Apologies for missing February! If I were Brandon Sanderson and had just made $20 million, and had nothing to do but look after my writing career, I would definitely (probably) send out monthly newsletters very reliably. Instead I’m…not, and haven’t! Anyway…
Applications for the Alpha Young Writers Workshop are open! Until March 13 at Midnight (applicant’s time, wherever they are in the world). The teens in your lives have 10 more days to polish up a short story and send that application in. It’s no exaggeration to say that attending Alpha accelerated my writing career by about 10 years. So tell all the teens you know!
In the draft of the newsletter from February (January ACTUALLY) I had a bit here where I was going to tell you all about listening to Hadestown (the off-broadway version!) on a road trip, for the first time in a long time, and it reminded me of this essay I was noodling with right after I saw the show back in 2016. It was going to be all about dualities in Hadestown and The Fantasticks: pastoral/industrial, innocence/experience, fuckboy/daddy, first act/second act…but because I always feel quite satisfied to have come up with a…well, we can’t even generously call that a thesis, can we? I just generate essay topics and then gaze at them going, “yeah, that’s cool,” and never develop them into an essay. The newsletter was going to be a kick in the pants to actually dig deeper into my thoughts, but you see how that’s going.
In related news, I also just listened to the fucky Oklahoma (that’s its official description) for the first time since seeing it. Damon Daunno, man! He can sing to me ANYTIME. Also, he sounds so much like the guy from Okkervil River that even though I know they are different people I still think, every time, “wow is he the guy from Okkervil River?” The answer remains NO.
UNRELATED to musical theatre or Damon Daunno, I’ve tried to round up all of the stuff that has come out in the month since Base Notes officially launched. I’m not sure I’ve grabbed everything, but I tried!
I did a really fun and chewy Twitter space with Ella Dawson, which she recorded for her Patreon. Sadly, I think the Twitter Space recording has probably expired by now (MY BAD! If I could keep up with writing a timely newsletter, that would not be the case), but you should still take a peep at her stuff. She writes sensitive, smart, hilarious pieces about sex, intimacy, patriarchy, class, misogyny, all the chewy things.
The incredible Elias Ell created a cocktail for Base Notes on Bar Cart Bookshelf, called The Bright House. Thanks to him I now own ANOTHER bottle of whiskey AND another kind of amaro.
In addition, I feel like I’ve been on every single podcast/livestream that exists! Not true, but. And also they haven’t all actually come out yet—Beyond the Trope is going to air our episode in April (I think?)
Also plenty of written Q&As and articles!
Q&A: Lara Elena Donnelly, Author of 'Base Notes' | The Nerd Daily
Author to Author with Lara Elena Donnelly (Base Notes) | Jo Writes Fantasy
The essay formerly known as “What a Swell Party This Is: Making Merry in Suspense,” name almost certainly changed for better SEO
Lara Elena Donnelly’s Base Notes – A Charmingly Snarky and Distinctive Literary Thriller
SNEAK PEEK: BASE NOTES BY LARA ELENA DONNELLY | Reader's Entertainment Magazine
Last but not least (WAY not least!) some bangin’ reviews:
Straight to the Gut and Groin: Base Notes by Lara Elena Donnelly (I wish every author a review this insightful and eloquent!)
Uh, that’s all. HAPPY MARCH! (oops)