Pink art, celeb political endorsements, and a podcast smorgasbord

The giveaway is Sally Rooney’s 'Intermezzo'

Nov 12, 2024

Apparently, ’tis the season for an avalanche of writing rejections. For a while, I’d been neglectful of sending submissions out and in the past week, I’ve only just started to rectify that. But for every piece I sling out the door, two rejected ones seem to fly right back at me. It’s a little disheartening.

I really can’t complain too much – I’ve had a pretty good run of it this year. Maybe I should just learn not to be quite as affected by the ups and downs of writer life (lol, if anyone ever learns how to reach this level of zen, please let me know and teach me all your secrets).

So, it’s the sit-tight-and-wait-for-rollercoaster-to-swing-upwards-again stage of proceedings. A good time to ignore emails and socials and hunker down to simply get some words on the page, as my job kinda implies. Right after I check my Insta and inbox…

Have a swinging-upwards kinda week. : )

News

1. We all know the outcome of last week’s US election by now and having read up on the experts’ predictions, I’d mentally braced for the outcome we received. In light of how it all went down, I thought this Guardian article had an interesting take, examining whether and how celebrity endorsements of candidates move the voting needle.

2. Cheers to science for making various aspects of our lives safer, and soon surfers will might be able to say the same regarding their sea-top paddles. The ABC reports that researchers reckon they’ve found a solution – camouflaging surfers’ silhouette using LED lights. They’re not quite invisible to sharks, but they seem to lose interest when they can’t see a clear target. Great stuff.

Reviews

1. I’m a somewhat-girly girl who loves pink (and discussions about all things bright and beautiful generally, so I enjoyed this little BBC tour-by-article through what pink has signified in the various art eras and in specific paintings.

2. Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty is a crime novel with a difference, fused as it is with a very space-and-aliens setting. It’s fun and fast-paced, but it did make my brain hurt a little at the start from trying to keep track of all the alien species and their characteristics. Plus, there’s a cast of (it feels like) thousands. Thankfully, Lafferty has given them all very unique, memorable names, which eases the brain load a bit. The main character, Mallory, lives on a space station in an effort to stay away from other humans, as murders tend to happen around her and this is the best solution she’s found. She’s living somewhat happily in this arrangement until she hears there’s a human-filled shuttle bound for the station. As she fears, all hell breaks loose and and she does her best to fix things. I was enjoying this novel at the start, although somewhat unconvinced it was for me. By the end, it won me over. Station Eternity is part of the ‘Midsolar Murders’ series, which so far contains three books, so I’m eager to continue with the next instalment.

3. In need of a quality distraction (or several), I’ll be lending an ear to these podcast recommendations from British Vogue in the next week or so. The ones that most sound like my vibe? Bookclub, The Apology Line, Fanfare, and Hysteria.

4. Available at Sephora and elsewhere for around $30 for 75ml, I was keen to try Ole Henriksen’s ‘Stay in Touch’ restorative hand crème. I’m a fan of some of the brand’s other products and my hands could use some TLC lately – they’re looking a bit weathered. This cream goes on thick, smelling of orange juice mixed with a chemical or two. It absorbed quickly and my hands were silky-smooth after I applied it, but the scent wasn’t the best and I suspect I could find a hand cream I like more for a more wallet-friendly price point. Eh.

What I’m Feelin’ Right Now

Salted coconut and mango sorbet
‘Somebody New’ by Blusher
Ice blue accessories
A sangria mocktail at Christmas
Leaning into the burgeoning suede sneaker trend while the weather’s good
After-dinner fruit-and-nut platters
Going to a lakeside wedding and staying in a log cabin
Trying all the local gelati options
Gold foil clothing

Giveaway

The giveaway this week is Sally Rooney’s Intermezzo. Enter your name and email address here for a chance to win.

Playlist of the Week

Music for my imaginary speakeasy: