What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.
Click here to see the crown that Prince deserves. I still miss Prince.
Happy book birthday to my friend Michelle Cox. She Writes had a neat piece with Michelle on their blog.
Given how weird the world is, I love finding “news of the weird.” This sounds like a delicious crime.
This editorial cartoon hit me squarely in the feels, sounds like I’m not the only one.
***
Listening: I’ve had a weirdly wonderful musical weekend / week. I saw the legendary Del McCoury and his band last week. On Sunday, I went with one of my dearest friends to see Lord Huron up at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul. (PS – I’m too damn old for general admission tix. Ouch.)
Last night found me at the Cavalier Theater in LaCrosse listening to Willie Watson.
I don’t know if there’s such a thing as “too many” concerts. I’ve found out the hard way over the years that if there’s an artist you’re into and you get a chance to go … go. (Ahem … missedoutonseeingjohnnycashandstillpissy.) My mind is richer because of these experiences.
Reading: How has this book been out for decades and I’m JUST reading this? Wow.
Writing Life: Plugging along. I attended an online revision workshop a couple weekends ago, hosted by Samantha & Cristina from ManuFixed. They’re holding a repeat and it was money well spent.
What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.
OK, so let us be clear. Roxane Gay is a gatdamn national icon. Her column “Ask Roxane” does not run ENOUGH in the New York Times. Dammit. I hadn’t seen her column “Is It Too Late to Follow My Dreams” when it first ran, but that makes the catch-up all the sweeter. FYI, NYTimes … more Roxane Gay. Please?
I had the pleasure of participating in a panel with Catherine Dilts at Killer Nashville. It was great to read her recap of Jeffrey Deaver’s presentation “Writing Commercial Fiction.” Mr. Deaver gave this presentation earlier this month for Sisters in Crime Colorado / Rocky Mountain Mystery Writers of America and it’s the same presentation I had the honor of attending in March. I don’t get to see my mystery brethren outside of the Midwest very often, but reading Ms. Dilts’s recap made me feel like I had attended Mr. Deaver’s talk with my good friends in Colorado.
***
Listening: The B-52s album “Cosmic Thing” was one of the first albums I remember consciously buying growing up. (It’s the album that had “Love Shack” and “Roam” on it. But the whole damn thing is gold.) I, apparently, am not the only person who has found solace and inspiration in the B-52s. Forty years ago, the song “Rock Lobster” was released and it inspired a certain English musician who had found himself in a creative funk. Long live the B-52s.
Reading: I’ve been tearing through books lately, partly because I’ve *needed* to read them, but partly because I just enjoy reading. Earlier this week, as my corner of Minnesota got blanketed in snow, I finished Rebecca Kanner’s “Sinners and the Sea” – a story told from the point of view of Noah’s wife. It was fabulous. I liked “Esther” better, but a person could do worse than to pick up one of Kanner’s fabulous stories.
Writing Life: Earlier this week, I was chronicling my work life and how my writing life was out of whack. The person I was whini … erm, venting to … told me to write a paragraph a day. I’m not quite doing that, but putting my frustrations in email helped me to refocus my attention on “Dragonfly.” I’m going through the entire draft and I’m sketching out the edits that I still need to make overall in the second half of the story. Who is it that said that the majority of writing is rewriting? Sigh. You were right.
What is Friday Fare? As a recap, on Fridays I post link love to the various bits of arcane shiz I discover on the Interwebs. I liken it to a glimpse into my mind, but without the 80s song lyrics or mental cobwebs.
Lots of lit stuff in the webz this week. Let’s dig in (and PS – it’s going to be a love fest of Minnesota writers, because there’s a lot going on in my Minnesota mystery world):
– Jess Lourey is an incredible writer and she’s seriously one of the nicest people you’re going to meet in life. Bonus: She’s also a college instructor and one of the most meaningful “craft” classes I’ve had came from Ms. Lourey. I mentioned that she’s nice, right? She announced on Facebook that she was discounting the cost of her “Rewrite Your Life” course from ~$100 to free. I left a comment on her original post and she mentioned her desire to “share the light.” <– Seriously. This. Author.
– Clay Stafford, the founder of Killer Nashville, has now founded a publishing company. Congrats, Clay!
– Do any of us really balance the reality between social media and creating? Dani Shapiro contributes a great piece to LitHub.
Finally, I have a weird crush on Donald Sutherland. I do not care that he’s 82 years old. (Kinda like my feelings for Christopher Plummer. Let’s not plumb these thoughts, eh?) If Helen Mirren and Mr. Sutherland pulled up in my driveway, I’d pack the snacks and hit the open road with them.
***
Listening: So, my work day used to be orchestrated to random finds on YouTube. And while I still lurve me some YouTube, the commercials were driving me batty. So I’ve been listening to “old faithful”: The music I have on my laptop streaming through Windows Media Player. (Why yes, I’m lame. And I’m OK with this.) So here’s my random contribution to y’all finding something new. Check this guy out:
I went to college with this guy’s big sister and even though I think that covering Bruce Springsteen is sacrilege, he can do it. (PS – Hayward Williams is the guy’s name.)
Reading: If you keep up with my “Events” section, you’ll note that I’ve added an upcoming event at the Edina Art Center. I’ll be facilitating a conversation with Rebecca Kanner, the author of “Esther” and “Sinners and the Sea.” Full disclosure: Kanner’s about a million miles cooler than I am; so the few times we’ve talked IRL, I’ve pretty much stammered, so April 14th’s event should be a real treat. But in preparation for Rebecca’s presentation, I took a spin through “Esther.” And by “I took a spin”, I basically spent Easter weekend glued to the screen of my phone/Kindle app because “Esther” was so damn good.
Writing Life: Well … my professional life gave me a trio of panic attacks last week. And this week has nearly reduced me to tears three times, so … yeah. Panic attacks and looming work deadlines do jack sh*t for my creative life, but I’m going to make up for it this weekend. Mindy Mejia (another Minnesota author extraordinaire) is presenting a session on taxes for us creative types at ModernWell up in the Twin Cities. (Very cannily titled “Of Death and Taxes.”) I’m going because I want to learn about taxes. But to be honest, ModernWell is an incredible work co-operative that’s specifically for women (it smells like lavender and the last time I was there, they had Fleetwood Mac playing on a continuous loop. It was a weird version of Shelley heaven.) Mindy Mejia is one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. And two other writer friends are attending. So … we’re going to call that a trifecta of winning.
I’m popping in from snowy Minnesota to say hello and indulge in some blatant self promotion (BSP). I was thrilled to be featured in an Q&A for the Rochester Area Visitor guide. Although the snow on the tulips cover seems a little prophetic.