Ms. Theologian is open for questions again right now. Specifically, she responds to questions regarding spirituality and work or the workplace. If you haven’t checked her out before, please do so because not only is she brilliant, she’s wise (and she will even make you laugh).
I read that there were some folks who were tsk-tsking Jill Carroll and insinuating that she was somehow involved in her own kidnapping. All of this based on that interview she gave immediately after she was let go.
I took all that she said right then with a grain of salt. How would you feel after immediately being let go? You might wonder if it was a trick–if you were being tested. I would. Anyone would. You might say what you thought was expected of you so that you could stay alive.
It sickens me that there are those out there who immediately rushed to judge her based on those words. I hate to shame people, but shame on you. Even if she had been speaking her truth, why judge her? What does that gain you. You ought to be ashamed.
Jill Carroll Statement–in her own words:
Things that I was forced to say while captive are now being taken by some as an accurate reflection of my personal views. They are not. The people who kidnapped me and murdered Alan Enwiya are criminals, at best. They robbed Alan of his life and devastated his family. They put me, my family and my friends – all those around the world – who have prayed so fervently for my release through a horrific experience. I was, and remain, deeply angry with the people who did this.
I also gave a TV interview to the Iraqi Islamic Party shortly after my release. The party had promised me the interview would never be broadcast or aired on television, and they broke their word. At any rate, fearing retribution from my captors, I did not speak freely. Out of fear I said I wasn’t threatened. In fact, I was threatened many times.
Also, at least two false statements about me have been widely aired: One, that I refused to travel and cooperate with the U.S. military and two, that I refused to discuss my captivity with U.S. officials. Again, neither statement is true.
Just reminding you that if you use Duotrope’s Digest of Fiction Fields (and if you don’t, why not? It’s the most useful, user friendly listing and sub tracking tool out there) you might want to donate some cash to the administrators so that they can keep it going and keep it free.
My reading cup runneth over today:
Got a nice note from Miriam N. Kotzin and Bill Turner the editors of the new(ish) ezine Per Contra. If you haven’t checked out this impressive ezine yet, you should give it a read. Here’s what Miriam and Bill have to say about their creation:
Our quarterly publication, Per Contra publishes fiction and poetry, interviews with authors, interviews with artists and images of their work, non-fiction, as well as book and music reviews.
Our authors of fiction and poetry have won many awards, and, in June, our roster includes two MacArthur recipients along with a book of the month club author and work by an author praised as “a startling new writer” of “signpost fiction.”
In our first two issues we’ve published poetry by Elaine Terranova, Jane McGuffin and R.T. Smith and fiction by Richard Burgin, Randall Brown, Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz, Ann Hood, Luke Whisnant, Gail Galloway Adams, Ania Vesenny and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
We also have distinguished contributing editors: Richard Burgin, author of many books and founding editor of Boulevard; and Steven Rosen who has thirty years of writing about rock music and musicians. Al Gury will be joining us as a contributing editor in the next issue.
Abducted journalist Carroll freed:
American hostage Jill Carroll, the freelance journalist who was kidnapped in Baghdad January 7, has been released, U.S. law enforcement officials and The Christian Science Monitor said Thursday.
If you don’t read Katrina Denza’s Lit Mag Roundup 2.0 over at MoorishGirl then you are missing out big time. Kat is an excellent reader and she has great insights into the journals she’s read. Go on and read it.
The Barcelona Review issue #52 is live and featuring work from a couple of my pals:
- Chasing Angela, by Terry DeHart
- Old Maids, by Steven Gullion
Today I offer you the hilarious and honest, Katie Weekley: Cheeseskate
In case you didn’t already know, Ellen Meister‘s book, Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA, is red hot. I’ve already ordered my copy and am counting the days until it arrives when it is released in August ’06.
This book is so hot, in fact, that she’s already making the news.Check out this item from today’s New York Daily News:
The desperate housewives of Long Island can’t get George Clooney out of their heads — well, at least those wives in Ellen Meister’s novel, “Secret Confession of the Applewood PTA.” The delicious piece of chick lit from a Jericho Long Island PTA mom has harried housewives plotting how to get the Oscar winner to film a movie in their town. While Clooney doesn’t actually visit, he lives in the ladies’ fantasies.
I predict this is only one of many things we’ll be hearing about Ellen Meister and Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA
Issue #71 of One Story is an excellent story–Good Luck, written by Kate Walbert. At it’s core this is a love story, or a falling out of romantic love and into some other form of love story. Basically, it is a story of independence–Bill’s from the physical cage of his POW existence and Evelyn’s from living all their married life in her husband’s intellectual shadow.
Here is what Walbert has to say about the incredible final paragraph:
Since it was the paragraph that initially opened the story—the image of the two on deck watching the glacier—I knew it contained all the clues to the narrative. I also knew I had to get right the sound and look of that glacier, the suddenness with which everything is changed, the enormity of the feeling, which I can quite vividly recall, of somehow standing at the bottom of the world, or almost. I do feel it’s done now, or at least for the story as it stands today.
And as one who has read and loved this story, I can say without equivocation that I could not imagine a more perfect ending than the one that is there.
Here is an article that everyone should consider reading (you’ll have to go through a brief advertisement to read the article in its entirety)–Be Worried. Be Very Worried.:
The climate is crashing, and global warming is to blame. Why the crisis will hit so soon—and what we can do about it.
myfanwy collins 