I am sorry to post such bad news in the middle of the holiday season. Don Belton, novelist and scholar, has been murdered. Don was on the MFA faculty at The University of Indiana. Although I didn’t know him, I was familiar with his work and I am sure that there are readers of this blog who considered him to be a friend. articleHere is an about the incident. Also you can visit his website which he was just getting off the ground. I love the little placeholder bio he put up:
“Don was born in posh penthouse on the Right Bank of Paris with a silver spoon in his mouth, listening to Miles Davis playing live in celebration of his birth.”
I almost wrote, “We’ll I’m back home now,” but after the holidays, it’s hard to know where you are. Am I back home, or was I home when I was “home” for the holidays? The overlap with old-life and real-life is part of what makes the holidays so maddening, but also so stimulating for creativity. I have an idea for a new book and the voice really came to me over the last week. Something about displacement, I think. Anyway, I am back in my own-self apartment now getting ready for the new year.
I was also thinking, as I prepared to write this post, how lame it is that every year, everyone says the same thing as we approach January 1. We always say, “This year will be better than the last”, or “This year I am going to take better care of myself.” “This year, I am going to devote more time to my writing!”. You get the idea.
Well, I can’t help it. I am going to say all those same things again. Taking better care of yourself is a process and, if we’re lucky, every year we get a little closer to our goals. If we have a bad year, we get set back, and we have to push even harder to get things in order again.
2007 was a miserable year for me and the smack-down lasted well into the middle of 2008. I won’t get into it, but let’s just say, I was catching hell on every front. 2009 felt like an opportunity to make a fresh start and I have it all I had. It was like the universe was helping me out. A $50,000 grant from the United States Artists Foundation gave me the financial flexibility to be able to take a semester off from teaching and to sequester myself in Martha’s Vineyard to finish my novel. The money also gave me some wiggle room for some creature comforts like a new bed and a fancy new winter coat.
In this week before New Years I am trying to keep some of that momentum going. Of course I am doing life-hacker stuff like cleaning the apartment, unsubcribing to a lot of commercial email lists (bye bye Land’s End!), and organizing my computer files. I am also getting a TV for the first time in twenty years(!).
Once I get the apartment together, and get things physically in shape for maximum productivity, I am going to turn int he other direction and stop demanding maximum productivity for myself. 2010 is going to be a year of balance for me. I want to work hard, but not too hard. I want to dial the stress back and learn to be more content with what I have. I want to learn to be more grateful. And happy.
I am heading home to Atlanta in about an hour. I’m not taking my computer, so no new posts until after the holidays. I hope that everyone has a lovely holiday. I know this season is difficult for a lot of people, so for those folks, keep in mind that it is brief. This time next week, it will be all over for another year. For folks who enjoy this family time, you too, should keep in mind that it is brief and enjoy every second.
Take care. See you in a few days.
This is proof that the holiday stress is kicking in. I forgot to include some of the links I had planned to share today. (you can get the rest of the list a little lower on the page.)
Well, here are a few links as I am heading home. Vermont Studio Center is really a nice place. The food was deee-lish and they’ve just built new studios for the writers, which overlook the river. It’s a little pricey to go here, but there are scholarships. But okay, on with the links because I have a plane to catch!
(via harperstudio) full cover w.o label
I was just going to let the picture do the talking, but I have to say that this cover is abusive. It makes black literature seem foreign and weird. This picture does not make you want to read a book by a black authors. And the fists? Good Lord, as if sisters– in writing and in life– don’t have to worry about seeming scary and intimidating. (Mrs. Obama, can I get an Amen?)
I probably should take some more time before posting. You aren’t supposed to blog when you’re angry. But whatevs.
Here are relevant tweets:
@carleenbrice: Did I wake up in 1971? NEW trends in writing = Afro picks? & a headful of them, no less!
@Dolen: And hello!! They described my book as being about “four white female friends.”
@notell:maybe pw’s plan to stay in business is to alienate all their readers, one segment at a time?
@ruthellenkocher:i think the PW cover depicts american black writing as cultish, personally. voodoo. foreign.
