Yvette Keller's Blog, page 10

Views From Afar: COVID Hope

Happy Inauguration, America!

On Wednesday morning, January 20th, at 8:00 AM in Southern California, I laughed and cried in my pajamas. Legs under the covers, my husband and I hugged and traded off who was holding the kleenex or the phone, while on that tiny screen our country swore in a new government. 

We will get a handle on COVID thanks to clear leadership and efforts like Biden’s 100 days of Masking, I thought, reveling in my relief and COVID hope.

By afternoon, tears squeezed fro...

Writers on Writers for Writers: How Reviews of Craft Books Can Help

This week, I’m falling even more deeply in love with Katherine Addison, an author I know only from reading her incredible book, The Goblin Emperor.

Why am I devotedly in fan-love with her this week?
First, she reads avidly.
Second, she reviews books on Goodreads assiduously.
Third, her reviews are consistent, succinct, and helpful. Especially this week’s polite evisceration of John Truby’s book on writing:

I found this book very interesting, in a no-I-will-not-join-your-cult way, but I ...

Channeling Douglas Adams

Back in January 2015 I was preparing for my trip to visit 42 places from Douglas Adams Novels, for 42 days, for my 42nd Birthday.

Here’s a video of me, in my birthday suit, learning/practicing how to video blog.

Channeling Douglas

Vision Board for 2021

Happy National Vision Board Day!

(Yeah, I did not know it was a thing either, but you can read about it here)

I’ve never made a vision board before and Olieo hopes I never do again.

Olieo Barely Allowed In

He was locked out of my office for about a week while I covered most of the floor with images of things that inspire me and remind me what kind of year I want to have.

Partly because I’ve had so much fun making my COVID collages, a vision board finally appealed to me.

...

Answer Anniversary: BBC Archive Clips to Share!

Check it out, from the BBC Archives:

Forty-two years ago, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy made its debut on BBC Radio 4.

BBC Archives

Word for 2021

It is time for the annual Word of The Year Post. You can look back at my 2020 word of the year to re-read how I felt about last year, before 2020 HAPPENED at us (albeit at the slowest possible pace):

The Before Times

So here’s to 2020: A year of creating a substantial amount of meaningful content in a state of content–ment.

Me, One Year Ago

Now, many of you know that for me 2019 was, as they say, no picnic. I have to admit, 2020 provided entirely unexpected bunkers of content-m...

Book Review: Stardust by Neil Gaiman

The movie Stardust is the SF/Fantasy Movie Club watch pick this week. So I pulled Stardust the book off my library shelf for a quick re-read. Based on the edition, my original read appears to have been in 2003, the year I got married. I recall liking the book, but not in any BIG way. Just a nice story.

Seventeen years later I like it a lot better.

Book Cover Stardust

Stardust is for those who want a Faerie story (not fairy, please note) whose themes run deeper than right and wrong. T...

Christmas Eve Story

Normally on Christmas Eve, I gather with friends and I read my two favorite Christmas stories: Cajun Night Before Christmas and The Best Christmas Pagent Ever.

Cajun Night Before Christmas Cover

This year, since I can’t be with friends, I made a video sharing why the Cajun Night Before Christmas is so special to me and recorded myself reading it live (with pictures!). I hope you enjoy it!

Yvette Reads You Cajun Night Before Christmas

Staving Off the Winter Dark

There’s no snow in SoCal so Christmas isn’t freezing or white. It has been dark-er and cold-er than I’d like though.

The effect of the 4:30 PM nightfall is that around 7 PM (the walking hour for the dog three seasons of the year), I crave dessert.

To be fair, I crave dessert year round. But most of the time I can satisfy myself with a low calorie treat: fruit, a square or two of chocolate, a graham cracker.

This COVID winter feels different.

All summer, tiny amounts of the usual–a...

Book Review: Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert

Sometimes I think that the difference between a tormented creative life and a tranquil creative life is nothing more than the difference between the word awful and the word interesting.

p. 246, Big Magic

If I havent mentioned lately that my hometown of Santa Barbara is awesome, and I love it, and Im grateful to live herethere you go.

This time Im heaping accolades on our public library for participating in a program called SB Reads. Copies of Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert, in English and...