Short-story book features local authors Contributors include both professionals and beginners BY JAY BODAS Correspondent Besides being an attorney, incoming borough councilman Chris Morrison is also a writer of fiction in his free time. "I had always enjoyed writing, but I had never really shared that with anyone else," Morrison said. "Before this, I hadn't been published in anything besides college publications." Morrison's work appears in the recently published Raconteur Reader, a collection of 30 short stories published by Alex Dawson, owner of Main Street's three-year-old bookstore, The Raconteur. The book's contributors include a range of writers, from those whose work is being published for the first time to those who are award-winning professional writers, including Oscar-nominated screenwriter Robert Festinger, who co-wrote the screenplay for "In the Bedroom." It all began two years ago when Morrison began going to weekly writing workshops offered by Dawson in his store. "I thought that the writers'workshops would be convenient and fun, and it would get me out of the house, so I decided I would give it a try," Morrison said. "Eight or nine people would sit around a table, and we would read each other's writings and offer each other criticisms." "As a dad with six kids, I don't get to write as much as I would like, and I think that is what's great about Alex's workshops," he said. "It gave me the opportunity to focus and have some deadlines to write; otherwise, writing tends to get pushed off and other things take its place. What Alex is doing is really great because he is providing an outlet for a lot of writers." M orrison's story, "Hammering Home," is a fictional account of a carpenter offering a monologue about why carpentry is a noble profession. "He explains it through the comparison of two hammers he has in his belt," Morrison said. "One is an old hammer that his father gave him and the other is a new hammer he had tried but found it wasn't something he was comfortable with." Fellow Metuchen resident and author Robert Kaplow is also a contributor to the Reader. Kaplow has seven published novels to his credit, and one of his books, "Me and Orson Welles," is now being made into a film by director Richard Linklater and stars teen actor Zac Efron. "The Raconteur Reader is a nice, eclectic anthology, with an interesting variety of writers and tones in the writing," said Kaplow, who also teaches creative writing at Summit High School. "It has writing that ranges from satirical to lyrical and poetic to writing that is experimental." Kaplow also refers to himself as an "authentic fan" of the Raconteur bookstore. "I am there all the time … I was there today," he said. "The Raconteur is what a bookstore ought to be, as it is like a cultural center, and more than just a place to buy books. For example, if you tell Alex the kind of books that you like, he will make some good recommendations for you. This is something most bookstores can't do anymore." Dawson said it is his dream that the Raconteur makes a "lasting impact on the community and on the arts." "The Raconteur is not a fixed location," Dawson said. "For example, we are trying to do full-blown productions outside the store. Eventually we hope to produce CDs, films, plays, and other books. I believe that in a year or two, the Raconteur will be known throughout New Jersey, if not up and down the East Coast, which would be very unusual for a used bookstore outside Manhattan." He has a lot of supporters. New York City resident and Raconteur Reader contributor Clay Chapman, who has written the novel "Miss Corpus" as well as "Rest Area," a book of short stories, agrees. "Alex thinks big, and the only thing that seems to be holding him back at this point is enough time to do what he wants to do," Chapman said. "Reading is not something a lot of people do in this day and age, when it is easier to go to film and other forms of media that are more immediate and for the short-attention span. But Alex fights for literature, and I have to commend him for that." For more information about the Raconteur Reader, writing workshops, and other Raconteur-sponsored events, call the Raconteur bookstore at (732) 906- 0009 or go to www.raconteurbooks.com.