When I first opened THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING, the newest short story from CLAIRE RUDY FOSTER, I accidentally got swept away into my own thoughts and I found myself landing somewhere back in the Musée du Louvre in Paris. Naturally, the title of the story made me think of Johannes Vermeer…the artist of the famous painting by the same name as the story. This made me think of The Lacemaker, another painting by Vermeer…one which I actually saw in person. For the full circle, it was at the Louvre that I saw The Lacemaker.
I had to reel myself back to the story. And such a delightful story it was! If you haven’t read the first story in the INTERLUDE PRESS/DUET BOOKS Come What May series, you REALLY SHOULD pick it up! The Girl With a Pearl Earring is a delight. It’s all punky and pondering and cute sexy. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It brought me back to my punk days, to my museum days, and to so much more. It’s all the vibes!
It brought me to my own contemplation of the differences of the people in my punk community…how we all arrived there for different reasons and from different backgrounds. This aspect alone of The Girl was insightful! There was a passage in the story that brought me RIGHT BACK to those punk days of my own…the moment the narrator realized their friend was on a different path than them:
“For the first time, I sensed how wide the gap was between us and knew, that she had always been aware of it; knew its depths and contours and its glacial creep, taking us in separate directions. I’d thought we were the same because I couldn’t see those things, or that I could somehow shake off those differences by doing a better impersonation of the people I desperately wanted to belong with.”
I was super delighted, also, to discover that The Lacemaker actually makes a cameo appearance in this story!
Here’s an AMAZON link to pick up a copy of THE GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING. OR, you can get a copy of this short story wherever ebooks are sold.
Girl With a Pearl Earring Synopsis: In 1992, Laura and Thea live together in a punk house in Washington, D.C. Thea, a brash and unapologetic trans girl, lives the punk life to its fullest. But Laura leaves her leather and safety pins at home each day when she leaves for work in a government job—hiding her anti-establishment lifestyle from her co-workers and her mainstream tastes from her housemates.When she invites Thea with her to see a Vermeer exhibit, Laura finds the courage to open up to Thea while viewing her favorite painting. Thea—normally critical of mainstream art—is charmed by both the painting and by Laura.
Now, I guess I digressed enough. As you can see, the title of this post has nothing to do with what’s transpired thus far in the post. But if you’ve read my posts in the past you probably already know I’m really good at digressing. I just wanted to SHOUT OUT Claire Rudy Foster’s short story first, before I announced tomorrow night’s Instagram event!
There’s all the details! TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9th @ 7PM Eastern Time. This will be hosted on Claire Rudy Foster’s Instagram Account. If you go follow them now, you’ll be alerted when we go live tomorrow evening! Go follow them. Now. (-:
There will be giveaways and our novels will be on sale at the Interlude Press Store. We’d love to see you there! Please come…interact! We’ll be talking about…well, I guess whatever suits our fancies at the time. The announcement from our publisher is as follows:
Join Claire Rudy Foster and Kevin Craig live on Instagram talking writing, Vermeer, punks, the Camino de Santiago and pretty much whatever they feel like. They’ll also have giveaways of their new short stories,”Girl With a Pearl Earring” and “Billions of Beautiful Hearts.” And be sure to stop by store.interludepress.com, where we’ll have their novels on sale 2/7-14.
They officially said, WHATEVER THEY FEEL LIKE…so, like, we’re allowed to do whatever! Come see what happens!
(One quick note: my story is the only YA story among the 4 Come What May stories…just an FYI for readers.)
Oh! PS! My own Come What May short story comes out tomorrow! The special preorder price of 99 cents will be disappearing soon! Here’s the Amazon link to pick up a preorder copy: BILLIONS OF BEAUTIFUL HEARTS. This one can also be purchased wherever ebooks are sold. GET IT NOW! (-:
KEVIN CRAIG 