Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Demanding writer friends?


My last post featured jealousy among writers, so now let’s discuss friendship. It may not be my favorite, but “A Moveable Feast” by Ernest Hemingway is a book I have returned to several times through the years. I like reading about the relationship with F. Scott Fitzgerald because it’s fun to peek into the lives of these two famous and talented men and examine their personalities through their habits and insecurities. Here’s a link to the scene of their first forgettable (to Fitzgerald) meeting:

http://ernestmillerhemingway.blogspot.com/2012/04/ernest-hemingway-and-fscott-fitzgerald.html

Do you have demanding writer friends? Do you deal with them by drinking, like these two? If not, tell me which methods serve you well.

Write soon,
Mary

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Are you jealous of other writers?


Let’s face it, we all have our moments of pettiness, but have you ever done something sneaky to keep someone you know from becoming more successful than you? Hopefully not, but one man’s powerful jealousy probably caused some tense moments at holiday dinners.
Daniel Bernoulli, an 18th Century Swiss mathematician, published a book titled “Hydrodynamica” in 1738. According to The History Channel, Bernoulli’s father, Johann, because so jealous after his son published his book that the father wrote his own book on hydraulics and predated it in a futile attempt to take credit for his son’s findings.
That’s pretty sneaky.

Write soon,
Mary