I launched a newsletter yesterday. So far, the feedback has been good. A few readers said that they felt drawn in by the writing. In any case, the purpose of the first few posts is simply to get myself warmed up. Any extra flutter the posts generate is a bonus. Amit Varma recommends not looking at the stats for a couple of years. It taught me quite a few things. Particularly that I need to be smart about the data analysis.
I went into this essay expecting Virginia Woolf had written about what the eponymous room is like - its design and contents. But she deals with a more fundamental issue - that one needs a room of one’s own. The essays are a fine piece of scholarship. I’d never have thought that Woolf’s characteristic device, the “stream of consciousness” could be used to not only as a writing technique, but also as a powerful pedagogical technique.
I can’t think of a single fantasy character that would be Neil Gaiman. I’m tempted to think that he’s like Santa Claus, but he’s not the sort who’d care if someone was being naughty. He’s not Dumbledore or Gandalf either - he’d rather be your friend than your mentor. He’s not even the Dream of the Endless, since he’s not aware of how powerful he is. Reading Gaiman’s nonfiction is like meditation that clears and even expands your mind.