The Return
Photo credit to orangefruits at Deviantart.
Dear Readers, I’m not usually the sort to go about airing dirty laundry, but I must confess something: lately, my blog and I have been having…”troubles”.
Oh no, nothing huge or earth-shattering, but enough to make me guilty and uncomfortable whenever I look at it. No, no, I still love you, I want to say, but the blog is having none of it. It feels neglected and unloved and probably rightfully so, but the overwhelming guilt I feel at its abandonment prevents me from returning to it with the necessary vim.
Do you think it will accept flowers and an I. O. U.?
Things have been all shook up here at The Little Big Publisher, at least for me, having spent a hectic summer doubling up my assistant duties, plus participating in an auction. Now that summer’s winding to an end, I’ve been returned to my post as Cap’n Sweet Valley’s one and only, a welcome change in pace, only now I’ve been slapped in the face by the gazillion things I need to do for my boss. Namely rejections. Reading for Cap’n Sweet Valley has been slow over the summer, in part because the majority of my attention was needed elsewhere, and partly because submissions have been slow.
(Hear that, agents? Send us stuff!)
Other than that, what has been going on in your life, JJ? I hear you ask. (Or least, I will pretend I hear you asking.) Not much: devouring books, being lazy, doing a little writing, not cleaning my apartment (it’s starting to reach toxic levels of disgusting), and resurrecting my Libertines fangirl on the heels of their Reading and Leeds reunion. THE LIBERTINES: BOUND TOGETHER arrived from The Book Depository this morning and I have spent a vast amount of time quoting large passages to Lou Reed Girlfriend.
It’s hard not to love a band who made sure they always had a copy of George du Maurier’s TRILBY on hand. It’s hard to find a band who even knows who George du Maurier is.* Or who can quote Siegfried Sassoon’s “Suicide in the Trenches” off the cuff at a rock awards acceptance speech. DO YOU SEE WHY I LOVE THEM SO?
*George du Maurier is like your literary grandpa. He was the father of Sylvia Llewelyn-Davies–mother of the Peter Pan boys–and the grandfather of Daphne du Maurier, author of my favourite JANE EYRE reworking, REBECCA. He is also the man responsible for the creation of the trilby hat and the concept of a Svengali. THE MORE YOU KNOW.
I’ve been in a bit of reading slump lately, and not just in terms of work. MOCKINGJAY left me deflated and now I’m itching for something different. I’ve been stocking up on Victorian-esque literature, but I just want to immerse myself in something gothic and creepy and I’ve read FINGERSMITH too many times for it to satisfy. So halp. Somebody recommend me books. Or maybe I’ll just go and find my own copy of TRILBY to reread…
