It’s like a siren song… I can’t… Resist…

Virgina Woolf's nerd word, unguilty pleasures, and more.

Eight great things worth sharing this week:

1. In A Very Important Meeting on Wednesday, we got into a discussion of specific words, which inspired Danielle LaSusa (an AVIM regular) to share a link to the only known recording of Virginia Woolf’s voice in which she expounds on the value of words. It’s only two minutes and it’s freaking fantastic. It’s also where I found this week’s nerd word…

2. Nerd Word of the Week: Incarnadine ~ a bright crimson or pinkish-red color, described by The Paint Store as “unashamedly classic and glamorous.”

3. I told you last week that I wasn’t sure I wanted to see A Man Called Otto, because I loved the book and I was worried the movie would ruin it. Well, I went. In short: Backman’s delivery on the page brings a lightheartedness that was lacking on the screen and as a result, the movie was sadder than I remember the book being, but I still laughed in parts. All in all, pretty good.

4. But if you’re going to watch a movie, watch The Banshees of Inisherin. It’s the most Irish fekin film I’ve ever seen, written by Martin McDonagh who wrote the 2008 film In Bruges (which is also excellent and stars the same two men). Be prepared. It’s weird.

5. Wrote a post this week about my recent obsession with Robin Hobb’s work. I’ve read about 4,800 pages of her work so far and I’m eyeing the first book in the next trilogy in the series. It’s like a siren song… I can’t… Resist…

6. If you made a resolution this year to start up (or dive more deeply into) a meditation practice, you should definitely check out this NPR interview with Jon Kabat-Zinn, the founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction and the author of several books. Very down to earth. Very practical. Love that guy.

7. I also loved Katie Fustich’s piece this week in Lit Hub titled “Unguilty Pleasures: My Year of Reading Romance Novels.” I totally identify with her story of awakening to the joys of reading in this genre: “Romance, I realized, was the final frontier of my journey from unthinking academic acolyte to omnivorous literary independence.” Yes!

8. Which reminds me, my friend Erin La Rosa’s romance novel For Butter or Worse took home the award for Best Romance of 2022 from The Feminist Book Club Choice Awards!! Congrats Erin!

Happy writing, my friends,

April

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