Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 131

Happiness is Penguins on Stairs

I particularly like Darth Penguin there at the end.

There are some versions of this video that have the Star Wars music with them, but that was a little on the nose for me.

What made you happy this week?

(This next clip is actually my favorite penguin video . . .)

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Cherry Saturday, March 21, 2020

This has been Introverts Week. You know, those people who are thinking, “How long can we make this social distancing thing last?” It’s also Quilting Day, so get out those crafts, and World Poetry Day, so get out those books, and Healthy Fats Day (I got nothin’, maybe snort some fish oil?). Me, I’m celebrating today as the International Day of Forests because I live in the woods and the trees are coming back from winter, which means that everything has its season, and this too shall pass. Keep safe, Argh People.

Also this was posted in one of my Rav groups, and I laugh every time I see it:

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So I Have This Idea . . .

I’m trying to figure out something I can do to put some extra fun in our interactions since we’re all under siege. I mean, that wombat instagram was great, but there’s a limit to what a wombat can do. So I had this vague idea–very vague–about five minutes ago and without thinking it through, I’m going to put it up here so we can brainstorm it because it has to be a community thing or it won’t work. Actually since I haven’t thought it through, it’s probably doomed, I get a dozen brilliant ideas a day that turn to be trash by the time the sun goes down, but I figure if this is an Argh community project, maybe we can do something interesting with it. So . . .

My first thought was to start putting up a short story or a chapter a week. I hate the chapter idea because I don’t like waiting for things, although if it was a new book I was writing, then the chapter thing would make sense because I wouldn’t know what was coming next, either, so I wouldn’t be withholding things, we’d be discovering them together. That could be fun. Except then you all wouldn’t be playing. (The other alternative was short stories, but I suck at short stories.)

Except all the books I have started to write I already know about, so you couldn’t play in those. So this would have to be a new book. Something that I have no idea what it’s really about. And I could put up a scene (not a chapter, have a heart), and then we could brainstorm where it goes next. And then I’d write that scene and we’d take that apart. A scene a week seems slow, but it might take a week to hash it out. And then there’s the fact that I slow down as I move through a book because there are more things to think about. And I go back and rewrite. And that would have to happen here, too.

All of which means I have no idea how this would work. At all. It may be an awful idea. It may crash and burn. But it could be fun. I think the only rule is that it can’t be about the virus or politics, but then again, a book with the virus in it could be a really cathartic thing to write for all of us. The trapped-in-an-elevator book, only trapped-everywhere.

And then I’d have to corral you all–Argh people have no boundaries that I’m aware of–and we’d have to talk about writing stuff, first drafts, structure, all of that, but you seem to be pretty patient with that.

So I’m throwing this idea over to you all. Anybody want to try this with the full knowledge that it could be a disaster? And what is “this”? Should we brainstorm a heroine and a love interest and an antagonist and start from scratch? Do you want to start with Surprise Lily since I have NO idea where that one was going (except she works in a diner and the hero is named Erik, but that can always change, remember Mort?). Or . . . what?

As I said, this occurred to me about ten minutes ago (now, it was five when I started typing), so I have not worked through any of this. Except I think it should be a romance and I think it should have a happy ending, should we ever reach an ending. Also the dog will not die.

Whaddaya think?

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Thank the Good Lord for These Godawful Things

Maybe the whole stay-home-and-look-at-the-people-you-love movement will turn out to be a blessing. I’m looking at things a lot differently, including yelling (happily) at my neighbors from a distance–such nice people and we’re all looking out for each other–and starting to relax into spring. Silver linings, Argh People.

Also, I love that dress.

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This is a Good Book Thursday, March 19, 2020

. If there was ever a good time for escapist reading, it’s now. I’m finally getting to books that were recommended here, and my new fave is Red, White, and Royal Blue, a terrific romcom by Casey McQuiston, funny, fast-moving, and emotionally true. You should read it.

Enough about me. What have you read this week that was fun?

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Working Wednesday, March 18, 2020

. Welp, here we all are with time at home to craft and rehab and cook and panic. How long are we going to have this opportunity to cocoon? From what I’ve read, it’s anywhere from two weeks (those people are delusional) to eighteen months (those people do not understand people). In the US, the most common estimates I’ve seen are “end of the summer” and “nobody knows.” So the first thing most of us are probably working on is establishing the new normal. Upside: working in pjs and sleeping later. Downside: IF I DON’T GET OUT OF THIS HOUSE I’M GONNA DIE. Actually, if you do get out of the house, you might . . . never mind.

So what did you work on this week? Besides your new normal and your nerves, although feel free to talk about those, too. We’re all in this together, Argh People. Except, you know, apart.

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McSweeney’s Working From Home Bingo

THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE, Angela Lansbury, 1962.Why don’t you pass the time by playing a little game?

https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/w...

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Happiness is Time in the Yard

I defer to Jane and all the other gardeners here when it comes to planting–everything I put in the ground dies and let’s not talk about me and house plants–but when it comes to sitting outside, I am a champ. I live high on a hill over a lake that used to be a river (long story) and while I let my land go to hell for the past three years, I am now starting to take at least my side yard back. I can drag my lawn furniture over to the fence and sit there and crochet while watching the river/lake wander past below, and it’s so beautiful and peaceful. It’s too bright to work on anything with a screen out there, which is good because I spend too much time looking into screens already. I don’t even feel that bad about the overgrown yard: it’s good for nature. So little by little, I am settling into spring and the paradise I live in. It’s good to sit in the yard.

What made you happy this week?

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Cherry Saturday March 14, 2020

It’s Butterfly Day and also Moth-er Day (for moths, not mothers), and of course Pi Day, but let’s face it: It’s CoronaVirus Spring. I was hoping there’d be something in the list of days that would be ironic given the virus, but I think after three years of Trump, irony is dead. So float like a butterfly, sink into your woolies like a moth, and read like you’re quarantined, it’s that kind of day month year.

Also there should be pi(e).

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Argh Author: Nancy Yeager’s Four Corners of Heaven

Our own Nancy Yeager has a new book out, Four Corners of Heaven, part of her Harrow’s Finest Five series, stories about old schoolmates and their search for their happily-ever-afters, encountering smart women, steamy passions, and the occasional scandal.

In Four Corners of Heaven, two dedicated scientists pursue their place in history and learn that love confounds logic every time. But is it enough to keep them together when their futures fall apart?

Harrison Stafford, the future Baron Chelton, has devoted his life finding a medical miracle drug. But he’s unable to prove he’s found a cure-all, and his once-promising research is doomed. When a woman scientist offers to help him save his life’s work, he agrees to the unorthodox arrangement, and vows to treat the lady as he would any other laboratory partner. That would be so much easier if he didn’t find his brilliant new colleague so beguiling.

For years, Adelia Dawson has fought convention to pursue her dream of becoming a doctor. Her scientific prowess and dedication to patients haven’t helped her get into medical school, but saving Mr. Stafford’s research might. She’d determined to maintain a professional distance from her fellow researcher until she catches a glimpse of his passionate nature under his cool exterior. Now she can’t help thinking of her new workfellow in a deeply personal way.

Harry and Adelia struggle to maintain their professional distance while their shared passion for their work draws them closer. When their research unravels and forces them onto opposite sides of a professional rift, they could lose more than their careers. They could lose their chance at love.

Buy Links: Four Corners of Heaven

More about the series and sample chapters (via newsletter signup): Nancy’s News.

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