nova's distractions
April 2011
41 posts
“It wasn’t until last year that we even realized there is a thing called Google Alerts and that writers use it to find discussions about them; the result is that we live in a world where you can always hear when people are talking about you. There is one word for such a world: hell.”
—Ward Six, in their final post. (via bookshelvesofdoom)
“Republicans took the House Of Representatives after campaigning on jobs, debt, and taxes. But it’s been nonstop assaults on Planned Parenthood and reproductive freedom ever since. The GOP is always going on and on about how they want to shrink the size of government, and now we know why: They want to stuff the government in your vagina.”
—Dan Savage (via whiteboydanceparty)
“
If this part of the writing process were an iPod track list it would look like this:
Track #1: I Suck
Track #2: I’m Not Smart Enough to Write This Book
Track #3 No, This Is Different
Track #4: Maybe I Could Become a Firefighter/Gravedigger/Finger Puppeteer
Track #5: I Suck, Parts IV-VIII
Track #6: Why Can’t I Write Like (Fill in Blank)?
Track #7: This Doesn’t Happen To (Fill in Blank)
Track #8: Will You Help Me Fake My Death/It’s the Only Way/My Life in a Storage Unit Medley
Track #9: I Suck (Extended Dance Remix)
Track #10: What Was I Thinking?
Track #11: This Is Hopeless! (DJ Flail ‘N’ Whine Mix)
Track #12: So Overwhelmed I’m Underwater
Bonus Track: Also, I Hate My Hair
” —from Libba Bray - The Ever-Popular I Suck Playlist — I love Libba Bray. I think she understands me.
Play
“Being a public school teacher means a lot of things: it means you won’t earn much money given the amount of schooling you’ve gone through to get the job; it means you will almost never have the tools you need to do your job effectively; it means you’ll be demonized by politicians who want to take away your right to organize and collectively bargain for raises and benefits; and it means you’ll be expected to just sit back and take this without complaining because teaching is a calling, not just a job. What it also apparently means is that your private life is now subject to the moral judgments of parents in your school district.”
—Want A Private Life? Don’t Become A Teacher - The Rumpus.net
In Which It Becomes Real →
novaren.wordpress.com
“You might be the person I’m looking for,” this random man called out to me as I dragged the giant red sack onto the sidewalk…
“Publicizing the book is really important, but equally important is to get writing on the next project. My mentor, Ron Carlson, told me when I was on the road with my first book to print out a few pages of the next project. He told me to write one word every day. Of course, I didn’t do it, but I am going to do it this time around. When I was first given the advice, I didn’t understand it—it was so inconvenient to write from a hotel room, and besides, I was too keyed up. But now I understand. He wanted me to remember that I was a writer, not just a salesman. He wanted me to keep putting words down on paper, so I could remember who I am.”
—Five Things I Wish I Had Known When I Published My First Book by Tayari Jones (I can’t wait to read her new novel Silver Sparrow!)
“The more honesty is shouted out, the more factors fall into place to allow even more honesty. Then, with any luck, you have a full-on revolution. Or, as they call it on Fox “News,” the Gay Agenda. And we all know what the gay agenda is, right? To be seen as human and treated with respect.”
—from “The Brent Effect” by Catherine Ryan Hyde
