he came home, he promptly sat next to me and started watching what I was watching on my laptop. Which was on my... lap. Yeah.

Another time he came into my room with my door closed. I got rid of him, but he then started IMing me from the next room. His behaviors have attracted roaches. He seems to try to snuggle up to me like I am either his girlfriend or mother - not sure which one! I'm guessing mother, since I take out the trash and clean the place daily. Woohoo. I have kids now!

To be clear, I live in a 9x9 windowless room that has two built-in holes - one to his room, and one to the living room. There is no room for dealing with a bad roommate! I spend my time hiding in my ridiculous bunk bed, as there is no other furniture in here. I'm basically at my limit for dorm-room conditions.

As a West Coast girl, I've had a hard time adjusting to life in such a dense, expensive and gritty city. In talking to the other story producers this week - half of whom are from LA and came in specifically for this show - I'm finding that everyone's having similar experiences.

Last week I went to work on my novel at Starbucks*. There was a guy rollerblading laps around the place the whole time.

*Live in Manhattan long enough and you learn Starbucks is where you go to find a normal-sized space to sit in. Whole Foods is also an oasis of space and cleanliness in the midst of the madhouse and therefore a place I frequent.

Really missing California here, but I might be staying for awhile because there is a ton of work on good shows.

However, I'm going to find a better living situation and try to import some friends so it is more tolerable. Who wants to visit??

Magical Night w/ Cinjun Tate at The Living Room

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 17:58:00 +0000

One of the benefits of living where I do is that I randomly find out my favorite band from college days/friends is playing a few blocks away every Sunday. For free!

I'm so old I rarely make it out to concerts anymore. The only other show I went to in the last two years was the Remy Zero reunion show in Silver Lake, oddly. This show had an intimate setting. Loved the Living Room. Any venue that seats people at tables gets a gold star in my book! I will not stand for any band!

Anyway, the concert was great, but something magical happened at the end of the show. Cinjun invited a random audience member to the stage. He had shouted out a request for Life in Rain. Nobody knew him, though he had a very polished hipster look to him. He took the stage while chewing gum, with a rock star swagger, and when he started singing I thought it was actually Cinjun singing. Not only did he nail all of the words (which is already a high bar when calling upon a random audience member to sing a song that came out when he was 7), but he sang in a voice that sounded very much like Cinjun and was able to harmonize with him on the fly and sang very confidently.

This was an incredibly surreal moment to watch unfold... luckily captured on video tape.

When I got home, I googled him and found that he was on American Idol, which explains some of what happened that night. It was almost impossible to believe that performance wasn't rehearsed beforehand and that they didn't know each other. His voice blew my mind.

For more check out Cinjun's website.

It's hot!

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 02:25:00 +0000

Wow, so... fun times in New York. Still love my job as a reality show writer/producer, and now I'm about to enter week 3. I'm preparing myself for the idea that it's only down from here once I'm done! Our work environment is just ideal in so many ways.

Imagine writing a novel for ten hours a day with your headphones on... but there are also 6 other writers writing another chunk of your novel, so every once in awhile you can take your headphones off and chit chat about the crazy things your characters are doing, and this actually makes sense to them because they're working on the same story.

This is rad. Writing is so isolating, but with reality competition, there's a structure to it, which removes the biggest stress of how to tell the story. I get to focus on the characters. All of the other producers are interesting too. Half of us came from LA, so sometimes I don't even feel like I'm in New York. There are a lot of conversations about restaurants in LA, even moreso than restaurants in New York, so it's quite easy to forget.

Also, living in lower Manhattan I am just blocks away from everything I like. The singer of my favorite band from when I was in college is playing free shows every Sunday just around the corner. There are countless readings and literary events also within blocks. Plus all of my favorite haunts like Teany, Wild Ginger, Veselka are all steps away.

Hmm... so surprising news I have heard in the last week. I apparently met Lana del Rey before she was Lana del Rey. Very weird.

Also, someone from high school is now in The Shins. Considering someone else from my high school class is on a hit NBC show, I think we have some ridiculously talented classmates.

It was 81 degrees last week, and this week is looking like a repeat. 70s and 80s. Very strange situation over here in New York City.

Andrew Bird.

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 04:34:00 +0000

Listen to this song. Buy the album.

Amazing.

Franzine in the City

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 03:06:00 +0000

Had sort of an interesting night last night. I went to my first New York literary event (seems like just yesterday I went to my first San Francisco literary event!). Fun night. Interesting people. New friends. Old friends. New York has the most fashionable 50 year old hipster women. They really do it best here.

The event was held in the Back Room - a cool bar that seems like someone's living room. I'd been here before, five years ago, but I got lost trying to find it yet again. It's hidden inside of a courtyard, kind of the way bars in Berlin are hidden.

Afterwards had the kind of night filled with an excitement you only get from meeting new people. I don't know what it is about new people and moving locations, but it sure is fun to go to a second location with people you just met. Like hey... wanna go to a restaurant??? Yes, let's go to a restaurant!!!

Anyway, I went to a diner with some new and slightly old friends and ended up being joined by one of the performers - who apparently is a Hollywood actor, though not one big enough for anyone to recognize - and some other eccentric people whose names I never caught. Interesting dinner conversation over hamburgers and matzah ball soup. Can't really repeat it on the Internet. Sometimes anonymous is still not anonymous enough. Blargh. I received a most excellent compliment though. Apparently I look like a movie star, without makeup - or rather movie stars get made up to look like me. So take that, movie stars! Straight from a female hipster's lips. Gosh I love strangers.

I walked home and was cut off by not one but two very fast moving rats, which caused me to scream like a newbie, as they just missed my shoes by inches. If I see one of those inside, you can be sure I will hop on the next plane back to California. The thing was moving so fast it was just a blur with a tail.

First Day As Reality Producer

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 03:29:00 +0000

Hello from the other side. I went into my soho office today for the first time. I didn't know what to expect from this experience. While I've done many documentaries and have ample editing experience, I'd never produced a proper reality show before, so I was a bit nervous.

I signed an NDA today - I have to keep reminding myself that my work is super top secret. Hopefully I don't accidentally blow anything. It's funny that there are people who are going to watch the show in anticipation of the results!

Here's some random musings from inside the world of reality.

(1) a show with a budget! wow. never worked on one of those before. i once worked at an office that had live trees, live dogs, food and massages, but then they scrimped on the schedule and i had to make the whole show in three* days.

*three is an exaggeration. nine days is the real answer. that sucked.

(2) it's fun to be in a room with other "producers"

(3) the people on the show are characters. i'm not really sure what that means.

(4) i love being in control.

(5) the best thing about a reality show is that it is like putting together a fun puzzle. even more fun to make than to watch!

all day, i felt life was just wonderful. things are fun. i've reconnected with old friends. my roommates (necessary here) are cool. one works for the UN and is one of a handful of people in the room along with the ambassadors when the security council votes on the middle east. it was interesting to hear his experience - i've quizzed him profusely. only in new york can you meet people who have such varied life experiences.

i had a nice charming walk through soho on the way home, passing all of the expensive shops and the lively bars/restaurants that you find nowhere else in the world - and then stopped at whole foods where i waited in line with two items behind at least 70 people. as soon as i stepped outside, i crossed over a stream of fresh pee running down the sidewalk. yeesh.

i guess everything's a dichotomy.

Back in New York

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 22:59:00 +0000

Here I am. I have landed! I worked in SF and flew here to start a new work of week in Soho. It has been a little surreal. Forgot how vibrant this city is. I've had a great time eating Chinese food and catching up with wonderful friends I haven't seen in two or so years. I feel like I have almost no friends here, but actually I realized I have more than I can handle. So ha. Also there apparently was no winter, so I don't have to be a cry baby about that, even if it is 85 in LA and 75 in San Francisco this weekend.

I just had coffee with a writer who used to work at the New Yorker reading the slush pile. I was able to confirm that I did in fact receive the highest rejection I could possibly get from them, so I am just thrilled with that. As a writer you look for good signs anywhere, including in rejections. Just a little nudge to know you're actually on the right track. He said most of the submissions were of a quality that is higher than MFA workshops as well, so yay. I am doing something right.

I think it's kind of interesting that I sent the same piece out to a smattering of lit mags and the least prestigious and the most prestigious were the ones that responded the best. Just goes to show how bizarro this process is. Makes no sense whatsoever.

Tomorrow I start my big new job piecing together the story for a reality/documentary show. Wish me luck!

Crazy Times

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 00:29:00 +0000

Not much to report here. I've been buried under a work avalanche - working until 10:30 pm lately. It's hard to make it through each week, but with any luck I'll go back to a regular schedule in a week. Life has been fantastic ever since I landed in San Francisco. I have way too much to do, between work, friends, novel-writing and what not. I literally did not have time to eat most meals last week.

And, some sort of good news on Novel #1 which will hopefully turn into 100% good news in the near future. If that happens, I will report it.

Plus, on Friday, amidst craziness in the office, I received what I think is a higher-tiered rejection from the New Yorker praising the "evident merit" of my story. I sent them part of the first chapter of novel #1 and am just so thrilled to get anything but the lowest form rejection from them! Yay. I have a good feeling about my book. I've adjusted expectations in terms of how long it actually takes to jump through all of the right hoops, but I do feel that I'm getting there.

Marathon Week of Socializing

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:10:00 +0000

I have made it through my marathon week of socializing and now I want to collapse.

I saw my friend's adorable new baby in Mountain View! I went to the Monthly Rumpus on Monday! Last night was almost the grand finale, except it came on a weeknight. I went to a very special party for Path, which is my friend's husband social-networking start-up. They went all out to celebrate their new release, renting out a venue with a dance floor, a taco truck, an ice cream truck (!), and a DJ called Milkman. The best part besides the ice cream was celebrating with close friends. It's such a warm, fuzzy feeling to watch your friends succeed after much-deserved hard work. I have awesome friends. This was literally the first time I ever felt like dancing since age 21, or maybe let's say ever.

After staying out far too late (how come 11:30pm feels so darn late?!!) I stumbled into work this morning and made not one, not two, but three promos before heading off to Literary Death Match, which turned out to be exceedingly awesome. I was delighted by the writing of Alia Volz - the declared winner. I also met some people who have a reading series called Portuguese Artists Colony which I will be sure to check out.

But for now I will fall over. Gosh, being a socialite must be hard. I don't envy these people.

San Francisco vs. Los Angeles Lit Scene

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:13:00 +0000

I've now gone to my first San Francisco literary event. I saw Stanford faculty member Adam Johnson read from his new novel the Orphan Master's Son, set in North Korea. He killed it. I am definitely interested in checking out the book now. I met with two former fiction workshop classmates beforehand, and two former/current faculty members read, so the feeling was very homey. Makes me want to hop on Caltrain and check out some readings/move into the English Department. Sometimes I want to live inside of the Wonder Boys forever.

Things are definitely different here! In L.A. I mainly go to single author readings or launch parties for issues of lit mags. Here it seems like the scene mainly consists of revue shows, which has its pros and cons. Pros are that there seems to be a devoted following for various events and the energy is high (readings are interspersed with short sets from bands or comics). My only gripe is that everything here costs money so I will check out fewer events - typically for a reading the author is doing it for free in the hopes you will buy a book or issue. Sad.

In the meantime, my friend Anne-Marie's book Radio Iris is excerpted here on the Two Dollar Radio website. Check it out - she's brilliant.

A Week in My San Francisco Life

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 23:46:00 +0000

Wow. Life in San Francisco has just been amazing. I love my job. People are cool. And I have plans every night. It's kind of ridiculous. Here's what my new life looks like:

LAST NIGHT: reconnected with an old classmate and had super fun times.

FRIDAY: my college roommate, the very talented Emily Prince, had a lovely art opening.

SUNDAY: seeing one of my favorite women, Kristin - and her brand new baby boy. she is the first in my circle of close friends to have a child and she has given me many of the gory details.

MONDAY: Rumpus literary reading with publishing friends.

THURSDAY: My friend's husband's start up is throwing what seems like a super fun bash. so excited to celebrate with them.

FRIDAY: Another literary event run by new friend I met in L.A. just before I left!

SATURDAY: A birthday party if I stay in town for the three-day weekend. Actually, two birthday parties.

Not to mention lots of working and novel-writing. I blocked off all of Saturday and half of Sunday to write.

How cool is this week?

It's Jerry!

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 05:42:00 +0000

Well, I started a new freelance producing job. Last week was rather eventful. I got up bright and early and enjoyed a San Francisco sunrise on the bus down to the office. Then I was off to Candlestick Park, where we shot a certain football hero. Jerry was one of the nicest dudes I've ever met. He was super sweet to everyone including the whole crew. He wanted to direct a few of his own fun takes and was very gracious and personable. What an awesome guy.

Funniest moment: when the Candlestick cleaning crew realized he was on the field. One woman shouted "Hey!!! That's Jerry!" She then stated that she would do anything for Jerry and she managed to seat the entire crew down one by one (maybe 50-75 people who wouldn't listen to us) so that they wouldn't make any noise during the shoot ("It's for Jerry! Do it for Jerry!"). Jerry shook hands with everyone afterwards.

I didn't tell Jerry I had never seen a single football game, though I did watch him on Dancing With The Stars. I hear he is a good wide receiver. He sure has big hands. Sheesh.

One thing I did not expect was that it would be ICE COLD on the field in the morning. I couldn't feel my feet, which were soaked. Holy cow. I spent two hours freezing as though we were on a snowy mountain.

Later I hit up a revue show that incorporates big hats and topical jokes.

Funny thing: nobody in the office eats AT ALL, so I feel awfully silly with my pile of food on my desk.

My new daily schedule is to stop into Safeway on the way in and out of work. Yes, twice a day every single day. This is how it works when you have to walk .75 miles to the subway stop each way and your fridge is empty.

I figure I'll buy one condiment a day until I have a fully stocked fridge. And then I will leave. Tomorrow's soy sauce.

I've gotten so much work done on my second novel (75 pages and counting) that I hate to interrupt it, but boy is it nice to get a paycheck.

New Year's Eve.

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 20:24:00 +0000

One loft. Three parties. A dozen old friends.

Two guys awkwardly checking their iphones/ taking blurry photos of girls in pretty dresses.

One thirty-minute discussion on the origin and significance of the drop deadline dream.

Uh yeah, I've been writing too many promos.
Happy New Year!

My Year in Books 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 19:11:00 +0000

Didn't get as much reading in this year as I would have liked, plus I'm eating chocolate truffles for breakfast, but what can you do? Here's what I did manage to squeeze in this year.

(1) The Marriage Plot - Jeffrey Eugenides

My favorite review of this book compares the Leonard-Madeleine-Mitchell love triangle to the Felicity-Ben-Noel love triangle. This love triangle isn't much of a triangle and is more like a line or a circle - with the second guy standing on the sidelines or off in India the entire time rather than fighting for the girl, but hey - it's Eugenides, not the WB.

(2) Meeks - Julia Holmes

This is a debut book on Small Beer Press that also deserves a TV comparison. Basically, it's a literary rendition of what would happen if Kafka was in charge of reality shows. In this book, bachelors have to find a wife or else they'll end up with hard-labor factory jobs and will eventually be executed.

(3) We the Animals - Justin Torres

This is a teeny tiny novel by a Stegner Fellow that managed to garner most of the literary hype this year.

(4) A Visit From the Good Squad - Jennifer Egan

Probably my favorite book that I read this year. I loved the first chapter and the next few lost me, but once I was back on board, I couldn't tear my eyes away. I found myself wanting to think of it as a collection of short stories rather than a novel. I don't need to love every short story in a collection. It's okay to simply love 75% of them, and I do. I had some concerns about the chapter written in Powerpoint, but it turned out to be interesting rather than gimmicky. I can see why it won the Pulitzer Prize.

(5) Let the Great World Spin - Colum McCann

I didn't read these back to back, but this is structurally similar to Goon Squad - with each chapter following a different character that is only tangentially related to another one. Chapters were hit or miss for me. This was a Book Award winner. I liked it, but I would like to see the major literary prizes awarded for traditional novels again rather than these pseudo-short story collection novels.

(6) The Book of Clouds - Chloe Aridjis

Loved this book. I found out about it while out with a friend. We were talking about my novel and he mentioned that he watched his friend write her first novel while in Berlin and that she just set a deadline of when she would mail it off and be finished with it (whereas I continued to tinker with my first novel forever - probably not done yet). Anyway, I picked it up because I was intrigued by her process and found myself utterly charmed by this book. It's set in Berlin and has a lovely surreal quality to it. I got copies for several friends.

(7) Freedom - Jonathan Franzen

I think I read this book at the beginning of this year, but it might have been last year.

(8) Top Secret Manuscript

Can't really say anything about it. It's not out yet. It hasn't even been sold yet, nor has it been finished, but the author is going to be on an LA Times list of writers to watch in 2012.

What did you read?

Rick Moody at Black Clock Launch Party

noreply@blogger.com (Franzine Kafka) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 08:44:00 +0000

I just returned from seeing Rick Moody read at the Mandrake from the most recent issue of Black Clock. The reading also featured Merrill Feitell, Seth Greenland, and CalArts alum Sara Gerot. The reading and party were fantastic. I love the Los Angeles literary scene. So rich, yet unpretentious. People are approachable. It seems like lately magazines like Slake and Black Clock have done a good job of fostering a community for L.A.-based writers and publishers.

Though there are many famous writers who call Los Angeles home, it's slightly unexpected and therefore in some ways easier to form connections between writers/lit journals, if only to rival the scene in New York.

Tonight was a great example. My friend Nina and I were approached by a very interesting fellow in a three piece suit who runs a lit magazine and just moved here from Paris yesterday. Over a post-reading dinner I learned that in addition to editing, he is writing a novel and his agent is someone who is currently considering my manuscript in New York. What are the odds? He is also a fascinating character. I feel like I could learn something from him. Why not get off a plane, walk up to two strangers, make new friends and go to dinner? Isn't that how this socializing thing is supposed to work? No one ever explained to me that you could do that.

Nights like these make me annoyed about having to leave L.A. for San Francisco, though there are great friends there. I just think one of the best things about Los Angeles is that the creative industries are the dominant fields. I also think one of the worst things about being in Los Angeles is that the creative industries are the dominant fields; and on that, I do not care to elaborate!