A little of this, a pinch of that, a dash of...
Mar 23, 2023
Hello, my name is Margo Hendricks. I also write under the pen name Elysabeth Grace, and I am a procrastinator.
While scrolling through an irreversibly broken Twitter TL or an Instagram feed (IG isn't quite as broken but striving to match the bird app), I came across an ad that linked procrastination to "problematic" mental health issues. I spent two minutes considering it, then said aloud, "nah." It's been far too cold to be anything but exhausted.
As a writer, I spend much of my time "inside my head," whether I'm writing genre literature or academic stuff, and "things" get put off. They don't disappear or remain uncompleted--they just get put off. I tend to work on multiple projects at a time—it staves off so-called writer's block. I often follow tangents where they lead: it is how Elizabethan Mischief's twin siblings and Christopher Marlowe became intertwined. What falls by the wayside are my efforts to organize my writing life. Better time management, tossed in the abyss. Learn how to plot, nope. Go shopping to replace quite worn-out comfy clothes, tomorrow. It's not difficult to procrastinate because my brain knows when to take care of me. When I need that tangent to inspire. When I need to heed the deadlines (self-imposed since I'm an Indie fiction author and I rarely publish anything academic).
Capitalism abhors procrastination. Why? Because to procrastinate runs counter to the presumptive ideology about needing to work or to be busy at all times. Procrastination's reply: categorically not. So I encourage everyone to procrastinate regularly when their brain whispers, "let's not do that, let's do this."
Gatekeeping Blackness
Again, Twitter offers up some gems that many years ago I would have labeled "failing one of nature's little IQ tests," which humans seem incapable of passing—to wit, capitalists willing to destroy the planet for profit or employers driving down wages or laying off/firing people whose income is used to purchase commodities and thus the source profit/wealth. Of course, some actuarial nerd has calculated to the 3/5 of a worker where greed is no longer a viable capitalist endeavor, but the accumulation of wealth (capital) remains a pair of blinders. A tangent
For several days Halle Berry's "Blackness" was a Twitter topic. One tweet insisted that she was "white-passing." A slew of replies followed and, as is usual, devolved into a contest of "blacker than thou." Why question a person's "Blackness" if it is somatically obvious in their physical appearance or they claim their Blackness through a parent/grandparent/great-grandparent, especially in relationships framed by colorism? What does it mean to be Black American? Aside from exposing and shaming the "passers" seeking to profit off Blackness, why the micro-gatekeeping (saw the four grandparents, both sides, rule of Blackness) of Black identity when, tbh, as a racial category Blackness (and its opposite, whiteness) is seriously pseudo-science. Blackness is not universe-made and gatekeeping it makes little sense. From a writing standpoint, I can tell you Blackness is a trope, a metaphor, a symbol, and a simile—everything but DNA. But, most of those folk ain't gonna listen so I'mma not waste my breath.
Book Recommendations
Procrastination methodology: reading is my preference when procrastinating, usually romance, fantasy, suspense, or thriller, aka what's often labeled as "genre fiction." I don't read the so-called Canon (except for those pre-18th century writers who aid and abet my imagination and keep me laughing) because, quite honestly, I'm not about suffering and trauma as the driver of the narrative without hope, joy, or love as the termination point. Had to read those types of books in graduate school, not anymore. However, I do have a bucket list of those texts to read before I join the ancestors. Anyway, here are some books I've recently read.
Fantasy
That Self-Same Metal is the rare YA debut that inspires me to write my praise for what Brittany Williams has produced. I requested and received an ARC copy of That Self-Same Metal because it is set in a world I'm deeply familiar with (in my fictional writing set in Elizabethan England and my academic career). Also, to have two fictional Black people-centered novels set in Elizabethan/Jacobean London published within a year of each other is unusual. Even more so, to have the main characters, Black women who confront racism, sexism, and their precarious position within a patriarchal world.
While I don't have a problem with spoilers, the official release date is in April, so my comments will be general reactions to the storytelling, especially the historical context and characterizations. Williams does a wonderful job of owning the "history." Her representation of the Jacobean theater (James I's reign) is detailed, lively, and innovative; the depiction of a woman teaching men swordplay (especially bombastic Richard Burbage) is a delight. In these scenes, Joan Sands is the "master teacher," and the respect of those she teaches is evident. Although the King's Men company serves as a significant secondary character, the actors are not the focus. The story is Joan Sands' journey to discover who she is and how to wield the powers within her.
Williams thoughtfully and carefully introduces the Sands family's Nigerian cultural lineage, including religious and parent/child relations. There is obvious love, respect, and joy in this Black family. More than anything, and unlike many historical fictions set pre-20th century, this Black-centered novel is not inflected by slavery (though the trafficking in African bodies isn't slighted). Instead, it offers a wonderful take on Black lives in early modern England. It is that fact that makes That Self-Same Metal a delight to read.
Now to my favorite: I absolutely love this retelling of the Titania/Oberon plot of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Absolutely love it! The contest between powerful supernatural communities—African deities and Fae—over the vulnerable human community is an original. From the start, my imagination was captured by both the magic of the narrative and the representations of magic. When Williams writes, "metal was simple. It only felt joy or rage" as she attempts to mend a sword, we never lose sight of the elemental relationship between magic and nature. In effect, Williams' depiction of the Fae's conflict echoes Titania's "…And this same progeny of evils comes/From our debate, from our dissension;/We are their parents and original" (Act 2 scene 1). Shakespeare's play text becomes an instrument for storytelling and offers an insightful representation of a culturally shifting world.
That Self-Same Metal is a gem. While there is so much analysis that the academic in me would undertake were I teaching a course titled "Shakespeare and Race," what makes this book worth the attention of Premodern Critical Race Studies folk is it's a different version of the counter-narrative we've been telling for years. That Self-Same Metal is for anyone who loves A Midsummer Night's Dream and wonders what Shakespeare's "faerie world" might look like from the pen of a gifted Black author.
Romance
Dria Andersen's "The Hamilton Brothers" series. This Black, urban-based, shifter romance is giving me inspiration (early modern England, naturally). Key to this series is the family dynamics that interlace with the territorial politics that inflect the way animals (human, feline, ursine, and canine) deal with each other. At the center of these romances is, of course, the HEA and Andersen handles the "troubled journey" of the main characters incredibly well. Worth a read.
Alexandria House's "The McClain Brothers" is another Black, urban-based romance series that enchants me. Set in the world of Black entertainment in various forms (music, sports, and tv/film), the male main characters exemplify the type of complex masculinity that comes with their chosen professions. Even so, House delivers where it counts in Black romance: family-centered no matter what stage they're at in their careers. Most importantly, these men never waiver in showing their love for the women who speak to their hearts.
Alexandra Warren's novella Oops is exactly what you think it is--an unexpected pregnancy. The sex is steamy, the opposites attract deftly handled, and the family dynamics are fun to read. This book also played with my expectations and I loved that. I definitely plan to pick up more Warren books.
Mia Heintzelman's "Friendship Contract" is another rec. I love contentious lovers (something all of these Black romances have in common) and this rom-com delivers. This novel is a friends to lovers HEA and Heintzelman crafted the journey so well that you want to read about the couple's HEA ten years into the relationship.
Each of these authors delivers on storytelling and depth of characterization, and the skilled use of romance conventions are chef's kiss.
Suspense or Thriller
I've just started reading Attica Locke's Black Water Rising and I'm invested. I'll have more to say once I finish. Next up on my suspense/thriller TBR: books by Kellye Garrett, Darby Kane, and S.A. Cosby.
My So-Called Academic Life
I reviewed a book. I'll say more when the review comes out, if it's published. If not, I'll publish it here with an addendum.
In February I spent a lovely day in Tempe, AZ with the brilliant folks at ASU's Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies. The conversations reminded me why what I do is important. The ability to choose your paths (there's never only one) is something I treasure. I remain a part of the pre-and early modern literary studies community (an occasional conference, the occasional essay, "the book"), yet it's the romance author who refuses to compromise with the academic author. Elysabeth Grace decided to write a cozy mystery series and Willie Shakespeare's Canon will never be the same. The Cock & Oyster Historical Cozy Mystery Series, with a dash of kink appropriates several of Shakespeare's plays and damages them. At the same time, I continue to work on a creative non-fiction book about academia, "From Cotton Fields to Shakespeare's Negress, a cultural history." Writing romance simultaneously with the academic (something I've always done) makes sense because both forms are historical illusions. Perhaps in a future musing I'll explore this idea. Meanwhile, you can support me by becoming a paid subscriber to MargoH's Musings or buying my books at https://www.elysabethgrace.com.
Thanks for reading
© 2024 Margo Hendricks
