Jennifer M. Baldwin's Blog, page 11

Notebook at the Dining Room Table

One thing I’ve noticed lately is that my focus during my writer’s notebook (WNB) time has been getting a bit scattered. I usually write in my WNB at my work desk in the mornings, and my computer is right nearby (it’s an L-shaped desk), so as I’ve started writing in the notebook, my brain will […]

Blogging Every Day? (Again?)

I don’t know if this is a worthwhile challenge for myself, but maybe I should try blogging every day again. (To use the word “again” feels like a bit of a stretch. In late 2020/early 2021, I almost managed to blog every day… for a few weeks. But when March rolled around, I was back […]

Substack, Notes, Time, and Attention

Substack — the platform I use to publish my monthly newsletter — has been introducing a range of different services lately, including a Chat option and now something called “Notes,” which is a bit like Twitter, minus the hellscape stuff. (They also have an app which you can use to read newsletters, participate in chats, […]

Input Update 4/13/2023

I should really make these, like, a weekly thing… Listening to: Macroblank on Bandcamp (I know nothing about this artist other than I really like listening to him while I work) Reading: A Princess of Mars by Burroughs Also Reading: Bright Lights, Big City by McInerney Watching: Out of the Past and some other old […]

Am I Still Curious?

Austin Kleon’s newsletter a week ago had an item about curiosity, and I started to wonder if maybe I’m becoming less curious as I grow older. Part of it grows out of the anxiety of being middle-aged. My life is half over, so I don’t have as much time to wander down wrong paths, and […]

Works in Progress April 2023

Since finishing both Avalon Summer and Gates to Illvelion, I haven’t been idle, though I do wish I was further along with my draft of the second Merlin book. I’ve written a few short stories that I’ve been sending out to different magazines, but so far, no luck. And I’ve started drafting another novel, Norse […]

Accomplishments

I finished reading two books today, and I must say, I feel a great sense of accomplishment whenever I finish a book. It’s not like finishing a book is some rare occasion for me — I finish books all the time — but it still gives me great satisfaction, like I’ve really done something with […]

I Don’t Want to Be Social

My micro.blog experiment failed. I thought I could post using the free version, but it turns out my ability to post several things the past two days was some kind of glitch because when I tried to post today, it said I had to upgrade to the paid version. I don’t begrudge the micro.blog folks […]

Caught Between

What kind of writer am I? My writing heroes are Ray Bradbury, J.R.R. Tolkien, Ursula Le Guin, Astrid Lindgren, C.S. Lewis, Neil Gaiman. Are they “literary” writers or “genre” writers? Serious or pulp? Do they write art or entertainment? Let’s back up a bit. First, I have always loved fantasy and science fiction, and these […]

Leaving Twitter

It’s about time. I mean, it’s about time I left Twitter because I really don’t use it to communicate. I’m a lurker. I read the stream of stuff that shows up when I log on — other people’s stuff — but I don’t post anything. Weirdly, since I really enjoy blogging. But I don’t enjoy […]