Month: May 2021

Jami Attenberg’s #1000wordsofsummer kicks off on Monday, May 31st. Fourteen days of writing 1,000 words per day. Considering that my writing practice is a bit rusty (thanks quarantine!), I’m going to use this as a launching point for my next book. 14,000 words is only a fraction of the 90K I’ll need to write, but … it’s a start.

My kids’ summer vacation is looming and although they’ll still be home and we’re all still together, my husband and I get to hang up our teaching hats. We are fortunate that we have jobs that afforded us the time and opportunity to keep them home, but damn … it has not been easy.

Gratitude list:

• I bought a bike in the early 00s that has moved with me six times. And although I have barely biked in the 20+ years it’s been in my possession (um, twice …), I kept moving the damn thing. And now I’m biking. Slowly. Painfully. Terribly. But I’m biking.
• Good friends and beer dates.
• This dish from Lidey Likes (I subbed the hell out of everything, but the original recipe made for good inspiration).

I like Cal Newport’s productivity books (because I have this weird thing about loving and reading productivity, a paradox since I’m a fairly disorganized person). This was an interesting article … why does remote work need to happen from home? With this new influx of people working from home thanks to the pandemic, do we need to separate where a person lives from where they work?

My two cents … I don’t think you do. BP (Before Pandemic), I spent nearly a decade working from home. And it is to the point where I cannot see myself returning to a standard office environment. HOWEVER, having my entire family home for the past year with limited ways to get quiet and alone time? That’s been challenging and has prompted more than one Internet search for co-working spaces, inexpensive office rentals, and wondering if I could build myself a damn she-shed.

However, summer has returned to the Midwest. Patios work wonders for my productivity, so I’m hoping that since I’m fully vaccinated, I will be able to carve out some time away from the house so I can get some words in this season.

I leave you with this thought … the quote comes from C.S. Lewis and it came to my attention via my pal Cal.

I think the universe is telling me to stop whining and just write, dammit.

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Watching: I’ve made it through four seasons of Elementary and have decided that Joan, Sherlock and I need a little break. So I’ve decided to start watching the new season/new show of Law & Order: Organized Crime. (Dah-dum!)

Yeah, I’m a sucker for Elliot Stabler.

Reading: My favorite barista Allison recommended “The Liar’s Girl” by Catherine Ryan Howard. And damn … not only is Allison gifted at making Americanos and being an all-around fantastic human being, she makes good book recommendations.

I’m also making my way through the “Legends of the Fall” novellas by Jim Harrison.

Writing: Querying, querying, querying. Finishing a draft of a short story. Taking some alone time this weekend to start writing the next book.

Get vaxxed, wear a mask. Stay safe and well, friends!

– Shelley

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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.

Everything is coming up rhubarb in my life. My mom stopped by on Tuesday bearing three rhubarb plants for my garden, with a huge bag of rhubarb from her own garden, and 11 rhubarb muffins.  (My dad helped himself to one before she came to visit …) Since I still have rhubarb in my freezer from last year (and a batch of my favorite rhubarb cherry freezer jam), I feel a baking binge coming on.

Another thing? I am the only person in my family who likes rhubarb. Thank god for friends …

Other articles of note from this week:

• An op-ed from Carmen Maria Machado on the futility of banning books.
• I talk about Douglas Preston below in my “Reading” list, he recently published an article in The New Yorker about an old Soviet mystery that seems to be solved.

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Listening: Neil Young’s “Harvest” is probably one of my favorite albums. One of my childhood friends was raised by a mom who had the most EXCELLENT taste in music, Neil Young was one of the musicians I got to discover through this friendship. I loved reading this article about the “genius” of Young’s album and its creation.

Reading: I read The Scorpion’s Tail by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. They are the fathers of one of my favorite fictional detectives, A.X.L. Pendergast, and this novel is the latest in a spinoff series from a couple characters in the Pendergast universe.

Writing: I’m still knee deep in the querying trenches for Dragonfly (which I’ve trendily titled “Irreversible”). But since a watched email does not generate replies, I am dreaming up my next novel. I had a meeting up in the Twin Cities over the past weekend and I opted to book a hotel room versus driving back late on Saturday. A) There’s something about a crisp white duvet cover that screams “productivity” to me and B) is there anything better than staying up until 1 AM watching a movie that you’ve seen a million times and quote by heart?

Late night shenanigans aside, I used my alone time to try and sketch out my thoughts, figure out these characters that are shouting at me.

Hiking: Mother’s Day found me at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington. It was a short jaunt, but a beautiful one.

Get vaxxed, wear a mask. Stay safe and well, friends!

– Shelley

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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 made a huge scientific discovery earlier this week: Cookies taste better when you make them with bourbon. That’s huge, folks …

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Listening: It’s been a bit since I’ve shared what I’ve been listening to. (Mostly because I’ve been listening to a lot of the same live Gordon Lightfoot and John Prine. Over and over again.) BUT!  BUT! I was working this past weekend and saw an interesting looking Tiny Desk (Home) Concert from NPR. Since NPR is always a good thing, I gave it a listen. It was immediately followed by another winner.

Reading: Why yes, I am still reading Story Genius by Lisa Cron. I might abandon it because it’s good, but it’s not helping me as I ramp up work on my next book.

I finished The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien and was kinda wrecked a bit afterwards. I also read, and immensely enjoyed, All is Not Lost by Shannon Kenny Carbonell. It’s an autobiography and it’s an interesting read about the intersection of motherhood and creativity. It was a bit of a balm considering what this past year has been like with the pandemic/constant togetherness.

Get vaxxed, wear a mask. Stay safe and well, friends!

– Shelley

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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.