Aliya S. King

Thisbe: By John William Waterhouse 1909

I came in here this morning to write a post about how to find the email address of an editor you’d like to pitch a story to. (Stay tuned for that one… it’s good.)

And then I remembered that Blender magazine announced yesterday that they were closing. And I immediately started writing about that. (I wrote in the first issue of Blender. I think it was either on Afu-Ra or RZA. Is that bad that I can’t remember which? It was ten years ago…)

So, I’m sitting here at Starbucks, tap-tap-tapping away about Blender and Afu-Ra/RZA. And then two random white guys sit down next to me.

Like most writers, I study people. People I observe become characters in fiction. I also love to listen to how people talk. It helps with writing dialogue. (Real human speech is much more stilted than what we write. It’s very hard to capture.)

And on top of all that, I’m easily distracted. So if I’m not wearing headphones, I will definitely wander into someone else’s conversation and hang out for a while.

TH and I often play a game called Who Is That. We listen and observe strangers in restaurants and then decide if they’re dating or married, kids or no kids. Rich or poor, etc.

I start doing that this morning, watching the two guys and listening closely to the conversation… (more…)

Best Supporting Actress was the first award given out last night. I leaned toward the television set, my fingers crossed. Viola! Taraji! Come on!

(And I wasn’t rooting for either just because they were Black. I actually saw both films. And they were both great. And besides that, I saw Viola Davis in Antwone Fisher. THRILLING! And I’ve loved Taraji since Baby Boy: “I hate you Jody!”)

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