One year ago today, Sméagol came to live with us. He was called Linus then, but we soon corrected that.
If anyone's interested in gifting Spooky and me with the distractions that help to make this existence bearable, in the form of Solstice gifts, we have both updated our Amazon wish lists. You can find mine here, and you may find hers here. Thank you. This past month has taken a toll on finances, from car troubles to doctor bills, and there's less money than usual for these niceties. CDs, DVDs, books. And we are both perfectly happy with used copies. Thank you kindly.
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Yesterday, I followed a link Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld Magazine) posted to Twitter, and found a fine little essay/blog entry on writing, in the blog of Damien G. Walter: "Show Me the Writers Taking Risks." It speaks very much to my "writing process" (though I do loathe that phrase), and opens with this quote from Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles (borrowed from Frederico Fellini): "Don’t tell me what I’m doing, I don’t want to know." It moves along to another Bradbury quote: "First you jump off the cliff, then you build the wings." Which is about the best advice I could ever give any would-be writer. Stop plotting. Stop outlining. Stop writing character profiles and fretting over arcs. Kill the spreadsheets. Forget the workshops. This isn't science, and tedium won't save you. Writing is art, which means it's pretty much magic. Peer over the edge, size up the drop, then just fucking jump off the cliff and get to work, because the ground is rushing towards you, or you're rushing towards the ground (it hardly matters which). Just write the damned story. In this short essay, Walter writes:
So many writers seem set on not just building wings, but complete impact survival systems before they even venture to the cliff edge (while others are hurling themselves into the void without even a sense that the ground exists).
Anyway, yes...I suggest you have a look.
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Yesterday, we drove down to Saundertown, to Spooky's parents' place. It was good to get out of the House. It helped to alleviate that feeling that I might, at any moment, shatter. We saw fields blanketed with a thin crust of snow, and we saw stark trees, and a deer at the side of the road. We got a dozen fresh eggs from the farm. We saw a leafless tree burdened with frozen apples. There are photos below, behind the cut.
Last night sort of turned into Revisit TV Shows We Hated the First Time Night. It also became an evening of These Shows Have Improved Somewhat Revelation. First we watched a couple of the most recent episodes of Fringe. Yes, it's improved. We tried to watch the series back when it first began and found it painful and impossible. But things seemed a little tighter last night (absurd science aside). If nothing else, John Noble is entertaining as Dr. Walter Bishop, and I'm seeing depth to the character that was missing early on. And Phillip Broyles isn't bad, but the rest of the cast feels extruded, mass produced, interchangeable. The series has a long way to go to stop being an inferior X-Files knockoff.
We also watched the latest episode of Dollhouse. And, you know, the only thing really keeping the episode from being quite decent was Eliza Dushku, who still can't act her way out of a paper bag. Summer Glau was creepy, and that's a good thing. I know the series has been canceled. And I hate like hell to see Joss Whedon keep hitting the wall like this, but he should have known better than to pin his star to Fox (again) and the talentless Miss Dushku. She can't even convincingly act like a blank doll. Rather, she acts like someone trying and failing to act like a blank doll. But I will watch the next episode, regardless.
So, yes...photos (there's even one of me, and those are growing increasingly rare):
All photographs Copyright © 2009 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Kathryn A. Pollnac.
If anyone's interested in gifting Spooky and me with the distractions that help to make this existence bearable, in the form of Solstice gifts, we have both updated our Amazon wish lists. You can find mine here, and you may find hers here. Thank you. This past month has taken a toll on finances, from car troubles to doctor bills, and there's less money than usual for these niceties. CDs, DVDs, books. And we are both perfectly happy with used copies. Thank you kindly.
---
Yesterday, I followed a link Neil Clarke (of Clarkesworld Magazine) posted to Twitter, and found a fine little essay/blog entry on writing, in the blog of Damien G. Walter: "Show Me the Writers Taking Risks." It speaks very much to my "writing process" (though I do loathe that phrase), and opens with this quote from Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles (borrowed from Frederico Fellini): "Don’t tell me what I’m doing, I don’t want to know." It moves along to another Bradbury quote: "First you jump off the cliff, then you build the wings." Which is about the best advice I could ever give any would-be writer. Stop plotting. Stop outlining. Stop writing character profiles and fretting over arcs. Kill the spreadsheets. Forget the workshops. This isn't science, and tedium won't save you. Writing is art, which means it's pretty much magic. Peer over the edge, size up the drop, then just fucking jump off the cliff and get to work, because the ground is rushing towards you, or you're rushing towards the ground (it hardly matters which). Just write the damned story. In this short essay, Walter writes:
So many writers seem set on not just building wings, but complete impact survival systems before they even venture to the cliff edge (while others are hurling themselves into the void without even a sense that the ground exists).
Anyway, yes...I suggest you have a look.
---
Yesterday, we drove down to Saundertown, to Spooky's parents' place. It was good to get out of the House. It helped to alleviate that feeling that I might, at any moment, shatter. We saw fields blanketed with a thin crust of snow, and we saw stark trees, and a deer at the side of the road. We got a dozen fresh eggs from the farm. We saw a leafless tree burdened with frozen apples. There are photos below, behind the cut.
Last night sort of turned into Revisit TV Shows We Hated the First Time Night. It also became an evening of These Shows Have Improved Somewhat Revelation. First we watched a couple of the most recent episodes of Fringe. Yes, it's improved. We tried to watch the series back when it first began and found it painful and impossible. But things seemed a little tighter last night (absurd science aside). If nothing else, John Noble is entertaining as Dr. Walter Bishop, and I'm seeing depth to the character that was missing early on. And Phillip Broyles isn't bad, but the rest of the cast feels extruded, mass produced, interchangeable. The series has a long way to go to stop being an inferior X-Files knockoff.
We also watched the latest episode of Dollhouse. And, you know, the only thing really keeping the episode from being quite decent was Eliza Dushku, who still can't act her way out of a paper bag. Summer Glau was creepy, and that's a good thing. I know the series has been canceled. And I hate like hell to see Joss Whedon keep hitting the wall like this, but he should have known better than to pin his star to Fox (again) and the talentless Miss Dushku. She can't even convincingly act like a blank doll. Rather, she acts like someone trying and failing to act like a blank doll. But I will watch the next episode, regardless.
So, yes...photos (there's even one of me, and those are growing increasingly rare):
All photographs Copyright © 2009 by Caitlín R. Kiernan and Kathryn A. Pollnac.
- Current Location:Eridania
- Current Mood:
not quite to breakable - Current Music:Arcade Fire, "Windowsill"
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Comments
- 4 Jun 2023, 18:02Bradbury Weather Limited. Looking forward to it.
- 31 May 2023, 00:21I'd rather have a vampire than a creationist. Something comforting about the blood.
- 29 May 2023, 02:01Probably a bit of screaming in to the void at this point but...I'm glad you're still here, still posting and still writing. I know how hard it can be to face each day but I truly appreciate your…
- 26 May 2023, 13:45... and a very happy birthday to you today, Fri. 05/26/23 !!!
- 21 May 2023, 22:55Loving you.
Comments
From what I understand (and I may be misremembering, the coffee hasn't quite hit yet) he's stuck in a certain-number-of-properties contract with Fox, and he has to make so many things for them, with Tim Minear, before he can go to any other network.
Also, spiffy coat.
The rock wall reminds me of Ireland.
The dry-stone walls are one of the things I love most about New England.
When I get my pictures sorted and uploaded, I'll send you the links to a few
Thank you.
They're intended so that those too terrified of rejection to submit an actual story can claim "I'm a writer" without actually being one.
This has always been my impression.
Joe Sarno: Well that's... that's not just crime. That's the way of the world.
from the film, The Way of the Gun
I don’t know if it’s a fear of rejection so much as a frame of mind.
I work slowly; I don’t have much creative time; and I get lonely; so, on occasion, I have attempted to collaborate with young, talented writers and artists, each one a published “professional.” It could just be my sampling, but it seems like they want to be creators more than they want to actually create something. Each time, I’ve ended up writing and talking more about what we’re supposed to be creating and why (and how we will get it published) than I have spent actually creating. At times it has been fun and diverting, but, ultimately, I have very little productivity to show for it.
Joe Sarno: Well that's... that's not just crime. That's the way of the world.
from the film, The Way of the Gun
I loved that film...
I don’t know if it’s a fear of rejection so much as a frame of mind.
I think that there's a belief system operating among many authors (and this is nothing new) that posits success may be had through the implementation of a multitude of safeguards. And so their writing is often inarguably competent, but entirely lifeless, artless, and lacking in vision. This is what I was speaking to, in my entry.
At times it has been fun and diverting, but, ultimately, I have very little productivity to show for it.
It's not something I've engaged in very often. Writing is extraordinarily solitary for me. But I can see the allure. Regardless, writing is, by necessity, a lonely endeavor.
Same here.
And so their writing is often inarguably competent, but entirely lifeless, artless, and lacking in vision.
There is going to be that in any creative field. Garfield is competent and consistent. Doesn’t make me want to look at it.
It's not something I've engaged in very often. Writing is extraordinarily solitary for me. But I can see the allure. Regardless, writing is, by necessity, a lonely endeavor.
Yeah. I’ve always done a “you do this, and I’ll do that” type of deal. I do like bouncing ideas off of collaborators, and I even enjoy revising the work of others (within limits); but easing the loneliness and (the illusion of) more productivity and (the illusion of) nurturing someone are what really motivate me to want to collaborate. Also, if I can’t do something that is up to my standards of “quality,” I’ll find someone who can help me. I’m writing a character who is Native American, for example, and a friend of mine (a former professional writer who is half Native American) is helping me with him. That’s been pretty good, but she doesn’t fall into the camp of “wanting to be a creator.” She’s been there, knows what it’s about. There is no charm or mystery.
Now, this in itself didn't bother me. It was her increasing jealousy over my writing output that set her over the edge. At one convention a decade ago, she threw such a temper tantrum over how she wasn't scheduled for a single panel, solely by dint of being a spouse of a guest, that the con joke was "she thinks she's the Linda McCartney of fandom, but we're betting on her becoming either the Nancy Spungen or the Courtney Love by the end of the weekend." I was hurt by this bet, mostly because I wanted in: all I needed was the shotgun and a few minutes alone.
all she needed was a little bit of moral support and she'd go back to writing. Then it was the issue of having a workspace. We moved to a two-bedroom apartment so we'd have a separate office, and then suddenly she couldn't write because my stuff distracted her. We moved to a three-bedroom house so she could have an office of her own, and her office was too dark to work in. We switched out the bedroom with the office, and suddenly it's too light.
Obviously, someone who wants to be An Author, but has no interest in writing.
Of course, never, ever suggest with these types that they might want to drop the pretense. I did that with my ex, and after spending seven years listening to her whine about working at bookstores and how everyone working in them was a screaming incompetent that hated her, I asked her why she didn't utilize her college degree and get a job where she might accomplish something. Her response, and I quote, was "But I wanna stay in the publishing business!"
Nice icon.
And I wish they'd still build stone walls like this one.
In New England, at least, it's an all but lost art. There's a great book on the subject, Stone by Stone by Robert M. Thorson.
Amen.
I love the apples frozen on the tree.
I love the apples frozen on the tree.
I thought that was just the most beautiful thing.
Thanks for the link, and the confirmation.
You're welcome. I am always glad to drown out the natterers.
Are you wearing a Ravenclaw hat in the last photo?
Heh. I didn't think anyone would make that out, but yes. Every single time I've taken the sorting quizzes, I get Raveclaw, so I figured I ought to have evidence.
I just...write
That's the best anyone can do.
What is the best way to contact you and/or Spooky for delivery of said gifts? The Sirenia Digest email? Etsy conversation? I'm at a loss.
What is the best way to contact you and/or Spooky for delivery of said gifts? The Sirenia Digest email? Etsy conversation? I'm at a loss.
The Sirenia Digest email is fine, yes. As for delivery (and I should post this tomorrow, here's the address:
Caitlín R. Kiernan
P.O. Box 603096
Providence, RI 02906
And thank you.
Also, can you tell me a bit about your cane/walking stick? It looks taller than the ones I tend to find but not too tall (the standard 36" is fine until I put on comfy stompy boots for a day of serious walking, or want to hit the beach, the playa, etc... then it's 4-5" too short). I've tried a couple of the adjustable height ones, but the heads don't sit well in my hand, and it makes them useless after an hour or two, or the grips want you to hold it like you're Gandalf, which is totally wrong - I can't put any weight on the damn thing if it's not in my palm. And the custom ones I've found are way out of my price range or so hideous my friend's shoulders are preferred (yes, I am a bit vain about needing a cane).