What’s on your mind these days?
~If it’s working on memoir/CNF, read this piece in Brevity: https://brevity.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/drama-vs-drama/
“Where memoirists often get stuck is finding their own dramatic action. The situation felt incredibly dramatic while we were in it, because we were navigating the hundred small actions it took to get through every day. But in retrospect, what do they all add up to?”
~If it’s book publicity, read this piece on LitHub: http://lithub.com/spread-the-word-on-small-presses-and-the-fight-for-publicity/
“If you’re a writer who’s about to publish a book, whatever is being spent on publicity doesn’t mean that you don’t have to get involved as well. Authors are asked to find people to blurb their books prior to release; they’re asked to reach out to people who will be willing to review the books; they’re asked to maintain their websites and Twitter accounts and Facebook pages. The difference between being published with a “Big 5” publisher versus a small or independent press is not necessarily how much work the writers have to do, but how much that work gets noticed.”
~If you’re already missing “The Night Of,” as I am, first read
this smart commentary on The New York
Times and then go watch the Bogart movie referenced, “In a Lonely Place,”
which we recently saw and which was startlingly dark and wonderful: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/29/arts/television/the-night-of-finale-recap.html?_r=0
A pox on the NYTimes that won’t let me cut & paste one tiny sentence (!), so I’ll quickly paraphrase that the writer notes that Naz was
both changed by his experience and revealed, which I think is a tidy way to
characterize his journey and is what made this show so fascinating (and
harrowing) to watch. This and “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” and “The Americans”
have been by far my favorite TV shows of 2016. Okay, and I'll admit to laughing to "Vice Principals" even though I suspect maybe I shouldn't be....
~Finally, if you've been longing for a pink martini, try this Pink Gin by The Bitter Truth. It's available in good liquor stores, or you can order here: https://www.caskers.com/the-bitter-truth-pink-gin/