Three Things: Week 44.23
Crime novels, Steinbeck's trick for getting kids to read, and 9 months since my layoff
Happy November First! My three costumed children staggered home last night from trick-or-treating with pillowcases full of candy. The delight on their faces somewhat soothed my horror at the sheer quantity of sugar they were about to ingest (and will continue to ingest in coming weeks). It was the first time that they’ve wanted to go trick-or-treating alone. Instead of feeling sad, I closed the front door behind them, said to my husband, “That’s the end of an era,” and poured myself a glass of wine to enjoy next to the fireplace as the snow fell heavily outside. It felt wonderful.
1. The Allure of Crime Novels
While sipping that wine, I continued to sprint through the latest Robert Galbraith novel, The Running Grave. Galbraith is a pseudonym for J.K. Rowling, who said she wanted to go back to the beginning of her writing career in a new genre after finishing the Harry Potter series. This latest book, which just came out, is the seventh in the series about detective Cormoran Strike, who investigates the dark and twisted side of humanity—and, of course, sorts it out in a most satisfying way.
I have low tolerance for creepiness, so my own attraction to these crime novels surprises me, but I think it’s because of how superbly they’re written. I am drawn in not just by the mystery itself, but by the incredible amount of detail, research, and organization required to structure each novel. (The latest one is 960 pages.) I am baffled and impressed by how an author would go about writing such a book, and wish very much I had the skills to do so.
Rowling said about crime novels, “Part of the appeal and part of the fascination of the genre is that it has clear rules. I’m intrigued by those rules and I like playing with them. Your detective should always lay out the information fairly for the reader, but he will always be ahead of the game.” Apparently, she uses colour-coded spreadsheets.
It makes me wonder if I could learn how to write crime fiction. But then, I am always stupefied and shaken by the story, so I’d hardly be a good candidate for “throwing wrenches” into plotlines. I want everyone to be safe and happy!
Other crime authors I enjoy are Kate Atkinson and her Jackson Brodie series, as well as Louise Penny’s Inspector Gamache books (though her love of partial, incomplete sentences drives me mad). Please tell me your favourite crime writers in the comments below!
2. John Steinbeck’s Reverse Psychology
While we’re on the topic of books, I read a delightful story about how renowned American author John Steinbeck tricked his kids into reading great books. Dan Stone wrote about talking to Steinbeck’s son Thom for a documentary he was doing about The Grapes of Wrath.
Thom said that when he and his brother were young, his father bought a large cabinet and locked all the books he wanted them to read inside. He used a gigantic key and “hid” it on top. He told the boys, “Don’t ever let me catch you touching anything in that cabinet.” He said there was a secret inside that they shouldn’t know, either. So, of course, the boys sneaked down every night to open the cabinet and read books by flashlight. Thom said:
“We did this for months. And I was always amazed that my father always made sure there were plenty of batteries in the house, and I could never figure out that one… I was trying to figure out what the secret was, reading these things.”
What is it about reverse psychology that works so well on kids? It’s a clever way to get them to plow through books that they might not otherwise tackle, though I’m not sure I’d be so willing to trade precious hours of sleep for literary expansion. It does make me realize that I want my kids to spend time reading bigger, better, more classic works of literature than their current obsession with Clive Cussler.
3. The Awfulness of Aimlessness
It’s been nine months (!!!) since I got laid off from my full-time job as a senior staff editor at Dotdash Meredith, along with hundreds of other people. Oh, and I just got three more rejection emails this week from the 100+ jobs I’ve applied to since the layoff.
What a weird year it’s been.
On one hand, the publication of my book and the flurry of attention and busyness around that has been the most professionally validating experience of my life. On the other hand, not having an official job to show up for every day can feel utterly demoralizing.
Out of more than 100 job applications, I’ve had two callbacks for interviews. Otherwise, I get the odd rejection email, but mostly, I never hear back. It’s like screaming into a void, applying for a job. I’ve worked with resume developers and job coaches. I’ve networked like mad and learned everything about keywords. I’ve pitched and followed up and reached out and looped back and done everything I’ve been told to do, but… nothing. It's hard not to feel profound self-doubt at times.
I do have numerous freelance gigs, which I appreciate and enjoy, but that’s not quite how I imagined spending my working life. It feels like a piecemeal arrangement, being paid an hourly wage to render services that don’t necessarily feel like they’re investing in anything bigger or longer-term. I miss having a permanent employer to whom I feel deeply committed and who (I thought erroneously) was invested in me. But then, maybe that’s a valuable lesson in itself—realizing that I was disposable to the website I’d given more than a decade of life to. Perhaps self-employment isn’t terrible.
So, I’ve had a definite sense of aimlessness lately, mixed with intense self-scrutiny about what I need to do to feel a sense of daily purpose again. My mother tells me it’s good to be grappling with these questions of what one wants one’s life to be. Someone else sat me down last week and said wisely, “Just focus on the things you can control and trust that it will all come together eventually.”
I’ve been mulling that over, but what does that look like? Writing another book? Delving into volunteer work? Going back to school? Opening a business? I don’t know. If anyone has any life advice, feel free to throw it my way!
In Other News:
Please check out this awesome podcast I did with The Jackie Serviss Show! It’s a 45-minute interview that took us deep into a fabulous discussion about kids and screens. Here’s a little sneak preview:
Call for Reviews: If you’ve read Childhood Unplugged and enjoyed it, please take a few minutes to leave a brief review online. Amazon reviews are particularly helpful for boosting book sales!
Author Event: I’m doing another author event this coming Saturday, November 4 at the Port Elgin library, along with a group of other published local authors. Please come out to say hi if you’re in the area!
You Might Also Like:
Untethered: How a 10-Year Career Came to an Abrupt End
Three Things: Some Thoughts on Solitude, Helicopter Parenting, and ‘Time Confetti’
Talk to Strangers
Now that TREEHUGGER is gone, it is time to collaborate with your former underemployed colleagues to create a new & better version on SUBSTACK !
I like Ruth Rendell - her Inspector Wexford mysteries specifically, her other ones are a bit more on the creepy side! Also PD James and Colin Dexter (Morse, Lewis, Endeavour) - all books (and tv series) you have to pay attention to so you can keep up!