Reading
This week had a lot of beautiful finishes (and one not so good one). I finished Knife of Dreams, which set up the finale for Wheel of Time perfectly (the finale being the last 3 enormous books). I am hoping to finish the series this year.
I finished the last two volumes of Inuyasha. It was a nice ending that wrapped up everything in a neat bow. I enjoyed my time with this series. It’s definitely in my top 5 manga of all time list (which I will one day write as a blog post once I’ve read more manga).
I finished Moonheart as well, which was just okay. This urban fantasy classic wasn’t written very well, with a lot of sluggish exposition and constant POV shifts (sometimes within the same paragraph) that made it hard to follow at times. The last 80-90 pages were action-packed, which was fun, and there were some emotional deaths, but it wasn’t enough to redeem the book. I won’t be continuing with de Lint’s Ottawa and the Valley series, but I’m not giving up on the author just yet. I’ve heard his other series are much better.
I’ve started The Dissonance by Shaun Hamill. It’s good so far. I’m curious to see where it’ll go.
Writing
I submitted my workplace horror story to The Other Stories. I’m not sure when I’ll hear back, but I’m excited to see if it’ll get published to the podcast.
I’ve been writing for an anthology call that’s asking for stories about Magi. I’m writing this one without any plan, so it’s been a little slow-going, but I’m hoping it’ll turn out good.
I had my critique group look at a the first part of a story I wrote late last year, and as always, their advice is extremely valuable. I have a few more sessions before this story gets fully looked at. Once that happens, I’ll take all of their comments and try to incorporate the ones I think will make the story better.
Other than that, worldbuilding and character development continues on the novel.
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What have you been reading and/or writing this week? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 