Hi! What is this for?
Hey there! This is an exercise in getting myself to create more on a regular basis. Whether that means essays, fiction, photography, what have you — well, it’s kind of an adventure, so I guess we’ll see!
So who are you?
I’m Esther. I’m 32, I live in Brooklyn and I’ve been creative my whole life. For money, I’m a journalist; my other life goal is to write that novel you really love.
Magpie & Whale?
I know, I know. Classic hipster pairing of two disparate nouns equals self-indulgent blog name. I’ve got my reasons, though.
Once upon a time in 2003, I went to go hear Neil Gaiman give a talk. He said something that really stuck with me, even then, which was this: “If you’re an author, you’re a magpie. You pick up the glittery things and take them back to your nest.” What he was saying was that storytellers steal everything, because they’re always paying attention. One of my best friends has been calling me a magpie for years. I have the problem of being interested in everything. It can make decision-making difficult on occasion.
On the other hand, I can get obsessive about things too. When a topic snags me, it snags me fast and drags me under in the blink of an eye, and I stay interested for months, even years at a time. When I was little, it was things like bugs and The Lion King and the American Civil War. These days, it’s things like oral histories and TV shows and independent comics. I learn everything I possibly can about them; I expound on them, I write about them, I buy books, I watch DVDs on endless loop. I go deep, is what I’m saying. And one of my earliest obsessions, one that still fascinates me no end, is the whale. Whales are great. Everyone should learn about them.
So now you know that about me. Magpie and whale.
Oh no! Where did Innogen and the Hungry Half go?
It’s still here! I just changed my website menu to streamline the site a little. It’s been four years since I updated my serials, so I think for now I have to admit I’ve moved on. Innogen and the Hungry Half, my steampunk take on Shakespeare’s Cymbeline, lives here. Coldspur, which was going to be my zombie Henry IV epic, lives at “The WIP That I Put Away: Grief, Shakespeare and telling stories.”
Can I ask another question?
Sure! I always welcome comments, Tweets, emails and interpretive dance. Sock it to me!
Magpie & Whale 