#Derrick Watkins

[prachisousa]

Hello Derrick,

We hope you're doing well. We have great news for you. The domain name DerrickWatkins.com is up for sale & you can buy it directly from www.derrickwatkins.com or GoDaddy.

Act Fast! Before someone else does.

[wellesleybooks]

The National Book Award finalists have been announced.

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Fiction:

Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Chain-Gang All-Stars Pantheon Books / Penguin Random House

Aaliyah Bilal, Temple Folk Simon & Schuster

Eliot Duncan, Ponyboy W. W. Norton & Company

Paul Harding, This Other Eden W. W. Norton & Company

Tania James, Loot Knopf / Penguin Random House

Jayne Anne Phillips, Night Watch Knopf / Penguin Random House

Mona Susan Power, A Council of Dolls Mariner Books / HarperCollins Publishers

Hanna Pylväinen, The End of Drum-Time Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers

Justin Torres, Blackouts Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

LaToya Watkins, Holler, Child Tiny Reparations Books / Penguin Random House

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Nonfiction:

Ned Blackhawk, The Rediscovery of America: Native Peoples and the Unmaking of U.S. History Yale University Press

Jonathan Eig, King: A Life Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Viet Thanh Nguyen, A Man of Two Faces: A Memoir, A History, A Memorial Grove Press / Grove Atlantic

Prudence Peiffer, The Slip: The New York City Street That Changed American Art Forever Harper / HarperCollins Publishers

Donovan X. Ramsey, When Crack Was King: A People’s History of a Misunderstood Era One World / Penguin Random House

Cristina Rivera Garza, Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice Hogarth / Penguin Random House

Christina Sharpe, Ordinary Notes Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Raja Shehadeh, We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I: A Palestinian Memoir Other Press

John Vaillant, Fire Weather: A True Story from a Hotter World Knopf / Penguin Random House

Kidada E. Williams, I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction Bloomsbury Publishing

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Poetry:

John Lee Clark, How to Communicate W. W. Norton & Company

Oliver de la Paz, The Diaspora Sonnets Liveright / W. W. Norton & Company

Annelyse Gelman, Vexations University of Chicago Press

José Olivarez, Promises of Gold Henry Holt and Company / Macmillan Publishers

Craig Santos Perez, from unincorporated territory [åmot] Omnidawn Publishing

Paisley Rekdal, West: A Translation Copper Canyon Press

Brandon Som, Tripas Georgia Review Books / University of Georgia Press

Charif Shanahan, Trace Evidence Tin House Books

Evie Shockley, suddenly we Wesleyan University Press Monica Youn, From From Graywolf Press

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Translated Literature:

Juan Cárdenas, The Devil of the Provinces Translated from the Spanish by Lizzie Davis Coffee House Press

Bora Chung, Cursed Bunny Translated from the Korean by Anton Hur Algonquin Books / Hachette Book Group

David Diop, Beyond the Door of No Return Translated from the French by Sam Taylor Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Jenny Erpenbeck, Kairos Translated from the German by Michael Hofmann New Directions Publishing

Stênio Gardel, The Words That Remain Translated from the Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato New Vessel Press

Khaled Khalifa, No One Prayed Over Their Graves Translated from the Arabic by Leri Price Farrar, Straus and Giroux / Macmillan Publishers

Fernanda Melchor, This Is Not Miami Translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes New Directions Publishing

Pilar Quintana, Abyss Translated from the Spanish by Lisa Dillman World Editions

Astrid Roemer, On a Woman’s Madness Translated from the Dutch by Lucy Scott Two Lines Press

Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, The Most Secret Memory of Men Translated from the French by Lara Vergnaud Other Press

2023 Longlist for the National Book Award for Young People’s Literature:

Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says Disney-Hyperion Books / Disney Publishing Worldwide

Kenneth M. Cadow, Gather Candlewick Press

Alyson Derrick, Forget Me Not Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers / Simon & Schuster

Huda Fahmy, Huda F Cares? Dial Books for Young Readers / Penguin Random House

Vashti Harrison, Big Little, Brown Books for Young Readers / Hachette Book Group

Katherine Marsh, The Lost Year: A Survival Story of the Ukrainian Famine Roaring Brook Press / Macmillan Publishers

Dan Nott, Hidden Systems: Water, Electricity, the Internet, and the Secrets Behind the Systems We Use Every Day Random House Graphic / Penguin Random House

Dan Santat, A First Time for Everything First Second / Macmillan Publishers

Betty C. Tang, Parachute Kids Graphix / Scholastic, Inc.

Yohuru Williams and Michael G. Long, More Than a Dream: The Radical March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom Farrar, Straus and Giroux Books for Young Readers / Macmillan Publishers

[altroottv]

'Have A Little Heart' - Leslie Mendelson from The Extended Play Sessions on Vimeo.

The Extended Play Sessions - October 5, 2024

Leslie Mendelson performs the song "Have A Little Heart" on The Extended Play Sessions. A Grammy Award-nominated artist, Mendelson returns this summer with her fourth studio album, After The Party. For this latest effort, she collaborates with not one, but three producers: the legendary Peter Asher (James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Bonnie Raitt), the young, in-demand Tyler Chester (Madison Cunningham, Sara Bareilles, Sara Watkins) and her longtime songwriting partner, three-time Grammy Award-winner, Steve McEwan. Recorded at Jackson Browne’s studio Grove Masters in Santa Monica, CA, she was joined by an ace band featuring guitarists Waddy Wachtel and John Jorgenson, bassists Leland Sklar and Derrick Anderson, and drummers Jim Keltner and Abe Rounds.

The Band Leslie Mendelson - guitar, vocals, harmonica, piano Steve McEwan - guitar, backing vocals

Production Staff Maribeth Arena - Camera 2 Bill Hurley - Boom Camera Joanne Craig - Camera 3 H Nat Stevens - Cam 1 Remote Connor Quigley - Sound Engineer, Livestream Producer Eric Nordstrom - Front Of House Photographer - Dan Busler Connor Quigley - Post Audio Mix Engineer

The Fallout Shelter is an all ages 100-seat performance venue and state-of-the-art broadcast and recording studio, offering one of the most unique live music experiences in New England. Located in Norwood, MA, just 15 miles from Boston, The Fallout Shelter is run under the auspices of the Grass Roots Cultural and Performing Arts Center, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving, promoting and advocating for traditional American Roots music.

Youtube: youtube.com/@thefalloutshelternorwood Website: extendedplaysessions.com Facebook: facebook.com/epsfalloutshelter Instagram: instagram.com/thefalloutshelternorwood

[the-football-chick]

AFC CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Titans @ Chiefs

Chiefs fans may have sweated a little after the Titans jumped out to a 10-0 lead on a 4-yard touchdown run by RB Derrick Henry.

But just like last week in the divisional round, the Chiefs would come barrelling back with their high-flying offense with touchdowns by WRs Tyreek Hill (2) and Sammy Watkins (1) and RB Damien Williams (1). QB Patrick Mahomes also contributed a spectacular touchdown run, bobbing and weaving through half the Titans' defense on a 27-yard run, giving the Chiefs the boost they needed as they took the lead 24-17 just before halftime.

The Chiefs will represent the AFC in this year's Super Bowl on Feb. 2. When did the Chiefs last play in the Super Bowl? It was SB IV in 1970, when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings, 23-7.

📽️ IG:nfl (1/19/20)

📸 IG: chiefs

[idahocomicsgroupinc]

Multiple examples of the Once A Bronco (Boise State Alumni) team logo for TBT (The Basketball Tournament)

[herroyalbubbliness]

P-Valley

I miss the valley already...

Video Credit: IG @pvalleystarz

Autumn was looking at Andre and his wife like she was about to kill someone with the lyrics.

Andre and his wife have both been wearing masks long before the pandemic. Andre was selling a lie, a fantasy he thought she wanted and she wanted to believe it instead of unveiling the man behind. Why did Andre wait all these years before being honest about his reasons for marrying his wife?

I loved the scene with Lil Murda in the fragmented glass and removing his gold teeth. It was an unveiling of his mask. We see the different men that make up Lil' Murda, the scared, the fearless, the famous, the one looking for validation and more. And he can choose which one to present at any given time.

And the variations of his memories flashing through his mind from his pride when he came to the Pynk to the first time he heard his song being played there and his entire journey to where he was now performing in the Pynk.

I remember when Keyshawn was helping him with overcoming his stage fright and told him to try performing nude and he was uncomfortable initially in season 1 episode 7.

"The same way you strip yourself naked on that track, you gotta strip yourself naked on the stage. See the crowd, that's who you are rapping to — now tell em' what you got to say."

But now, look who was performing shirtless and could look into the eyes of his audience saying the lyrics with confidence, no beat in the background. I love that scene because it really shows how he has evolved from the insecure rapper who wanted his beats to be good enough and now that they're slapping, he could just let the lyrics sink in even though that was also a testament of what he did and a threat to whom it may concern (Maine) in the audience.

And the whole scene came full circle with a collabo of the Mercedes Experience (the last show) and Lil' Murda when you remember their initial meeting of her disapproval to his bars to their reflection last episode and bringing that collaboration to life. They sure is fire!

The moment the beat dropped and Mercedes jumped down the pole straight to sitting and bouncing on the floor, damn!

I loved The Mayor Bishop Woodbine reveal. The way the scenes were edited, the montages from the performance at the club to Mayor Woodbine in some serious prayer sessions to Andre Watkins recieving a call from Wayne Kyle saying congratulations making it seem Andre won until we hear the reporter asking if he has heard from the Mayor Elect.

When Mayor Bishop Woodbine was doing environment inspection of the mayor's office and fell off the chair I was dying laughing.

I also loved the reveal of the Corbin deal with the front page news of the waterfront property deal coming to fruition. Corbin sure brought the water to him literally after all, he followed Uncle Clifford's advice. Uncle Clifford I see what you did there boo!

Keyshawn and Lil Murda hugging with the sunset lighting up their beautiful black skin under the clear blue skies. They've been through so much together. I wish she could have made it out. There was no investigation whatsoever. What happened to due process? So neighbors report a noise and automatically it's the black mom that's the abuser? Sigh... Derrick's got to go!

Someone needed to call out Autumn on all her shit. While she didn't force anyone to catch a body, still it was like she completely absolved herself and blamed them. Talking about interest after all them bodies, okay just one body but still.

I understand she ain't trusting, and she has a lot of trauma she is working through. I got where she was coming from business wise in regards to selling the club but as Uncle Clifford said, they was family and Pynk was home. I wish they could have come to a compromise though because I care about her character. You know what they say, hurting people hurt others. And say what you will, she made and took practical steps to help Keyshawn

Mayor Bishop finally did one thing right, handing Terricka over to Mercedes. It was fitting to see Mercedes finally in her gym and her baby with Sam Cooke Bring it on home to me. It was a breath of fresh air. Freedom at last! Old dreams were fulfilled and birthed the opportunity to dream new dreams.

Uncle Clifford letting Mercedes go reminds me of this quote.

"A good mentor hopes you will move on. A great mentor knows you will."- Ted Lasso

Sadly, in this finale, some people got their dreams and some didn't.

[outerrangesource]

‘Outer Range’ Creator Answers Burning Questions About the Finale and a Potential Season 2

Royal ingests the black dust and he sees a vision of his death. Or is it a vision of his death?

At the end of episode two we see him experience this other time where he does not exist, where he has recently died and his wife Cecilia comes up to him and says, “You died in my arms.” And in episode five we get to see Royal experience a vision of that, exactly what Cecilia told him at the end of two; and lo and behold, we see that Autumn is right there for it.

Should the show continue – which, by the way, any updates on that?

I wish I could, but I can’t tell you anything on that.

Well, is this something that you will be exploring perhaps from a different angle or in more depth, should the show continue?

Well, what I’ll say is that we were all really intrigued by the idea of a journey that starts with a man that knows he’s going to die and thus must prevent a future that includes that. So that’s been a really wonderful, fun narrative track for us to follow throughout these first eight episodes. It really comes to a head at the end of five with Royal seeing that Autumn and his wife Cecilia are linked in the process of his death.

Let’s discuss one of my favorite sequences from the final run of episodes – Royal’s “All the President’s Men” routine of looking for information about By9 and the oil companies. And it’s not just funny but actually ends up paying off.

I like that you took away “All the President’s Men” from that sequence. That’s one of my favorite films and to pepper in a little bit of tradecraft into this episode was a fun challenge and something fun to do with Royal. I think the point of it was, this is a man on a quest and he’s now off to the exotic reaches of Laramie, and the fun behind that rather local search to figure out where is Autumn from, who is this woman, but also this card that he found at the Tillerson house that references Dr. Nia Bintu.  If you go back to the end of episode two, we experience images of the doctor there, we see BY9 on these derricks that are drilling into the land. So Royal is now thrust into this place of needing to put together pieces of both the future and the past to figure out what he must do in the present.

How hard is it for you and the writers not to give away too much? There must be a push and pull about how much to reveal and how much mystery to maintain.

I think it was a fun narrative challenge to say, “all right, if time is like this labyrinth that we can sort of make our way through, how do we build fun cliffhangers, but also include Easter eggs for the past…almost like a way of this odyssey that spans past, present and future all at once. It was a lot of fun to crack that story in the writers room but it certainly was not without its puzzling difficulties.

At the very beginning of 5, Wayne comes back to the house after clobbering Royal and falls into a catatonic state. What is going on there?

Wayne has a stroke at the beginning of five and it has to do with the impact of the fight that he’s had with Royal. The fight at the hole leads into his stroke where we also get to see premonitions of his childhood that will weave into our story going forward.

One of the things we see is that he was at the hole when a boy, about his age, crawls out. We later learn this boy is Royal. Was this one of the things that everyone agreed had to be addressed by the end of season 1?

I think the Wayne/Royal standoff was always one of the more thrilling relationships to dive into whatever way we could. These are two men, one from a traditional background, and one from a deeply capitalistic profiteering background, and pitting them against each other, not just in the, in the past, but in the present, felt like a fun challenge to write, as their collision course came to a head at the end of episode four. And then that traveled, like you say, into five. 

Was there any trepidation about taking him off the board before the big finale?

Yeah, a little bit.  You have to tell the stories you’ve got to tell; you know, but Will understood what we were after and was game for it. Given what a brilliant actor he is, I would truly write anything and everything for him. He’s an absolute joy to work with. 

Two big things happen when Wayne is in this catatonic state: Luke tries to kill him and Billy feeds him the crushed-up rock, seemingly in an attempt to revive him.

Luke trying to kill Wayne was a narrative strand that we wanted to follow –this theme of the sins of the father are visited upon the sons. Throughout the course of the season, we see Luke try to not become his father, but invariably become more and more like his father. Exploring questions of why that is was one big aim for the scene when Luke tries to smother him. And then of course it leads to a split in his relationship with Billy. Billy is really close to Wayne and him seeing Luke do that complicates their relationship. And it spins Billy off onto this track of following Autumn who has become more and more this messianic figure for him that is guiding him as this shepherd in the night, as she says. It was an interesting way to push the Tillerson story into Autumn’s story as well.

As far as Billy ingesting the dark mineral… Noah Reid is just so incredible in the show. And I remember the day we were doing this, and he sings this really creepy Judee Sill song that I’ve been in love with for years and sprinkles that dust on his father as a consecration  of the land, upon his enfeebled dad. And not only does that hopefully bear some meaning for what the show is about – how the spiritual and the land intersect – but also how Wayne’s story is not over.

Let’s talk about one of the final episodes’ big reveal – that Royal is actually from the 1800s and fell through the void as a child.

We always knew that it should come at the end of episode seven, and we felt like it was the  penultimate episode because it launched Royal into this manic grief. The reveal of his own past actually is what makes his son Perry see some hope. The hole is this opportunity and Royal tries to tell him, “No, it is not that.” And it’s too late. Perry goes into the hole and Royal is left there, reeling with guilt as the hole closes. Now, he is a man with vengeance in his eyes and he’s after Autumn with a whole new resolve.

We knew it had to come at the end of 7 for those reasons. We also thought it would be one of the more surprising places to put the reveal of a big secret like that. And hopefully we draw it backwards to fun little things like the reason he didn’t eat ice cream until he was 10 years old is because he grew up in the 1800s. Little Easter eggs that come into play. But again, it comes back to this idea of the sins of a father being visited upon the children and the thematic mirror of the Tillersons and Abbotts.

The other big reveal is that Autumn is Amy from the future.

The idea for it came really early in the process of “Outer Range.” It came in the mini room that we had way back when I was writing the bible for the series. I think it really came into play with the idea of grace being the main theme of the season finale. Royal’s speech really starts with grace. And we see that as a theme throughout the season as well, be it his prayer in the second episode or be it the scene at church in the sixth episode.

But the Autumn-is-Amy reveal came back to this idea of grace, this idea of, what if your greatest enemy was someone that was very close to you,someone you love, and you didn’t know that they were in fact of your own kin? And that became such a launchpad for the idea of secrets in this show, of the unknown – What is held from us? What is unknowable? And grace became the cohering glue for all of these questions.

The big billboard in seven and eight that reads, “America tells you that the only things worth knowing are those which can be known. America is wrong.” That billboard became a thematic fulcrum for the last half of the season so that as we experience Royal’s revelation that Autumn is in fact his granddaughter, that there is a descending grace upon that whole scene and that he then carries her home and puts her into Amy’s bed. And we start to see how disparate stories of fates colliding are interwoven. And more than that, they are one and the same.

It’s such a beautiful moment too when Cecilia says that Amy’s gone and Brolin says, “No, she’s not. She’s here.”

I’ve got to say writing episode eight was one of the more joyous writing experiences that I’ve had. It was a thrill ride putting that script together. And then seeing our director, Larry Trilling, and our DP, Drew Daniels, execute it at such a high level. It was this bizarre experience of literally the things that I saw in my head for that episode are exactly what they rendered. And that is such a gift to experience when the artists that you’re collaborating will execute what was on the page and elevate it in such a way that felt like they were inside my brain in a beautiful way.

Luke finds a second hole. Is he looking for oil or is he on a more existential quest?

The West is filled with stories about treasures in the Earth, about seeking opportunity with digging into what’s beneath our feet. And the idea of Luke striking the mother lode of this dark mineral that has been living underneath the soil for perhaps all of time was really a way to crack open the story. If these eight episodes are really about the discovery of this dark mineral, what does that mean when that dark mineral is then unleashed into the world? Luke’s story really catapults that idea for us and cracked it open in a fun way that also introduced a stampede of time buffalo.

Joy returns to Frank’s land and travels back in time. Where do you see Joy going and how important was this journey for her?

When we see her follow that trail of the dark mineral in 7 and then we see where she ends up in 8, we can infer that she’s traveled to the past. I think we were all really excited by the idea of someone that needed to get back home. And that was having to make sense of a past that she had heard about and feels deeply connected to but has never physically been a part of. I could watch Tamara Podemski’s performance in those final episodes on repeat, because seeing how she tackles the co-mingling of catharsis with fear, with thrill…she was able to play five different things at once, and it was really special  to witness.

Was the mastodon ever in this finale?

The mastodon was not ever in this finale, but we hoped that people would be wishing for it or perhaps maybe expecting it. Frank Harlan is one of our favorite characters and bringing him back at the end of the season was a fun little scene to shoot as well.

Rebecca returns. Did Cecilia see her earlier in the season? And what are we supposed to take away from her return/abduction of Amy?

Answer to the first part of your question is a big old maybe. There’s a quality to these mysteries for the Abbotts that I think is important that we see them not solving things. That their emotional lives are really defined by being in the murkiness of life sometimes. And what does that feel like? And what are the ways that we cope with that murkiness? Sometimes it’s their faith, sometimes it’s their community, sometimes it’s their work .  Leaving those questions open is not intended to frustrate audiences, but a way to bring us into what the Abbotts were dealing with emotionally, if that makes sense.

And then the second question of Rebecca – we wanted to leave the story open that this is a woman that did not want to leave her daughter but had to. The co-mingling of regret with joy at being reunited with her at the end of eight was another one of those scenes that was just heart-rending to witness when it was shot. I think what came across were such incredible performances from those two actresses.

What are the biggest mysteries left at the end of Season 1 that you are potentially looking forward to exploring in future “Outer Range” adventures?

Well, what I’ll say to that is that it’s our hope that all of those clues will be dug into from that future hole scene, because it does take place so far in the future. And again, these last few episodes were such a collision course of the past, the present, and the future that hopefully the emotional impact of what these people have gone through invokes enough chatter to make us ask questions about our own selves and about how we grapple with the unknown. What do we do when the unknown comes and kicks over our kitchen table? That’s hopefully the biggest discussion from the end of this season. I’m excited for all of the theories to blossom and to gain traction. I’m not going to speak to any future narratives or storylines, except that we are very thrilled to have all of these eight episodes out into the world in such a way that feels cathartic for everyone that made it.

Is there a finite number of stories that you want to tell? There’s nothing better than a mystery show overstaying its welcome.

I think it’s the intention of every show to do the tricky dance of providing enough mystery and then enough answers to both pull us forward and help us re-watch things with a level of intrigue that informs our future viewing of it. To answer your question, I’ll tell you a story about the first few drafts of the pilot episode that I wrote. I really wanted to impress upon people the idea that this story was about the flattening of time or the crunching of time and how past, present, and future live in these very overlapped ways, particularly for the people in “Outer Range.” And so as Royal was falling through the hole at the end of episode one, there was a stage where I had written all of these snippets of what he hears as he falls through the hole. I had written he hears such and such from episode 397…He hears such and such from episode 5,624. He hears such and such from episode -8. And in that way, it was a gimmick and a way to infuse a sense of fun to the read, but I think it also hopefully told the reader what the show is about, which is that overlap of past, present, and future and how that can inform our imaginations about the unknown. 

[wiildhearrted]

Names & Positions/Jobs for each animal caretaker/employee at the sanctuary:

Monica Rowland - African spotted dog, female, 31, Co-owner, manages administrative/fiscal side of things (just a co-owner/old friend if a muse is plotted to help with the more business related things, helps Nikki a ton. We stan.)

Derrick Lowe - Ocelot, male, 33, in house veterinarian (there are two.  The other is Nairissa.)

Quinn Miller - Harpy eagle, nonbinary, 22, veterinarian technician

Eddie Hayes - Fossa, male, 28, head caretaker when Nikki isn't around, specializes in the smaller species like those similar to rodents, mongoose, etc

Ann Watkins - Serval, female, 27, caretaker, specializes in felines

Tanner Barlowe - Kori bustard, male, 24, caretaker, specializes in birds

Big shout out to @searing-dragon for the help with names 💕💕💕💕

[rebelcourtesan]

Castles Sneak Peek Ch 8

Has not been edited yet

“I know the brand names are similar, but you have to pay attention to the spelling.”

“I’m sorry.”

“The Brandon Stock goes further down the aisle from Barnyard.”

“I’m sorry.”

Christina Watkins stared at the young woman who had her head bowed like a child being scolded.  It made her feel older than her 43 years, like some schoolmarm shaking a ruler at an unruly student.  Mostly employees would roll their eyes at the mistake while others would nod, apologize and quickly correct their mistake.  Rachel Russo was the only one she ever had that looked like she was expecting to be smacked for her mistake.

“Honey, I’m not yelling at you.  It’s just an honest mistake.  It’s nothing to fret over.”

“I’m sorry.”

Sighing, Christina shook her head.  “It’s alright.  Just move everything to the way they should be.  Derrick will help you.” 

Rachel Russo had applied for a job at Piggsy Grocer last week and with Linda going into maternity leave and Karen moving away, Christina needed the help.  Rachel was a good worker and did as she was told, but she was quiet and kept to herself.  And she didn’t handle criticism well, always shying away as if to ward off a blow.  Christina could only wonder what could have happened to the girl to make her so nervous. 

Rachel was almost halfway done with reorganizing the boxes of flour when Derrick came along.  He was a portly man in his late twenties with unruly blonde hair.  “Hi, Rachel, Christina said you needed help.”

“I’m sorry.  I got the order wrong.”

“It’s alright.  I did it all the time when I got started.”

He helped by stacking the boxes on the higher shelves, taking this time to admire her.  She was pretty with coffee colored hair and a soft heart shaped face.  With thin arms she lifted the boxes to him two at a time, but kept her brown eyes lowered from his.  At first, he had assumed it was shyness on her part, but there was a nervous energy in her limbs.  Like a doe about to go into flight at any sudden movement.

As much as he liked being around her, he felt as if she didn’t want him around.  No, it was more like his presence made her nervous.  Derrick didn’t think he did or said anything to make her uncomfortable.  

“It’s got kinda cold lately,” he said in an attempt to strike up a conversation with her.

She opened her mouth and for a second, he could swear she was going to apologize for that too.  “Yes, it’s cold.”

“Have you been able to stay warm?”

There was a short pause.  “I . . .I’m sorry, the heater doesn’t work . . .”

“The one for your house?”  He remembered that she doesn’t drive.  She came to work by bus and walked to the grocery store.  “Has someone been out to fix it?”

“N-no, not yet.”

“I can take a look at it.  My dad ran a repair shop and after school I helped him.  Between the two of us, we musta fix thousands of heaters during the winter months.  No charge!”

“I . . .I don’t know . . .i-it’s alright.  It’s not too cold.”  She was almost shrinking back at the thought of being a bother to anyone.  

“Honey, it’s gonna get colder before the end of the year and we tend to get snowed in a few times a year.  You don’t wanna be stuck in a house with no heater during a snow day.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Rachel didn’t relax until they were finished and she was able to retreat to the break room.  A cold sweat broke out on the back of her neck at the thought of what Daniel would say or, worse, do if he knew she spoke in private with another man.

No, no, Daniel is dead.  He’s not around anymore to be mad at me.  He can’t hurt me again.  I’m a widow now.  A widow.

She practiced the breathing exercises the therapist taught her.  In through the nose, and out through the mouth.  Then she focused on everything around her.  The table was red and the chairs were blue and they both stood on a black floor.  And the wall was white . . .and there was an old coffee stain on the floor.

Daniel wouldn’t like that.  He didn’t like messes.  No, Daniel is dead!  He can’t hurt me!

She touched the sleeve of her sweater, then the plastic film on her name tag.  Then she braced her hands on the cool table surface and rough surface of the chair.  

I’m safe.  I’m safe.  Daniel can’t get mad at me anymore.  

Then she listened for people speaking outside the room and the squeaking wheels of a grocery cart in need of oiling.  And beyond that someone honked a horn.

I”m not in Quantico anymore.  I’m here.  I have a job.  I work part time in this grocery store.  Daniel can’t get mad at me anymore.

Her hands smelled of the lavender scented hand soap from the restroom.  And her hair still carried the faint scent of when she washed her hair that morning.  

Daniel isn’t with me anymore.  He can’t hurt me.

She could almost taste the blood in her mouth from the last time he had struck her across the face. And that was the last time he would ever hurt her.

[vermiculated]

books - this is why ‘monthly” is a valuable interval

oh geez.

White Nights - Ann Cleeves

Sawkill Girls - Claire Legrand

Lady in Red - Maire Claremont

Behind Closed Doors - Amanda Vickery (vg)

A Rope of Thorns - Gemma Files

Dreaming Darkly - Caitlin Kittredge

The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics - Olivia Waite

Astray - Emma Donoghue

Heartthrobs - Carol Dyhouse

Nine Pints - Rose George

Daily Rituals - Mason Currey

Rereadings - Anne Fadiman ed

Rustication - Charles Palliser

What Makes This Book So Great - Jo Walton

Creatures of Will and Temper - Molly Tanzer

The Lost Man - Jane Harper

The Sins of Lord Lockwood - Meredith Duran

The Jade Temptress - Jeannie Lin

Hither Page - Cat Sebastian (hashtag soup feelings)

Paradise Lodge - Nina Stibbe

Medical Bondage - Deirdre Benia Cooper Owens

Flagrant Conduct - Dale Carpenter

Intimate Friends - Martha Vicinus

The Luminous Dead - Caitlin Starling

Night's Black Angels - Ronald Pearsall

The Politics of Narrative - Kenneth Graham

Indigenous Navigation and Voyaging in the Pacific - Nicholas Goetzfridt

Pornography - Mari Mikkola

Life in the English Country House - Mark Girouard

Country House Life - Jessica Gerard

The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins (classic beachread)

A Tree of Bones - Gemma Files

Battleborn - Claire Vaye Watkins

Marilou is Everywhere - Sarah Elaine Smith

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a List of Further Possibilities - Chen Chen

The Scientific Revolution in Victorian Medicine - AJ Youngson

Consider the Fork - Bee Wilson

You May Kiss the Duke - Charis Michaels

My One and Only Duke - Grace Burrowes

The Quick - Lauren Owen

Our Kind of Cruelty - Araminta Hall

I Am Still Alive - Kate Alice Marshall

Will's True Wish - Grace Burrowes (the wish is dogs)

The Trauma Cleaner - Sarah Krasnostein

Ghost Wall - Sarah Moss (vg)

At The Lightning Field - Laura Raicovich

Offshore - Penelope Fitzgerald

Felix Yz - Lisa Bunker

Amazons and Military Maids - Julie Wheelwright

A Debutante in Disguise - Eleanor Webster

A Little Light Mischief - Cat Sebastian

Sorcerer to the Crown - Zen Cho

Re-dressing America's Frontier Past - Peter Boag (peat bog)

Courting the Cat Whisperer - Wynter Daniels

In Miniature - Simon Garfield

Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls - T Kira Madden

The Science of Shakespeare - Dan Falk

A Twenty Minute Silence Followed by Applause - Shawn Wen

A Flag Worth Dying For - Tim Marshall

Ordinary Beast - Nicole Sealey (vg)

Combat-Ready Kitchen - Anastacia Marx de Salcedo

The Tradition of Female Transvestism in Early Modern Europe - Rudolf Dekker and Lotte van de Pol

Kiss Me Someone - Karen Shepard

Safari Honeymoon - Jesse Jacobs

A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Martine

Nine Continents - Xiaolu Guo

300 Arguments - Sarah Manguso

Grief Cottage - Gail Godwin

Red Bones - Ann Cleeves

Life Mask - Emma Donoghue

The Flame and the Flower - Kathleen Woodwiss

Brute - Emily Skaja

A Bride's Story 6 - Kaoku Moru trans William Flanagan

Skim - Mariko Tamaki and Jillian Tamaki

The Invention of Pornography - Lynn Hunt ed

Canned - Anna Zeide

Mostly Dead Things - Kristen Arnett

Free and Natural - Sarah Schrank

A Tree for Peter - Kate Seredy

In the Distance - Hernan Diaz (vg)

Mastering Fear - Rikke Schubart

Beyond Speech - Mari Mikkola ed

Portrait of a Woman in Silk - Zara Anishanslin

The Art of Living - FL Lucas

Pornographic Art and the Aesthetics of Pornography - Hane Maes ed

Elizabeth and Jacobean Poets - John F Danby

Family Fortunes - Leonore Davidoff and Catherine Hall

Silence of the Grave - Arnaldur Indridason trans Bernard Scudder

She Walks in Shadows - Silvia Moreno-Garcia ed

The Hallowed Ones - Laura Bickle

Making the Grade - William Fischel

The Joseph Johnson Letterbook - John Bugg ed

Manet Manette - Carol Armstrong

Like A Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the Sun - Sarah Ladipo Manyika

Regency House Styles - Trevor Yorke

Timekeepers - Simon Garfield

Patience and Sarah - Isabel Miller

The Warlow Experiment - Alix Nathan

Girls Who Score - Illy Goyanes

In Search of Time - Dan Falk

Skeleton Keys - Brian Switek

The Englishwoman's Bedroom - Elizabeth Dickson ed

Ghosts - Roger Clarke

Joseph Johnson - Gerald Tyson

Falling in Love with Statues - George Hersey

Necromanticism - Paul Westover (vg)

Essay on Sepulchers - William Godwin

Passions Between Women - Emma Donoghue

Women's Friendships - Susan Koppleman ed

Olivia - Dorothy Bussy

Mooncop - Tom Gauld

Persepolis - Marjane Satrapi trans Mattias Ripa

Star Wars Super Graphic - Tim Leong

Luisa Now and Then - Carole Maurel trans Mariko Tamaki and Nanette McGuiness

Daughters of the Lake - Wendy Webb

Rules for Vanishing - Kate Alice Marshall

The Outermost House - Henry Beston

Feminism and the Body - Londa Schiebinger ed

Winter in the Blood - James Welch

Capturing Sound - Mark Katz

The Table-Rappers - Ronald Pearsall

Black - Michel Pastoreau trans Jody Gladding

In These Times - Jenny Uglow

The Daylight Gate - Jeanette Winterson

The Grave Keepers - Elizabeth Byrne

Metropolitan Life - Fran Lebowitz

Life Among the Savages - Shirley Jackson

Social Studies - Fran Lebowitz

When My Brother Was an Aztec - Natalie Diaz

The Imaginary Corpse - Tyler Hayes

The Invention of the Restaurant - Rebecca Spang

Moll Cutpurse - Ellen Galford

Manchette's Fatale - Doug Headline

Hand-Drawn Jokes for Smart Attractive People - Matthew Diffee

In the Pines - Erik Kriek

Raising Demons - Shirley Jackson

Nightingale - Paisley Rekdal

Louis Riel - Chester Brown

Fantastic Metamorphoses - Marina Warner

Elektra - Derrick Puffett ed

Tenements, Towers, and Trash - Julia Wertz

Ghostland - Colin Dickey

Feminism and History - Joan Wallach Scott ed

The Hide and Seek Files - Caeia Marsh

Red Rosa - Kate Evans

A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts - Ying Chang Compestine

Death is Hard Work - Khaled Khalifah trans Lori Price

Civil War - Lucan trans Susan Braund

The Making of the Modern Body - Catherine Gallagher and Thomas Laqueur

Oculus - Sally Wen Mao

The Write Escape - Charish Reid

Freedom Hospital - Hamid Sulamin trans Francesa Barrie

The Lion of Rora - Christos Gage et al

Mauve - Simon Garfield

The Lake of Dead Languages - Carol Goodman

The Turn of the Screw - Henry James