Chloe Cullen's Blog, page 18
April 3, 2022
i am a ghost: savannah, erosion, & aphasia
Luke and I landed in Savannah Monday afternoon. In a fit of restlessness, I bought him a trip for his birthday. His mom and maternal family lived in Georgia, and he always dreamed in our early days of going down together.
We dropped our carry-ons at the Airbnb in the Starland Art District. Starland is the newest extension of the Savannah historic district. In 1999, two Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) students graduated with degrees in Historic Preservation and revamped the neighborhood...
March 27, 2022
i feel like The Worst Person in the World
“Do you realize what you’re doing?” Aksel asks Julie in the trailer to The Worst Person in the World. “What you’re destroying?”
“Yes, of course,” she says. A mascara tear drips down her cheek.
Joachim Trier’s film The Worst Person in the World competes tonight for the Best International Film Oscar. The Norwegian Cannes-approved flick has revived “the art-house film” with almost $3 million at the American box office.
In a boiled-down version, the protagonist Julie breaks up with her long-term boyfr...
March 20, 2022
the smell of spring
On the bus ride to D.C. yesterday, I searched on Instagram for Andrea’s last name. Andrea joined my visiting college friends for drinks on Friday, and Andrea and I had worked closely together during my sorority recruitment, counting votes at midnight and crafting outfits and stalking social media profiles. I hadn’t seen her since she graduated and was h…
March 16, 2022
travel paralysis
On Saturday, I found myself in five Lyfts traveling from D.C. to Union Station, the Philadelphia 30th Street Station to meet Luke and his siblings before a wedding, a Lyft to the wedding, a Lyft to the after-party at an ABBA-themed dive bar, and a Lyft home. The last Lyft’s vigorous stop-and-go driving rocked my tequila-soaked brain until I vomited cate…
March 6, 2022
"Michelle" (Short Story): full first draft
a 5am Dunkin’ & gas stop on a January drive to Maine: a mood.This is the full first draft of this story. I would love to give you all a comprehensive idea of what I was thinking, the changes I made and why, but read it without my justifying confusions, etc. I can make a separate post about what I was thinking if that feels intriguing, but there’s also too many other things to write about to focus too much on Writerly Intention On A First Draft.
The drill is the same: What works in this story? Wh...
February 27, 2022
"Michelle" (Short Story): Part 1
Welcome to the last trial week of The Collage, my weekly newsletter.
From now on, free subscribers will receive one monthly essay. The Collage members will receive weekly interviews, first drafts, essays, TV/film reviews and analysis, and threads.
To repeat my last post, I’m offering my current subscribers who have stuck around for last 10 months of this newsletter a chance at a free Collage subscription. If you do not want to enter your credit card info on Substack (though I have d...
February 24, 2022
your free invite to The Collage
PSA: You can also send me your preferred email and I can add it manually if entering your card info freaks you out lol
Lately, I have had an “anything goes” philosophy about my life for…potentially the first time ever. The “should” statements body-guarding my happiness for the last two decades are fired. Icons of time past (i.e. “I should be writing right now” and “I should have done more” and “I shouldn’t even try”) are no longer on the list.
This thin facade of a totally-Zen-...
February 21, 2022
i almost went to billie eilish alone
Promo Area: Listen here for my interview on Judging Meghan (available wherever you get your podcasts—thank you to Peggy Judge Hamilton for the connection!)
+ check out a positive review for PERF by BookLife Prize Contest!
On Friday morning, I debated spending $350 on Billie Eilish tickets.
“Luke, would you go?” I asked without looking up from my phone. He had already started work and sat at his desk.
“How much are they?”
“Like, 110 in the nosebleeds.”
“Before or after fees?”
“…Before.”
“Hmm,” he s...
February 13, 2022
oscars 2022: script vs. screen
Happy Super Bowl / early Valentine’s Day. If you are looking to celebrate either holiday by watching a movie, the 2022 Oscar nominations came out this week.
Coming off last week’s thoughts on a that my mom called “not as terrible as you made it out to be,” this week, I wanted to write about the 2022 Oscar nominations. This year, I’ve seen a few worthy of comment and a few that tempt me to troll. But what’s original in throwing my opinions into the midst of dozens of prediction column...
February 6, 2022
new WWE name: "Industry Review"
A few hours after I published last week’s newsletter, an email arrived in my inbox from Kirkus Review.
The Kirkus Review is a publishing institution that has read and reviewed manuscripts since 1933. Industry insiders trust Kirkus Review for marketing or scouting new authors. Literary-leaning (read: snooty, like me) readers recognize its printed praise while browsing through hardcovers at a bookstore or reviews online. A positive review from an institution like this would make me more inclined ...
