Tag: michael chabon

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: 9/30/16

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.

Michael Chabon wrote a beautiful piece on his son, “the prince of fashion,” for GQ.  As the mama of boys and an unabashed Chabon fan, I read this with great interest.  It was an article that was beautifully eloquent.

Shirley Jackson has been getting some press lately partially due to the recent release of Ruth Franklin’s book “Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life.”  This piece was adapted from Franklin’s book for New York Magazine.  In a world where the discussion of mothers “having it all” seems to be as divisive as the political world we currently live in, I appreciated reading an article that asserted that motherhood helped Jackson’s writing career blossom.  I’ve been a writer for much of my life, but my fiction writing edged its way as a priority after my eldest was born.

This article about the “alchemy” of the Filet-O-Fish sandwich from McDonalds stirred a couple feelings in me:  1) Recognition, because – man … I have an unhealthy love for FOF sandwiches (that I only indulge in during Lent, right around when Shamrock Shakes are on the menu.). 2) Absolute hilarity:

“The bun’s plain. The cheese sucks. The fish tastes like nothing. But in concert, McDonald’s fish sandwich is alchemy.”

^Truer words, never spoken …

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Listening to: I’ve made no secret of my love for Gordon Lightfoot.  It’s thrilling to see that Vanity Fair wrote a piece on him.

Reading:  Reading has been taking a backseat lately to work and trying to get words down on paper for Dragonfly.  However, the latest Pendergast novel will be hitting my Kindle soon, I think this will be a well deserved reward for what I accomplished this month on Dragonfly.

Fiction Update: I was able to get ~6,000 words out over the past weekend when I was away in Wisconsin.  While I’m nowhere near my goal of 3,000 a day, I’ve realized that 1,500 is doable for me.  A good lesson learned.  I’m hoping to be around 70-75,000 words by the end of this week and in possession of a sh*tty first draft.

Enjoy the weekend!

Friday Fare, Internet Articles, Random, Uncategorized

Friday Fare: 5/20/16

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.

Sorry I’ve been MIA lately, I’ve been knee deep in the spadework of editing and while it’s not all-consuming, there are a lot of other aspects of life that are. (In particular, my sons and I went hunting for “dinosaur bones.”  Seriously – I think I had the best time ever and I wasn’t the captain of this particular expedition.)  Let’s get onto the list, shall we?

This piece* by Michael Chabon was bookmarked in my browser and while the date says 2009, it’s still relevant some seven years after it was published.  It’s about the wilderness of childhood and how the landscape is becoming extinct.  (It’s particularly interesting given that I’m still plowing through Stephen King’s “IT” and the importance that childhood friends and adventures play in that narrative.)

Christopher Walken.  I think that’s all I need to say to get you to click.

Got a surplus of rhubarb?  Try this.

*Side note on how I got to the Chabon piece … a Washington Post column where the writer’s son discovers “The Goonies” for the first time.

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Listening to: When I was younger and buying CDs was still a thing, I used to have a three song rule.  If there were three songs that I heard from the album that caught my interest, I figured the entire album was something I should own and would purchase accordingly.  I’ve been taking some chances on that rule lately and Gregory Alan Isakov’s upcoming collaboration album with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is no exception.  But I got chills when I heard this song.  I think I’ll be happy with my purchase.

Reading: I’m almost 75% through Stephen King’s “IT.”  It’s been taking awhile because I took a detour into Lincoln Child/Douglas Preston land with Book #2 of their Pendergast series.  Book 3 is downloaded on my Kindle now, I’ll be reading that one soon as well.

Fiction Update: Editing.  It’s going OK.  I’m killing darlings and constantly asking myself what would make my story more dynamic.

Enjoy the weekend!  I’m hoping to have a productive day on Saturday … a friend of mine is riding in a 50-mile bike event and I told her I’d keep her company on the drive up to the Twin Cities.  And five hours waiting for my friend to finish her ride?  Find me a coffee shop, I feel some edits coming on.