Hello! I’ve published my first booksofm.com newsletter using Substack. As I mentioned in that post, I wanted to try something different and more personal. This week’s theme is a little treat–a writing exercise I’m discussing in my upcoming “Horror in Gaming” class.
Check out my very first booksofm.com newsletter on Substack!
Heya,
I threw this list together for a friend of mine. We were talking about a reasonable plan to stock up in anticipation of shipping disruptions and price jacking. Hope this helps!
Here’s what I used when I got sick:
Hiya!
I am so pleased to mention there were 550+ authors participating in the Clarion Write-A-Thon, and together we raised over $22,000! Thank you so much for sponsoring me and for helping fund this workshop! The Clarion Write-A-Thon is over, but the workshop offers donations year-round. I encourage you to support Clarion West!
My goal was six Italian fairy tale retellings and I was able to write four on top of regular freelancing. I had a great time with the workshop; I managed to revisit my productivity style and goals. What I’ve learned is that I need to go back to word count as my primary metric. I was going by project, but that doesn’t work for me anymore. Sometimes, I’ll write a small thing and call it a day if I have revisions to do, too–and right now I’m focused on productivity. I can’t sleep my way through this pandemic, because I can’t afford to. Instead, I’m going to focus on raw word count on top of whatever revisions I’m going through during the day, too.
Part of my challenge has been: “How do I keep up with blogging and writing?” I don’t know the answer to this right now, but I’ve set a goal of two posts per week–including this one.
I’m dealing with a lot of unknowns right now. The only certainty is my To Do list and whatever form that takes. I have decided to complete the Italian fairy tale retelling project on my own schedule and did add that to the list. So, on to the next To Do!
About this Post: In exchange for sponsor support, I promised to highlight how I’m processing my identity as an Italian-American and daughter of an immigrant through brainstorming, story selection, and first drafts. If you’re keen on following my progress, warts and all, I encourage you to sign up for my newsletter. Clarion will be taking donations even though the Write-A-Thon has ended.
A short progress report this week!
I recently watched The Alienist and that series touches upon some of the issues I mentioned previously with respect to the historical treatment of Italian-Americans. (We’re now watching Doom Patrol. It’s VERY different!) Also: I miss sitting at a coffee shop to write. I stumbled across Coffitivity.com which gives me the benefit of “sounding” like I’m sitting there. Huzzah! I’m also slowly taking Italian again, and that’s been super fun.
Yep, it’s Thursday and I’m still noodling over how I want to retell “Liombruno.” It’s a traditional fairy tale that has two components to present a hero who’s worthy of being saved. My gut is telling me to “get weird” and I’m cuing off of the region’s mountains, forests, and streams. I could imagine a villager telling this story while gesturing to a grand palace atop the mountains.
I picked a new short story for week three. It’s called: “The Fine Greenbird” and it’s from Florenza, the capital of the Tuscany region in central Italy. This is a folktale with a strong theme of jealousy; it also resonates with the number three: three sisters, three offspring, three quests, and three judged. One aspect that stood out to me was the outdated belief that women have control over our bodies to determine the sex of a child. Mind you, the children are characters themselves, so I’ll have to mull over how I want to tackle this harmful and antiquated notion after retelling “Liombruno.”
About this Post: In exchange for sponsor support, I promised to highlight how I’m processing my identity as an Italian-American and daughter of an immigrant through brainstorming, story selection, and first drafts. If you’re keen on following my progress, warts and all, I encourage you to become my sponsor and sign up for my newsletter.
Dear readers,
I finished a first draft of my “Caterina the Wise” retelling for the Clarion Write-A-Thon. This week, I randomly selected a story called “Liombruno” from Basilicata. My Italian geography is not very good, so I researched the city and learned its geography is really cool. It is a southern Italian region in the lower middle part of the boot, and has over 140 rock-cut churches, mountains, and forests.
I hadn’t heard this story before, so I did a little bit of research. I did find an article snippet on Encyclopedia Brittanica (it’s buried behind a paywall so I can’t share it, unfortunately), but it was cited as exemplary of a popular folk style combining irony and common sense.
The story is about a fisherman who pledges his firstborn son, Liombruno, to the Evil One on his thirteenth birthday. Following this, Liombruno refuses to serve the Evil One and proves his worth. He is then rescued by a shapeshifting fairy named Fata Aquilina, who takes pity on Liombruno and showers him with riches. Missing his parents, Liombruno begs to go home and is given a magical ruby–an icon of her power–to call upon her magic. Only, the fairy warned Liombruno not to expose her for who she truly was. Which, after a time, he did.
The ending of the tale drips with forgiveness. She is dying from grief because she lost Liombruno and he betrayed her. When he reappears, he doesn’t not apologize. She pretty much forgave him and then went back to living happily ever after.
Hmmmm… This’ll be interesting to tackle. The heart of the story is really about the couple’s relationship, but at the same time any repentance story I’d write would absolutely have an apology in it. I’m just not sure repentance is the theme I want to lean into, because that feels off to me. I’m sure I’ll figure it out.
‘Til next time!
About this Post: In exchange for sponsor support, I promised to highlight how I’m processing my identity as an Italian-American and daughter of an immigrant through brainstorming, story selection, and first drafts. If you’re keen on following my progress, warts and all, I encourage you to become my sponsor and sign up for my newsletter.