Month: July 2021

I really don’t have anything very cool and interesting to share this week. So let me “mom out” for a second … how are you doing? Are you drinking enough water? Are you eating vegetables? (And no, not the deep-fried kind that you dip in ranch dressing.) Have you reached out to a friend lately or had a great conversation that really meant something to your heart or overall well being? Have you ordered books from an independent bookstore lately? Most of them pivoted incredibly well to the pandemic and can ship damn near anything. Have you found any new-to-you musical acts lately?

Finally … are you being kind to yourself?

I didn’t get a lot done in my creative world this week (although I’m rocking it professionally). But my kids are well (we are going to their first baseball game this week) and our cats still love my husband more than they love me. My tomatoes are about to start ripening and I am ridiculously excited for that and I got to have a couple great conversations this week with people that I really adore.

Sending hugs!

– 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 shouldn’t grouse, because it was a really good week, as far as weeks go. I made progress on my WIP, I heard a few musical acts that were new to me, I accidentally got high by being adjacent to a parking lot where patrons were smoking terribly (and terrible) fragrant ditch weed, I saw some coworkers, and I spent at least an hour on beautiful trails in my town. But I’m also getting older and adventures leave me in need of a nap.

Eldest had an archaeology camp this week and instead of driving back and forth to the house for pickup, I’ve adjusted my work schedule so I’m at a nearby coffee shop during the 2+ hours he’s at camp. It’s excellent in theory (and I am so lucky to have a flexible schedule), but I’ve had a few last minute snags and work emergencies that have reared their heads during this week. But hey … I also netted about 2,000 words on the WIP, which feels good.

Youngest has a camp coming up during the first week in August. I’ll be doing this again, but hopefully without the SNAFUs I encountered this time around.

***

Watching: It’s summer vacation and we’re letting our kids play too many video games and stay up way too late. But the trade-off is that while the kids are on their PCs, we are on the couch catching up on the Marvel movies that we’ve missed and the TV shows that our friends rave about and that we’ve missed out on. I started watching “Halt and Catch Fire,” while my husband and I are watching “What We Do In The Shadows.” The TV shows are fine, but maybe it’s telling that we made it through one episode of each this past weekend and we haven’t watched them since then. 🙂

Reading: Dennis Lehane’s “Mystic River” (along with the other books that are piling up on my shelf).

Writing: Have you heard of Jess Lourey? She’s a Minnesota writer that I am very lucky to call friend. She’s been sending out a newsletter on Wednesdays with a little “writing snack.” Subscribe here if you want a midweek gift of writing advice from an expert.

Sending everyone thoughts of kindness, science, and empathy …

– 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.

A quick story … my paternal grandma died when I was in first grade. Her name was Sophie and while I can’t remember a lot about her, I remember that she was fiercely kind and that she loved A&W Cream Soda. And she smoked cigarettes. So we’d have tea parties with grandma where we’d drink cream soda and we’d “smoke” cigarettes with her. (OK, maybe I’m making that last part up, but I swear that we mimicked her …)

So, I get nostalgic whenever I see candy cigarettes, erm … sticks! Nostalgia hits whenever I see candy sticks in the store. So when I was editing the other day, I poured myself some coffee, ate me some candy ciggies and man … they tasted better when I was six years old. My kids loved them though, so … Grandma’s still in my heart, even if she’s been gone for a terribly long time.

Pictured … me and three fierce writer women that I love. On Saturday, J. Lynn Else, Meg Hafdahl, K. Bird Lincoln, and I went on a road trip where we hit wineries, bakeries, cideries, and we even went on a hike. We all write from different genres, but these women helped me weather the pandemic and I’m grateful for their friendship and our camaraderie.

***

Reading: I finished “The Comfort Crisis” by Michael Easter. It’s a good book, but it’s one that I’d encourage a person to get from the library. (It’s a renter, not a buyer.) Still reading Hallie Ephron’s “Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel” and Nikki Dolson’s “Love and Other Criminal Behavior.” I started reading Dennis Lehane’s “Mystic River” and am letting the words sink in.

Writing: Querying, writing the new piece, and marveling that my weekends are filling up. I have a glut of proposals due in my day job, but after that I think I’m taking a few days off to work on some fiction. Hopefully I’ll make up for poor word counts then.

Sending love through the screen to you!

– 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.

A couple of links to start your Friday:

This piece about Christopher Walken is so pure. And man – I am a little envious of these nuggets of information if they are true.

The writing routines of five famous writers … like the author of this piece, I like the idea of 25 minute writing sprints. I’ve been participating in Saturday morning writing sprints with a group of writers from MWA-Midwest and that has been a great kick in the pants for my productivity.

***

Watching: My BFF Anne and I went to “The Dry” over the Fourth of July weekend. A) Eric Bana … meow. B) It was just a fantastic movie based on Jane Harper’s novel about a murder mystery in Australia.

Reading: I finished Laura Vanderkam’s “Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done“. Finishing “The Comfort Crisis.” I started Hallie Ephron’s “Writing and Selling Your Mystery Novel.” (I needed a kick in the pants.) And I’ve made a personal goal for the third quarter of this year to read one short story per week. I started with Nikki Dolson’s “Georgie Ann” from her book “Love and Other Criminal Behavior” and DAMN.  So good. (So good that I may just have to finish that book over the weekend.)

Writing: Querying for Dragonfly.

I’ve been trying to hit a daily word count on my current WIP and I’ve actually sketched out a calendar to help me keep track of what I should be writing on what days. (i.e. – my coworker and counterpart in my day job is on vacation until the 14th – so instead of 1,000 words/day, I’m aiming for 500 words so I can account for any kind of shenanigans that pops up while she’s gone.). It’s helping me be accountable, but there I days that I totally whiff and don’t make any word count. (Boo.) But … constant progress!  That’s the goal!  (And a first draft by end of September?  Maybe? Maybe? OK – let’s not get too ambitious here.)

I’m still grappling with the tone of the piece, but I think I get closer every day. I need to recognize that my recent glut of reading non-fiction is actually my procrastination drug of choice and I need to start reading actual FICTION again. I bought some Dennis Lehane. I’m going to re-read my patron saint Gillian Flynn. In another fit of procrastination, I built a playlist to play while writing. Sometime, I’ll put it out on Spotify or YouTube so y’all can listen to some John Prine and Gordon Lightfoot with me.

It’s been a week, friends … I can blame my lack of writing on procrastination and me being me, but to be honest – there’s been a lot going on. Some of it good (niece getting married and asking me to perform her wedding ceremony, yay!) and some of it sad (some family friends who have passed on). If you’re vaccinated and if you’re so inclined, give and get some hugs from your social circle. Keep washing your hands, move your body, and be kind.

– 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.

Travel has left me a lot to say on the “listening, watching, reading, and writing” homefronts below, so I’ll just say that Colorado was everything I wanted it to be (including warm scotch in the parking lot of the Red Rocks Amphitheater). I’m glad to be home and I’m glad that I had some additional alone time last weekend in which I plotted out my additional life and goals as a fiction writer.  I’ll leave you with a compilation photo of my double chins and some purty Colorado images and then we’ll get to it:

***

Listening: Lucy. Dacus. She opened for Shakey Graves at Red Rocks and I’m kind of obsessed by her voice and whipsmart lyrics. (Lucy Dacus leads to her collaboration boygenius, which will bring you to Julien Baker and Phoebe Bridgers. You’re welcome.)

Watching: My husband and kids up and left to visit my in-laws after I returned from Colorado. While I missed them, I used my time strategically to watch ALL THE THINGS that no one else would want to watch while they were gone. First off, I met some dear friends and watched Werewolves Within, which is a horror comedy. (I’m not a huge horror person, but this was a great movie.)

On the home front, I watched The Deer Hunter, which made me go down a rabbit hole to watch this documentary about John Cazale, and then I finished watching Law & Order’s new franchise.

Reading: I finally finished Tim Ferriss’s “Four-Hour Workweek”. I read Gillian Flynn’s “Dark Places” while I was in Colorado (and it was FANTASTIC), I also read “The Dozier School for Boys: Forensics, Survivors, and a Painful Past” by Elizabeth Murray. I’m reading Laura Vanderkam’s “Off the Clock: Feel Less Busy While Getting More Done“. And I need to finish Michael Easter’s “The Comfort Crisis.”

Writing: Querying for Dragonfly. I have one full request that’s out for consideration, otherwise I’m still working my list of agents.

I’m reading a lot and I’ve been watching more stuff than I usually do, but I’m still writing. I’m planning to submit a short story for consideration in an anthology. Due date is August 1.  I did take my work travel time and was able to make some good progress in edits. (It actually has a real title, but for the longest time, the working title was Trapeze Singer because that’s the song that really helped me capture the feeling I was trying to harness.)

I’ve been working on a side project with some friends for the past couple of years. We are approaching the finish line and July 15th is the date for completion. (Then querying in the fall.)

My new project is chugging along. I’ve been struggling a little bit with tone, but I’ve been excited by the things that I’ve been discovering as I’ve been writing along. (Character ideas, plot lines, etc. The stuff that has me jumping out of bed to grab a pen and paper.) This is one of the first stories I’ve ever written that has presented an actual, legitimate working title, but before that showed up, the working title was Clay Pigeons. Again, a song that helps me get into a certain mindset.

Have a good, long weekend! Be kind, stay safe and well, friends!

– 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.