Reading
For the first week in 2025, I have a few books that will carry over from 2024.
The first is the Bram Stoker Award-winning Mr. X by Peter Straub. Unfortunately, this ended up being a DNF for me. Straub writes beautifully, and Luke Daniels shines as a narrator, but this book’s pacing tested me. I listened to about 30% of the audiobook and only a few big things had happened.
There is an extended section of the book where we’re in a hospital, and it’s a lot of waiting and talking. At that point, I wasn’t excited to get back to the story. The villain is also way more compelling than the main character. While we get a few chapters from the perspective of the frightening Mr. X, it wasn’t enough to counteract my boredom with the main character. It doesn’t help that this book is long (600+ pages in print, 19 hour audiobook).
Despite the above criticisms, I am gonna try another Peter Straub book at some point, though likely a shorter one.
I replaced that audiobook with Sinister Spring by Agatha Christie. This is a collection of 12 short stories, some of them narrated by David Suchet and Hugh Fraser (who played Hercule Poirot and Captain Hastings respectively in the Poirot TV show). These stories are all pleasant in their old-fashioned Englishness and are definitely a comfort read.
I am continuing my reread of Wheel of Time. I started Knife of Dreams around the holidays. I’m reading it slowly, trying to savor it. I have a full set in hardcover, so I’m not in any hurry like I would be with a library book.
I read Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey, which I got from the library. It is considered THE western that launched the genre as we know it today. It’s pretty easy to read despite being published 113 years ago. Westerns aren’t usually my genre, but I’m trying something new. I’m surprised at how much I liked it.
I also read Volume 13 of Inuyasha in the Vizbig 3-in-1 edition. I’ve been reading these slowly (there are 18 volumes), but now that I’m coming up on the climax, I really wanna see how it all ends. This is a great manga series that’s super easy to read and has dazzling artwork. I read this volume in a single sitting in bed.
Writing
It’s been a few months since I last wrote a writing update on this website.
I have several stories out to magazines, awaiting their replies. My story “Crossing the Plains” (a Jack & the Beanstalk-inspired tale) is out at 2 publications. I should hear back by the end of the month from one or the other. “The Curse of Corpses” is in the hands of Electric Spec and my story “The Passenger” is in the hands of RDG Press. Finally, the 18,000-word novelette I mentioned back in October (“The Hollow Pearl”) was submitted to Analog Science Fiction & Fact. That last magazine is one of the biggest legacy publications in the ever-shrinking short fiction market, so I know a long story is a long shot. Between these 4 stories, I have 17 rejections so far. I’m hopeful nonetheless.
I sent a previously published flash story to a publication that accepts reprints. It’s a story that won a flash fiction contest, so I’m hopeful.
On the writing front, I recently completed the first draft of a 1,500-word story for a submission call. I submitted this story to my critique group for a run through the gauntlet. They said that the story is great (and harrowing), but it needs some more foreshadowing of what’s to come. I’m gonna have to eliminate some words in order to add those elements in. Such is the challenge of flash fiction.
I also started a story for a themed anthology call about “Dark Carnivals.” That’s due at the end of the month. I’ll need to finish it soon so my critique group can have a chance to look at it.
After that, my critique group will have a chance to tear apart another short story “Roh” about a recovering assassin in Jakarta who has a strange bedside visitor.
I recently red-lined one of my old short stories “The Reburial” and realized I wrote that story from the wrong character’s perspective. I’m attempting to rewrite it from the more interesting POV, but it’ll be like starting over.
I’ve also begun outlining/worldbuilding for a scifi novel that’s been bouncing around my head for a while. Scifi isn’t my strongest genre, but the story idea has me excited, since it has multiple POVs and has the potential to be a rich narrative. I’m hoping to have 2/3 of the novel outlined and a few dozen pages written by March. We’ll see how realistic that actually is.
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What have you been reading and/or writing this month? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 