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That time I wanted to pass myself off as Joyce Carol Oates #TBT

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I submitted my first piece of writing when I was seventeen, a story about my first job, working at the employee cafeteria at General Telephone where my mother was a dispatcher. Rolling the 20# white bond backed by a sheet of thin blue carbon paper into my Smith Corona, I typed it out slowly, carefully, on a piece of erasable paper—and mailed it off to Cosmopolitan along with a cover letter. Not just to any editor at Cosmo, by the way, I sent it directly to Helen Gurley Brown. 

The piece itself, meant to be comical, was full of clumsy attempts at self-effacing humor.  I strived for a similar tone in the cover letter I addressed to Brown, completely clueless that the high powered editor in chief wasn’t the one reading unsolicited manuscripts. After I signed off I added the following PS. I could have said I was Joyce Carol Oates. What I thought that would accomplish I can’t imagine. That an unsatisfactory submission would get published because of a lame joke? 

No surprise, in the SASE I’d …
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Dreaming of France: Paris doors






I don't know why but even with the ugliness on the left side of the image, there really is something beautiful about French doors. Amateur photogs like me try and capture the feeling on our iPhones, posting our images on our Instagram feeds but there's a world of amazing photographers who really know how to put the magic of Parisian doors in a picture. Luckily for those of us who can't get to Paris as often as others, they share their stunning images online and in gorgeous books that have us drooling. 

 One of my favorites


               Doors of Paris: A Photo Essay

 Photographer Rebecca Plotnick has some stunning doors on her blog.


Do you share my love of doors, especially French doors? 

There are instagram accounts devoted to nothing but doors. Just plug in #doors and see what comes up. While I'm equally obsessed with doors I'm not quite that singleminded on my own Instagram account, my favorite place to play.

 Connect with Dreaming of France where there's many more French goodies to explore. 

Comments

  1. Jeanie11:48 AM

    I love all things French and doors are no exception. I've seen some magnificent ones in my time and those you share here are right up with them! And thanks for coming to Marmelade Gypsy! Nice to meet you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sim Carter7:00 PM

      Thanks Jeanie. Nice to meet you too!

      Delete
  2. Esme11:54 AM

    Paris has great doors. They come in all sizes and shapes and colours.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sim Carter7:01 PM

      So much fun! I spend a lot of time looking for cool doors here in LA, they are not in abundance, believe me!

      Delete
  3. Catherine Berry (But you are in France, Madame)8:29 PM

    Yes. I share your enthusiasm for a good door!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Paulita8:35 AM

    Sim, I agree. You posted some blue doors the other day and I swear that I took the same picture in Paris, only a few days after you left the city. Thanks for sharing your love of doors and the link, and thanks for playing along with Dreaming of France. Here’s my Dreaming of France meme

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sim Carter11:09 AM

      How funny! But the doors are so photogenic, you can't blame us.

      Delete
  5. Working Girl3:49 PM

    Love the Paris doors. Have been trying to do some watercolors of them, with mixed results.....
    Karen

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sim Carter6:08 PM

      I love that idea! We purchased a watercolor of a building on Boulevard Saint Michel with a beautiful door as a souvenir for our son. I scrolled through the pictures I'd taken on my phone until we got to one the artist (one of those along the Seine) had done a painting of.

      Delete

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Thanks for stopping by and sharing your comments. Insecure writer at work.

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