tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33775862024-03-18T21:30:11.514-04:00Original ContentAuthor Gail Gauthier's Reflections On Books, Writing, Humor, And Other Sometimes Random ThingsGail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.comBlogger5123125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-91847499794928270032024-03-15T20:47:00.000-04:002024-03-15T20:47:14.033-04:00Friday Done List March 15<p>Today I made three lasagnas today and three batches of cookie dough, one of which I baked and...Wait. We're supposed to talk about work here.</p><p><b>Goal 1. Adult Short Stories, Essays, and Humor</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Finished a draft of an essay!</li><li>Submitted the essay.</li><li>The essay was <a href="https://medium.com/kitchen-tales/confessions-of-a-doughnut-eater-9f70ae775a38?sk=31592721c886f5d7600177f8dc714ce2">accepted and published</a>. </li><li>Very small amount of work on a short story.</li><li>Considered joining a Medium Zoom event. Need to sign up for a OCWW workshop next week.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 2. Submit <i>143 Canterbury Road</i> To Agents </b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Did minimal research on agents for this.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 3. Community Building/General Marketing/Branding</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Four blog posts</li><li>Marketing of blog posts </li><li>Marketing of essay</li></ul><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-16116772183089431952024-03-14T21:28:00.000-04:002024-03-14T21:28:07.640-04:00I've Written A Doughnut Essay<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWeL1ZlCdEy7PL4z0kUuVisZQOy88A2WTjzwdWIiMh65pPvOXoVv_oXQXfAubFVnP5EUYLPGlYS_-_ma-k20Ku_VbY0vyulYc2ShqcGtRVcCB0OjitwP2qFpTF80eOLfTr0YusN3XbHMcwS7k4wgcIFtHbwA_suL2rcv4phKcGx9rN6r-_g/s640/donutsIMG_8878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhWeL1ZlCdEy7PL4z0kUuVisZQOy88A2WTjzwdWIiMh65pPvOXoVv_oXQXfAubFVnP5EUYLPGlYS_-_ma-k20Ku_VbY0vyulYc2ShqcGtRVcCB0OjitwP2qFpTF80eOLfTr0YusN3XbHMcwS7k4wgcIFtHbwA_suL2rcv4phKcGx9rN6r-_g/w200-h150/donutsIMG_8878.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>My second publication of the year, <a href="https://medium.com/kitchen-tales/confessions-of-a-doughnut-eater-9f70ae775a38?sk=31592721c886f5d7600177f8dc714ce2">Confessions Of A Doughnut Eater</a>, is what I call an eating essay. My eating essays tend to be memoirish. We could call it a doughnut memoir, inspired by my children who were both burning up our family text one weekend with news about their doughnut excursions. They inspired <a href="http://www.gailgauthier.com/aliens-1.htm">some of my earliest work </a>and continue to do so. <p></p><p>Interested in literature? This piece has a couple of references for you. There's one to <b>Jane Eyre</b>, and the title is a shoutout to Thomas de Quincey's 1821 classic <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/286308/confessions-of-an-english-opium-eater-and-other-writings-by-thomas-de-quincey/">Confessions of an English Opium-Eater</a>. Everyone loves Thomas de Quincey, right?</p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-74458421615430033472024-03-12T21:19:00.005-04:002024-03-14T09:58:53.883-04:00March Is Francophonie Month<p>I first heard of <a href="https://francecanadaculture.org/march-francophonie-month/">Francophonie Month</a> four years ago, when I celebrated it here at <b>OC </b>for a week. Oh, look! I did <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2020/03/la-francophonie-day-dear-haiti-love.html">a round-up of my 2020 Francophonie posts</a>. </p><p>After 2020 I missed Francophonie Month for the next three years. Obviously, I need to put this in my bullet journal. That thing's getting kind of full.</p><p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCUiA_UodaoSCyj-DfS-ZmpOx6Ly6Y4r9QZFLog4LHkLDQWrmHIGwxIS6ZxuZALfJEmUxl9QJs3oqe79CEUa2hOaAMiKXOw8qk8I761TGveL_GuwU9SHzyd9VeLxsyYiPFGSUdq5lLxb1UQXfGtGA-ghrEJ9a-a41EBuhQ-R7NnXbb0wg6Q/s1125/Frenchphrasespexels-photo-3808080.jpeg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1125" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigCUiA_UodaoSCyj-DfS-ZmpOx6Ly6Y4r9QZFLog4LHkLDQWrmHIGwxIS6ZxuZALfJEmUxl9QJs3oqe79CEUa2hOaAMiKXOw8qk8I761TGveL_GuwU9SHzyd9VeLxsyYiPFGSUdq5lLxb1UQXfGtGA-ghrEJ9a-a41EBuhQ-R7NnXbb0wg6Q/w200-h133/Frenchphrasespexels-photo-3808080.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo by Andrea Piarquadio on Pexels</td></tr></tbody></table>Francophonie Month gives me a good opportunity/excuse to mention <a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw/useful-french-phrases-for-madame-keiths-world-languages-class-f7e79b23275b">Useful French Phrases For Madame Keith's World Languages Class</a>. There. I mentioned it.<p></p><p>I only realized today that we're in the midst of Francophonie Month, and I am grasping for how I can observe it personally. I have a couple of episodes of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14203572/episodes/?season=1&ref_=tt_eps_sn_1">Monsieur Spade</a> left to watch. I love that show, because it stars a British actor playing an American who speaks French with an American accent. I am an American who barely speaks French with an American accent! You can see the attraction. I still haven't seen the new season of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2531336/">Lupin</a>, because I decided to rewatch the first seasons. I could spend the rest of the month catching up on all that, which should do something for my French, <i>non</i>?</p><p>But some French reading? I have French books around here I've never finished.</p><p><b>Lectures Pour La Jeunesse</b> by W.F.H. Whitmarsh. It was published in 1946. I'm guessing I found it in my in-laws' house. It's a tough read for me, and it's hard to get excited about going back to it. I just found two twenty dollar bills in it. They're not old, so I must have put them there. No idea what I was thinking about with that.</p><p><a href="https://store.doverpublications.com/products/9780486264431">French Stories, A Dual-Language Book</a>. Edited by Wallace Fowlie. I have some hope of getting through a couple of these stories. Well, one, anyway. They include English translations.</p><p><b>Lire 12 Extraits de Romans de la Rentree</b>. No idea where this came from or even what it is.</p><p>At any rate, I have the means to observe Francophonie Month. I just have to do it.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-18351544445032730072024-03-11T20:34:00.001-04:002024-03-11T20:34:22.744-04:00Time Management Tuesday: Keeping Track Of Kate Middleton<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3Sg2PvaKT-Hn_6tZnFcWlg-W6u6guvhJ6vXqIU2gD3hze_XhTkGGSvRzNPT-HV_K88hVtbiZ0G7UiVU0pHhtoAnqpFcIh3JGlWetrcseOZHEtlFNNampq_5Y_tElrQ0yPgu_83vc2bC0fFEdzcsEoosluhYQjCGU4ozRbvReS6J9zfU94g/s75/time-management-tuesday-logo-2021.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="75" data-original-width="74" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP3Sg2PvaKT-Hn_6tZnFcWlg-W6u6guvhJ6vXqIU2gD3hze_XhTkGGSvRzNPT-HV_K88hVtbiZ0G7UiVU0pHhtoAnqpFcIh3JGlWetrcseOZHEtlFNNampq_5Y_tElrQ0yPgu_83vc2bC0fFEdzcsEoosluhYQjCGU4ozRbvReS6J9zfU94g/s1600/time-management-tuesday-logo-2021.jpg" width="74" /></a></div> Face it. You're not doing anything until Kate is found. <p></p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-77244269225598179692024-03-08T21:46:00.000-05:002024-03-08T21:46:05.054-05:00Friday Done List March 8<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0_w1BaQqM3t_5ocbsvUkzsmRzSO3typccegeaZi15WbghyphenhyphenhQQ5oiSF364FsPNMfeAKNnqFmuLT-FiTIqkRs_PpDNaVInDxqwEKMbvDFRBxZZTDrX3NmuRthNAvrgziyqTn966UNsvM1WFcpD5zINgntk0tMaHH1biWcrbmUAJkuN8frbpw/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF0_w1BaQqM3t_5ocbsvUkzsmRzSO3typccegeaZi15WbghyphenhyphenhQQ5oiSF364FsPNMfeAKNnqFmuLT-FiTIqkRs_PpDNaVInDxqwEKMbvDFRBxZZTDrX3NmuRthNAvrgziyqTn966UNsvM1WFcpD5zINgntk0tMaHH1biWcrbmUAJkuN8frbpw/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>I missed nearly two days of work this week in order to go to a museum and hiking. On the other hand, I saw some <a href="https://www.nbmaa.org/exhibitions/new-now-anila-quayyum-agha">great stuff</a>. <p></p><p><b>Goal 1. Adult Short Stories, Essays, And Humor<br /></b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Started a new eating essay. Did I finish it? No, I did not.</li><li>Worked on the longer and longer short story. Did I finish it? No, I did not.</li><li>Did listen to<a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/03/theres-still-good-stuff-on-radio.html"> an hour program about short stories</a>.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 2. Submit <i>143 Canterbury Road</i> To Agents.</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Watched a workshop presentation on agents that indicates that I'm doing everything right with submissions.</li><li>And, yet, I received three rejections this week. What does it all mean?</li></ul><div><b>Goal 3. Community building/General Marketing/Branding</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Four blog posts counting this one. </li></ul></div><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-60490350581915759872024-03-07T15:38:00.001-05:002024-03-10T12:51:36.303-04:00Some Annotated Reading March 8<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwT8HGskQtcNUibvMN2KTvbM1t6pIr8DyxnCHjQk8aGWmrSKXq-pCoMoprLMpq2oLF_9L3OnKZPp3KXUxDLfCkqjFq9xUy1OqlBMBMNMrOjfuSuRGQ-2oy_AsBcJ5KikK51AzhbW9SScD-r-A2y8_cwtSlB5VGMwMYFQGD79Xm1VhwOunZzQ/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwT8HGskQtcNUibvMN2KTvbM1t6pIr8DyxnCHjQk8aGWmrSKXq-pCoMoprLMpq2oLF_9L3OnKZPp3KXUxDLfCkqjFq9xUy1OqlBMBMNMrOjfuSuRGQ-2oy_AsBcJ5KikK51AzhbW9SScD-r-A2y8_cwtSlB5VGMwMYFQGD79Xm1VhwOunZzQ/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I probably found Julija Sukys' (I apologize for my inability to deal with accent marks here) <a href="https://julijasukys.com/?page_id=2">site</a> through a Facebook essay group. I'd saved a link to her on my iPad, so I really don't know for sure. She says on the page I linked to that one of the writing forms that interests her is "life-writing (letters, diaries, and all kinds of archival materials)." I had never seen or heard the expression "life-writing" before, but I love it now. There is so much I could be exploring at her website. <p></p><p>Someone on X was talking about <a href="https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/43768/my-last-duchess">My Last Duchess</a> by Robert Browning this week, which led me to reread it. There's a little more subtle part I'd had trouble with years ago that worked for me this time. I thought this might be a narrative poem, but I've seen it called a dramatic monologue on-line.</p><p>Reading <i>My Last Duchess</i> reminded me that I meant to read writing by all the United States' poet laureates this year and never got past the first one. I can still do it! But not this week.</p><p>What I did read this week was some flash fiction. <a href="https://fracturedlit.com/candied-lemon/">Candied Lemon</a> by Grace Kennedy at <b>Fractured Lit</b> grabbed me with all the food mentioned in the beginning. I am not quite sure about the ending. </p><p><b>New Yorker</b> humor you probably can't read without a subscription:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2024/03/11/scenes-from-my-open-ish-marriage">Scenes From My Open-ish Marriage</a> by John Kenney. It's probably just as well if you can't read this, because while I thought it was very funny this used to be a blog for childlit people and <i>Scenes From My Open-ish Marriage</i> is not childlit-ish.</li><li>I liked that John Kenney <b>New Yorker</b> piece so much that I found <a href="https://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/jan-22-ready-john-kenney-an-interview-with-the-author-of-the-debut-novel-truth-in-advertising">this article about him</a> and read it. This is why it took me four years to write my last book and not eighteen months like it took him to write his first one. You can bet any amount of money that John Kenney's not spending any time looking up and reading articles about me.</li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/what-blurbs-really-mean">What Blurbs Really Mean</a> by Dana Maier and Gila Pfeffer. I've said many times here at <b>OC</b> that as a reader I distrust and dislike book blurbs. So, yeah, I ate this thing up. They did not go anywhere near far enough.</li></ul><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-52215065404630791132024-03-06T22:33:00.002-05:002024-03-06T22:33:37.040-05:00There's Still Good Stuff On The Radio<p><a href="https://www.ctpublic.org/show/the-colin-mcenroe-show/2024-03-05/keeping-it-brief-a-celebration-of-short-stories">Keeping it Brief: A Celebration of Short Stories</a> on Connecticut Public Radio's <a href="https://www.npr.org/podcasts/641549788/the-colin-mc-enroe-show">Colin McEnroe Show</a> aired yesterday afternoon but is available on-line now. I loved that it was broken into individual interviews instead of an hour-long panel or free-for-all discussion. I'm not ashamed to admit that I don't have a 60-minute attention span.</p><p>Some high points for Gail:</p><p>With <a href="https://rebeccamakkai.com/">Rebecca Makkai</a>, Colin (here in Connecticut he's known as Colin) talked about why people may choose not to read short stories and why they should. Here are a couple of my own thoughts on why short stories may not go over with some readers.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>It takes as much energy for readers to invest in characters and acclimate to a world for a short story as it does for a book. And then the short story is over. You get more for your effort if you're reading a book. To be truthful, I got this theory from my cousin.</li><li>Epiphanies--characters experiencing some kind of realization that changes them somehow--are a big deal in short stories. This particular reader finds that epiphanies are often so interior to the character that I don't understand them, which undermines my enjoyment of the story. </li></ul><p></p><p>With <a href="https://www.amybloom.com/">Amy Bloom</a> the talk veered more to technique. She said how a short story begins is important. You only have about two paragraphs to hook the reader. 1. This seems hugely helpful. 2. I should have kown this.</p><p>The last section of the program was a discussion of a <b>New Yorker </b>short story, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/13/how-i-became-a-vet">How I Became A Vet</a> by Rivka Galchen. This was fascinating for me, because, though I have had a digital subscription to <b>The New Yorker</b> since last year, I never read the short stories. I don't even read that much of the humor. I like wading through years of articles. To get the whole <i>Keeping it Brief</i> experience, I dropped everything this afternoon and read <i>How I Became A Vet. </i>It's an absolutely lovely story, though I found the ending a bit epiphany-ish and didn't understand it. I think it has broken me into reading <b>New Yorker</b> short stories, though.</p><p>So I had an excellent radio experience that was work-related enough that I don't feel very guilty about not really working.</p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-57987163114929727602024-03-04T13:45:00.003-05:002024-03-04T13:45:39.899-05:00I Don't Mind Rejection. It's Submitting That's The Problem.<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FRdpo2GyoQsy5hwxt86GJGaDtxYdw01Az5b-zrEvoCvY_aPf5iPJHKCZ0TV-PBvDVeznC7R4m-B4N3aWeieHo-hqM0oye_rTB8usJgBHZPlhBggcRkUh9iPyjosk-o6So4STlCSo61PPCd5LIOg7HePMQdLz15428e6TXGbWTAAKOJPaIg/s640/donutsIMG_8878.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3FRdpo2GyoQsy5hwxt86GJGaDtxYdw01Az5b-zrEvoCvY_aPf5iPJHKCZ0TV-PBvDVeznC7R4m-B4N3aWeieHo-hqM0oye_rTB8usJgBHZPlhBggcRkUh9iPyjosk-o6So4STlCSo61PPCd5LIOg7HePMQdLz15428e6TXGbWTAAKOJPaIg/w200-h150/donutsIMG_8878.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>So I've been spending the first two months of the year submitting an adult manuscript to literary agents. This gives me an excellent excuse (or at least <i>an</i> excuse) to mention <a href="https://medium.com/greener-pastures-magazine/the-trick-to-writing-stellar-book-submission-letters-25e2e9d51b4d?sk=a77e7f68751afa4585322f09156079bc">The Trick To Writing Stellar Book Submission Letters</a> published less than a year ago at <a href="https://medium.com/greener-pastures-magazine">Greener Pastures Magazine</a>. <p></p><p>Today's agent research experience also sent me off a few minutes ago to start another humor piece about literary agents. That sounds terrific, except what I meant to write about today was doughnuts.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-15671655027807673222024-03-01T21:23:00.000-05:002024-03-01T21:23:05.020-05:00Friday Done List March 1<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbR6_xiDXCJP0HaERKVVREcu865zfejqoqauIAjSaYzpiroA8SA3xLiLWaXpW5ZKmtSOJ47S6eyPjPLBkOdm_Q5npobn5Ag_qq_QfzBY852IZwfg_uCay07SHxX3SieDjmK9kr9GgLgwdlV96uv4LvtIVVV9h4ZOZA4logxKZeHCz6-6qmA/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHbR6_xiDXCJP0HaERKVVREcu865zfejqoqauIAjSaYzpiroA8SA3xLiLWaXpW5ZKmtSOJ47S6eyPjPLBkOdm_Q5npobn5Ag_qq_QfzBY852IZwfg_uCay07SHxX3SieDjmK9kr9GgLgwdlV96uv4LvtIVVV9h4ZOZA4logxKZeHCz6-6qmA/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Well, I'm feeling some improvement this week.<p></p><p><b>Goal 1. Adult Short Stories, Essays, And Humor</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Far away from finishing a draft of a short piece this week. But I have started work on the short story! I had some serious thoughts about it recently that made it possible to get started again.</li><li>I'll be "watching" the workshop I signed up for tomorrow, because I couldn't take it live yesterday. That's the beauty of the <a href="https://ocww.info/">Off Campus Writers Workshop</a>. They send you a recording of the workshop that you can use for one week. So you can sign up for workshops you know you can't attend. Which is what I did.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 2. Submit <i>143 Canterbury Road</i> to Agents</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Two submissions.</li></ul><div><b>Goal 3. Community Building/General Marketing/Branding</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Finally finished updating the <a href="http://www.gailgauthier.com/essays.htm">short-form writing links on my website</a>. That took a long time to get to.</li><li>Three <b>Original Content</b> posts, including this one. </li><li>Do some blog promoting this weekend. I'm doing so much this weekend.</li></ul></div><p></p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-7734476121137384682024-02-29T21:29:00.001-05:002024-03-03T18:57:06.425-05:00Some Annotated Reading February 29<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0vNWS3m8Hg4HXBEyCvOpW37NNEYXGdKx4dAYDnuxepcq5oBUCi889Mg8r0uTEndp_SwP_XFCyUQ6JIK1JrIagUZbxURjba0lTcKEPKdfiyRjvCP_t0zh6QOxaTZ5UtYOE3Zc1vebvt5VbANtpboJ7_t9mrXrI4a8Z3pg9nKNHU65ksDKQQ/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0vNWS3m8Hg4HXBEyCvOpW37NNEYXGdKx4dAYDnuxepcq5oBUCi889Mg8r0uTEndp_SwP_XFCyUQ6JIK1JrIagUZbxURjba0lTcKEPKdfiyRjvCP_t0zh6QOxaTZ5UtYOE3Zc1vebvt5VbANtpboJ7_t9mrXrI4a8Z3pg9nKNHU65ksDKQQ/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I managed to finish another book this week, <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/726056/on-earth-as-it-is-on-television-by-emily--jane/">On Earth as It is On Television</a> by Emily Jane. Terrific book, and I now have a thought about humor in fiction. Which I may have had before, but, if so, this book really illustrates it. Humor must support story. Perhaps it is another element of fiction.<p></p><p><a href="https://medium.com/special-collections/flora-mancuniensis-e217306ac9a9">Flora Mancuniensis: The study of botany in 19th-century Manchester</a> by Julie Ramwell is a terrific piece of historical writing. It appears at a publication on the <b>Medium</b> platform called <a href="https://medium.com/special-collections">Special Collections</a> from The University of Manchester in England. This is an example of the neat things that can be done at <b>Medium</b>. </p><p>I did some reading of time travel short stories:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://archive.org/details/Fantasy_Science_Fiction_v015n04_1958-10_Gorgon776/page/n119/mode/2up">The Men Who Murdered Mohammed</a> by Alfred Bester in <b>Fantasy & Science Fiction</b>, October, 1958 pg. 118. I heard this would be funny, and it probably would have been much funnier if I had more of a science background. This was clever, though, with good narrative drive and some clever time travel stuff.</li><li><a href="https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602521h.html#07">The Clock That Went Backward</a>s by Edward Page Mitchell. Scroll down. Yeah, not an exciting read. This is believed to be the first instance of a device being used for time travel. So now I can say I've read that.</li><li><a href="https://clarkesworldmagazine.com/tiptree_05_17_reprint/">The Man Who Walked Home</a> by James Tiptree Jr. in <b>Clarkesworld.</b> This is both a time travel and post-apocalypse story, two sub-genres that I'm not fond of. But for some reason I found this pretty riveting, and it leads me to want to learn more about the author, a woman writing under a man's name.</li><li>And I did! T<a href="https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/4/18/18282660/james-tiptree-jr-feminist-dystopian-science-fiction">he Most Prescient Science Fiction Author You Aren't Reading</a> by Kay Steiger in <b>Vox</b>.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>New Yorker</b> humor you won't be able to read: <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/why-the-people-you-e-mailed-arent-e-mailing-you-back-by-week?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Humor_022824&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=64a5aeabeae0a44f55074087&cndid=74377041&esrc=subscribe-page&utm_term=TNY_Humor">Why People Who E-mailed You Aren't E-mailing You Back, By Week</a> by Hallie Cantor</p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-77028534947391835152024-02-26T21:09:00.000-05:002024-02-26T21:09:05.405-05:00A Childlit Connection To Oppenheimer?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-eZL8jnmXbZnAgD_ByjEsxNdKA8m6VqxfDFVjOjDPnaIo9XckGUv3Jae_D3s_7yTIWldKQVIOe2zp8p4Oeo81LZSBguEPUFJarGK3az4ecZxocumbPKXoCfn7OTZye0nqokO4BLkeyeNzCBQ3eJngsmKb9Hb8_3jERnm_g5WuFywfFbatZg/s450/greenglasspaper9780142411490.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="450" data-original-width="294" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-eZL8jnmXbZnAgD_ByjEsxNdKA8m6VqxfDFVjOjDPnaIo9XckGUv3Jae_D3s_7yTIWldKQVIOe2zp8p4Oeo81LZSBguEPUFJarGK3az4ecZxocumbPKXoCfn7OTZye0nqokO4BLkeyeNzCBQ3eJngsmKb9Hb8_3jERnm_g5WuFywfFbatZg/w131-h200/greenglasspaper9780142411490.jpg" width="131" /></a></div>I saw <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/oscars/barbie-saved-the-box-office-but-oppenheimer-is-the-movie-awards-voters-have-been-waiting-for/ar-BB1iV2DF">Oppenheimer</a> Saturday night. Perhaps if I'd been in a theater and couldn't keep going onto my iPad to check out the historical figures in the movie and dwell on the unhappy women in Oppenheimer's life, I would have been able to follow it. <p></p><p>Once the movie got to Los Alamos, I was reminded of <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/296806/the-green-glass-sea-by-ellen-klages/?fbclid=IwAR0OKdOTFvaB08N5VK5TcoLWBL-jSkxkQDCCVeQS7aJy0D7ySIsWtNk8aGY">The Green Glass Sea</a> by <a href="http://ellenklages.com/">Ellen Klages</a>. It's a very well-regarded middle grade novel from 2006 about a girl going to Los Alamos to live with her father who is working there on the Manhattan Project. </p><p>Were librarians all over the country doing <b>Oppenheimer </b>themed displays last year? I know it's probably not appropriate to do a library display linking books for middle grade students to an R-rated movie, but I can't be the only person who thought of it. Or maybe I can. </p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-32178785992064830792024-02-23T21:29:00.007-05:002024-02-23T21:29:36.445-05:00Friday Done List February 23<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CEVg1vii9HoLcQVCvcg38iEqNebgqhDB9ln6veWhV6uiCnDBnO9dZQ8Lpw2DAFYdQIgGCk7Cv04xWwHbuSJVhz2Lo6BMhv3O5oool3IlE7unx59dZDmWoYhIROh7bwOdtYk0FuPOhvYXbzbnMGIonpsxusAg6nGRjEJDxKrOlu7Yem53Zg/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CEVg1vii9HoLcQVCvcg38iEqNebgqhDB9ln6veWhV6uiCnDBnO9dZQ8Lpw2DAFYdQIgGCk7Cv04xWwHbuSJVhz2Lo6BMhv3O5oool3IlE7unx59dZDmWoYhIROh7bwOdtYk0FuPOhvYXbzbnMGIonpsxusAg6nGRjEJDxKrOlu7Yem53Zg/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>A week of <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/02/why-i-didnt-work-monday.html">just treading water</a>. In fact, I wanted to go to a museum today to see an exhibit that's ending soon and gave it up out of guilt. I found out I have a free day tomorrow, though. Of course, I'm going walking.<p></p><p><b>Goal 1. Adult short stories, essays, and humor</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Can't give up on that short story, can't move forward. Didn't write a word. Have been doing research, though. Research for a<i> short story</i>. </li><li>I'm really getting into reading related to that short story, though. </li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 2. Submit 143 Canterbury Road to agents</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Got two rejections last weekend.</li><li>Made two submissions.</li><li>Spent a lot of time reading about agents.</li><li>Registered for an agent workshop.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 3. Community Building/Branding/General Marketing</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Wrote 4 blog posts.</li><li>Promoted some of them on X.</li><li>Reposted one of the blog posts at Goodreads, where I also rated a book.</li><li>Did some more updating on the website. Could have done more on that.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-14516161686230116912024-02-22T21:46:00.003-05:002024-02-23T12:47:02.339-05:00Some Annotated Reading Feb. 22<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLmeBNrmOpj-KIu7F5sVkrV3WRIB_aoxgM3kYo8XLewd_PpeXw5MME4wdZNO2Hpji4UJ80XQEE1ApGcbK-gio0KQxnKlBRMCXzpCYQBONQjAKHVigSvWxKVCt9skcKMQnA_lt5pNe0IzcSKUE041sRzdlPawrWCi1iCJ8061K7IjBx6i5Ow/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbLmeBNrmOpj-KIu7F5sVkrV3WRIB_aoxgM3kYo8XLewd_PpeXw5MME4wdZNO2Hpji4UJ80XQEE1ApGcbK-gio0KQxnKlBRMCXzpCYQBONQjAKHVigSvWxKVCt9skcKMQnA_lt5pNe0IzcSKUE041sRzdlPawrWCi1iCJ8061K7IjBx6i5Ow/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Another week, another book finished. Reading, not writing or selling. <a href="https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/maria-adelmann/how-to-be-eaten/9780316450843/?lens=little-brown">How To Be Eaten</a> by Maria Adelmann was an intriguing read for me, because it followed <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/02/some-annotated-reading-february-15.html">last week's book</a>, <b>The Manor House Governess</b>, which was a modern spin on <b>Jane Eyre</b>. <b>How To Be Eaten</b> isn't a modern spin on our Jane, but on fairy tales. How bizarre is it that connection? The connection being "modern spins," in case I didn't make myself clear. (Which happens.) These fairy tales all have women main characters who feel guilty for what happened to them or are made to feel guilty. Included in the book is a section treating a Bachelor-type program as an unhappy fairy tale. I have never seen a minute of one of those shows, but I was kind of riveted to that portion of the book. And, wow, the Rumpelstiltskin section was pretty impressive.<p></p><p>Speaking of books I've read recently, I read <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/02/some-annotated-reading-february-8.html">The Jane Austen Society</a> a couple of weeks ago. And guess what I stumbled upon this week? <a href="https://religionnews.com/2024/02/14/a-jane-austen-lent-archdeacon-explores-the-novelists-spiritual-lessons/">A Jane Austen Lent</a>.</p><p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNW8hcMPSj0">Time Travel Science Fiction Stories Recommendations</a> at Fit 2B Read is not reading but a terrific video <i>about</i> reading. Yes, I am researching time travel fiction and would really like to do it with short stories. Though I'm thinking of rereading <b>A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court</b>, which is taking a risk because I liked it when I was a teenager, and sometimes rereads don't go that well for me.</p><p><a href="https://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks06/0602911h.html">The Chronic Argonauts</a> by H.G. Wells, recommended in the video above. Mehhh. It seemed more of a <b>Lottery</b> by Shirley Jackson type story. And masses and masses of description. It's been a long time since I've read H.G. Wells, and I can't say I have much desire to read more now. </p><p>A humor piece you probably can't read at <b>The New Yorker</b>--<a href=" https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/a-timeline-of-articles-about-amelia-earhart-throughout-history?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Humor_022024&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=64a5aeabeae0a44f55074087&cndid=74377041&esrc=subscribe-page&utm_term=TNY_Humor">A Timeline of Articles About Amelia Earhart Throughout History</a> by Sarah Hutto. The vaccination headline was my favorite.</p><p>Also humor-related--I've been watching <a href="https://www.cc.com/shows/the-daily-show">The Daily Show</a> for the past year. (No, never before then. Yes, it's a mystery.) <a href="https://www.dulcesloan.com/">Dulce Sloan</a> is a correspondent, and I am a fan. So, of course, I read <a href="https://www.salon.com/2024/02/22/dulce-sloan-daily-show-hello-friends-salon-talks/">We're Not Stupid or Racist</a>, an interview with Sloan at <b>Salon</b>. This woman has thoughts! And a book coming out.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-61330058236507102592024-02-21T09:20:00.004-05:002024-02-21T12:01:07.849-05:00Why I Didn't Work Monday, And Why Snow Tubing Isn't To Blame For My Lame Work Week<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8Uzycrh5Ea_wBqOjyn_q7ao9LITnEoAAaVc4NV6RHkkUkiO7Kg19LfZ8mSVvxYHoOufb3yjGnfb2BmRdiNNf2xD3jeDKh4GLlmvnIbIAj16bprqlMbHIYpMWqWWJx-jqNyR_wjS9L1LNHihMrVsm-ANsU4qGw98lcQ3KyRv8vOWHS4d0tQ/s4032/IMG_8787.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhn8Uzycrh5Ea_wBqOjyn_q7ao9LITnEoAAaVc4NV6RHkkUkiO7Kg19LfZ8mSVvxYHoOufb3yjGnfb2BmRdiNNf2xD3jeDKh4GLlmvnIbIAj16bprqlMbHIYpMWqWWJx-jqNyR_wjS9L1LNHihMrVsm-ANsU4qGw98lcQ3KyRv8vOWHS4d0tQ/w200-h150/IMG_8787.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>We had snow a week ago yesterday, and it's still here. Now, I'm in the south of New England, not Florida. Snow is not incapacitating here. But it isn't as common as it used to be, what with climate change and all. Last year, I didn't use my snow tube at all. And when snow does come, it usually doesn't last long. For example, hours after we left for our retreat week on a Saturday in January, our town was hit with a big snowfall. By the time we got home the next Saturday, our yard looked like spring.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCc7Ydxr7lrP-4RvCNI9_-67XM6WbkDoq4CKghyphenhyphenKWQ3DUw0eCtxAIOZkzpF8fGMCzX-bZAK53wgwrTd6ddcjQg2mk-vGUC7RtAOF-k8Y8srEcHHr96r18FiQuvDO0Tjmd4_AQIx9iwRJcF5ObP7mFxpwTH87LaN0ty2NYwqrymGq7EsVJQYg/s4032/IMG_8781.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCc7Ydxr7lrP-4RvCNI9_-67XM6WbkDoq4CKghyphenhyphenKWQ3DUw0eCtxAIOZkzpF8fGMCzX-bZAK53wgwrTd6ddcjQg2mk-vGUC7RtAOF-k8Y8srEcHHr96r18FiQuvDO0Tjmd4_AQIx9iwRJcF5ObP7mFxpwTH87LaN0ty2NYwqrymGq7EsVJQYg/w200-h150/IMG_8781.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>Not so with this last storm, which came, as I said, a week ago yesterday. I spent a big chunk of time shoveling the day it arrived and rushed out to go snowshoeing the next morning, because you have to strike while the snow is here. This past Monday, it was still here, and I had guests over for snow tubing. <br /><br /> <div dir="rtl" style="text-align: right;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSFfmT3r0-gh75WnVhrDVAuElfy2ZVclAnWS0xmNx3ZKT_DvzGBF_SHQFRSfUNRpmBAUiIO1DsqG7ZHlfa7onlp4-81d3YBh8SdC2704WR3_pYZuIdRKi2sfLoxnZ2AVH26xCZwi8a9czlWry7NrKFdGz2lpWgapiObecd6yv3ool8pMjPw/s4032/IMG_8794.jpg" style="clear: left; display: inline; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjSFfmT3r0-gh75WnVhrDVAuElfy2ZVclAnWS0xmNx3ZKT_DvzGBF_SHQFRSfUNRpmBAUiIO1DsqG7ZHlfa7onlp4-81d3YBh8SdC2704WR3_pYZuIdRKi2sfLoxnZ2AVH26xCZwi8a9czlWry7NrKFdGz2lpWgapiObecd6yv3ool8pMjPw/w200-h150/IMG_8794.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><div>Seriously, kids have so little experience with snow that they think you're supposed to play in it with balls.</div><div><br /></div><div>I've been thinking that my feeling this week of not making progress with work is due to the fact that I took what was essentially a snow day Monday and now think the week is nearly over. All is lost. But in reality, it's because I have spent weeks working on a short story in a genre I know nothing about. That's a beginner's mistake.</div><div><p></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p> </p></div>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-71664454677341638052024-02-21T08:52:00.000-05:002024-02-21T08:52:32.370-05:00Knowing This Makes My Life Better<p>In December, just before Christmas, in fact, <a href="https://www.publishersmarketplace.com/">Publishers Marketplace</a> published in one of its <i>Publishers Lunch</i> mailings a guide to their deal categories. For those who don't know, <b>Publishers Marketplace</b> publishes brief announcements of book sales to publishing houses and describes the kind of deal the authors received, which the publishers may provide using this handy guide:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Nice deal $1-$49,000</li><li>Very nice deal $50,000-$99,000</li><li>Good deal $100,000-$250,000 </li><li>Significant deal $251,000-$499,000</li><li>Major deal $500,000 and up</li></ul><div>My first thought was that back in the day when my books were selling to a publisher I got blah-blah deals! Hurray! Wish I'd known!</div><div><br /></div><div>My second thought was Eh, I got blah-blah deals.</div><div><br /></div><div>And my third thought was, Oh, this knowledge is going to totally change how I read <b>Publishers Marketplace</b> deals.</div><div><br /></div><div>Yes, I am, as always, behind in reading the mailings I get from <b>Publishers Marketplace</b>. </div><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-38529732946724394422024-02-16T21:13:00.000-05:002024-02-16T21:13:23.933-05:00Friday Done List February 16<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1lcIKU3K41C_BVYDMJhk6ihsjkuUk9IxjKUJN4J1uc3_g_HiyNLqdFECoNAA7CXv-cnTwBU_kX56_Ng1Z0xW8zY1btAiRMnv5f3W8j4wtX7rpP9b-pQEZ1MX2jt-AUPjBg4a5uXAmfvotS4Vj5pFIk_M8JJl7yWFfvlV5YJUXt_l7mjbXg/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH1lcIKU3K41C_BVYDMJhk6ihsjkuUk9IxjKUJN4J1uc3_g_HiyNLqdFECoNAA7CXv-cnTwBU_kX56_Ng1Z0xW8zY1btAiRMnv5f3W8j4wtX7rpP9b-pQEZ1MX2jt-AUPjBg4a5uXAmfvotS4Vj5pFIk_M8JJl7yWFfvlV5YJUXt_l7mjbXg/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>A distracting week: A. A snowstorm that involved a lot of snow shoveling; B. An hour and a half of snowshoeing the next day, because if there is snow in the south of New England, you have to drop everything and take advantage of it before it's gone; C. Two trips out to shop for a washer and dryer. D. Prepping for a family dinner. <p></p><p>Nonetheless...</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Goal 1. Adult short stories, essays, and humor.</h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Still working on that short story. It's getting long. What if I have trouble finding someone to publish it? Which, you know, could happen. Hmm. Can you self-publish e-short stories? I could look into that.</li><li>Submitted two pieces of flash fiction, just this morning. </li><li>Did some reading in preparation for starting an essay.</li></ul><div><b>Goal 2. Submit 143 Canterbury Road to agents.</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Submitted to two agents.</li></ul></div><div><b>Goal 3. Community Building/General Marketing/Branding</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Three blog posts, counting this one. Did some promotion of one of them.</li><li>Will be reposting one of them at my Goodreads blog.</li><li>Began some updating of the website.</li></ul></div><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-66154302927423337512024-02-15T21:12:00.000-05:002024-02-15T21:12:12.097-05:00Some Annotated Reading February 15<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIf1lAPrOWVkHVr2MGEvdUew85bIUu5YqrrcARpPC0NTapW5XnhWrR2NKEvG4kjLIuWWX7Dn5rE_JJzeeA4l__QSwQHweQx7fPoA5d6NirUphFYEfSwHM3EXJhlVK__ZIYBBKqTqMRHv37iIAbHUyjo2I42PdckYaFCF0R9dHXKwi6qdhLQ/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfIf1lAPrOWVkHVr2MGEvdUew85bIUu5YqrrcARpPC0NTapW5XnhWrR2NKEvG4kjLIuWWX7Dn5rE_JJzeeA4l__QSwQHweQx7fPoA5d6NirUphFYEfSwHM3EXJhlVK__ZIYBBKqTqMRHv37iIAbHUyjo2I42PdckYaFCF0R9dHXKwi6qdhLQ/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>This week I finished reading <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/730683/the-manor-house-governess-by-c-a-castle/">The Manor House Governess</a> by C.A. Castle. It was terrific to stumble upon this after just having finished reading <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/02/some-annotated-reading-february-8.html">The Jane Austen Society</a>, because while <b>The Jane Austen Society</b> was about people obsessed with Jane Austen, <b>The Manor House Governess</b> is about a character obsessed with <b>Jane Eyre</b>. In addition, Bron, the main character, is living a twenty-first century, gender-fluid <b>Jane Eyre</b> life. I enjoy reading "versions" of <b>Jane Eyre</b>, and this one is well worth the read for people like me. Though I couldn't connect all the characters and situations in <b>Manor House</b> to characters and situations to <b>Jane Eyre</b>. Which means either that I wasn't being just to <b>Manor House</b> and reading it for itself or I need to read <b>Jane Eyre</b> again. I've only read it twice, and it's been a while. Both <b>The Jane Austen Society</b> and <b>The Manor House Governess </b>made me feel I should be reading the related classics over and over again the way the characters in these books do. But how when there are so many Austen- and Eyre-related work to read?<p></p><p>Remember <a href="http://blog.gailgauthier.com/2024/02/getting-serious-about-humor-value-of.html">The Madwoman in the Attic Answers Letters Pleading for Her Advice</a> that I read this week? That's what I mean by needing time for <b>Jane Eyre</b>-related work. </p><p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/jon-stewart-knows-he-cant-save-democracy">Jon Stewart Knows "The Daily Show" Won't Save Democracy</a> by Inkoo Kang in <b>The New Yorker</b> includes something interesting I'd never heard of before--claptor comedy. It's comedy that isn't used to make people laugh but to make them applaud, because you've appealed to their beliefs. So now I know that. </p><p>A humor piece for you: <a href="https://www.pointsincase.com/articles/ways-i-imagined-i-might-die-when-i-was-a-kid">Ways I Imagined I Might Die When I Was A Kid</a> by Anthony DeThomas in <b>Points in Case</b>.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-75307308572497749712024-02-13T14:58:00.000-05:002024-02-13T14:58:33.377-05:00Getting Serious About Humor: The Value of Repetition<p><a href="https://medium.com/jane-austens-wastebasket/the-madwoman-in-the-attic-answers-letters-pleading-for-her-advice-ee0eb713c309"></a></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjo9F_kG7vyFulbsZBlM0jqsYDmjY3_dDkfuW-na_fIMNIpwDZRHCiUC827o3yGVat-ZKDgFNkwEYHSc97S4jWGsrW0PWpN4Tk6kVUgtrBTYKBOs45xTu6kttgXA54XzHC4pD_USJd3ha1qDvf7C5RHvN-QdqajLm6Q6jErF6k8GoIdVhPQ/s100/ha%20ha%20why2-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="99" data-original-width="100" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirjo9F_kG7vyFulbsZBlM0jqsYDmjY3_dDkfuW-na_fIMNIpwDZRHCiUC827o3yGVat-ZKDgFNkwEYHSc97S4jWGsrW0PWpN4Tk6kVUgtrBTYKBOs45xTu6kttgXA54XzHC4pD_USJd3ha1qDvf7C5RHvN-QdqajLm6Q6jErF6k8GoIdVhPQ/s1600/ha%20ha%20why2-100.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>The Madwoman in the Attic Answers Letters Pleading for Her Advice by S. M. Strand at <b>Jane Austen's Wastebasket</b> is a neat piece that I think illustrates how repetition can be used with humor. Do you have to be familiar with<b> Jane Eyre </b>to get the joke here? Because this is <b>Jane Eyre</b> humor we're talking about here, in case you don't know. Take my word for it. It is.<p></p><p>However, I don't think you need to know that because the joke is that the Madwoman in the Attic gives the same, very inappropriate, advice to everyone who writes to her. Additionally, the author doesn't just peter off at the end like a great many <b>Saturday Night Live</b> sketches.<b> </b>She ends her piece with a variation on the, very inappropriate, advice she's been repeating over and over.</p><p>Ah, there may be a lesson for me here. Repetition may be just what a humor piece I started earlier this year needs. </p><p>I am so glad I wrote this blog post instead of going out to shovel my driveway for the third time in six hours.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-51699457555072922692024-02-09T15:42:00.007-05:002024-02-13T13:48:47.405-05:00Friday Done List February 9<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOWWpy4YEmy52T3JudTAgaBBVuR7oP4Y9BtWNEPBbxTXWoUIKLgA-HnQlHJrt3jHNPjlfWf3jmryEnPNHMPDEhIIZix7ww6S2fRusXoIFPZeHTxxZXdg4d-60tBPm8lcR75OSYV9iwSHxF28nAaBrNIHlUksmPTti1rHd_ugtIB8USygikg/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSOWWpy4YEmy52T3JudTAgaBBVuR7oP4Y9BtWNEPBbxTXWoUIKLgA-HnQlHJrt3jHNPjlfWf3jmryEnPNHMPDEhIIZix7ww6S2fRusXoIFPZeHTxxZXdg4d-60tBPm8lcR75OSYV9iwSHxF28nAaBrNIHlUksmPTti1rHd_ugtIB8USygikg/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>The really good news this week? I am well ahead of my Goodreads reading goal for this year. Also, I have this feeling that I really need to clean my desk and office again, which become chaotic so fast. If I can get that done before Monday, next week should be calming, at the very least.<p></p><p><b>Goal 1. Adult Short Stories, Essays, and Humor</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I am still working on that short story I started two weeks ago, meaning my objective for doing a rough draft a week is way, way out the door. I considered putting this short story aside, thinking I needed more information of some kind to do the mid-section. Then I came up with another idea. So I'll keep plugging on it.</li><li>Reread the rough draft of the humor piece I did in well under a week back in January. Oh...my...gosh.</li></ul><p></p><p><b>Goal 2. Submit 143 Canterbury Road to Agents</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I made four submissions this week.</li><li>I have some more agents lined up to submit to. </li><li>I should probably be making these submissions in some kind of logical way, whereby I send out 7 submissions, then wait for the rejections, then make 7 more submissions. But I find it slow work researching agents, and I started this before Christmas. And it's also slow work to customize submissions for each agent. Plus my experience with agent submissions is that it really doesn't matter.</li></ul><div><b>Goal 3. Community Building/General Marketing/Branding</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Did four blog posts this week, including this one.</li><li>Did one blog post in support of another writer, then promoted it on X. That went well. Seriously.</li><li>Updated my Goodreads blog for the first time in a year.</li><li>Came up with an idea for reposting one of my weekly <b>OC</b> posts on the Goodreads blog, for what that will be worth.</li><li>Interacted with some readers on <b>Medium</b>.</li></ul></div><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-76449035451123815382024-02-08T20:58:00.001-05:002024-02-09T15:44:58.188-05:00Some Annotated Reading February 8<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wXNse1BTAlr3l_1wwt1LclnBT_UMZj4DOPxhpjMZHoMVbcclt0zeBPGcU4hzvuvS9x5kDFEiP4uUUZhmA2nNMjjtnZbpHwzilDdXCFDbCddXw8xBGFVx4ITGzWPX01byerkvhDHI_FBS6m5G4b3YzgSivlBhWmt68QqYYuzdvHt60j5vDg/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3wXNse1BTAlr3l_1wwt1LclnBT_UMZj4DOPxhpjMZHoMVbcclt0zeBPGcU4hzvuvS9x5kDFEiP4uUUZhmA2nNMjjtnZbpHwzilDdXCFDbCddXw8xBGFVx4ITGzWPX01byerkvhDHI_FBS6m5G4b3YzgSivlBhWmt68QqYYuzdvHt60j5vDg/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><a href="https://bookriot.com/difference-between-mystery-suspense-and-thriller-novels/">What Is The Difference Between Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller Novels?</a> by Tika Viteri at <b>Book Riot.</b> I read this, because I'm submitting a mystery novel to agents who often say they are interested in mysteries and thrillers or mysteries and suspense or mysteries, thrillers, and suspense. I found another article on the subject that went on and on--and on. Here's what I'm claiming I've learned: In a thriller, the main character is in danger. In suspense, readers know things the main character does not. Neither of these apply to the book I'm subbing. I'm going to wing it, and say it's a mystery.<p></p><p>I finished <a href="https://www.nataliejenner.com/tjas">The Jane Austen Society</a> by Natalie Jenner earlier this week. It's set in a small English village after World War II with a group of people who are huge Jane Austen fans. They read her work over and over again. The book turns into a bit of a Jane Austen novel. Probably more than a bit, but it's been a while since I've read <b>P&P</b>, and I'm not sure which of the other books I've read and which I've seen BBC productions of. Reading <b>The Jane Austen Society</b> made me feel that if I had all the time in the world and wasn't always overwhelmed with so many books to read, I'd reread Jane Austen like these people did. I think of books like <b>The Jane Austen Society</b> as being grown-up books, which I like to read every now and then, and I do enjoy a story set in an English village.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Some Short Things I Also Enjoyed</h4><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://fracturedlit.com/classified-ad-for-a-ghost/">Classified Ad For A Ghost</a> by Mario Aliberto III at <b>Fractured Lit </b></li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/humor/shouts-murmurs/signs-you-may-be-an-adult-character-in-a-ya-novel?utm_source=nl&utm_brand=tny&utm_mailing=TNY_Humor_013024&utm_campaign=aud-dev&utm_medium=email&bxid=64a5aeabeae0a44f55074087&cndid=74377041&esrc=subscribe-page">Signs You May Be An Adult Character In A Y.A. Novel</a> by Shannon Reed at <b>The New Yorker Shouts & Murmers</b></li><li><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/humor/daily-shouts/ayn-rand-reviews-childrens-movies">Ayn Rand Reviews Children's Movies</a> by Daniel M. Lavery at <b>The New Yorker Shouts & Murmers</b></li></ul><p></p><p><b><br /></b></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-57197327173716134492024-02-07T13:55:00.000-05:002024-02-07T13:55:13.866-05:00Getting Serious About Humor: Humor With Mystery<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5U0RchvqmjoIEPt2UEjGzR5wBLN1JvoxnGNL-WiVajGFnHL6dnd-JfcAipUvO6MNUg_aaxiXFQ46KtbMQcyLNBbDDCstl7uVONX8ds81Nruh0TGyAajdLebqbUM1Ipox6Xa9nmEs4ypbstR94gxIs8lfN9b28wlJfCn_59d33TG585M5jCw/s100/ha%20ha%20why2-100.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="99" data-original-width="100" height="99" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5U0RchvqmjoIEPt2UEjGzR5wBLN1JvoxnGNL-WiVajGFnHL6dnd-JfcAipUvO6MNUg_aaxiXFQ46KtbMQcyLNBbDDCstl7uVONX8ds81Nruh0TGyAajdLebqbUM1Ipox6Xa9nmEs4ypbstR94gxIs8lfN9b28wlJfCn_59d33TG585M5jCw/s1600/ha%20ha%20why2-100.jpg" width="100" /></a></div>I must have placed <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/everyone-in-my-family-has-killed-someone-benjamin-stevenson?variant=41064402681890">Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone</a> by <a href="https://benjaminstevensonauthor.com/">Benjamin Stevenson</a> on my library list, because I saw it described as "witty." Being a mystery, it is fiction. My legion of readers all know that I like to analyze witty fiction.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHTJRRtJNs5qAzZpheB4mLKaEbiqM0SIjFtVdY0My7_4mFt1Mbc4jNsrHlD-edhtp161wpcMQ_Y8YOglK0ULTG0TuDnTVD3DdPLei4bbVH5SAhAI8yqRIoTvnxv5rKPEtP9jee7ALANUWDL5MP3w2hg7halkcD2yWmj88c1wc2vvuaWim0A/s425/everyoneinmyfamily81drOOSnblL._SY425_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="274" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPHTJRRtJNs5qAzZpheB4mLKaEbiqM0SIjFtVdY0My7_4mFt1Mbc4jNsrHlD-edhtp161wpcMQ_Y8YOglK0ULTG0TuDnTVD3DdPLei4bbVH5SAhAI8yqRIoTvnxv5rKPEtP9jee7ALANUWDL5MP3w2hg7halkcD2yWmj88c1wc2vvuaWim0A/w129-h200/everyoneinmyfamily81drOOSnblL._SY425_.jpg" width="129" /></a><p></p><p><b>Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone</b> is similar to other humorous fiction I've read in that it is wry and clever but not what you'd call a knee-slapper. But I could see what contributed to the humor, which makes it a first with the humorous fiction I've, shall we say, studied.</p><p>Voice, tone, understatement, and structure all contribute to the humor of this book. You could say the narrator's inner life contributes to the humor. You could say there's some incongruity here, too, because how could someone like Ernest (the narrator) exist in that family? The structure, as I've already said, supports/contributes to the humor, and maybe you could argue there's something incongruitous going on with the structure. Ernest tells us he's a reliable narrator, that he will tell the truth. And he does, but in his time and not at the times the readers' expect him to. So we assume we know things, find out later we didn't, and are amused and amazed.</p><p>I did figure out some of the ending material with this book, but in a satisfying way. Which I will not get into, since I don't want to ruin anyone's reading pleasure.</p><p>This is a book that both people who like mysteries and people who don't care one way or the other should be able to enjoy.</p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-12373413661098175032024-02-05T13:15:00.001-05:002024-02-05T13:15:30.295-05:00Once Again, Sometimes Social Media Works<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzn5Fn4rdlifF07U0zHIXDm7Lo11BTSCK3zcLfJbtRUN9jC_aJvOuHqcK5XACTcnBl1KumNe8l04Tm0BfrGIduDjREe_dRWjskZk4fC1fgq9m1ikZ88PJq7Xz7_ZJzAbVbLyrir1Cyng9bReniBzYnztoNeV9UnM5mp1WbHY0eprnCOnYFEA/s425/TooMuch71FRL0BgnDL._SY425_.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="425" data-original-width="425" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzn5Fn4rdlifF07U0zHIXDm7Lo11BTSCK3zcLfJbtRUN9jC_aJvOuHqcK5XACTcnBl1KumNe8l04Tm0BfrGIduDjREe_dRWjskZk4fC1fgq9m1ikZ88PJq7Xz7_ZJzAbVbLyrir1Cyng9bReniBzYnztoNeV9UnM5mp1WbHY0eprnCOnYFEA/w200-h200/TooMuch71FRL0BgnDL._SY425_.jpg" width="200" /></a></div> I don't actually <i>know</i> <a href="https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/">Jolene Gutierrez</a>, but she is a Facebook friend. Recently she posted that her book, <a href="https://www.jolenegutierrez.com/p/too-much-overwhelming-day.html">Too Much! An Overwhelming Day</a> (illustrated by <a href="https://thebrightagency.com/uk/childrens-illustration/artists/angel-chang#bio">Angel Chang</a>) had reached a couple of milestones...200 reviews at Goodreads and100 at Amazon. Well, we have a little person in our family who can suffer from overwhelm, and probably a couple of big people, too. So I immediately got a copy on one of the ebook apps I use and gave it a look. <p></p><p>It's a lovely book, without an <i>overwhelming</i> amount of text. Illustrations work fantastically. Speaking as someone who has a family member with some sensory issues and not others, I can easily imagine reading this with him and picking and choosing things. I may have a chance to do so next weekend.</p><h4 style="text-align: left;">Social Media Keeps Working</h4><p>Now I've given <b>Too Much!</b> some attention here. I'll review it at Goodreads, and I'll do an X...whatever we call what we do at X...to promote this blog post, which will then promote this book. And that will provide some opportunities for more people to discover <b>Too Much!</b></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-39387612614406578392024-02-02T21:02:00.000-05:002024-02-02T21:02:41.179-05:00Friday Done List February 2<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDsB00NegmlILlBI4uIfkXSq2YEzwk5ZQJTgUYDEEWjDiiFVaV2F4-dYz12TtLwynD4crWLwpQ_CAEiwx4L4mh7kFakKJr1Eyd04ruvUbVO1ZvrWN_wh5Tgej57S4zl3UwOg9Yf2SJklhXsJloqjmOqDP6Dp5J2FycRGHL0WHqPcLOrHOIQ/s3264/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3264" data-original-width="2448" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmDsB00NegmlILlBI4uIfkXSq2YEzwk5ZQJTgUYDEEWjDiiFVaV2F4-dYz12TtLwynD4crWLwpQ_CAEiwx4L4mh7kFakKJr1Eyd04ruvUbVO1ZvrWN_wh5Tgej57S4zl3UwOg9Yf2SJklhXsJloqjmOqDP6Dp5J2FycRGHL0WHqPcLOrHOIQ/w150-h200/FridaydonelistIMG_9023.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>Yeah, the week got away from me.<p></p><p><b> Goal 1. Adult Short Stories, Essays, And Humor</b></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Still haven't finished the rough draft of the short story I was working on last week, though I continued to work on it. This is a short story rather than a humor piece or flash fiction. I may have been unrealistic about finishing something every week, since short stories require more of me than I remembered. It was one of my December starts, so I can feel good about that at least. </li><li>Had a humor piece, <a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw/useful-french-phrases-for-madame-keiths-world-languages-class-f7e79b23275b?sk=65ad463215c00475e77948a14095314b">Useful French Phrases For Madame Keith's World Languages Class</a>, published at <b>Slackjaw</b>. </li><li>Did some reading of short-form work, mainly humor.</li><li>Took a workshop on the MICE Quotient, which was for novels rather than short stories, but maybe it could work. The workshop got a little murky. I'll go over <a href="https://www.tckpublishing.com/mice-quotient/">this shorter explanation</a> when I have the time. </li><li>Received news that a piece of flash fiction I'd submitted to a contest didn't make it to the list of finalists.</li></ul><div><b>Goal 2. Submit 143 Canterbury Road to Agents</b></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Made two more submissions for a total of three. Received two rejections the same morning. They are coming in fast and furious folks..</li><li>Found more agents to submit to. Eliminated some agents as inappropriate.</li></ul><div><b>Goal 3. Community Building/General Marketing/Branding</b></div></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Spent some time promoting the humor piece at <b>Slackjaw</b>. Emailing friends and family, posting at Facebook, posting at X, writing a blog post. And how beneficial was that? Hmm.</li><li>Made four blog posts this week.</li></ul></div><p></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-78236592213369200612024-02-01T21:31:00.003-05:002024-02-02T13:20:50.947-05:00Some Annotated Reading February 1<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitywBDF3OgGPjMA1RU-4rKyznWwGMY71IKdghVBcDxmyd2-B1ivZWom97rk_q5Jw9pnrZxv2ibz5GeyILOHZHj-WdCMTbphNRJfEj8lGC0-JcluKLJGSqhpmb5umDLwdQvw1GQvIxEDO9l7A6ns_UWf1cLv4Cb4aYalgoIMDLTeB0iGXxilQ/s4032/IMG_7435.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitywBDF3OgGPjMA1RU-4rKyznWwGMY71IKdghVBcDxmyd2-B1ivZWom97rk_q5Jw9pnrZxv2ibz5GeyILOHZHj-WdCMTbphNRJfEj8lGC0-JcluKLJGSqhpmb5umDLwdQvw1GQvIxEDO9l7A6ns_UWf1cLv4Cb4aYalgoIMDLTeB0iGXxilQ/w200-h150/IMG_7435.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>I have a new reading project! I saw something on X relating to poet laureates, and one thought led to another, and I began a Poet Laureate reading project. Because who remembers poet laureates from the past? I don't. Or has even heard of them? I haven't. But they were somebody once and deserve to be read. So I'm going to.<p></p><p>First off, the exact title since 1986 has been Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry. From 1937 to 1985 the title was Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. But I'm going to <a href="https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poets-laureate/">lump them altogether as poet laureates</a>. </p><p>And the first one was <a href="https://www.loc.gov/programs/poetry-and-literature/poet-laureate/poets-laureate/item/n50028874/joseph-auslander/">Joseph Auslander</a>. </p><p><a href="https://poets.org/poem/lark">Is This The Lark!</a> is my favorite of the Auslander poems I've read. The others, I must say, were lost on me. But this one! It ends with "To think that I should hear and know/The song that Shelley heard, and Shakespeare, long ago!"</p><p>Other reading: </p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw/missed-connections-traditional-life-milestones-seeking-a-millennial-404820d512c8">Missed Connections: Traditional Life Milestones Seeking A Millennial</a> by Sarah Gardner in <b>Slackjaw</b>. This, I think, is sophisticated and different.</li><li><a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw/your-cats-op-ed-on-your-new-baby-fedeede8e9b5">Your Cat's Op-ed On Your New Baby</a> by James Klein in <b>Slackjaw</b>. A family member who likes cats a whole lot more than I do referred me to this.</li><li><a href="https://medium.com/jane-austens-wastebasket/sexist-math-for-girls-so-they-can-figure-out-how-much-society-hates-them-cb243260c31b">Sexist Math For Girls So They Can Figure Out How Much Society Hates Them</a> by Kyrie Grey at <b>Jane Austen's Waste Basket</b>. I...loved...this. Loved it.</li><li>Finished reading <a href="https://maryrobinettekowal.com/writing/the-calculating-stars/">The Calculating Stars</a> by Mary Robinette Kowal. I had started it last fall, put it aside when some other books turned up, and was motivated to finish it because Kowal led an <a href="https://ocww.info/event-5364830">Off Campus Writers' Workshop workshop</a> today that I'm signed up for. I'll be watching a video tomorrow.</li></ul><p></p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3377586.post-51145429062408876252024-01-30T12:58:00.001-05:002024-01-30T12:58:35.265-05:00My First Publication Of 2024. <p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMQMS4t9Rfjz6KwcoqVCTiEHzyfCeuqfdxIZ3P2v-yFLC7qFKd2ctKVAtBf_4ignJ5zkSO4B5HTsZGOmWqDfusnxxF3IMKK9n9sOd74x0GV-9f23Iz6ZZeCQz8rOLc9I96ciOXePvTWRj3__jAKVFSK34AQP8YJhEBfIzwW_Z3UpvrvGJqw/s1125/Frenchphrasespexels-photo-3808080.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="1125" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggMQMS4t9Rfjz6KwcoqVCTiEHzyfCeuqfdxIZ3P2v-yFLC7qFKd2ctKVAtBf_4ignJ5zkSO4B5HTsZGOmWqDfusnxxF3IMKK9n9sOd74x0GV-9f23Iz6ZZeCQz8rOLc9I96ciOXePvTWRj3__jAKVFSK34AQP8YJhEBfIzwW_Z3UpvrvGJqw/w200-h133/Frenchphrasespexels-photo-3808080.jpeg" width="200" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrea Piarquadio on Pexels</td></tr></tbody></table>My first publication of the year is a humor piece, <a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw/useful-french-phrases-for-madame-keiths-world-languages-class-f7e79b23275b?sk=65ad463215c00475e77948a14095314b">Useful French Phrases For Madame Keith's World Languages Class</a> at <a href="https://medium.com/slackjaw">Slackjaw</a>. And, of course, there is a story behind this piece, because there is always a story behind everything I write. For books there are usually multiple stories, and, sadly, I often can't remember them all because it takes me so flipping long to write books.</p><p>But I've got this one.</p><p><b>The Story Behind Useful French Phrases For Madame Keith's World Languages Class</b></p><p>I have been studying French <i>moi-meme </i>for years. By <i>moi-meme</i> I mean, really, myself, because I haven't taken a real French class or even an adult ed class in decades. <i>J'etude de temps en temps</i>, sometimes going years without making an effort. In fact, for the last few years studying French for me has involved watching French TV shows with English subtitles. <i>Je me dit</i>, "You're studying, you!" <i>Mon objectif,</i> because of course I have a goal, is to speak pig French, a term used by Marcel, a man I knew briefly years ago, or even rise up to franglais, which I understand is common with some of my family members in Ottawa. But let's be honest. I'll be satistifed to <i>parle comme un couchon</i>.</p><p>That's background. Psychological background, you might say.</p><p>Okay, last September I was on the Cape (That's Cape Cod, if you're in New England. There are other Capes, I'm sure.) and playing Monopoly with an eleven-year-old family member. The Monopoly part is important. We're chatting away (I don't care much for Monopoly so don't feel any need to concentrate while playing it), and it comes out that said eleven-year-old family member is taking a world languages class. And what is the first unit? You guessed it! French!</p><p>I'm sitting there thinking, I have someone to practice French with? <i>Comment je dit</i> "your turn?" "How do I say" should probably have another verb in there, but, remember, I'm only shooting for pig French and "How I say?" is all I can manage.</p><p>So that got me thinking about kids and French and French classes. And the Monopoly game is important, because there is a section in <i>Useful French Phrases </i>on playing games. Our eleven-year-old is in sixth grade, but I kicked the speaker in <i>Useful French Phrases</i> up to seventh, thinking that would be more believable for the amount of French being used.</p><p>While I checked all the French phrases on Google (I didn't replace my last French-English dictionary when it fell apart, because I like Google so much) most of the French I used is at least familiar to me.</p><p><br /></p>Gail Gauthierhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01673131515563387968noreply@blogger.com3