Hello! To many of you, welcome back! This is not the message for which you'd probably been waiting—I didn't finish the book, and I'm not resuming the blog. Instead, I'm dying.
(To those finding this blog for the first time—Hello! You're just as welcome to be here, and there are plenty of entries that aren't about my inevitable, imminent death, if you're not into that when you're trying to research Beethoven's deafness.)
We'd known early on that this could only be a short-term blog given how deadly cancer is when it hits Stage IV, especially in the brain. I kept going so long as I still had ideas—and I still do!—but the lesions in my brain have made it difficult to find the right words when writing, and the periods of lucidity between chemo cycles have gotten shorter and more painful. When it got to the point that I wasn't feeling any sense of recovery between chemo sessions, I declared my treatment over and asked to be given palliative care only. I'm living in hospice, responding to old friends, being visited by people I haven't seen in years, consuming more chocolate and coffee than I can handle (I'm working on that, for comfort's sake). My husband is taking leave from work and our son is off of school (which he would have been otherwise at this time of year), so ideally I'll get to die with them by my side.
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cancer. Show all posts
Sunday, December 15, 2019
Monday, August 26, 2019
From Blog to Book: After the Proposal
Status Update and Writing Process
Hello, everyone! It’s been months since I’ve posted on this blog, though I’ve been active on social media—admittedly more with my personal accounts than with the blog’s Twitter and Facebook—to announce excellent news about the book: One month ago, I signed a contract with Clemson University Press for them to publish my book based on this blog. The book is another step toward becoming real!
Of course, there are still plenty of steps between here and the published book. For example, we haven’t completely settled on the title. The contract refers to the book as Riotous Rites and Other Lies about Classical Music—for now. I also have about twenty-five chapters of content to write, as well as a conclusion.
My Writing Process: Last week I worked on the introduction and the first chapter, writing and revising the intro to the point I felt secure enough to show it to friends for feedback. Now that I have their suggestions, I’m revising the intro again before I send it to my managing editor for her comments.
I’ve found I work best when I receive feedback early in my writing process because it helps me adjust my tone before drafting the rest of the book. I'll continue asking for comments and suggestions as I go, this time focusing on scholars who are experts (or have at least shown an interest) in the topic at hand. Once I complete writing the whole book, chapter by chapter, I’ll return to the introduction and revise it according to what the book really does instead of what I thought I wanted it to do.
For this early round of feedback, I purposely asked more non-music scholar friends than fellow musicologists because I consider Riotous Rites a trade book as well as a scholarly one. I don’t know whether you, reader, consider yourself a music scholar or not; in any case, I’m grateful you've come to my blog and read this far into my rambling personal post. Thank you.
I invite all of you to buy the book—or request it from a library—in spring/summer 2021.
Too Long, Didn’t Read: I signed a contract with a Clemson University Press for a book based on this blog. Writing has gone well so far, so I am aiming for a deadline that would put it on the shelves mid-2021.
Like what you’ve read?
Hello, everyone! It’s been months since I’ve posted on this blog, though I’ve been active on social media—admittedly more with my personal accounts than with the blog’s Twitter and Facebook—to announce excellent news about the book: One month ago, I signed a contract with Clemson University Press for them to publish my book based on this blog. The book is another step toward becoming real!
Of course, there are still plenty of steps between here and the published book. For example, we haven’t completely settled on the title. The contract refers to the book as Riotous Rites and Other Lies about Classical Music—for now. I also have about twenty-five chapters of content to write, as well as a conclusion.
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I’ve also had unavoidable delays: chemo side effects, my son being home all day during summer break, etc.
Whisper (the cat) has been an outstanding writing assistant, aside from behaving like I'm his assistant
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My Writing Process: Last week I worked on the introduction and the first chapter, writing and revising the intro to the point I felt secure enough to show it to friends for feedback. Now that I have their suggestions, I’m revising the intro again before I send it to my managing editor for her comments.
I’ve found I work best when I receive feedback early in my writing process because it helps me adjust my tone before drafting the rest of the book. I'll continue asking for comments and suggestions as I go, this time focusing on scholars who are experts (or have at least shown an interest) in the topic at hand. Once I complete writing the whole book, chapter by chapter, I’ll return to the introduction and revise it according to what the book really does instead of what I thought I wanted it to do.
For this early round of feedback, I purposely asked more non-music scholar friends than fellow musicologists because I consider Riotous Rites a trade book as well as a scholarly one. I don’t know whether you, reader, consider yourself a music scholar or not; in any case, I’m grateful you've come to my blog and read this far into my rambling personal post. Thank you.
I invite all of you to buy the book—or request it from a library—in spring/summer 2021.
Too Long, Didn’t Read: I signed a contract with a Clemson University Press for a book based on this blog. Writing has gone well so far, so I am aiming for a deadline that would put it on the shelves mid-2021.
Like what you’ve read?
Friday, January 18, 2019
Announcement: Why the Blog is not Updating Right Now
Hello, everyone!
Happy new year! I’m sorry that it’s taken me more than midway through January to wish you a happy 2019, but I suspect you’ll forgive me when you learn the reasons for my lack of posts in the past few months. In addition to holidays and travel (which aren’t unique to me, I know) and family responsibilities (also not unique to me, though some of you know the complications I face), and medical issues (I had brain radiation again in October 2018, and I’m in the process of trying a new chemotherapy regimen, which can be unpredictable), I have some exciting news:
I’m working on a proposal for a book based on this blog.
I’m still in the earliest stages, but so far, I’ve received a lot of positive and enthusiastic responses to this idea, so I’m optimistic that some press will want to publish it. My plan for now is that the book will be similar in tone and aim of the blog—debunking myths, challenging clichés, explaining why certain narratives persist even when they’re false, etc. Much of the book will be essays take directly from the blog, with some revisions and, I hope, improvements. However, it would be foolish to expect people to pay for content that they can already get online for free, so I’m going to come up with additional, new material. As a result, some content I would normally put up on the blog I’m now saving to be exclusive to the book.
So, I’m taking a hiatus from the blog. I don’t know how long this break will last, and I can’t announce an expected publication date for the book—it’s too early for me to know, as it hasn’t been accepted or even proposed yet! I will still be active on Twitter, mostly on my personal account (@lindahyphen), but also on the blog account (@MusHistCliches) when something relevant happens. I’ll also keep posting relevant updates on the blog's Facebook page.
In the meantime, I invite you to go back through the archives, and I’m asking you a favor: If you’re willing, can you please let me know any classical music mysteries that you’ve been wondering about but that I haven’t addressed through the blog yet? I already have some ideas for the new essays (including a question that took musicology by storm thirty years ago!), but I’d love to know what questions have been burning in your mind. You can email me at linda@shavergleason.com. I prefer email to social media for this purpose, as it lets me archive and retrieve correspondence easier.
Thank you so much for sticking around enough to find this announcement, and I hope the potential book will be worth your patience!
Too Long, Didn’t Read: The blog is on hiatus because I’m working on turning it into a book. If you have questions or stories I haven’t addressed yet, please email them to me at linda@shavergleason.com.
Happy new year! I’m sorry that it’s taken me more than midway through January to wish you a happy 2019, but I suspect you’ll forgive me when you learn the reasons for my lack of posts in the past few months. In addition to holidays and travel (which aren’t unique to me, I know) and family responsibilities (also not unique to me, though some of you know the complications I face), and medical issues (I had brain radiation again in October 2018, and I’m in the process of trying a new chemotherapy regimen, which can be unpredictable), I have some exciting news:
I’m working on a proposal for a book based on this blog.
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| You'll be as fascinated by what you read as Samuel Johnson in this portrait by Joshua Reynolds! |
So, I’m taking a hiatus from the blog. I don’t know how long this break will last, and I can’t announce an expected publication date for the book—it’s too early for me to know, as it hasn’t been accepted or even proposed yet! I will still be active on Twitter, mostly on my personal account (@lindahyphen), but also on the blog account (@MusHistCliches) when something relevant happens. I’ll also keep posting relevant updates on the blog's Facebook page.
In the meantime, I invite you to go back through the archives, and I’m asking you a favor: If you’re willing, can you please let me know any classical music mysteries that you’ve been wondering about but that I haven’t addressed through the blog yet? I already have some ideas for the new essays (including a question that took musicology by storm thirty years ago!), but I’d love to know what questions have been burning in your mind. You can email me at linda@shavergleason.com. I prefer email to social media for this purpose, as it lets me archive and retrieve correspondence easier.
Thank you so much for sticking around enough to find this announcement, and I hope the potential book will be worth your patience!
Too Long, Didn’t Read: The blog is on hiatus because I’m working on turning it into a book. If you have questions or stories I haven’t addressed yet, please email them to me at linda@shavergleason.com.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Problems with “Evolution” Narratives
A side note before I get into this post: I’ve recently received some unfortunate medical news that will probably affect my ability to update this blog. In a previous post, I’ve mentioned that I have cancer. A few weeks ago, we learned that it has spread to my brain, and that I’ll be undergoing full brain radiation (starting this afternoon!), which will affect my short-term memory and ability to concentrate. In the future, I hope to work on writing with the extra mental challenges, but in the meantime, even just finding out about the cancer spreading has made it difficult to focus.
…Which is why I haven’t updated for a while, despite there being plenty of musical misconceptions to clear up. I’ve actually had two potential posts on my agenda for over a week: a take-down of a “new” (actually just recirculating) theory about Beethoven’s infamous Immortal Beloved, and a Twitter conversation I had last week about whether classical music can be considered political (my stance: Of course it’s political!). I’m still planning to post about those, as I think they’re both interesting and important. But what ultimately motivated me to update the blog today was a cartoon:
…Which is why I haven’t updated for a while, despite there being plenty of musical misconceptions to clear up. I’ve actually had two potential posts on my agenda for over a week: a take-down of a “new” (actually just recirculating) theory about Beethoven’s infamous Immortal Beloved, and a Twitter conversation I had last week about whether classical music can be considered political (my stance: Of course it’s political!). I’m still planning to post about those, as I think they’re both interesting and important. But what ultimately motivated me to update the blog today was a cartoon:
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| “The Evolution of Classical Composition” is as adorable as it is problematic! Note: The panels read down first, then right. Click link for larger version. Source: http://classic-jenny.tumblr.com |
Friday, September 30, 2016
Can Music Treat Cancer? Snake Oil Musicology (or, He Blinded Me with Science)
A friend of mine sent me this link with his apologies—he’s aware that, as a cancer patient, I receive a lot of well-meaning links about things that supposedly treat or cure cancer. I’ve developed a thick skin about it; my treatment is going about as well as I can hope for, and I trust my doctors and nurses. I’m not feeling desperate or hopeless about my condition at the moment, so I’m not as vulnerable on this subject as I have been in the past.
But this video about treating cancer with music strikes a nerve for reasons my friend didn’t even anticipate. It’s odd enough that it’s a video about “musicology” posted by ESPN, a sports network. It’s a little more personal than my usual blog post in that I’ve been in the same room as Nolan Gasser, and my prior experience has left me with a very negative view of his work.
In this post, I will do my best to address my problems with what he is saying, rather than the many problems I have with how he presents himself to the world. While I tend to have an inclusive view of musical scholarship and hesitate to point to anything and say, “That’s not musicology,” ultimately I find Gasser’s take on musicology is reductive and harmful.
But this video about treating cancer with music strikes a nerve for reasons my friend didn’t even anticipate. It’s odd enough that it’s a video about “musicology” posted by ESPN, a sports network. It’s a little more personal than my usual blog post in that I’ve been in the same room as Nolan Gasser, and my prior experience has left me with a very negative view of his work.
In this post, I will do my best to address my problems with what he is saying, rather than the many problems I have with how he presents himself to the world. While I tend to have an inclusive view of musical scholarship and hesitate to point to anything and say, “That’s not musicology,” ultimately I find Gasser’s take on musicology is reductive and harmful.
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