This article was first published in my Eclecticism newsletter in November 2022. It is a kind of writer’s diary.
Education committee meeting in the House of Lords
I hope you’re enjoying your Monday so far. Here is a mixture of news, articles and links you might like. A word of warning though: one of the pieces below is pure fiction. I will leave you to determine which one.
Epistolary nonfiction
Substack recently suggested that writers collaborate on letter-writing, and unlike the badges innovation this quite appeals to me. The announcement came literally a couple of days after I had started a course on epistolary fiction. To cut a long story short, Rebecca Holden and I will be exchanging letters. She will start -- ladies first! --and I will respond (or retaliate: it all depends on what she writes!). Her first epistle will be published on Thursday, with my reply, with a bit of luck, next Sunday.
To ensure that you don't miss out, be sure to subscribe to Rebecca's newsletter.
Unread books
I recently subscribed to Mark R Delong’s newsletter, which is called Technocomplex. It’s eclectic (so I would like it, right?). One of the articles I enjoyed, and which I will comment upon at some point (sson, hopefully) is this one on Unread books.
I certainly agree that when people ask: “Have you read all these books?” they’re missing part of the picture I think. Living in a library, as it were, means that you are continually discovering books that you had started but not finished, bought but not started, read several times, referred to several times, or some other variation of the above.
The article chimed with me because I’m currently writing a rather long round-up of Oulipo books, Oulipo being a French acronym for (approximately) “workshop of potential literature”. In one of the books (All That Is Evident Is Suspect” is an article by Paul Braffort about libraries. I won’t say more about it now, so watch this space. IN the meantime, do check out Mark’s article and newsletter.
Lording it
Not many people know this, but I am actually a lord. Should you ever meet me, either on Zoom or in person, the correct way to address me is “Your lordship”. I mention this purely to save you from inadvertently committing a faux pas.
The correct way to make a perfect cup of instant coffee
Put a spoonful of coffee in to the cup.
Add milk.
Gently agitate the coffee and milk – do not stir. Stirring, especially vigorously, can lead to a process known as molecular disintegration, whereas what we’re aiming for is molecular disruption.
Heat the water to precisely 95 degrees.
Drizzle the hot water into the cup, while continuing to gently agitate the contents. DO NOT POUR: DRIZZLE. Practise saying to yourself, “I must drizzle.”
Allow to cool for a few minutes.
Enjoy your perfect cup of coffee.
That is it from me for now. Remember to subscribe to Rebecca’s newsletter in order to catch her first letter. And subscribe to this one to catch my reply.