Mixing it Up

A little this, a little that

A random backyard picture

Every Friday I enjoy reading Austin Kleon’s Substack because he does a “10 things I thought were worth sharing this week” feature. He shares everything from music to art to books to anything you can imagine. There is always something in the list to learn about with links to things I probably would never have heard of or have never heard of. I love when a post introduces me to new stuff. This week is writing related so hurry on over and read it!

So I thought I’d share some of the things I read or did recently, too.

I discovered Chris Stapleton’s Sirius XM station and I am so hooked. I suppose Chris is considered country music but to me he is just damn good with a warm, dark molasses voice with some bacon bits thrown in, and heart-squeezing lyrics. But what’s cool about his station is that it has a wide variety of music and musicians that I absolutely love including, of course, his own. He has the best selection of oldies I’ve found, far superior to the Classic stations that play the same old oldies we hear all the time. I recommend it if you subscribe to Sirisus XM.

I started a free week-long subscription to The Criterion Collection where I watched The Bedroom Window with Steve Guttenberg and Elizabeth McGovern and thoroughly enjoyed it. Set in the 80s, it’s one of those movies where you talk to the TV because you can’t believe what you’re seeing but you can’t wait to see the next thing. TCC is advertising a docu about Philip Seymour Hoffman upcoming that I’m looking forward to. What a great talent he was and how sad that his life ended so tragically and so young. Coincidentally, I watched him in Doubt on Turner Classics yesterday, just one of many stellar performances. I find myself watching more & more classic movies because there isn’t much in movie land these days that interests me.

I love good, believable crime fiction in a TV series. IMO, the UK has the lock on that genre. I just finished Collision on Freevee starring a young Doug Henshall. It was great and I highly recommend it if you like crime series and if you, like me, loved Henshall in Shetland. But hurry because I don’t know how long it’ll be on Freevee. Last month I watched Capital on Britbox and it was excellent also, a must-see.

Two books I’ve read recently and recommend are Brutes by Dizz Tate about a group of girls in a coming-of-age story that includes a mystery written in a really interesting voice. The Light Between Us by Elaine Chiew, is a speculative fiction that spans time and cultures. My interview with Elaine will be in my Reckon Review column, The Nitty Gritty, this Wednesday, August 14.

I discovered a new-to-me writer this week in Milk Candy Review, Ra’Niqua Lee. Her flash fiction piece,“Freedom Edged in Alligator Teeth”, blew me away. So much so that I googled for more of her work and found another wonderful piece, “Exchange Rates for City Babies and Border Girls” in Roi Fainéant. Y’all will not be disappointed - go read now! BTW, I recommend reading Milk Candy Review and Roi Fainéant, two of my favorite litmags for flash and short fiction.

Another favorite is Emerge Literary Journal where I have been fortunate to have work published several times over the years. There’s a new issue out now where I have a little flash memoir included. I’m still reading the issue but, I’m telling you, they have some real talent in there for your reading. Sunday is a good day to start.