I guess you never know how far a post might reach. When I wrote about a scam email I received from a fake Elena Ferrante, I really wasn’t trying to do anything other than report out about a new kind of scam email I received. I didn’t even realize what a big deal Elena Ferrante is or how mysterious she is, though my search on the name had given me some clues. After I posted about it, I saw that she was top on a list at the New York Times. Still, I didn’t think that much about it. I did learn from comments on my post and after reading some more that her identity remains a mystery.
So imagine my surprise when a Google Alert (which usually tells me about posts to this blog that I’ve written or ocassionally alerts me to a review of one of my books) sent me to an article in The Observer, which has a sentence that apparently begins “The writer Lee Goldberg received a similar email, as did Kendall Dunkelberg, a poet and professor, both describing being flattered first and then …” That’s all I can read because there is a 1£ fee for a trial period. If anyone is a subscriber, you can tell me whether the article has anything more about me or my post. For now, I’m more than satisfied to bhe called a poet and professor by The Observer. They’re not wrong, and it goes to show they actually did take a look at my website. And even better, they spelled my name right.
So I can thank Elena Ferrante and her impersonator, both for giving me something to blog about and for getting my little blog noticed across the pond. Other readers have been reading and commenting on the post, so thanks to you, too.
And to all the other obscure bloggers, poets, or professors, and anyone else toiling away with words, keep it up! You never know where your words might land and where that might take you.
Kendall Dunkelberg 