Vintage Links 002: Warren Ellis; Short Crime Fiction; Washing Pillows; Unproductive Days

One of my projects for 2019 is clearing the archive of unread links tucked away in the “To Read” folder of my bookmarks bar. At time of writing, there are about 600 of them remaining, and I’m going full Marie Kondo on those fuckers: everything is checked, thanks, and cleared away so I don’t have to deal with it again. The stuff that brings me joy gets posted here, to be shared with others. 

You can see the first round of things I shared in last Monday’s post. When read alongside this week’s recommendation, it should be remembered that I have a very broad definition of joy.

I’m Warren Ellis, and This Is How I Work (Lifehacker, 2015)

Read the post on Lifehacker

I spend the first hour or two of the day at a table in my back garden, under a sloping roof, either just with the phone or with the Dell, the Pixel or a notebook, depending on what kind of day it is. (Am awaiting a Textblade, which might make some things simpler, particularly when away from home.) The rest of the day is in a small room at the back of the house that I claimed as my office twenty years ago. I’m at the same old, heavy wooden desk I bought from a junk store twenty years ago. I’m not sending a picture because it is currently a bloody mess that makes me look like a hoarder because a bunch more junk got dumped in here a couple of months ago and it hasn’t been processed out yet.

I’m a fan of Warren Ellis. Have been ever since he started writing Transmetropolitan, which was one of the first comic series I loved hard enough to pick up all the trades in a single swoop. I’ve loved the work he’s done since then, regardless of whether it’s in comics, television, or fiction. I’ve been subscribed to his newsletter for a few years now, and it’s one of the examples I look to whenever I feel like author newsletters are a bad and crassly commercial idea.

I admire the way the man thinks at the cutting edge of technological implications, yet has so many decidedly analogue methods to his process. 

And, of course, I love the little glimpses into other writers processes, so this entire post is catnip to me.  It’s one of the few links in the ‘to read; archive that is not going to be deleted, but rather transferred to the file in my archive marked “Writer Processes.” 

5 Crime Short Story Writers You Should Be Reading right Now (LitReactor, 2015)

Read the full post at LitReactor

Back when I was writing for Spinetingler Magazine on a regular basis, we ran this cool feature called “Conversations With The Bookless.” (The concept was borrowed from Jeff VanderMeer by Spinetingler head honcho, Brian Lindenmuth.) It was a very cool feature which highlighted short story writers who had yet to publish a book. It included writers such as Frank Bill, Todd Robinson, Chris Holm, Patti Abbott, Kieran Shea, and a couple of dozen others (myself included).

I’ve thought about revisiting the concept a time or two while writing for LitReactor, but the only problem is that with self and macro publishing being such a huge part of the landscape now, pretty much anyone with 5-to-10 short stories to rub together can put out a book. So there really aren’t that many bookless folks out in the world anymore. But there are still plenty of damn talented short fiction writers who’ve put out collections, novellas, or have written a novel or two, that still excel at writing short stories.

I still need to read the five writers on this list, but I flagged it when it first showed up on RSS because a) I don’t often think about the short fiction in the crime genre, and b) I’m fascinated by the idea that very few people are bookless these days, even though I’m aware of how easy it is to get a book out there. 

How to Recover from an Unproductive Day Like It Never Happened (Lifehacker, 2015)

Read the full post at Lifehacker

We all have unproductive days. Maybe an unexpected event throws your schedule for a loop. Maybe you’re not feeling well. Whatever the reason, it can be tough to get back on track. Here’s how to get past the dip in productivity and back into gear.

I’m generally pretty good at managing my time when everything is going well, but have a bad tendency to let every productive process in my toolbox fall by the wayside the moment that anxiety kicks in and I have a bad day. This post contains a lot of the things I use to help manage those expectations, but also throws in a handful of options I hadn’t considered. 

How (And How Often) You Should Wash Your Pillows (Apartment Therapy, 2015)

Read the full post on Apartment Therapy

Dry your pillows according to the care label. If you are able to put them in the dryer, place a few tennis balls in with the pillows to speed up dry time and to keep the fibers from clumping

This was saved alongside a whole bunch of posts about exercise, calorie counting, cleaning, and getting your shit together with regards to your health. This post was flagged because I drooled in my sleep, and have white pillowcases. The effects of my drooling is quite noticable.

They still are,  even though I spend the majority of my nights trapped behind a CPAP mask to combat the sleep apnea I wasn’t yet aware of at the time. 

That said, I still don’t take care of my pillows like a should, despite having this on my to-read list for nearly five years now.