The Forest for the Trees and other Branches

 

photo by Valentin Salja

Finished The Forest for the Trees--a lot of fun, I don’t mean like a comic book. It was sophisticated and full of good advice, but it had a nice flowing writing style--inviting, like a knowledgeable friend talking about the publishing world.

Right after, I started another book, a more formal book about writing and publishing which more befits the dignity and magnificence of a serious author. In other words, boring. It looks like I’m going to be reading this one just for info not joy.

It starts out saying writing is the deepest, most important, most spiritual thing in the universe which for me is a yes or no depending on my mood and objectively probably somewhere in the middle. If zero is eating frozen pizza and ten reaching nirvana plus cosmic oneness with the universe, writing would probably hold a steady five along with other stuff like acting, singing, painting, raising a healthy child, a garden patch, a redeemed social condition, etc, etc, etc.

Agnes has married Shakespeare. Judith has the plague.

In trashy horror novel news, 6 men killed, five woman, two 9-year old’s, and various dogs.

Spaghetti and More

Photo by Cottonbro

I really want to read now but I set an intention to write a blog post and feel I must fulfil it. 

It’s toward night now. Whatever the time my blog says I wrote this, don’t believe it. The man  is trying to screw with your brain or rather Blogger has me on Australian time and I live far away from Australia. This is the second time I’ve mentioned this and you figure I’d have it fixed by now, but it would ruin the conversation piece.

Made whole wheat spaghetti with a homemade sauce and me and Roe actually enjoyed it. I know people say no carbs, wheat belly, radiation has wiped out the soil or something; the last good crop of wheat was in the sixteen hundreds, but the spaghetti was very satisfying and what satisfies the soul satisfies the body so the stuff  I cooked tonight was practicality a health food.

 I really want to read, but I’m writing this damn post and the tragedy is after I’ve finished it’s my turn to do the dishes. I might hold them off until one in the morning. Then I can read, do a meditation, walk around the room. Everything.

I read the first edition and rather liked it. I'm starting the second edition of The Forest for the Trees by Betsy Lerner tonight. It's about writing and writers from a mass market editors perspective, now "updated for the 21st century", curious about what she's changed.