We’ve been re-watching Jeeves & Wooster, and Daniel started taking notes so he can use drily snarky Jeeves quotes on me when he thinks I’m being ridiculous. Things like, “I am sure you are correct, Sir,” and “Just as you say, Sir.”
Month: May 2020
Hard Won Knowledge Indeed
The six-year-old, after playing with a shovel for ten minutes: “I know what it’s like to be a farmer now, always doing hard work!”
Structure and Meter are Overrated
It’s not that I can’t write poetry with structure & meter… it’s just that I’m, uh, very inspired by Walt Whitman. Yeah! That’s it!
What? Prove I can write structured poetry with proper meter? Well… uh…
Quick! Look over there!
—runs away to live among otters—
The Otter in the Lilac Bush
by Mary E. Lowd
1.
As I wandered on a sunny day,
I came upon an otter along my way,
Living in a lilac bush. Continue reading “The Otter in the Lilac Bush”
Italics and Exclamation Points
I’ve started rereading Jane Austen’s novels, and I just want to point out: she uses exclamation points & all caps ALL over the place!
Exclamation points & all caps may be horribly out of fashion in fiction these days, but Austen is a master. Editors can get over themselves. Continue reading “Italics and Exclamation Points”
Fighting for Good Contracts
I have withdrawn my accepted story from The Timberline Review (operated by Willamette Writers) due to their contract’s overreaching liability clause, lack of a sunset clause, and their unwillingness to negotiate.
I cannot recommend submitting to them.
God it feels good to no longer have a vested interest in a market that’s been treating me badly for a month and a half.
This is my fourth original sale (out of 172) to fall through; the other three were due to markets themselves going under. Continue reading “Fighting for Good Contracts”
Nice People
The six-year-old introducing two of their stuffed animals to each other:
“This is a good person. Nice to meet you! This is a good person. Nice to meet you!”
Then they slammed the plushies into each other and had them fight.
Normal Conversation
What it is like when my spouse and I run routine emails past each other to check they’re okay:
—debate regarding relative merits of long sentences & short ones
—Finnegan’s Wake compared to a banana taped to a wall
—double slit experiment involving bananas
—what were we doing?
Checkin’ Emails
What it is like when my spouse and I run routine emails past each other to check they’re okay:
—debate regarding relative merits of long sentences & short ones
—Finnegan’s Wake compared to a banana taped to a wall
—double slit experiment involving bananas
—what were we doing? Continue reading “Checkin’ Emails”
Myst, Riven, and and the Walrus
“Now I am at rest, understanding that in books, and ages, and life the ending can never truly be written.”
—Riven (1997)
Myst and Riven are profoundly beautiful works of art.
I started writing a story seventeen years ago and finally finished it last summer. It’s one of my most inexplicable pieces. Continue reading “Myst, Riven, and and the Walrus”