Tag: Jess Lourey

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: 9/23/16

Michelle Kubitz

Friday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.

William Kent Krueger and Jessica Lourey … Minnesota authors that I admire greatly.  And in one article!

This was a death that was overshadowed by other celebrity news this week.  (And I admit … I’ve been reading the article about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.  I am a lot of things, impervious to celebrity gossip is not one of them …)  L.A. Confidential is one of my all-time favorite movies and Curtis Hanson was the driving force behind bringing James Ellroy’s vision to life.  He will be sorely missed.

Ina Garten has a new cookbook coming out in October!  (And yes, I have it on order.  Because … Ina!)  She also answered the Proust Questionnaire in Vanity Fair.

Chocolate. Bourbon. Spiked. Banana. Bread.  You’re welcome.

***

Listening to: Work’s been a little brutal these past few weeks.  I’ve vacillated from listening to Guns ‘N Roses (angst) and Simon & Garfunkel (in desperate need of an audio hug, apparently).

Reading:  Nothing, nada, zip.

Fiction Update: Last week, I shared my ridiculous ambitious goal to write 3,000 words a day to get a draft of Dragonfly done by October 1st.  *Crickets.* Weeeeelll … yeah.  I’m making progress, but not to the extent that I dreamed back at the end of August.  My rose-colored glasses obscured both family and work obligations.  HOWEVER … I’m really excited with the progress that I’m making.  (And I’m having random plot revelations in the Costco parking lot, the boys in the basement are doing their work even when I’m away from desk.)

I’m doing some travel this weekend (memorial service out of town / sans family), so I’m hoping that some hotel time will help me inch closer to a completed first draft.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: 9/9/16

Michelle Kubitz

Friday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.

Like so many of my fellow Minnesotans (and probably most Midwesterners, parental-types in general), I’ve been riveted by the news that after 27 years, Jacob Wetterling has been found.  To say my thoughts are with his family seems awfully twee, but they are.  This week has been an emotional one.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention the loss of Anna Dewdney in the children’s book industry.  The “Llama Llama” books are in heavy rotation at bedtime and we’ve learned a lot from her work.

I read lighter things this week.  Was thrilled to see that Freddie Mercury was honored with an asteroid named after him.  And even after all these years, Chekov is still my favorite character from the original Star Trek shows.

I made these cookies.  Then I bagged them up and gave them away.  Because they were waaaaaay too good.

I’ve discovered GIFs and short videos on Instagram that shows people frosting cakes or making Thai ice cream rolls.  I’m telling you, there’s something oddly theraputic about it.  And perfect for my frazzled attention span.

***

Listening to: I’ve been working on my story “Dragonfly” lately, so I’ve been listening to the playlist that I built for that particular story.  I’ll build that up on Spotify so you all can take a listen, but in the meantime – this song is a key to a lot of the feeling that I have when I think about Dragonfly Lake.

Reading:  I’ve had a ridiculous amount of books pile up lately and I’m making a clean slate of my library books.  In the meantime, I’m awaiting the arrival of Jess Lourey’s new book “Salem’s Cipher.”

Fiction Update: I have some pretty ambitious plans for September – stay tuned and I’ll share next week! <— Yeah … I have a blog post drafted and I need to finish it.  But trust me … good things happening.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: Hello April!

Michelle Kubitz

Friday FareFriday Fare is where I post links to the random articles that have resonated with me during the week. Sometimes they make me smarter, sometimes they make me hungry … sometimes they have to do with writing and sometimes they are just plain random.

The Interwebs were just plain kind this week with entertainment:

This advice from the creator of Calvin and Hobbes was much appreciated.

I’d watch Meryl Streep read children’s books, it’s no surprise that I devoured this article from Vanity Fair about her experience making “Kramer vs. Kramer.”  I am also once again reminded that I need to re-watch some of the classics from the 1970s.

Lemon Cream Cake.  Because … well, cake!

Finally, another beautiful post from Jerry, my mentor.

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Listening to: This mashup of classic movie clips and Mark Ronson’s Uptown Funk … glorious.

Reading: My reading has been a little crazy lately.  I’ve been digging into some books for research purposes.  Also been reading to see how some of the “masters” pull of particular concepts in their fiction.  (My fellow Minnesotan Jess Lourey recently wrote a post on how to read like a writer … very helpful!)

Fiction Update: I encapsulated the kickoff of edits to “After Life” (AL) in this post.  Edits are ongoing, I’ve identified what I need to work on during the next round of writing and am preparing for a chunk of time on Sunday when I can hopefully dig in and make some meaningful progress to start off my actual editing work.

Happy weekend, friends!