[Jill]

Cyprus for holiday and inspiration did not happen and we stay relieved at home. Determined that Inhave enough inspiration to carry on regardless. Stay safe and writing everyone.

Jill

[Jill]

Thank you Jane and Raine. My immediate intention is to revisit/re edit a book for younger children and my Lucy Rainbow ‘opus’ with a view to submitting them again. Also to continue working on something which combines new prose and my past poetry. May never be a market for that but it will give me great satisfaction and may be of interest to family as it is a type of memoir.

[Doug]

I’ve been fortunate that I could keep going to my job as usual (I work for the state of Rhode Island). Though there are all kinds of safeguards, and Army & Air Force personnel about.

An acceptance last week for a new short story, reminds me that life goes on.

And a wise old saying reminds me that “This, too, shall pass.”

[Raine]

@dougk sorry for being so useless at checking in here. Hi & well done on the short story acceptance. Is it available online?
I repeat the ‘this too shall pass’ thing to myself fairly regularly! It’s the perfect balance of hope and recognition.

[Doug]

Hi Raine, thanks for asking. The story will appear in a Thirteen O’Clock Press anthology called “Chains,” about dealing with captivity, prisons and the like. Submissions are open until it’s full.

[Doug]

Yesterday I listened to the Dissecting Dragons podcast about writing for relaxation, enjoying the process of creating and not worrying so much about the outcome.

It reminded me of something shared once by Barry B. Longyear, a writer who skyrocketed to fame in the 80’s, and it almost killed him. Fortunately he survived to tell the tale. He wrote a writer’s prayer that’s always helped me, and I’d like to share it here.

The Writer’s Prayer, by Barry B. Longyear

God, grant me inspiration, relieve me of expectation, quiet that voice in me for which nothing is good enough.
When I research, lead me to the answers. When I plan, show me the path. When I write, allow me to enter in and live my story. And when the story is done, clear it and its future from my mind.

If material success should come my way, remind me to thank you. However, if the only reward I obtain for my writing is the writing itself, let that be sufficient.

[Jules]

Well done on the short story acceptance, Doug.

[Doug]

BTW Jules, I’m finally listening to that audio of Hamlet! And yes, it lives up to its legend.

I wonder what literature would be like today, had there been no William Shakespeare? I’ve read that he inspired Hermann Melville to keep going with Moby Dick.

[Doug]

Something new I’d like to share. I listen to audiobooks and podcasts every day at my job, and every so often it occurs to me there’s some classic or another I somehow never read. So, why not spin it on audio while I type? So far I’ve listened to The Gulag Archipelago, Dracula, Steinbeck’s The Moon is Down, and Shakespearean plays.

And I’ve known about Asimov’s Foundation all my life. As a kid I started to read it. I liked it, but for some reason put it down and never finished it. (It was the same with Dracula.) So I determined to give it a listen next. When I finished, I thought it’d also be nice to hear some of his short stories. And so I checked this out.

Asimov: Science Fiction Favorites

He reads these himself! And does a pretty decent job. Strange how I’d never heard his voice before. Right off the bat I found myself reunited with a story called “Someday.” I read it as a schoolboy in an English textbook, and it made an impression on me. That story stayed with me my whole life, I never forgot it. And now I run right into it again, read by Asimov himself!

So if anyone would like to check it out…

[Author]

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