Dear Zesties:
Contrary to circulating rumors, I have not quit blogging. I am not disappearing. Rather, last week saw the beginning of Certain Matters which took me unexpectedly out of town and away from the Intertubes.
I think I’m back now, though I hesitate to declare it in black and white lest I jinx myself.
If you’re a recent visitor to this site, please know I’m not usually usually this much of a blogging flake except when required for entertainment purposes.
A few quick announcements before they become passe:
1. The first edition of the Writer Unboxed Newsletter went live last week. If you want to get a sense of its scope without committing to an outright (and free) subscription, please check out the embedded link. We don’t anticipate putting any further editions online because…well, they are intended to be newsletters and not posts.
2. Congratulations to always-friend, sometimes-Tartitude commenter, Deborah Gray. She wrote a conversational how-to manual called How to Import Wine: an Insider’s Guide. It took first place for Gourmand Magazine‘s American professional wine book and yesterday, in Paris (!), won second place in their international wine-book category.
Though Deborah did not see fit to send me a complimentary airplane ticket so I could attend and cheer her from the sidelines, she’s generally one of the kindest people I know. I’m thrilled for her.
3. I might have made a mistake when I set my my domain name (http://janohara.ca) to forward to this blog. If you’ve recently signed up to receive Tartitude updates via email, please let me know if you’re having any delivery difficulties.
4. Lastly, in my interviewer role for the WU newsletter, I’ve lined up some fabulous guests. However, if you’d like to recommend a particular interviewee or have suggestions for a specific topic, I’m always interested in your input. Leave a comment below or, if you’d prefer privacy, please reach me through my contact page.
So…what have the past two weeks brought you all? Are you smarter, trimmer, more productive? Have you read an amazing book? Discovered a cilantro fetish?
Unlike the cat in the visual, I Lolethed. Glad you’re back! I miss you when you drop away from the Intertubes. Congrats to generally-kind Deborah! It’s like she’s a character in the movie Bottle Shock, but with books. 🙂
As for future victims for your newsletter chats, I’m all for anything fantasy. I say swing for the fences. How ’bout Geo. RR Martin or Guy Gavriel Kay? Maybe my neighbor, Jacqueline Carey (um, she lives 45 miles away, but we’re tight 😉 )?
As for goings on, doesn’t seem like you’ve been missing much. The WU FB group hit 1,000 members, and my cilantro fetish remains intact, but it’s been otherwise uneventful. Hope you and yours are well, and that Certain Matters are just distracting as opposed to unfavorable.
Duly noting the request for more fantasy-oriented authors. Thank you for the feedback.
I like the swing-for-the-fences philosophy. Maybe you can put in a good word for me with JC? Or should she be scared that you know approximately where she lives?
Glad to hear I didn’t miss too much. It’s good to be home.
Welcome back, Jan! My cilantro fetish is longstanding. I’ve just wrapped up The Art of Eating by MFK Fisher, a compendium tome of beautiful prose that had me gobsmacked with heartbreaking reminiscences of the hungers of life, not all to do with ineluctable edibles.
My goodness, Timothy, you have me intrigued, though the hardcover of The Art of Eating goes for $103.53. Yikes!
PS: I’m a cilantro fan myself. I particularly love it in soups.
Softcover from Amaz0n for $16 did it for me! I really recommend it. 🙂
I did notice the paperback, Timothy. I thought I’d share the HC price for dramatic purposes. 😉
If anyone is interested in screenwriting I’d recommend William Goldman’s two books, ‘Adventures in the Screen Trade’ and its sequel, ‘Which Lie Did I Tell?’ These two have interrupted my work on a screenplay, which is no mean feat.
My old dog used to LOL after pulling a prank. One day I was kneeling in front of a woodwork project, tapping in nails. He sat behind me and started tapping my shoulder. When I turned to look at him he turned his head and seemed for all the world like he was laughing.
Aww. I love grinning animals. We have a black lab who grins.
Thank you for the reference books. I haven’t heard of those, though obviously I’ve heard of Goldman himself.
No, not smarter, trimmer or more productive. Feeling the winter blahzzzz.
And I still don’t like cilantro, but the bunny will eat it.
Sorry about the blahzz, Suzanne. Been there, done that, have the black t-shirt with the unflattering shape and the emo saying to prove it.
You have a bunny? So does my bro.
glad you’re back. i love cilantro.
Thanks, Louise. It’s good to be home.
Happy you’re back, Jan. I wish I was as optimistic as you about maintaining a schedule and blogging. BTW cilantro in Thailand is called Pak Chi and I love it on everything.
Are you having schedule challenges, Dannie? To follow up on Vaughn’s comment, I hope the interruptions are of the pleasant variety.
Does the “chi” in that name refer to energy?