A Touching Tribute to Mark Arbour

[methodwriter85]

Many of you guys are aware of Adam Phillips, a new author here at Gay Authors. Last night, he posted at another group this touching tribute to Mark. I really thought I'd like to share what Adam wrote with all of you.

***

This will be long. f**king deal with it or move on.

 

I've been interacting with people through Yahoo groups for 7 years now. I'd been hanging out at various places on the Net a couple of years before that, places where I ran into Ed and a couple of others, but it was 2003 when I began writing Crosscurrents and talking to some of you people.

 

Ridiculous. Seven and a half years it will have taken for me to finish this damn thing. That's absurd, but it is what it is. I've walked some road during that time.

 

Mark. What to say about Mark. Where to start? I have something specific to say, but I can't say it without saying some other shit too.

 

Mark has had my back and been my bud from all the way back to 2003. He is a f****n Man. We clicked early and often. He's definitely First Tier in my book of Internet Companions. Over the years I've disappeared occasionally and he's disappeared occasionally, and as the Dylan song says--sort of--I've seen a lot of women but he never 'scaped my mind.

 

So back already over a year ago Mark asked me to look at his first 3 chapters of Chronicles of an Academic Predator. He knew I'd tell him what I thought even if he didn't like what I thought.

 

I actually liked the three okay. I wrote him back in some detail, trying to be helpful and encouraging.

 

And, man, did he go to town. Boy got the writing bug.

 

I liked his stuff okay. Wasn't my favorite stuff, but I liked it okay. I had my demurrers here and there that kept me from engaging with his stuff 100%. Mostly topic and technique stuff. And I wasn't always crazy about the narrative pacing and the motivations driving characterization.

 

But it was Arbour, man, and I wanted to be loyal and supportive. He's always been that with me.

 

See, problem was, I'd read On the Mark. And it was clear that that was much more from his heart. I wanted that intensity and passion in Cramptonworld and wasn't particularly getting it always. Seemed like he was playing God with his little universe and deciding what he oughta do with them next rather than loving his characters and loving his stories and telling tales of the heart, as the aborted On the Mark clearly was.

 

Then a bad thing happened. Second novel out, he killed off a character I'd come to love, and it seemed to me utterly gratuitous. At the time, anyway. I'm not sure I'd put it like that any more.

 

It told me a couple of things, though. One thing it told me was that his character portraits were starting to work. Other thing it told me was that I wasn't necessarily safe in his hands as a reader.

 

I'm not sure if I can explain that. I don't mind authors taking me into tragedy. But they have to kind of f****ing ready me for it, and there has to be a sort of redemptive purpose to it. That may be old-fashioned of me, but I can't deny it's a factor in my assessment of an author.

 

Well, in 1968 I wasn't ready for it, and there seemed to be no redemptive purpose to it.

 

So I was leery as I continued on to his next story. The Land Whore never really grabbed me hard. I'm not a big fan of the Stefan character and he was narrating. But beyond that, the narrative just never engaged me.

 

Didn't take long, though, for him to snag me again. I loved Brad and Robbie, the Main Guys in Be Rad and Man In Motion. I thought, for the most part, that they were believable, loveable characters, and they behaved in ways that worked for me. The narrative, too, was once again interesting.

 

I was participating in Mark's little group that responds to early drafts of his chapters. And as I was reading along in Man and Motion, out of the clear blue sky, he does it again. F****in takes a character that he's portrayed effectively and sympathetically, and sent him down the tubes. Gratuitously. Again.

 

That was it. I couldn't do it any longer. Subject myself to an author who has the skill to get you to fall in love with a character, only to watch him discard that character like used cat litter.

 

I wrote him a scathing email--as scathing as I can get with Mark--and left his drafts group. I just couldn't subject myself to repeated salvos of having the author waste these beautiful lives he's drawn just for sh*ts and giggles.

 

I don't know, maybe it was just to shut me up or to prove to me that he wasn't a one-trick pony, but he decided not to take that direction after all. I read through his revision with some gratification and a little embarrassment that I'd popped off at him like that, but I was pretty rattled, and my own life was pretty busy, so I never really got back on board with reading his stuff, and he just kept churning out the chapters.

 

But eventually I couldn't take it any more. I felt disloyal as f**k. This is Arbour, goddammit. So I took a deep breath and started over from the very beginning of the Crampton saga, just so I could get a feel for everybody once again. I died once again in 1968, but made it through without too much bitterness. I rejoiced when the rat bastard who'd come to kill Jeff died a horrible, miserable, and in-my-opinion much-deserved death of AIDS (Sharon, I'm sure, is snarling at this point LOL). And I noticed that slowly but surely, Mark was finding a pretty f****in solid voice.

 

I read through the next couple with enjoyment, and finally got to Bloodlines. And I have to say, that opening paragraph of that first chapter...well, sh*t, that's some of the finest writing I've seen anywhere, and as great an opening paragraph as I've read in anything published. I was especially taken by the first sentence. There's an art to writing first sentences, and Arbour f****in blew the doors off the hinges. There was some incredibly artful writing on and off in Bloodlines, which surprised me because Mark had never seemed particularly interested in making sh*t Sing, as I sometimes put it. For him, watching the characters do stuff is the thing; that and the really really nice job he does of weaving historical context and background in a vivid and convincing manner. But this was another whole level of good. And not only that, he had a batch of new characters who were utterly engaging. F*ck if I didn't fall for ol' Matt Carrswold. Almost guarantees that he's going to kill him, I thought to myself; but actually, no. (Jeremy's comment: I think Mark was scared that he'd start a riot if he killed off another one of the Hayes family.)

Bloodlines was a pleasure and he got the Big Accolades for it at Gay Authors. Deservedly so.

 

But I gotta tell you...his latest one, The Box, has me grabbed by the 'nads. It's his finest piece in the Cramptonworld series, in my opinion.

 

It's a prequel, in a way, and tells the story of an earlier generation of Schluter and Hayes boys. It's set around World War II, and in my humble opinion, Mark's grabbed himself a piece of the One Story here.

 

I'm partial, of course: It's a coming-of-age tale about two best friends who fall in love. In an era that's much harder on That Kind of Love than anything Andy and Matt ever had to face. Aaron's angst in the earlier part of the story is of a Piece with Andy's angst from my story. And, while Bob's news article (and a post at my other group) suggest that sooner than we realize, people are not gonna get what that's all about, I'm still very much appreciative of an author who explores that internal conflict. And Mark does that here credibly, sensitively, and with love. He lifts Aaron up for the reader's consideration in a way that's utterly heartbreaking, and at least for this reader, it was impossible not to fall for him. And for his best friend.

 

Let me repeat: I don't know if it's possible, unless you're Jeremy with his philistine, boorish tastes, not to fall in love with Aaron Hayes. (Jeremy's comment: I'm just not that engaged by Aaron, and don't find him all that interesting. I'm in this story for Steven, and could go either way with Aaron. Sorry.) The reader knows that both the main characters are doomed. (Don't we?) It's war, and from the rest of the Cramptonworld saga, we know that Steven Schluter died in the war. (Almost certainly, anyway) But that's okay. Steven's love for Aaron and Aaron's for Steven lights up the pages. F*ckin sets fire to them, even. The passion and the depth of emotion is almost palpable, and the guys are skillfully, skillfully portrayed; they and their story are told with subtlety, nuance, restraint, and dignity...yet somehow, for all that, with an explosive power.

 

And finally, finally, it seems to me--though I saw suggestions of it in Bloodlines--Mark displays some evidence of loving his characters. Finally.

 

I'm not completely sure where this story is going; he's not finished with it. But I have to tell you, this is damn good storytelling, in my opinion.

 

I don't know if a reader can start in on The Box without having read the previous Cramptonworld novels and still experience the same power that I have...but I think maybe he/she can. The story of Aaron and Steven is told by giving us glimpses of Steven's journal entries. From time to time Mark breaks into the present and focuses us on the people reading the journal, and if you start with The Box you won't know who those characters are or what they've been about...but I actually think that's okay. The real storyline is in the journal, and that's where the real magic is.

 

Beyond that, Mark's technical control has grown by leaps and bounds, and its visible here. And while he'll never be an author whose pages radiate elegance and verbal power--that's not his style--there are plenty of nice, nice passages that, not even considering the storyline, read soooo pretty, so aesthetically fine, without being self-conscious (such self-consciousness is hardly ever a good thing IMHO).

 

Mark...a superb effort, man. I'd have said this to you in private but I want other people to get curious and check it out. I'm enjoying this immensely. At least for the duration of this fine story, You are indeed Da Man. Thanks, buddy.

 

Adam

***

Adam, that was a pleasure to read, even with the personal dig at me. I really am glad that you found something worthwhile in Mark's writing...lord knows how hard the guy works.

 

When Mark started writing his little story about a slutty professor two years ago, I had no clue what he'd managed to build up in the world of e-stories. It's bit breathtaking to think about what he's accomplished in such a short time.

Edited June 6, 2010 by methodwriter85

[ricky]

Well said by both! It's not that I have nothing to add but rather, what more could be said without sounding somewhat redundant. The man grows a garden of word flowers, the like of which God has never beheld the fragrance of. He creates worlds that we get to live in for all too short periods of time. But OH! those periods. Each one savored like a rare wine, each one an explosion of flavor to the senses.

 

The dude just Rocks.

[Matthew k]

I've never read the CAP series or any of the continuations of it. I first read the Belvidera series because my husband and I are huge Patrick O'Bryan fans and I am stunned by Mr. Arbour's ability to present the feel of below decks and a battle in such realistic manner just like O'Bryan does and he isn't bashful about putting a cannonball or a giant splinter through a cute young midshipman, just like it happened in real life.

 

My DH found On the Mark and made me read it and I was blown away by it. I know he wants Mark to finish that story because he wants to know what became of that young man. Despite DH's battles with Mr. Arbour on other fronts we both enjoy his writing.

[methodwriter85]

My DH found On the Mark and made me read it and I was blown away by it. I know he wants Mark to finish that story because he wants to know what became of that young man

You can tell him that the young man grows up to become a happy, well-adjusted professor/family man in the mid-West, settling into middle age quite comfortably.

 

 

 

 

Edited June 7, 2010 by methodwriter85

[Mark Arbour]

I've never read the CAP series or any of the continuations of it. I first read the Belvidera series because my husband and I are huge Patrick O'Bryan fans and I am stunned by Mr. Arbour's ability to present the feel of below decks and a battle in such realistic manner just like O'Bryan does and he isn't bashful about putting a cannonball or a giant splinter through a cute young midshipman, just like it happened in real life.

 

My DH found On the Mark and made me read it and I was blown away by it. I know he wants Mark to finish that story because he wants to know what became of that young man. Despite DH's battles with Mr. Arbour on other fronts we both enjoy his writing.

 

Arbour's a contentious bastard. No wonder your hub has disagreements with him.

 

You can tell him that the young man grows up to become a happy, well-adjusted professor/family man in the mid-West, settling into middle age quite comfortably.

 

 

What a crock of shit.

 

And I responded to Adam, but let me just publicly say that I love him, and I'd be his bitch any day of the week.

[methodwriter85]

What a crock of shit.

 

And I responded to Adam, but let me just publicly say that I love him, and I'd be his bitch any day of the week.

 

Hey, don't sell yourself short, Mark. I've seen you embrace mid-life with an equanimity that frankly takes my breath away. I should hope to do the same thing when I hit middle age in about ten years. You've grown up into a fine man that any father would be proud of.

 

As for Adam, I wouldn't be his bitch so much as I would be his whipping boy every once in awhile if he so pleased. The way that guy insults me just makes my toes curl.

[Mark Arbour]

Hey, don't sell yourself short, Mark. I've seen you embrace mid-life with an equanimity that frankly takes my breath away. I should hope to do the same thing when I hit middle age in about ten years. You've grown up into a fine man that any father would be proud of.

 

As for Adam, I wouldn't be his bitch so much as I would be his whipping boy every once in awhile if he so pleased. The way that guy insults me just makes my toes curl.

 

Well thanks Jeremy.

 

Adam turns me into George Granger.

[methodwriter85]

You pinned this? Ego much?

[Mark Arbour]

Wow. I didn't do it, or at least I didn't mean to. It was important to me, but not to the point where I wanted it in everyone's face.

 

It has been un-pinned.

[mmike1969]

it's your forum Mard Pin it if YOU want to

[methodwriter85]

Yeah, I honestly don't care if you pinned it, I was just giving you shit. And it IS your forum, after all.

[vami]

I am not nearly as elegant a writer as Adam or Mark but I am a fan. I started reading this series during Man in Motion. I liked it so much that read Be Rad a and then started from he beginning . I hated losing Jeff but I think it added authenticity to the tale . Many lost relatives to heroin just like cocaine/crack took out people in the late 80's and 90's. What happened to the black family characters that worked for JP's family? I think the son was a radical? Anyway here is my two cents : )

[methodwriter85]

I'd be interested in finding out what happened to Vela and Sammy as well. My guess is that Sammy backed away from the radical stuff as we entered the 70's, became a professional, married a strong black woman, got a house in a well-respected black suburban neighborhood in a place like Atlanta or D.C., had Vela move in with him and his family, and Vela died peacefully in her sleep after a long day baking for her church's bake sale.

Edited August 24, 2010 by methodwriter85