There are times when I find the kazillion little e-mails of my life annoying, but there are also times when being a writer is just fun.
Was nicely productive on the plane, rewriting some material in third person to make it hopefully more vivid, breaking up one section to add some energy overall, making some minor tweaks. Just had some airport sushi for lunch (yes, it was sad sushi, but I could estimate how many calories were in it, which is a help while travelling -- I have no idea how many were in the half of a lowfat lemon poppyseed Starbucks muffin I had for breakfast) and now I'm off to find my train. Should have a good hour or so before boarding, so hopefully will write some more, or at least keep reading in the issue of Fourth Genre I brought with me (about creative nonfiction).
Which, by the way, is making me feel seriously under-read. Not only have I not read Montaigne (which Kevin has), or Diane Ackerman, Annie Dillard, John Krakauer, John McPhee, Tracy Kidder, Gay Talese, Lee Gutkind, or Brett Lott, who are apparently some of the leading writers in creating nonfiction, but I haven't read some of the fiction writers who these guys apparently all take for granted as being the leading lights of literature today. Argh.
The best I can find online is that Starbuck’s Orange Cranberry Muffin (not listed as lowfat) is 410 calories. So probably less than that?
Bah… if you’re under-read I must be illiterate.
Seriously, people read different things and move in different circles. Bet most of the people who consider those “the greats” haven’t touched Asimov, Clarke, Heinlien, Lake, de Lint, etc.
Oh, definitely read Diane Ackerman! I’m blanking on the title of the book (Rarest of the Rare?), but she has a collection of essays about traveling in the Amazon (and other places) that might be another way to look at your Sri Lankan trip!
I just stumbled across this journal and I had to laugh because I just finished reviewing an advanced copy of your Bodies in Motion and its beauty made we want to tear up every story I have ever written and start again. Now you are talking about feeling under-read and I don’t even know the people you are talking about. Time to do more research and writing, I guess. 🙂
If you’re adding to your reading list, I’ve read five of those authors and loved each of them, so whoever created the list knew what they were talking about. But I will cheerlead most specifically for Tracy Kidder, every one of whose books is brilliant. The last one I read, Mountains Beyond Mountains, no joke…changed my life, inspired me to start a non-profit organization…lot of work for one book to do!
Vivian, that’s so sweet, and very reassuring to hear. 🙂
Everyone else — glad to hear the authors are good, but I’m drowning here — it’ll be a while before I can pick up more books, I think. The waiting stacks are already threatening to fall on top of me…