And so it goes…

Admittedly, writing a blog again after an absence of four? five? years feels odd. Like looking through a high-school yearbook, or running into an old boyfriend at the mall. You feel a certain nostalgia, but you aren’t quite sure what it all means.

I will start by re-dedicating this blog to all stuff literary.

Currently I’m in a quasi-regular book (we meet when the club’s organizer is in town); books for December are Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (left over from the November meeting, which I did not attend and where, I’ve heard, those who did attend made it only half-way through the novel) and The Round House by Louise Erdrich. Those two novels will be good places to start discussion here, I suppose.

Also, I’m working on my own writing, fiction and essays. Not sure what I’ll report as I go along. I don’t really like to write about writing, except for the regular exhortations to write included in my personal journals. I think writing is one of those things that speaks for itself, and the best course to take is to, well, write.

I miss the old, active literary blog community of yore. I’m sure there are Tumblrs tumbling and such, and I suppose there will be cross-posts on Twitter. The whole social media landscape irritates me. It’s like having strip centers popping up on every corner of your home town. More crap than convenience, ugly, and unnecessary. And just causes a lot of traffic jams.

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Back in Business…again

Hello, I am so happy to be back in business after literally years of hacking my way through other less-than-literary jungles.

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Uh-oh

Be careful or you could be fined.

http://www.slate.com/id/2231808/pagenum/all/

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Friday ‘Fess Up

Well, you are all more than kind to welcome me back. Thank you!

Today I fess up that I haven’t started my RIP reading yet. I am waiting for the Wilkie Collins book to arrive. I want to be sure and finish that one, if nothing else, for the challenge.

And a recommendation for everyone: If you haven’t read Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, please be sure to add it to your list. Even if you hated Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. A definite must-read…you will be on the edge of your seat.

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She’s baaaack!


Hello, friends and fellow bloggers!

I’ve been gone a long, long stretch – it has been a helluva year, I can tell you that much. Think: California budget cuts. Yeah, education plus recession equals no money for paper clips.

However, I am jumping in for Carl’s RIP challenge!!!!

Two books (alas, quote the Raven, wish-it-was-more!):

1. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
2. Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame Smith

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Writers: get reviewed and distributed online

BookRix.com offers writers a free platform to get their work reviewed and distributed online.

And there’s a contest for writers and readers…

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A reading list for the ages!

Thanks to Sassymonkey for posting this list! It ought to keep many a serious reader busy for years!

http://www.sassymonkeyreads.ca/?p=2326

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John Updike RIP

John Updike is dead at 76.

Okay, he was never one of my favorites. I thought the Rabbit series were okay, but generally I didn’t relate well to the whole older man focused on his sexuality themes that Updike tended to focus on.

Still, you can’t get away from his influence on contemporary writing.

One of my very favorite short stories, however, was written by John Updike. It is called A&P. Enjoy.

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Obama’s Reading List

If you’re not Obamafied yet, this is a great New York Times article on books that influenced Barack Obama. Some titles to check into here!

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/19/books/19read.html?8bu&emc=bub2

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‘Fess Up Friday

Surgery went okay. I learned I have a low-threshold tolerance for pain.

But I do have a nice pair of gallstone earrings now.

That’s it for writing for this week! I’m thinking of taking on some freelance writing or editing assignments. Anybody out there have any ideas? Thanks!

TGIF to ya!

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