Reading
I finished Inuyasha Vol 16 this week. This series has 18 volumes, so we’re coming up on the end.
I’m about 60% done with Knife of Dreams. I know I must sound like a broken record talking about this book for the third week in a row, but since it’s a re-read, I’m taking it slowly. However, it’s starting to sound like we’re approaching the climax in the novel, so there is a chance I will fly through the rest this next week.
I’m also making my way through Moonheart by Charles de Lint. I’m about halfway through, and I really like it so far. It’s an easy read, and I like how it’s decidedly more literary than current urban fantasy novels. Moonheart is over 40 years old, so its pacing is definitely slower than books published now.
I’m hoping to have these done in the next week so I can move on to The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill. I got the ebook from the library. I really liked Shaun Hamill’s first book, A Cosmology of Monsters, so I have high hopes for this one.
Writing
I finished the first draft for my submission for The Other Stories podcast. The theme for this call is “workplace horrors.” I had my critique group look at this story and they all had great suggestions on how to make sure every word counts. The submission call has a max of 2,000 words, so it’s definitely been a challenge to not waste a single word.
I also started adding worldbuilding and character details to my embryonic scifi novel. I was having trouble with this at first, as I wasn’t sure how I wanted to approach the world, but I’m finding that adding details as they come has also been informing the broader plot outline of the story. This is a really fun aspect of novel writing, and I’m trying to enjoy it before I start actually writing the text. When I’m ready for that, I’ll be imposing daily word count goals on myself, which is decidedly less sexy than flashy worldbuilding.
I will be simultaneously working on 2 stories this upcoming week:
1) I want to start a rewrite of my story “The Paperback Recycler.” Some of you might recognize this story from my podcast The Night Bulletin. I’ve had my critique group look at the story and they had some great suggestions. Unfortunately, that means that this story will be taken down from the podcast once it’s ready to be submitted to magazines.
2) There’s a couple of anthology calls that have stories due at the end of February. I’m planning on picking the one that excites me more to work on.
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What have you been reading and/or writing this week? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 