It’s been raining here. Every day for a solid week. My neighbor went out at dusk to mow his lawn in the failing light because it had finally stopped briefly. It may be nice tomorrow; supposed to be. The dogs need a long walk; Kiddo needs to play outside. My lawn needs a mow, and my hair needs a trim. Lots of needs and little time. C’est la vie.
Kiddo and I hunted monsters today which involved a lot of tiptoeing. Gave me a chance to work on my Penta strut. Mrs. Reads baked English muffins. It’s a slow news week here.
I published (? released? posted?) my first work of original short fiction on Saturday. Early feedback (thank you!!) has been positive, that’s mostly come from friends and well-wishers.1
The feedback is insanely appreciated. And motivating. I started work on Tallboys #2 which I think will be the saltshaker story and will introduce or expand on some of the characters from #1. I haven’t plotted this out (at all), I’m letting the writing take me where it will. I’m confident I have enough bar stories saved up to keep this going for a little while.
One of my friends said it seemed like I’d “found [my] voice” and he’s read more of my writing than any sane person would/should do without financial compensation.
Book Bits:
I finished Gentle Writing Advice by Chuck Wendig. It was underwhelming. I really enjoyed his The Kick-Ass Writer, so I was a little let down that GWA was mostly stuff I’d heard or read before. That probably says less about Chuck or the book and more about my insatiable, gluttonous appetite for craft essays and writing tips.
I started Sour Cherry by Natalia Theodoridou on Saturday. It’s a reimagining of the story of Bluebeard. I’ll admit, I’m not up on my Bluebeard lore but I’m enjoying it so far. It’s doing that story-within-a-story-that’s-connected-to-the-story thing and it’s doing it well. Also, it’s a bad-ass book cover:
You put a headless anything on a cover and I’ll probably read it. Next up will likely be John Green’s Looking for Alaska. Then I’m due to dive into some “Substack novels:” Cubafruit by Alexander Sorondo and Stop All the Clocks by Noah Kumin.
Today is my fourth consecutive day not-drinking. I’m looking to stay dry the rest of the month as a personal challenge, because my annual physical is approaching, and because I overanalyze my personal data. So yeah, I guess wish me luck on that and the lawn-mowing?
- V
Or at least, I don’t know that they actively wish me any specific harm…