Jennifer Crusie's Blog, page 54

Soundtrack

I was going through some old journals–I’m moving; “I was going through some old . . .” is the way most of my sentences start these days–and I found my old Brene Brown scrapbook and one of the pages was a personal soundtrack, five songs that summed up my life. I looked at my choices and thought, “Who the hell is this woman?” So I did a new list. The only one I kept was the John Hiatt, and I’m not even sure that one’s right. So here’s my new list:

Sara Bareille’s “Love Song” (because it’s the way I now feel about publishing and writing romance novels)
Rihanna’s “Umbrella” (because good friends are everything)
Lizzo’s “About Damn Time (because it’s about damn time)
Walk the Moon’s “Shut Up and Dance” (stop talking and start living)
John Hiatt’s “Child of the Wild Blue Yonder” (because I couldn’t think of a fifth new one and I like this song)

Your turn. What’s your soundtrack for where you are right now?

Working Wednesday, May 23, 2023

NOTE: I just realized it’s not Wednesday. Hey, it’s been a rough year. Sorry.

Apologies for the late post: When I went online last night, I couldn’t get into Argh. Did anybody else lose access seven or eight hours ago? I have Mollie working on it, which seems appropriate. Today I must clean the bathroom, revise my beginning scenes in Rocky Start, take pictures of a contract, and find my cat: Emily has gone missing and I’m worried. She was a stray for two years, so if she got out, she knows the drill, but she only has three paws, so I’m concerned. Just one damn thing after another.

What are you working on today?

Happiness is Laughter

Humor is a weird thing. It’s subjective, for one thing; what makes one person laugh annoys another. But it’s worth the risk: the thing I love most about humor is its effect on people. Humor, when it works, is good for you because it makes you laugh and then you relax and all those endorphins start pinballing around your system. Laughter is not only good for your health, it’s catching. When you laugh, the people around you look up and smile and sometimes laugh along; viral happiness. Laughter can come from blatant slapstick–Mildred Natwick rolling down the steps in Barefoot in the Park, Rick Moranis spitting coffee as his helmet closes in Spaceballs, most of Dodgeball, all of Airplane–or subtle wordplay–“Eagles may soar, but weasels don’t get sucked into jet engines” Steven Wright–and anything in between.

So let’s be happy. What’s the funniest thing you ever saw, read, listened to? Share the laughter, please, and then tell us what else made you happy this week.

State of the Collaboration, May 19, 2023

It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that Bob and I argued today. This one was over whether there were zombies at Viking funerals. (Yes, we’re writing a contemporary romance, but I’m writing it with Bob Mayer.) My position was no:

I based my answer on the fact that I’d actually researched Vikings. Not for this book. We also disagreed about mayo:

This is a man I have seen asking for sprinkles on ice cream, but no condiments? Ha.

And then he tried to restrict my use of language:

If anybody asks how the collaboration is going, tell them we’re being professional and adult. That is, lie for us.

This is a Good Book Thursday, May 18, 2023

This week, I sorted through books. Many, many, many books. Moving is the pits; it doesn’t give you any time to read.

What did you have time to read this week?

Working Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Bob pulled all the conversations we had about writing the Liz books off of Spike and gave them to me edit (it took him hours), so that’s what I’ve been doing. The books, all three of them, clocked in at just over 300,000 words. The conversations to make them? Well over 600,000 words. It’s gonna take some time.

What work took up your time this week?

I Have A Million Things To Do . . .

. . . and instead I’m working on the Rocky Start collage. Hey, it’s work.

Here’s the annotated version:

Happiness is Finding Out That Romance Novels Are Good For You

Okay, it’s actually that reading fiction is great exercise for your memory. Also, everybody here already knew that romance novels were good for us, but it’s always happy-making to get confirmation.

Dr.Richard Restak, quoted in an NYT essay by Hope Reese, said:

“One early indicator of memory issues, according to Dr. Restak, is giving up on fiction. “People, when they begin to have memory difficulties, tend to switch to reading nonfiction,” he said.

Over his decades of treating patients, Dr. Restak has noticed that fiction requires active engagement with the text, starting at the beginning and working through to the end. “You have to remember what the character did on Page 3 by the time you get to Page 11,” he said.

So there you go, fiction is good for your memory.

What do you remember about being happy this week?

This is a Good Book Thursday, May 11, 2023

My book perusal this week is about what to move and what to pitch. I need all my books on magic because of the Rocky Start trilogy (sleight of hand magic, not casting spells). I need all my books on butterflies and ghosts because of the Alice book. All my books on art crime because of the Nadine book. All my Michael Gilberts and Emma Lathens. because some of those aren’t digital. All my books on herbs and poisonous plants because of You Again. All my demon books because of Nita. (I really need to finish some solo books and get rid of the research stuff.). So mostly my book interaction is triage: what to keep and what to let go.

What did you keep reading this week?

Working Wednesday, May 10, 2023

This week, I filled a huge truck with trash and argued with Bob about a sex scene. I’d include the conversation with Bob, but this is a PG blog.

How did your work week go?