Dunne by the Book

Someone recommended I read  Writing Down the Bones , by Natalie Goldberg, many years ago, and I carried the cute little mini-trim-size edition around with me for quite a while. I don't remember coming away from that first possession with any particular jewels of insight or knowledge that resonated, but my general sense of the book over the intervening years is one of having been pleased and inspired by it. So when I saw that the newest edition of the book was available from Shambhala Publications through NetGalley, I didn't hesitate to download it to my Kindle to review. I wanted to revisit the text that had pleased me (and to recall why). Goldberg's tone and approach are accessible, and the writing tips she shares are fine_certainly valid and usable, especially for young/beginning writers. She places writing in the hands of novices through comparisons with everyday (at least for some of us) activiti...

Last week a new client asked me tell him more about my experience, interests, strengths, and so on. My blog profile to the right now reflects the essence of my response_albeit abbreviated and edited to fit within the 1,200-character maximum. The client liked how I described my career highlights, and I realized a day later that it felt really good to write it. I couldn't remember a time when I had the wherewithall to sum up my career, honestly share my absolute strengths, and acknowledge to myself and others my work interests. To put it in another nutshell, it's all about books. Does this mean I finally know myself? "Ha ha ha. That's a fake laugh, by the way" (my thanks to "The Hangover" for that bit of dialogue). But seriously, it does reflect me; I knew it was right, what I wrote. Speaking of books, I'm coming to some conclusions about my experience with the Kindle. I'll share them in a future post. In the meantime, feel free to comment about yo...

There. It's done. I bought a Kindle. Amazon wooed me, finally, with the right combination of wine and song: the graphite alternative to the original stark white, and the price decrease. Even sweeter (the lovely German chocolate at the end of the romantic dinner): I bought it on eBay for an even more palatable price. As someone who has made her living in the print world for lo these many years, I feel compelled to offer some justification. Well, first, all of a sudden, electronic is the way of the book, and I just don't know enough about e-reading, e-publishing, and e-more. Second, I love to read, and I like the sound of my own literary voice, so I've signed up with NetGalley to write book reviews (see one of my very early posts to this blog--my first attempt since 10th grade English class; Mrs. Youngs introduced them as the fearsome "critique"). This week I received my first approval from a publisher to review one of its books. I feel so important. Anyway, the poi...

Once the new kitchen island was assembled, I was pretty thrilled. I was hoping it would work part time as an alternative workspace_for the lighter-load stuff, I mean. The stuff that doesn't require resource volumes, connectivity to the printer, the need to spread out, or the functions that come with the desktop PC. That is, the stuff like blogging, writing, and proofreading. We bought the island to make the cooking space more generous, and that it does. It gives the kitchen a more pleasing dimension, one that is so much better, cleaner, brighter, and more spacious than was lent by the former kitchen table, a dropleaf piece that had traveled well through a number of moves. I've perched myself on the equally new, perfect-height stools a few times now. I can look out into the backyard and, in turn, that of the next-door neighbor. On a gorgeous day in Chicago, any day like today, I can gather the breeze. I like it, this space, and it seems to like me.

So I've created this new blog: Dunne In . As in, he was (done) in by the roving killer architect. It's my introduction to the murder mystery world. Murder mystery world, I'm Joyce, hi, nice to meet you. I hope you'll stop by from time to time; click on the title of this post or go to http://dunnein.wordpress.com/ . I defected to WordPress for this endeavor initially because I couldn't, or couldn't readily, display a different profile for the new blog on blogger.com. Secondarily, it occurred to me that using a second blog site might increase my chances of being read. Tertiarily (I'd better look that up to see if it's actually a word), it's good for me to learn how to work in new environments, navigate unfamiliar territory, use new tools. Ah, and also, different templates to choose from. To be pointedly literary (but not so much as to choose the "Hemingway" template), I opted for "Emire," a dark background with serif type. At the sa...

Silence by Joyce Dunne Were my blogging a book title, Silence would be its name. That's what I've afforded my blog in the last few months_a deep immersion of quitetude. I miss entertaining my blog, I realize. I'd forgotten that, in its early days, I would check my e-mail a couple of times a day to see if anyone had commented on my blog_no one yet, but eventually, I imagine. On my mind today is my friend Jane, who is leaving her long-time, full-time job this week to launch her freelance editorial services business. Jane, a toast: all success and happiness. Mile failte _a thousand welcomes to you in joining our fine ranks. I can say from experience that it's a fulfilling, exciting ride, and it will suit Jane well. Perhaps it's Jane's news, perhaps the bright, fresh light of spring, that is shifting my thoughts to my own editorial strengths. Working on-site for one of my clients two days a week has given me the benefit_unusual for freelancers_of near-immediate fee...

This is special. I don't say that lightly_special is undone as a concept. But the sheer veneer of the boys' emotions, those boys on Fox who are silly or stoic or bitey or bitter: I'm humbled to be watching the Fox show pre game the NFC championship. Those old boys are suddenly significant, stately. Terry Bradshaw in the opening segment: humble, near tears? Certainly the most lovely delivery I've ever witnessed by him. And Joe Buck, when introduced to call the game with the best, Troy Aikman, said, with uncharacteristic lack of lacking, with measured excitement, " We can't wait to call this game." This has gotta be good. It's kickoff.