Oh, hello. I’m Ainsley, a writer trying to make my way through this universe one sentence, scented candle, and mug of hot chocolate at a time. I’ve recently completed my first novel and am working towards its publication. I love stories that are character- and relationship- driven and I’m eager to share as many of them as I can with the world.
In the meantime, I’m just as excited to share an assortment of my other writing with this little corner of the internet.
Here are five things you can expect to read on this blog:
- Lists. Much like this one, because I’m trying to be upfront with what my brand is about. I will post so many lists here. Long lists, short lists, ranked lists and not-particularly-ordered lists. Lists that count up, lists that count down, lists on subjects that are sometimes serious but often ridiculous. This is not an attempt to capitalize on the average internet reader’s limited attention span but a genuine reflection of the way my brain works. I love to categorize things, to compare and contrast them before deciding where they belong in neat little groups of ten. If you do not share this compulsion I hope you at least find the organization useful.
- Recommendations. When I love something, be it a book, a song, or an immaculate piece of chocolate cake, it is important to me that everyone around me loves that same thing as much and as well. You are now part of that circle so please prepare to have your life irrevocably enriched.
- Wallace. A ten year old West Highland Terrier who carries a rage in his heart that is belied by his perfect, angelic face, Wallace is my constant companion. He has a penchant for making enemies around the neighborhood, turning every closet into a lair for naps, and returning exactly none of the affection that is heaped upon him. A character if I’ve ever seen one.
- Celebrating. My raison d’etre, truly. I feel that it’s important to make every occasion you encounter as special as possible, otherwise the dates on your calendar will blend into an indistinguishable beige mess. This means fully embracing the big holidays, your Christmases, your Easters, your Halloweens, and so on, as well as commemorating comparatively minor events like the Summer Solstice, the World Junior Hockey Championships, or St. Patrick’s Day. I’ve had some excellent role models in merrymaking throughout my life and I’m really just here to pass some of their rollicking expertise on to you.
- Metaphorical exclamation points. As a writer, I have deeply internalized the notion that exclamation points are for the weak. They’re a crutch for someone who hasn’t chosen their words carefully enough, a prop for the insecure. I’m happy to be proven wrong about this, but until then that particular punctuation mark will be mostly absent from these pages, though there will be plenty of sentences where one might belong. Because the truth is, I like liking things. I like getting excited about movie trailers, rhapsodizing about the records that have changed my life and clutching at my heart whenever a professional athlete does something nice for a child. I want this blog to be a celebration of the things I love, my favorite people, places, and works of art. All my negativity and criticism, I save for twitter.
Finally, on the subject of my favorite things, I thought I’d conclude this rambling intro with a bit inspired by one of my very favorite movies, Bull Durham. Crash Davis famously recites a creed of his beliefs with a flair that is surprisingly poetic for a semi washed up minor league baseball catcher. I can’t hope to match his intensity, but I can try my best to give you an accurate impression of what I’m about:
I believe in art. The perfect lyric that cuts your lungs open, the paragraph that reshapes your brain, the book that stays with you forever. I believe that you should brown your butter when you make chocolate chip cookies, that Taylor Swift’s songbook will be studied in literature classes four hundred years from now, and that every alleged scandal involving the New England Patriots has been vastly overblown. I believe that all seasons are good but that summer is obviously the best one. I believe in lavender fields, sunflower bouquets, coconut frosting, adverbs, libraries, bellinis, and enormous mugs of tea.
{smouldering stare, followed by a self-satisfied smirk}
Goodnight.
Ainsley MacIntyre 