Whoopi Goldberg, the 'Murder, She Wrote' board game, and the songs bringing your commute into disrepute

And a rant, mostly to convince myself, about why some bad happenings are, in fact, good and helpful.

Has it ever struck you how the horrible, no-good things that happen in life (a death in the family, illness, a nasty letter from a neighbour…) kind of happen to you without prompting? All you need do is exist and whammo! you’re hit with a plot twist that can turn your life upside down or mean you’re in for a very. upsetting. day.

Good things, on the other hand, seem to require you seeking them out and creating them, in a way. To find a romantic partner, you need to put up a profile on Tinder and go on dates, tell someone you love them and hope they respond in kind. To get a job, you’ll often need to write up your CV, search online for positions vacant, respond to selection criteria, etc. For writing, the sitch is similar – you create a story or essay or poem, search for a journal or award or publication that looks like a suitable home for it, submit it, and hope like hell it’s accepted.

All these things come with oodles of rejection along the journey, or at least the anticipation and anxiety of it. Honestly, I probably receive 10 ‘no’s for every one ‘yes’, even more sometimes. Some days, I wake up to an email saying: “Dear writer, thank you for sending us your work, however we regret to inform you…” and I shrug my shoulders and get on with my day. It barely makes the tiniest dent in my ego. Other days, especially after a long string of rejections, it spins me into a whirlpool of sadness. What if my writing is never accepted anywhere ever again? What if I’m a complete failure as a writer and as a human being? What if I suck so badly and don’t realise it?

But while these rejections might seem like the horrible no-good things I mentioned like death and a nasty note from your neighbour, they’re not the same. Every ‘no’ moves you forward to your next yes. And those yeses are sweet and amazing, especially when you’ve fought so hard to achieve them. They make up for 10, 20, 100 ‘no’s.

I received such a ‘yes’ this week – my tiny story “How It Tastes” has been shortlisted in the Berry Writers Festival flash fiction competition. I’m confident it won’t win or place, but that’s okay because being shortlisted is an affirmation that I’m not wasting my time writing. The judges deemed my story worthy of placing among the eight best. I’d had such a long drought before this of any acceptances and it was really getting to me. Now, my faith has been renewed that I’m on the right track.

Wishing you a ‘yes’ this week, or at least the courage to risk rejection for the chance at one.

---

News

1.     Sad to see Angela Lansbury has dropped off the perch. Rumour has it in my family that she’s a distant relative of ours. I wouldn’t put much credence in it, but it’s a nice thought. In any case, Murder, She Wrote was popular in my household growing up, and I’ve even played the board game, which is essentially a fun cardboard version of Murder in the Dark, but easily messed up if you accidentally flip over a token to the wrong side. Play it with people who are on the ball, man. Anyway, did you hear about this side story – Angela’s daughter Deirdre fell in with cult leader Charles Manson’s followers, so the family relocated to Ireland to get away from that crowd and make a fresh start. Wild. Wonder what would’ve happened if they hadn’t made the move? Also, here’s an explainer of that time in one of the later episodes when Murder She Wrote made fun of a new, young whippersnapper of a TV show, Friends. That is so not what I was expecting.

2.     Hooray for more diverse sci-fi books receiving their due, giving us a greater variety of perspectives and opening minds to the different ways people experience the world. I’m all for anything that moves sci-fi past the traditional heavily technology- and outer-space-based stories of decades past by endless rich white males. Sure, some of those stories are fab, but let’s expand our (event) horizons, yeah? This piece in The Sydney Morning Herald quotes Aussie author Claire Coleman as saying (in relation to marginalised people working poorly paid entry-level jobs): “Every day is a dystopia for somebody.” Goes to show science fiction can be so much more than sonic screwdrivers and little green men.

Reviews

1.     Straight-up inhaled this book late last week: The Bullet That Missed by Richard Osman. It could be read as a stand-alone, but if you’re thinking of picking it up, do yourself a favour and read the other two in the series first – The Thursday Murder Club and The Man Who Died Twice. The series started strong, with fab characters (a gang of elderly bad-asses who solve crimes from their home in a retirement village), but the mystery element was a tad so-so in the first novel. I feel that Osman has improved on the plotting front as he’s gone along, while Elizabeth, Joyce, Ron and Ibrahim are as enchanting as ever. This book adds a new face or two to the mix as well, so I’m keen to see how they change the dynamic between the friends in future instalments.

2.     Have I mentioned my fierce devotion to Whoopi Goldberg? Since Robin Williams is gone, we need to hold her tight, so I’m pleased as punch about this in-depth piece on how she lives (with the quirky décor in her house, just like her character in Jumping Jack Flash, it seems!) and her stellar career. And here’s a little snippet of Jumping Jack Flash because it is one of my favourite movies, mediocre reviews be damned.

3.     To get my free Mecca Beauty Loop box this season, I ordered the Westman Atelier Baby Cheeks blush stick from the site. I would’ve bought one of my old faithfuls I wear everyday like a sunscreen, but the one I use regularly was out of stock. Anyway, the shade is Chouchette, which is a very wearable nude peach. It looks pleasant, but next time, I’d probably go for a colour that pops more like Minette or Poppet. I do love the cream formulation, which is one of the most easily blendable I’ve found and the magnetic snap-together lid is a nice touch, but I’m not sure it’s worth the price -- a major ouch at $72.

Giveaway

The winner of the copy of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s novel Carrie Soto is Back is *drumrolllllllllll…* Seetha Dodd. Hooray! Seetha, I’ll be emailing you shortly to arrange delivery of your shiny new book! : )

Since I’ve wound up with two copies of The Bullet That Missed, this week you have a chance to win one. Here’s a pic of one of our cats, Lulu, doing an enchanting job of modelling with it for you. Good luck! Enter here.

Playlist of the Week

Naughty numbers to bring your commute into disrepute:

1.     Late Night Feels - Sam Feldt, Monsta X

2.     Every Kind Of Way - H.E.R.

3.     What You Need - The Weeknd

4.     Crazy In Love - Sofia Karlberg

5.     Love Me Like You Do - Ellie Goulding

6.     Red Lights (Bang Chan, Hyunjin) - Stray Kids

7.     Capital Letters - Hailee Steinfeld, BloodPop

8.     Bom Bidi Bom - Nick Jonas, Nicki Minaj

9.     Body Party - Ciara

10.  Waste It On Me - Steve Aoki, BTS

11.  GIANTS - Tiggi Hawke

12.  Away From Me - CHINAH

13.  Eleven - Khalid, Summer Walker

14.  Lies In the Dark - Tove Lo

15.  I Put A Spell On You - Annie Lennox