Laura Benedict's Blog, page 24
March 21, 2017
A Brief Rant In Defense of the Genre Writer (Reprise)
(This is a re-post but it’s all weirdly relevant right now, I’m sorry to say. I’m also at the Kill Zone blog today talking journals.)
(Appropriate for every story, yes?)
A few days ago, I attended a social function during which one of my husband’s academic colleagues politely asked me what I was working on. “I’m 1800 words into a new novel,” I replied, quoting that day’s Facebook status. “I’m not sure what it will end up being, but it seems to have a lot of sex in it.” To be fair, I’ll te...
March 20, 2017
All The Lovely Orchids
I can’t grow an orchid to save my life. A good friend sent me one a couple of years ago, and I kept it alive for six months. At least it gave every sign of being alive. In the seventh month, it started looking a bit petrified. Plus the cat thought it was a toy, and our house is too cold and isn’t sunny. But it was lovely while it lasted.
Orchids are nature’s jewels. When we were in Cincinnati over Spring Break, we went to the Krohn Conservatory and happened upon an orchid show. What a treat...
March 19, 2017
When the Show Must Go On: Getting Up There In Front of a Crowd
(Headshots are so fun. Mine is by St. Louis’s Jay Fram.)
Tonight (Monday) I’ll be at St. Louis’s Contemporary Art Museum, doing a reading/appearance with poet Matthew Olzmann (whom I haven’t yet met) as part of the River Styx Reading series. I haven’t been to the Contemporary Art Museum yet, so I’m very much looking forward to it. Museums of all sorts attract me, so I suspect I’ll be pretty comfortable there.
How do you feel about speaking in public?
I used to be terrified. It’s still not eas...
March 18, 2017
Sunday, 19 March 2017
(I don’t think this is a cricket, but his shadow reminds me of Jiminy Cricket.)
Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. –Helen Keller
Sometimes it’s hard to have confidence. Optimism and even a tentative faith in ourselves goes a long way to the getting of it. Have a blessed week!
March 18th Words
Journal: 0 words
Long fiction: (Rewrote 4 chapters)
Short fiction: 0
Non-fiction: 0 words
Blogging: 78 words
Exercise: 45 minutes...
March 17, 2017
Saturday Serendipity, 18 March 2017
We’re all over the place this week. So much serendipity…
Sleep. It’s a Very Good Thing.
We love the show, Broadchurch, and I can’t wait for the next season to get over here. But apparently there is a huge tea kerfuffle brewing.
I read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods years ago, and this trailer for the new American Gods series makes me want to read it again. (Especially since I don’t get Starz. ☹)
Camille Paglia has a new book of essays. It’s sure to amuse, irritate, and enlighten, all...
March 16, 2017
What’s Your Personality Type?
(I don’t know about you, but I could use some warm sunshine and roses about now.)
Have you ever taken a Myers-Briggs Personality Test? The test used to be a complete mystery to me, administered by therapists and researchers. But with the Great God Internet, it’s now available to anyone who wants to do a bit of self-psychoanalysis and personality study often for free, or for just a few dollars. I took the test at 16personalities.com. It’s entirely possible that these websites are an enormo...
March 15, 2017
Interview: Carolyn Haines, Mystery Writer and Extraordinary Human
My dears, I’ve been so excited to surprise you with this interview. Excellent friend and wonderful writer Carolyn Haines is here to answer some fun questions for us. I’ve included her official bio below, but you should know she’s written seventy-plus books during her career, and as a teacher of writing she’s mentored many, many students as well as emerging writers. We met via email back in 2014, back when we both had books at the same publisher, and we almost met in person at Bouchercon in Ne...
Thank You, I’m Flattered
(Radiance times 2)
Doesn’t flattery crack you up? The other day I went to my favorite skin care store, L’Occitane (said Lox-Ee-Tahn, according to their website), to resupply my daily, ridiculously expensive regimen. The regimen is one of my luxuries/vices. I don’t drink, smoke, or shop for fun–we all have to indulge in something, right? Also, they have a killer men’s shaving oil that my husband loves, and an aftershave lotion that doesn’t give me a headache when I approach said husband....
March 13, 2017
Spring Break in Cincinnati, Part I: Cincinnati Art Museum
Coming home can be a wonderful thing. One of the places that always speaks to my heart is the Cincinnati Art Museum. When I was a child, it seemed like a rather dark, forbidding place. I’m not sure why. Maybe because it looked to me like a forbidden castle of some sort. Confidentially, as a child, my first choice for a museum visit was the Museum of Natural History, with its enormous, stuffed polar bear. It’s hard for even Egyptian artifacts to compete with an actual polar bear. But it wasn’t...
March 12, 2017
Change is Hard, Says Barbie
(Genetic freak or not, Viking Barbie is still my spirit animal. Badass with braids.)
Once upon a time, I imagined I was a patient person, but it really was just my imagination. I’m impulsive. I want things now, now, now. Particularly I want to be able to change my life, change my circumstances, change my appearance, or change my career to respond to any desire I might have. And there have been times when I’ve blown up my life on a moment’s notice because if something can’t be fixed right aw...
