Blog Posts for Justine Musk

failure is good for you: how practice novels helped me get published

Justine Lee Musk — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:48:53 -0700

Fear of failure is a bitch.It’s like the bitch god or bitch goddess – depending on your preferred visualization – covered with dark shaggy hair, snarling, holding sway over so many of us. We learn young – especially in this culture – that people can be either winners or losers, and to be a loser – to Fail – is the worst humiliation anyone could endure, a kind of psychic ...

box seats at the Lakers game with famous people

Justine Lee Musk — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 23:40:27 -0700

1Yesterday I imported this Livejournal to Wordpress.com, so there are now two mirrored versions. I will continue to post at Livejournal (I love the LJ community, can't fathom the idea of leaving) as well as over here, which means that you, dearest reader, have your pick. Sadly, during transport all my gorgeous comments got left behind. I know there are ways to import those as well, but am not so ...

A Reader's Manifesto: Or: To Develop Your Writer's Intuition, You Must First Read Like A Maniac

Justine Lee Musk — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 18:14:12 -0700

1Reading came first. It always does. Reading is the inhale, writing is the exhale. I once read somewhere that kids who like to read fall into two groups. The first naturally picks up reading from their environment: they see their parents reading, they find books in the house, they go to libraries and bookstores and learn young and easily the books that they enjoy. These kinds of readers are ...

why 'Create or Die!' is so overrated

Justine Lee Musk — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:19:34 -0700

When I was in university, one of my closest friends asked me if writing fiction couldn’t be a “hobby” instead of something I staked my future and livelihood on. I was adamant that it could not. I had to create or die, dammit! I was born to be a writer! Anything else would be a death of the soul!I wonder about that now. It’s good – and necessary – to be passionately dedicated to your ...

you are what you eat

Justine Lee Musk — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:09:53 -0700

My trainer, John, is married to a gorgeous ex-model who knows how to cook, which might be why John talks more about food than almost anyone I've ever met. "She made a roast chicken stuffed with lots of garlic last night, and it was awesome," he told me. "So I'm rather pungent today."He was. He reeked of garlic. It wafted from his pores and through the air to where I stood ...

Mom's House, Dad's House

Justine Lee Musk — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:39:39 -0700

50/50 custody is weird: a regular and overnight switch from the warm rich chaos of multiple small boys to...silence and solitude, reading and writing, social life. It's like two different lives lived at the same time, or two different countries found in the same place. I don't think I've discovered a way to balance everything, but I'm beginning to suspect that balance, if not impossible, is a ...