the double text #17
we are soooo BACK!
Friends and new friends,
If you’re near NY/NJ and caught the Northern Lights last night, know that I am as jealous as the green hues the glowed in the night sky. If you want to share your photos in the comments, I am certain the community here (read: especially me!!) would love an endless scroll of color and any notes you wanted to share about seeing the lights. Or, if you’ve ever seen them in person, please feel free to drop a blurb + photo + place you saw them. It is a wonder of the world that’s on my list and I’d love to live vicariously through you until it’s my turn.
Speaking of community — Got a writing goal that you’re just not committing to? Got a deadline? Want to make real progress on your projects and knock out some pages?
A Zoom For Writers is BACK!
Monday-Friday from 6 am - 8 am ET, I will be hosting a Zoom meeting for writers to gather and focus on the consistency of their writing practice. Starts 10/14/2024 and ends 12/31/2024. Link to join here. If you want the gCal invite, reply directly to this email and I’ll add you.
On the West Coast? NP, I got you. Join the second session on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays from 7 am - 8 am PT (or 10 am - 11 am ET). Starts 10/15/2024 and ends 12/12/2024. Link to join here. If you want the gCal invite, reply directly to this email and I’ll add you.
Here are some rules: Cameras off, microphones off, no chatting, just open the Zoom and start writing. Join bleary-eyed, late, show up once a week or all the days, come for 20 minutes if that’s all you’ve got, don’t RSVP, no need say hi or bye — Some days you might be the only one in the room, or there might be a bunch of us, and you won’t always see my name because life is life, but use this space as it works for you.
I hope to see you there! Now, here’s your double text—
When you can’t separate art from artist by Constance Grady
Some more commentary on the art vs artist conversation. A Thread: Without supporting JK R*wling, is there harm in letting kids reading Harry Potter?
Arizona Democrat Pitches 1 Major Climate Solution During Senate Debate by Alexander C. Kaufman
Brew by Zelime Lewis (Fiction) (You can jump to pg. 16 for Lewis’ story or enjoy all of Issue #27 by Black Fox Literary.)
Should You Just Give Up? by Joshua Rothman
Brandon Taylor on art, loving across class and why he writes sex scenes by Brittany Luse (Podcast Episode)
LUSE: (Laughter) Do you feel like there's not a lot of clearly drawn characters out there in fiction? Is that the claim you're making?
TAYLOR: I'm not sure if it is the case, but it is certainly how I feel as a reader of contemporary fiction sometimes. So for example, everybody knows, like, a Hester Prynne. They know a Gatsby. You know, they know these characters. They know an Isabel Archer, who was in Henry James's "The Portrait Of A Lady." Like, we know these novels, like, by their characters. And then, yes, part of that is because they've been taught to us and shoved down our faces and we wrote all the literary analysis essays. But another part of it is, like, who are the defining characters of, like, the 2020s? It's like, do most people even know what Sally Rooney's characters names are? Like, do we know what those characters' names are? I mean, I do 'cause I'm a Rooney-tune (ph), but, like, you know what I mean?
There's a way that, like, these characters don't really exist as characters, and it's more that we remember the books for the vibes that they give us. And part of that I think has to do with we live in a moment where it feels like it's impossible to sort of have a clearly delineated character because we're all just, like, mushy amalgamations of experience. It's like, who am I? And yeah, so the contemporary fiction scene does feel a little lacking of character a little bit, but, you know, that's how it feels to me. I'm sure that there are many counterexamples.
Remember Limited Too? It’s Back — and Selling Adult Sizes by Chantal Fernandez
DeSantis Seeks to Silence Brain Cancer Patient Speaking Out About Her Abortion By Tessa Stuart
Leo From Love Is Blind season 7 is trying to prove he didn't talk about money the whole time by Emily Tannenbaum (screenshot below to confirm Netflix is absolutely trolling Leo)
The Sexiest Year of My Life Involved Zero Sex by Melissa Febos
Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to South Korean author Han Kang
How to Help the Victims of Hurricane Milton by Emily Leibert
The Elite College Students Who Can’t Read Books by Rose Horowitz // The Atlantic Did Me Dirty by
The Choice That Pro-Choice Voters Don’t Talk About by
from Mom, InterruptedI don’t even care if this is engagement bait. A Thread: What would you do with this nook?
My Accidental Day Care by Atossa Araxia Abrahamian
Just in case you wanna get creative with your iPhone home screen, you can use this template in Canva to build a bookshelf for your apps.
The Secret History of the Mad Men Lawn-Mower Scene by Matt Zoller Seitz
She Was Diagnosed With Brain Cancer, Then Wrote a Rom-Com About It by Elisabeth Egan
I think a better title for this would’ve been, Network TV is SO BACK, but I digress, ‘Nobody Wants This’ Renewed for Season 2 With New Showrunners by Rick Porter
NB: If you get hit with a paywall, shoot me a DM, and I’ll try to get you the words. No reader left behind.
We Live in Time
Andrew Garfield is out and about promoting this new film which he co-stars in with Florence Pugh, out today (10/11/24), and he stopped by Modern Love at The New York Times.
He became emotional while recording and said something I will likely think about every day until forever: “This is why art is so important because it can get us to places that we can’t get to any other way.” This film looks stunning.
Directed by John Crowley and Written by Nick Payne.
HERETIC
Hugh Grant’s earnest desire to learn more about the Church of Jesus Christ is sending me — Out on November 8th.
Directed and Written by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods
Landra Fontaine, CAPTCHA Photographer
My algorithm served me this photographer, and I have a newfound appreciation for the chaos the internet has put me through.
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The Active Cult in Savannah, Georgia
I will also be awaiting this documentary series…
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“I doubt, therefore I think, therefore I am” - Descartes
The Apprentice (the film not the series)
Not sure your brain can withstand more bludgeoning with more Tr*mp content, but out today (10/11/24) directed by Ali Abbasi and Written by Gabriel Sherman.
See you next week! And please share this newsletter with anyone you think would enjoy reading it. xVLB