Annie Dillard's The Writing Life (Classics Club Spin #32)

I finished my Classics Club Spin! Glory be! I would also like to mention that I have revised my Classics Club list yet again. Check it out here.

I love reading about an author's writing life. Not only talking about the craft, but their process and experiences with their own writing. Annie Dillard does not mince words. She is very upfront in regards to writing being incredibly daunting. That being said, she also describes writing as being wonderfully fulfilling, magical at times (she has had some pretty strange and fantastical experiences). 

Since I am starting work on the first draft of my novel, I especially appreciated this passage:

"For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. If you were a Zulu warrior banging on your shield with your spear for a couple of hours along with a hundred other Zulu warriors, you might be able to prepare yourself to write. If you were an Aztec maiden who knew months in advance that on a certain morning the priests were going to throw you into a hot volcano, and if you spent those months undergoing a series of purification rituals and drinking dubious liquids, you might, when the time came, be ready to write. But how, if you are neither Zulu warrior nor Aztec maiden, do you prepare yourself, all alone, to enter an extraordinary state on an ordinary morning." pp.46-47

She discusses how we, as writers, can never find anything written about "your fascination with something no one else understands." She says, "because it is up to you." 
"The most demanding part of living a lifetime as an artist is the strict discipline of forcing oneself to work steadfastly along the nerve of one's own most intimate sensitivity." --Anne Truitt

I saw somewhere someone had given this book a low rating and called her Annie Dullard. I did not find this dull at all. In fact, there were even some funny moments. While reading the scene between her and the sheriff (p. 54), I found myself chuckling. She is rather witty. 

To Dillard, writing is something that is life itself. She quotes Evelyn Underhill late in the book: "He goes because he must, as Galahad went towards the Grail: knowing that for those who can live it, this alone is life."

For those of us compelled to write, we must do it. It sometimes may take years, we may never be published, and yet, we must write.

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Cat Thursday - Too funny!

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and often hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Share the link to your post with your comment below.

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Yearly Remembrance - Heath Ledger

April 4, 1979 - January 22, 2008

Gone too soon

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Cat Thursday - Wasn't Me

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and often hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Share the link to your post with your comment below.

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Cat Thursday - Cats are weird (2)

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and often hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Share the link to your post with your comment below.

Authors and cats will not be posted this month. I just didn't have time to search for an author, with cat, with a birthday in January. So, you're stuck with more funny cat memes. 😸😸😸

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Yearly Remembrance - David Bowie

David Bowie - 8 January 1947 – 10 January 2016

Still missing you and your beautiful work. Hope you are resting well.

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2023...Reading Challenges, First Book of the Year, and my One Little Word

Boy, I thought I was running late this year, only to discover I didn't do this post last year until January 18! This is going to be the same as last year. No best of lists or anything like that. However, this year I am including my One Little Word, along with my vision board, which pretty much illustrates what I want to focus on the most this year. 

First Book of the Year - My Heart is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (Modeled here with Merida)

I read The Only Good Indians last year, and it was one of my favorites in 2022. Jones writes really good, subtle horror with Native American characters. He has definitely jumped into my top ten horror authors list. Chainsaw started off with a bang for sure!

My word for the year and my vision board

My sister bought me a necklace set for Christmas. It has a large pendant that says "Still I Rise" and a small, charm pendant that says "Brave." That's when it hit me. Brave. I want to be Brave to overcome the social anxiety I've developed since the pandemic, and I want to be Brave to overcome the Imposter Syndrome that is stalling my novel writing. My life word is Onward so I think Brave fits perfectly with that. 

It wouldn't be a new year without a fresh start at reading challenges. This year I'll be doing Book Challenge by Erin (which is twice a year) and The TBR Pile Challenge (10th year!), in addition to the four challenges I host. 

Challenges listed below:
Book Challenge by Erin 18.0
2023 TBR Pile Challenge
2023 I Read Horror Year-Round
1000 Books Project: Banned Books 2023
2023 Book to Movie (and TV) Challenge
2023 Read Your Shelf Challenge

First up...the twice a year challenge - Book Challenge by Erin 18.0 (Facebook group)

First round of the year runs Jan - April.

Freebie - The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir

Book by an Australian author -

Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier

Book whose author goes by three names -

The Loney by Andrew Michael Hurley

Book with "black" or "white" in the title -

Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi

GoodReads award winner from any year -

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (2015, Best Goodreads Debut Author)

Book set in a small town or rural area -

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis

Book with "heart" or "love" in the title -

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

Book that starts with the first letter of your first name -

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Book with an unusual narrator -

The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle

Book with a prime number under 1000 in the title -

Five Mile House by Karen Novak

This is a private Facebook group. You can check it out and join here. You can join in at any time during the four months. Second challenge of the year starts July 1st. Categories announced in June.

Read 12 books (2 alternates allowed) which have been on your shelves for at least one year.

1. The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley (2015)
   
   
2. The Maidens, Alex Michaelides (2021)
   
   
3. The Devil in the White City, Erik Larson (2004)
   
   
4. Murder in the Cathedral, T.S. Eliot (1964)
   
   
5. Red Queen, Victoria Aveyard (2015)
   
   
6. The Orphan Witch, Paige Crutcher (2021)
   
   
7. Dracul, Dacre Stoker and J.D. Barker (2018)
   
   
8. The Penguin Book of Witches, Katherine Howe, Editor (2014)
   
   
9. Subhuman, Michael McBride (2005)
   
   
10. The Green Man, Kingsley Amis (1969)
    
    
11. The Princes in the Tower, Alison Weir (1994)
    
    
12. The Last Duel, Eric Jager (2004)

Alternates:

1. The North Water, Ian McGuire (2016)
   
   
2. I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Iain Reid (2016)
   
   

Full details and sign-up here (Deadline: January 15)

Now on to the challenges I'm hosting...

I host this challenge at my sister (horror) blog, Castle Macabre. Year Three!
Here are the prompts and levels.
I have a couple of ideas on what I'll be reading, but not sure on all of them yet. I'm going for the Chilling level again this year. I didn't quite complete the level last year (3 or 4 books shy), but I'm going to try again.

• Fairy Tale Retelling
• Zombies, Witches, Vampires, or Werewolves
  Dracul, Dacre Stoker
• Book by BIPOC author
  My Heart is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones
• Title with Dead, Blood, or Bone
• Something by Poe
• Set in the past
• Horrific cover
• Folk horror (Ideas: https://tinyurl.com/yy8jj56a or https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/folk-horror?page=1
  The Loney, Andrew Michael Hurley
• Winter theme or cover
  Snow, Ronald Malfi
• Black, red, or white cover
• Written by a woman
  The Twisted Ones, T. Kingfisher
• Debut horror
  The Collector, John Fowles

Levels:

Spooky: Read 6 books from 6 categories
Chilling: Read 12 Books from all 12 categories
Frightful: Read 2 books from each category for a total of 24 books
Horrifying: Read 3 books from each category for a total of 36 books

Full details and sign-up here.

The next three challenges are hosted by me on Gather Together and Read, my reading community site.

January, February, March - in honor of International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27

The Night Trilogy: Night, Dawn, The Accident (The Night Trilogy #1-3)
by Elie Wiesel, Marion Wiesel (Translator)

April, May, June - Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

July, August, September - in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month in September

The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende

October, November, December
Beloved by Toni Morrison

Full details and sign-up here

Reading schedule for The Night Trilogy here

My main level...
First One to the Theater - Read 4+ books (2023 releases only)
Also, additional levels...
Not Ready to Let Go: read at least one (1) book made into a movie or series in 2022

Living in the Past: read at least one (1) book made into a movie in previous years
The Movie Was Better (What?!): watch the movie(s) for the book(s) you read.

Potential books:

(Reread) The Witching Hour, Anne Rice (series, Mayfair Witches, currently streaming on AMC/AMC+)
The Pale Blue Eye, Louis Bayard (movie currently streaming on Netflix)

The Cabin at the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Knock at the Cabin, Feb 3)

(Maybe I'll actually finish it this time) Dune, Frank Herbert (Dune: Part 2, Nov 3)

The Fall of the House of Usher, Edgar Allan Poe (tbd, 2023)

Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann (estimated May 2023)

Uglies, Scott Westerfeld (Netflix 2023 - expected)

2022

Death on the Nile, Agatha Christie 
Kindred, Octavia E. Butler

2021
The Luminaries, Eleanor Catton
The Last Duel, Eric Jager 

The Woman in the Window, A. J. Finn 
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan 

Full details and sign-up here.

Pretend your house is a library: A strategy for actually reading the books you own. 

I know you're intrigued! Click here to read all about the new version of the Read Your Shelf Reading Challenge. 

My "holds shelf"...

Full details and sign-up here.

That's it! What is (was) your first book of the year? Do you have One Little Word this year? What are your reading plans? Doing any challenges, or perhaps thinking of joining one (or more) of mine? 

Whatever your plans are, I wish you a Happy New Year!

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Cat Thursday - New year's resolutions not going so well

Welcome to the weekly meme that celebrates the wonders and often hilarity of cats! Join us by posting a favorite lolcat pic you may have come across, famous cat art or even share with us pics of your own beloved cat(s). It's all for the love of cats! Share the link to your post with your comment below.

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