BRW: Behind the Blind 7

Back in January I renewed my library card for the first time in a long time.

As a kid I used the library fairly often. I remember going on class outings there to learn about the Dewey Decimal System and stuff like that. In high school I used the Mid-Manhattan Library, across the street from the main one (the one with the lion statues), for their picture collection. When I lived in Columbus, I used their library to go job hunting and check out DVDs.

Actually checking out a book to read, though, was different. The writing gurus say one needs to read in one’s genre to be a better writer, so it was probably past time to reacquaint myself with the most basic of library uses. I did not expect to have to search through those cards in the small file cabinets to find the book I wanted—remember those? I did, however, need to learn how to use the computer system to check it out.

And now that I’m going to explore historical fiction by other writers, I’ll document it. On my Blogger site, there’s a new “book reviews” page. I’ll update it as frequently as I can, whenever I finish a book. The “writings” page combines my previous fiction and non-fiction links.

Let me know what you think of the changes.

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Writing fiction

I recently read two different posts about the virtues of hand writing. The first:

To Write Freely, Write Freehand

and the second:

The 2025 Writing Accountability 🖋️ ~ 7

So I figured I should return to the process myself.

Typing my stories full-time was a natural progression. I was already typing my blog posts all the time, so I saw nothing wrong with doing the same with my fiction. Still don’t. But hand writing was part of my process for a long time, and I like to think I inherited my penmanship from my father (though it used to be better than this!). Returning to it was no problem.

Honestly, though, I think I prefer typing. I like being able to erase sentences I don’t want or need at the touch of a button, having other options like italicizing, block-quoting and inserting links at my fingertips, options which are so much a part of blogging and even writing fiction. Plus going back and forth between my text and other windows to refer to things I’m gonna write about is convenient.

Hand writing means putting the pen down to look at an open window for reference, plus interpreting the mess I’ve made due to scribblings and sentences crossed out when it comes time to type what I’ve written. It’s a pain.

I won’t abandon hand writing completely, but I don’t think I wanna rely on it anymore either.

Reading culture

When you finish reading this, run, don’t walk, to wherever you stream films and watch this marvelous Netflix movie called (inhales) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (exhales). Lily James stars as an author in post-WW2 England who connects with a book club on the island of Guernsey, a place occupied by the Germans during the war. Once she meets the members in person, she’s compelled to unravel the mystery of the club’s founder, whose absence is keenly felt. It’s based on the book by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

The Society formed as a way to connect with each other during the war, first by necessity (the Germans were suspicious of their activity), then, once the war ended, by choice—through books.

Reading, and sharing books with each other, kept their spirits alive, living within an isolated island community occupied by the enemy. The disappearance of the club’s founder, however, is key to the secrets the Society harbors.

Love of literature is obviously a major element in this story, but it’s the characters and their stories that are Guernsey’s heart. They make up the tapestry that is the Society. The acting is superb, led by James, who I kinda hope doesn’t become too big a star in America so she can keep making movies like this.

Miscellany

In case you missed it, I had two short stories published: a historical romance on Micromance Magazine, and a supernatural story on Written Tales.

I’ve gotten lucky with these publications, but I’ve been turned down a lot more. I’ve read about how to deal with rejection. I tell myself okay, move on to the next lit website. I try not to dwell on the no’s, to not take it personally. Some days I succeed.

Recently, I read the autobiography of film director Mel Brooks. He says:

Failure is like corned beef hash. It takes a while to eat. It takes a while to digest. But it stays with you. Failure may not feel good when it happens, but it will always sharpen your mind…. [N]othing helps you to succeed like failure.

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I wanna thank everyone who liked and commented on my Star Wars post from February, which—what a surprise!—has so far gotten the most traffic of any Substack post of mine. I took advantage of the trilogy screening in Manhattan to make a statement. Not everyone agrees with it, but if you’ve stuck around, you know GenX nostalgia is not all I discuss. I hope you stay.

Shout-outs and links

I met Liz Hollander and her sister Martha last fall, but it wasn’t until later that I learned Liz coaches writers. Not only did she read my novella and critique it, she got other eyes on it too (including Martha’s), ones which provided perspective related directly to my story. Really lucked out in meeting them.

I’ve really been enjoying the newsletter of Amber Petty, not just for her links to freelance opportunities and advice, but her humor. (Plus, she’s kinda hot.) In a recent free workshop of hers, she offered this list of ideas to grow one’s audience—in the form of a Bingo card.

I have learned so much from Anne Allen about blogging and writing. In this post, she upholds blogging as still a viable outlet, but I imagine most of what she says can also apply to newsletters.

This essay from the newsletter Authors Publish is helpful in deciding how to get blog posts and essays published elsewhere.

Old BRW post

Did you know Wolfman Jack used to be a DJ in Mexico?