Friday Lunch Special | Work/Play, 1000 Words Update, Book Recs and Some Links!
It's a little bit of everything!
Welcome to another edition of Friday Lunch Special. Once upon a time I was a girl who wrote long, winding, heartfelt captions on Instagram. Now I’m a girl who has Instagram blocked on my phone for most of the day, and I use it primarily for IRL connection and sharing this newsletter. Here are some tidbits from the week’s writing, along with some recommendations and links that I want to share with you. As the byline suggests, it’s a little bit of everything. I hope you enjoy!
This week has moved slowly in a way that felt difficult at first. I was in a slump after the holiday, and had to do some work to pull myself out of it. On Wednesday morning I woke up and thought that maybe something wonderful might happen, and it was enough to help me at least try to improve my mood. Yesterday when my eyes flew open to greet the day I thought the same thing, and then several nice things did happen. This morning, as I got out of bed and stretched, I thought it again. It’s strange, but it really changed my perspective a good bit in a way I really needed. Despite it feeling silly to say out loud, I am going to continue to remind myself that maybe something wonderful will happen, and I hope that something wonderful happens for you today too.
Work/Play
A few weeks ago I was working on an interview series, and then decided to narrow in a bit more and shelf it, but I really like the concept and it got me thinking. Here’s the intro to that series that you may or may not see again in the future.
To me work/life balance feels as if it is a thing of no consequence. It’s ambiguous, not rooted in any kind of measurable reality, and ultimately unhelpful when the real aim is balance of some kind. While we all want more life, the thing that makes us feel like our time is being spent well is the time spent either having fun, feeling connected to others, or working on something consequential. The thing that we’re all doing mental gymnastics over to figure out is this: How do we have the most fun in our lives, feel the most connected, feel like we’re contributing, and keep our work from spoiling that fun? How do we invite more pleasure, play or fun into the equation of how we spend our time?
1000 Words a Day Update
If you recall I have been a huge proponent of writing everyday. I still am, I think it’s a great way to hold yourself to writing, to invite it to be a part of your life. It’s a great way to purge the mental system, and get everything out so you can sort through what’s good and useable, and what’s just journal-style venting. There’s a place for both things, and certainly both are useful.
I loved my almost four month streak of writing 1000 words a day, and I hope to return to it, but right now I’m not keeping up with it. I think that’s okay— there’s a time for everything. There was a time when I was struggling to feel like a writer because I hadn’t published anything in a long while. There was a time when I had no writing practice, desperately needed one. I felt needed to prove to myself that I could write. My 1000 words a day really helped with that. I learned to write, without worrying about editing, which then helped me become both a better writer and a better editor.
The greatest lesson I learned doing it was this: The more you write, the more chances you can take chasing down ideas that may or may not be great. The more shots you take, the more shots you hit. It’s hard to know how good something is when it’s just an idea, but holding ideas captive is a surefire way to extinguish them.
Happy Mail
My mailbox is a joy right now. A couple of weeks ago I decided to try and get on the radar of publishers for advance copies of new release books, and it worked. It’s been a delightful new chapter, made possible be this incredible newsletter list
To continue the delight, I also signed up for Book of the Month. The book my book club was reading was available to select, and I had a friends referral code to get it for $5. It felt like a yes. If you’re unfamiliar BotM is a subscription box where you get to choose a book from six new releases each month. When September came, I decided to continue on at full price ($16.99) and I was shocked at how excited I was to research each book and make my choice on September 1st (Not sponsored by the way, just really like book mail.)
This month’s selection is GOOD. There’s a book by Coco Mellors, who I love, called Blue Sisters. There’s a paranormal thriller (Phantasma), and a horror book (Sleep Tight) too. I chose Madwoman by Chelsea Bieker. The description reads:
A prison letter sets in motion the slow unraveling of a woman haunted by her past in this twist-filled domestic drama.
Hooked already.
If you want to try Book of the Month club, you can use this link and get your first book for $5. If you use my link, I’ll get a book credit and get to continue my plot of trying to get them to hire me in the future.
Fall is quickly approaching and I am daydreaming of my October reading list as I finish up Intermezzo by Sally Rooney. I’m planning on rereading a classic, loading up on thrillers, and reading some new horror as well. Here’s what I’ve got on that list so far:
Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson (re-read!)
A gothic horror novel written in 1959 which just happens to be one of my favorite books, about being psychologically trapped.
American Spooky by Jeremy Dauber
This nonfiction book is a history of horror as a genre in America. This will be a fun one, out on October 1st.
Cult Following by J.W. Ocker
Also nonfiction, about cults!
House of Bone and Rain by Gabino Iglesias
This book has been on my radar for a while since Cameron posted his review of it. I just got an email that my library hold of it is ready for pick up so this will be top of my reading list.
The Devil Takes You Home by Gabino Iglesias
I didn’t think my hold on House of Bone and Rain would come available, and a couple of weeks ago I picked up a used copy of The Devil Takes You Home because I needed Gabino Iglesias on my October reading list. This book is about a father driven to become a hitman, and his final job— hijacking a cartels cash shipment.
Youthjuice by E.K. Sathue
This has been described as “body horror for the goop generation”. I’m in.
The Night We Lost Him by Laura Dave
A family thriller about familial secrets and a patriarch who has been keeping a secret over 50 years.
D’Arcy Carden has a new podcast called WikiHole and there’s an episode on Orb Weavers. It’s a game show version of that thing you do where you go on wikipedia for one thing, and then end up 45 minutes older with a plethora of knowledge.
American Football is doing something special for the 25th anniversary of LP1 and releasing it as an album of covers and remasters. So far the singles are all heavy hitters with Iron & Wine doing their rendition of Never Meant, and yesterday’s release of Ethel Cain’s For Sure. It’s going to be an emo Fall, looks like.
Julia Fox’s Down The Drain is worth listening to the audiobook.
I revisited Alma Jett’s first collection of poetry called Quick, Quick, Slow and it is as ethereal and other worldly as she is.
I’ve been thinking about doing some baking this weekend and I think I want to make Molly Baz’s One Molasses Spice Cookie to Rule Them All. Linking but it lives behind her The Club paywall.
See you next week, have a gorgeous weekend.
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Your fall book list so good, maybe I’ll try and keep up 😍
yes queen