Official Web Site of Laura Treacy Bentley
Author of Lake Effect
Open Mic Blog
SEVEN: PAUL MARTIN
| Posted on July 24, 2010 at 6:13 PM |
Paul Martin and his golden retriever, Lainey
* * *
Paul Martin suspects that most English teachers harbor a secret (or not-so-secret) desire to write because they spend so much time reading and admiring the great writers of our history. He is no different and throughout his teaching career has continued to write and publish short stories, which have appeared in magazines as diverse as The Cosmic Unicorn and Dogwood Tales and has won recognition from West Virginia Writer’s Inc. and Writers Digest to Glimmer Train. His short fiction was recently published in Seeking The Swan, the 2009 anthology of winning entries from West Viginia Writers, Inc. annual competition.
His debut novel, underthebridge.com, is about the collision of two worlds: a homeless fugitive from a successful dot-com enterprise versus the kindness of a mysterious and wise farm family from Sinking Creek, Virginia.
Zoe Ferraris, author of Finding Nouf, a 2008 LA Times Book Award winner said this about Martin's novel:
"Underthebridge.com is a brilliant piece of storytelling that manages to be both deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny. Paul Martin turns his sharp wit on the ruination and rebirth of a dot-com businessman who finds refuge with a struggling country family. The story's twists keep you turning the pages, while its characters breathe an incredible vitality into every scene. this deftly-handled, deeply humane book will linger with you long after you've finished."
Discover SEVEN intriguing facts about Paul Martin. He will take questions for the next two days so take advantage of this wonderful opportunity and make him welcome!!
SEVEN THINGS YOU PROBABLY DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME
~Paul Martin
1. I don't care for country music, but I once danced with recording star Louise Mandrell.
2. When I was six, I shot a BB gun for the first time, aimed at a telephone line and killed a bird. I cried all day. . . and could do so now just thinking about it.
3. After midnight one summer night in 1987 (and after a couple of shots of tequila) a friend and I stood on the plaque that marks the convergence of the state lines of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. I have since found out that the plaque was inaccurately placed and has been moved. I feel cheated.
4. I dislike fresh green beans but like canned ones. A sacrilege in Appalachia.
5. In 1971 my draft lottery number was--get this--ONE.
6. I caught a baseball thrown into the stands by an Oakland A's player. It was intended for some kid behind me who had been screaming for one all game. When the kid cursed me, I kept the ball.
7. I was on the Huntley-Brinkley Report for shaking hands with LBJ.
underthebridge.com
may be purchased on Amazon
Paul Martin was born in Los Angeles, California, a long, long time ago, but moved to Huntington, West Virginia, in time to receive both his formal and formative education among the hills, valleys, creeks, and rivers of this unique place. He graduated from Vinson High School and was awarded both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in English from Marshall University where he specialized in creative writing.
After a foray into journalism as the editor of a weekly newspaper, he began a 3 month stint as a substitute teacher at Cove Gap Elementary in Kiahsville, WV. This “temporary” position in 1977 jump-started a career as an English teacher that has included Fort Gay High School, his alma mater of Vinson High, Spring Valley High, and Marshall University, and continues to this day. In 1990 he was named English Teacher-of-the-Year by the West Virginia English/Language Arts Council, and in 1996 he received an Ashland Oil, Inc., Teacher Achievement Award.
In 2001 he was awarded the Fellowship For Fiction by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and in 2009 his first novel, underthebridge.com, was published.
He has completed a memoir about his teaching experience at Cove Gap and is currently working on his second novel.
He continues to live, work, and write from his home in Huntington, cheered on by his wife Debbie, his 2 stepchildren, and 4 blessed grandchildren. Oh yeah, and his dog, Lainey.
Categories: None
Post a Comment
Oops!
The words you entered did not match the given text. Please try again.
16 Comments
Thanks for the wonderful compliment. The stories of my Cove Gap experience stayed with me for many reasons, not the least of which is that it was a time of many firsts for me: the first time I had my own apartment, the first time had a semblance of a career rather than just a job, and especially the first time I encountered the realities of true TRUE poverty. As a young teacher, you think you will always remember EVERY student you'll ever have, and for a few years you do. Ultimately, though, that doesn't last. But the first class....ah, the first class you will remember.
While we're talking about memoirs, believe me when I say that yours is truly one of the very best I've ever read, and I hope to see it again when you feel it's ready. The folks who appreciate Laura's blog MUST read it some day.
msansom@suddenlink.net says...
Hi, Paul:
I love your writing, the way its hilarious and heartbreaking all at the same time. I think that describes your Cove Gap memoir, which I have been fortunate enough to read in a rough draft form. When did the idea for the memoir about your first year of teaching begin to percolate? Would you care to reflect on the many years since spent teaching English and writing? Feel free to throw out this line of questioning and expound on anything you want.
I was at the 4 Corners, which I thought would be a bigger attraction than a rather undistinguished plaque in the center of a dusty field with nothing around it for miles.
That summer, I and an equally unencumbered friend drove west in his un-air-conditioned pickup truck to explore the southwest. After a week at his uncle's house in Lake Charles, LA, we headed toward San Diego, spending nights in reclining lawn chairs in the bed of the pickup. State parks, abandoned roads in the desert, and even a rest stop or two. We had stopped at a bar at the end of a long day for a drink and to read a map when the bartender told us we were so close to the "legendary 4 Corners" that it would be a shame to miss it. He gave us a half empty bottle of tequila and told us to toast him as we stood on the spot.
As I mentioned, vie since found out the plaque was incorrect and has been moved!
I don't understand the west well enough to incorporate it in my writing.
Eddy says...
Were you in Four Corners when you stood on that spot? I'd heard that the plaque didn't actually mark the place where the four states meet. What brought you, your friend, and the tequila together there? Have you ever written a story set in the southwest (since "The Long, Dusty Trail," that is)?
I'm working on a novel about 3 siblings whisked ou of New York City on one of the last Orphan Trains. These were trains run by Charles Loring Brace around the turn of the 20th century with the noble intent of finding homes in the Midwest for NYC's many, many orphaned and/or abandoned kids (called Street Arabs by the police, among others). My story follows them as they are adopted by different families in different towns. It does not, I think, lend itself to the sort of ironically detached humor I am comfortable with, so we'll see if I have the chops for it.
My writing schedule is at last picking up again for the summer. I've had to deliver a couple of speeches recently (and you know how much I love that!) which took me away from fiction.
Can't wait for City of Veils! I'm in Shepherdstown and the local bookstore said it has already gotten inquiries from some college students about its release.
Stay well, my friend.
Zoe Ferraris says...
Paul, when you shook hands with LBJ, were you in nappies?? And I didn't know you played the lottery.
Just kidding. :-)
What are you working on now? Okay, I know what you're working on, but I want to hear it again because I was kind of drunk that night and all I remember is trains. And if it's a state secret, I'll understand, but I remember thinking: this is going to be FANTASTIC. You + good story = move over Nabakov.
I'm curious: what's your writing schedule like these days? Is summer the busy time?
Z
I love your writing, the way its hilarious and heartbreaking all at the same time. I think that describes your Cove Gap memoir, which I have been fortunate enough to read in a rough draft form. When did the idea for the memoir about your first year of teaching begin to percolate? Would you care to reflect on the many years since spent teaching English and writing? Feel free to throw out this line of questioning and expound on anything you want.
Just kidding. :-)
What are you working on now? Okay, I know what you're working on, but I want to hear it again because I was kind of drunk that night and all I remember is trains. And if it's a state secret, I'll understand, but I remember thinking: this is going to be FANTASTIC. You + good story = move over Nabakov.
I'm curious: what's your writing schedule like these days? Is summer the busy time?
Z
Actually I really enjoy your sense of humor, and I think your timing, as well as the relevance of your anecdotes is spot-on.
As for the humor in my writing, I always have to temper it in the revision stage because I can tend to be over the top with it sometimes. I like to use irony to deal with tragic issues because few of us believe that we ever deserve bad fortune, so it's important to portray that sense of surprise when we discover that we really are subject to the vagaries of the human condition. I distinctly remember how long it took us to laugh
again after 9/11, and how guilty we felt at first when we did so. But laughter was the first step we took toward a sense of normalcy.
I try to use it as a companion to loss rather than an avoidance of it.
I think your sermons (which, as I've told you before) are marvelously crafted, the occasional levity a complement, never a distraction..
Bonnie Boyce]
Loved your book...read it in two days (I know I'm a slow reader). I've always thought that writers with religious leanings make great preachers! Like Marie, I love the way you seem to mix tragedy and comedy and still maintain the compassion for the tragic and the surprising belly laughs for the comedic in the midst of it all. As a preacher, it would be helpful to have some tips about just how you manage to do that. I am very cautious about comedy in the pulpit because my timing is abysmal, some say my preaching is too. So I can use all the help I can get! Any hints or what Sunday do YOU want?
[/Bonnie Boyce]
Those Friday journals were always interesting and often quite surprising. Would you mind telling me your maiden name so I can place your face with it?
Thanks for the kind words. I hope your life is turning out the way you dreamed.
Lisa Mccollum]
Mr. Martin,
You are the one teacher that still brings fond memories of High School. Thank you, albeit many years later, for being amazing. Thanks again for reading (and commenting) on my always adventurous "Friday Journal"!
[/Lisa Mccollum]
She was simply being nice, I know, but I got tongue-tied and blurted out, "No, thanks. I don't like brownie.". That was wrong on so many levels, not the least of which is that I love brownies.
A couple of weeks later I received a very nice picture signed, "to my best prom date ever"
You are the one teacher that still brings fond memories of High School. Thank you, albeit many years later, for being amazing. Thanks again for reading (and commenting) on my always adventurous "Friday Journal"!
For all the teachers out there, do you have a favorite literary prompt that your students like?
I have rituals/superstitions--I compose in longhand so I like to have 10 pens with me at a writing session (though I've never used them up before I lose them).
My sacred space for composition (and I love the way you so perfectly phrase that) is just about anywhere outdoors, though I love to be near water whenever possible. Barring that, I like to write in public spaces, near commerce. A coffee shop, perhaps, where I don't know anyone. I like being AROUND the human parade without having to be active in it when I write. I think there's a bit of the hermit in all writers.
Disco? Disco has soundtracked so many of my best memories. Even now, I'll sing along (loudly) with "I Will Survive" on the radio--if I'm alone.
I can't wait to find out some of your secrets when you are highlighted on SEVEN!
I've always been a BIG fan of your work because of the way you perfectly weave together comedy and tragedy. Do you remember the first piece of creative writing you wrote? What's the writing process like for you? Any rituals or sacred spaces involved?
Also, you've country danced with Louise Mandrell, but is there any disco in your past (that you'd care to confess to)?
Visit my blog OPEN MIC. Add your comments/thoughts about writers & writing, favorite links, quotes, & any writer news under BOOK & WRITER BUZZ.
Recent Blog Entries
Follow me on Twitter
Oops!
Oops, you forgot something.