As I was submitting a short story recently, one of the questions/requests in the submissions portal was to "tell us a bizarre fact about yourself." As with most times I'm asked this question (or it's cousin, "Tell us a fun fact about yourself"), I drew a blank. And since I was in a hurry to make my submission before I headed out the door, I just skipped it.
Usually, after I take a moment to think about the question, I answer that I have three corgis, love camping, or that I'm a short story writer.
But I realized I missed a rare opportunity with the question this time. I do have a bizarre fact, and I usually don't share it because the question is usually asked in a professional setting related to my day job, where it wouldn't be an appropriate answer: I am ordained clergy and have a Master's in Paganism. And since I'm legally ordained, I was the officiant at my youngest daughter's wedding.
So the next time I'm asked that question, at least outside my day job, I'll have my answer ready, lol.
The writing update
The writing has been going well. I've done some submissions, got some rejections, and currently have a story shortlisted. I've been working on multiple stories, and although I didn't make the deadline discussed in the last update, I'm going to finish one of the stories and submit it elsewhere. The story is ending up much more gruesome than the original call would have wanted, anyway.
I'm also very enthusiastic, at the moment, about a horror-comedy short I'm working on. We'll see if I'm still in love with it by next blog post, but so far, I'm enjoying writing it.
Also, I've decided definitively that I'm not going to take a university class over the summer. Instead, I'm going to have a "feral artist summer." No lectures, no homework, no exams. I'm going to focus on writing, painting, crafting, and being outdoors.
Of course, every great adventure (sabbatical?) needs a name (branding). I'm not 100% decided on the name. I keep waffling between "Feral Artist Summer" and "Ink and Moss Summer." The image at the top of this post is the logo that my CoPilot made for "Ink and Moss Summer."
Also on the writing front, the UND Writers Conference happened in March. As always, it was an inspiring and enjoyable event. I made it to almost all events except the 4 pm events (I'm a toddler; I have to stay on schedule with my dinner at 5, lol). Most I attended in-person, but I attended two of the late night readings via Zoom so I could be home in my jammies (I told you, I'm a toddler, but a toddler with a glass of wine for the late night readings).
And while the writers conference is ALWAYS inspirational, I found this year's to be exceptionally so. Since I'm just coming out of a multi-year case of write's block, it was very reaffirming to hear the author of a 200+ page epic poem that used experimental forms such as font changes and even certain sections being printed upside down say, essentially, yeah, I knew I was writing something that might never get published. But I don't care, I'll do what I want!
And that was thing that was repeated over and over: it might not be publishable, but I'm going to do my thing and maybe there will be someone else out there who likes it, too. It's a good reminder: write what you want; the rest will work itself out.
What I'm reading
I *almost* finished the Dean Koontz book for the March task of the year-long lit challenge. I discovered that nothing has changed, and I'm still just not a fan. This month, the task is to read a short story collection, so I'm reading The World's Greatest Short Stories, Dover Thrift Editions.
I finished all the Writers Conference books I set out to read, except for Algarabia: The Song of Cenex, Natural Son of the Isle of Alarabiyya, by Roque Raquel Salas. I'm still working on it because it is an immersive reading experience, and I spend a lot of time looking up words or references. It now counts as my most marked up book, which is awesome!
For my regular book club, I finished Brigands and Breadknives, by Travis Baldree. I loved it so much that I bought the first two books in the series, as well. I'm not sure if there will be a fourth book, but if there is, I hope it continues the story of Fern and includes more of Zyll.
I've started on the books for my book clubs, but I'm having a hard time getting into either of them. This month's selection for the horror book club is The Library at Hellebore, by Cassandra Khaw. It's in the genre of Dark Academia, which really isn't my thing.
For my regular book club, we are reading Through Gates of Garnet and Gold, by Seanen McGuire. Because I'm no expert on the genre, I could easily mistake this one for dark academia, as well. I'm going to try to finish both books for the book clubs, but I'm not sure if I will be able to.
And now that the university spring read is done, it's time for another distance student book club read. This time, we'll be reading The Only One Left: A Novel, Riley Sager. I haven't had a chance to start this one yet, but I hope to within a few days.
This month's playlist. The ten songs I'm listening to on repeat.
(This month's playlist is the "80s One Hit Wonders" edition)
This month's editorial.
This month's editorial is another short one, this time about something weird I came across: Bob Dylan has a Patreon account where you can access "Lectures From the Grave."
Review of Bob Dylan's Lectures from the Grave.
His new creative project is AI generated content that is sort of historical fan fiction.
I expect Dylan to do creative and quirky things, but this seems strange. I'm not sure if he's making some kind of a social statement with this project, or if he's truly serious with the content.
That's it for this month. Until next month, Stay Spooky, my friends!
~~Here be monsters . . . and corgis.~~