Month: September 2018

I’ve admired Taffy Brodesser-Akner’s writing ever since she was identified as the “mystery brunette” caught in Tom Hiddleston’s embrace.  And it’s gotten to the point that if I see her byline attached to an article, I will read it.  No matter what the topic.  She’s that good of a writer.  So I was thrilled to read that her morning routine is about as scattered as mine is.

J.K. Rowling is a goddess.  This just solidifies my assumption.

Bacon.

Finally, Senator Tammy Duckworth is an icon.  Was thrilled to see that Vogue wrote a profile on her.

***

Listening: Gillian Welch curated her own playlist on Spotify.  And it’s sublime. Here’s one of my favorite songs:

Reading: Just started reading Kara Richardson Whitely‘s latest memoir “The Weight of Being.”  As someone who has engaged in a lifelong struggle with weight, I very much appreciate Ms. Whitely’s books.

Writing Life: I did a read-through of my latest draft of Dragonfly.  And it wasn’t terrible!  It wasn’t great, but I’m hoping that I’ll be ready to query agents in Q1 of 2019!

– Shelley

***

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.

It’s been one of those weeks … a couple things that have astounded me.  I am 40 years old and just discovered dry shampoo.  Life. Changing.  My four-year-old just got glasses.  Which … now every single human in my family has glasses.  (And my children are wondering why we can’t get the cat to wear glasses. Sigh!)  A new doughnut shop opened up in my town and they make these chai-glazed morsels that are as decadent as anything my grandma produced from her kitchen.  Uff da.

Moving on. 🙂

This was a sumptuous read from the UK’s Guardian about a man honoring his father’s final wishes and the culture clash that is only made worse by the passage of time.

The new Deborah Harkness book is OUT!  As I am a fan of her “All Souls Trilogy”, I already have her appearance in Minneapolis marked on my calendar and have been reading all the articles involving her latest book and the television series that’s being made out of her first book “A Discovery of Witches.”  This was an interesting look at the fandom behind Ms. Harkness’s fictional world.

It’s been raining all week in Minnesota, a deluge that calls for good bread and comfort food.  I made this recipe today (mostly on the recommendation that it should be paired with crusty bread). It smells good – here’s hoping it’s a winner.

***

Listening: So … I have a lot of friends who are authors.  I also have a lot of friends who are musicians!  And my friend Nichole’s band just recently released an EP.  The band is called Nemesissy and so … bonus.  The musicians are my friends – how cool is it to have talented musician friends?  And I swear that the lead singer is either the ’00 incarnation of the B-52’s Kate Pierson or a love child between Belinda Carlisle and Patti Smith.  Here’s the link to the band’s Soundcloud page. Ridiculously proud.

Reading: Was thrilled to hang out in support of this guy at Pearl Street Books on Sunday, September 16th.

Writing Life: I’m trying a new thing … let me see if this helps me with the writing rut I’ve found myself in and I’ll tell you more next week.  Let’s just say though that it involves an ungodly hour … and so far, no coffee!

– Shelley

***

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.

I’ll write more about this later, but for the time being – holy hannah, batman – look what I get to emcee in October! Save the date!  I hear a rumor there will be brownies.  Or bars.  Whatever I decide to bake.

Just a reminder that I’ll be hanging out with Rebecca Kanner on Saturday at the Edina Art Center.  If you’re in the Twin Cities, come on out!

I need to write more about this later, but me and my messy hair received a pretty incredible honor recently in the form of a dedication in a book that I got to read from its start.  It’s called The Executioner’s Face and it’s by my dear friend and mentor Jerry Johnson.  And damn friends … get thee to a bookstore and order this book.  (Here’s the link to Amazon, but Jerry’s going to be doing signings in our corner of the Midwest [Decorah and Waverly, IA and LaCrosse, WI].)

I’ve been a little quiet lately here on the blog, partly because work handed me my ass and partly because I’ve been enjoying summer’s transition into fall and the new routines that come with it.  I hope that wherever you are, that life’s treating you well!

***

Listening: I’ve been listening to music on Spotify lately.  Was getting irked with the ads on YouTube to only find more ads on Spotify, but it’s all good.

Reading: Just finished “The Moon-Spinners” – an oldie from Mary Stewart.  Very good.

Writing Life: Finishing up one of my reading projects and about to dive headlong back into Dragonfly on Saturday.  I’m excited and nervous about that.

 

– Shelley

***

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.