Chloe Cullen's Blog, page 8
September 15, 2024
the digest: can you cure a mistake?
The weather, as perfection is, is contextless.
The skies are blue, the breeze cuts the heat like water in whiskey, and the sun sets are late enough to glaze evenings in a sweet laziness.
Your skin clogs on the smooth meadow of your freckled cheek. In these weeks of returning to the regularly scheduled programming, your head rests on your knuckles during…
September 11, 2024
The Log: Ranking my dark & twisted summer reading list
After a spring of good ole fairy smut, my random selections this summer felt more autumnal—cozy, dark, dramatic—than summery—light, sandy, easy to skim (or drop) while a kid flaps around in a body of water.
Maybe these books will be an easier sell now that September has cooled everything down. These are books that are hard to sell to your friends in the neighboring beach chair who escaping with an Emily Henry or Elin Hilderbrand novel. (Learn this, though: let them escape, & stop trying to sell ...
the log: ranking my dark & twisted summer reading list
After a spring of good ole fairy smut, my random selections this summer felt more autumnal—cozy, dark, dramatic—than summery—light, sandy, easy to skim (or drop) while a kid flaps around in a body of water.
Maybe these books will be an easier sell now that September has cooled everything down. These are books that are hard to sell to your friends in the neighboring beach chair who escaping with an Emily Henry or Elin Hilderbrand novel. (Learn this, though: let them escape, & stop trying to sell ...
September 5, 2024
new short story drop!!
I’m giddy to announce that one of my short stories, “Fort of Grace,” was accepted and has been published by Coffee Ring Review for their CHROMA issue. The theme of the issue is colors.
Vibes? teal, sid & nancy with a dash of cobain, infinity pools, puck, graceland, drive-thru cheeseburgers, blood staining asphalt, the stress of hosting houseguests, the perpetual cycle of the public display of persona. (The usual.)
Below is an excerpt, but the full story link is here.
Check it out (and the featur...
August 20, 2024
Hooray! The anniversary of losing my dream job!
photo courtesy of Luke PintoIn November of 2022, I stared out the train windows on the F line. The train rounded out of Manhattan tunnels onto the bridge. A dimming autumn sunset filled the train, if a navy night hadn’t already coated the city. I looked at the Brooklyn Bridge, a cartoonish illustration of New York City against thin clouds and tiny dots of light.
This life couldn’t be real.
Somehow, I landed in a successful game of M.A.S.H.:
city: New York, baby!!
apartment—but a good neighborhoo...
August 15, 2024
The Chloe Digest: August 15, 2024
“The Chloe Digest” is a monthly update for paid subscribers on behind-the-scenes updates. Thank you so much for your patronage as I edit, word by word, my writing and my life.
August, in its spitting rain and humid patience, is a month of reunions. An annotated calendar page filled with the handwriting of the people you love. The urgent deadline of aut…
August 13, 2024
The Log: I discovered a literary gem for $1!
Used bookstores freak me out. If you haven’t been inundated with the latest press cycle of book influencers and trusted reviewers, or if it doesn’t exist on a syllabus somewhere, how do you know if it’s worth your time??
This leaves a gap between the canon and the contemporary that’s vast and intimidating, but it also means you can stumble across a surprise and devour something in a vacuum, without peers or professionals putting their opinion forward before you crack the spine.
Picking up a book...
I discovered a literary gem for $1!
Used bookstores freak me out. If you haven’t been inundated with the latest press cycle of book influencers and trusted reviewers, or if it doesn’t exist on a syllabus somewhere, how do you know if it’s worth your time??
This leaves a gap between the canon and the contemporary that’s vast and intimidating, but it also means you can stumble across a surprise and devour something in a vacuum, without peers or professionals putting their opinion forward before you crack the spine.
Picking up a book...
July 25, 2024
The Log: THE BOYS's humor got in the way of its satire
Welcome to the new column “The Log” where I concisely describe a consumable haunting or enchanting me. This column is for paid subscribers! Let’s go!!
In 2020, a New York Times newsletter wrote, as I paraphrase: if The Boys spent as much time on character development and plot as they do on exploding guts, this would be one of the best shows on TV.
The latest and penultimate season has gorged on the insanity of its own world.
Flying, cannibalistic sheep.
A bat cave sex dungeon.
An internally stage...
this week's thing: THE BOYS's humor got in the way of its satire
Welcome to the new column “this week’s thing” where I concisely describe a consumable haunting or enchanting me. This column is for paid subscribers! Let’s go!!
In 2020, a New York Times newsletter wrote, as I paraphrase: if The Boys spent as much time on character development and plot as they do on exploding guts, this would be one of the best shows on TV.
The latest and penultimate season has gorged on the insanity of its own world.
Flying, cannibalistic sheep.
A bat cave sex dungeon.
An intern...
