Reading
I DNF’d Black River Orchard at 25%. It had some good parts, but the writing style just didn’t vibe with me. Chuck Wendig writes teenagers unconvincingly, and his humor isn’t something I particularly like. Despite this, some parts of the novel are truly eerie and disturbing, and I think Chuck would be an author for me if he wrote shorter books and cut down on the Twitter-esque humor. This is the second time I’ve put down one of his books.
I also started (and stopped) It Rides A Pale Horse by Andy Marino. I confess, I picked this up on a whim at the library because it was on a list of cosmic horror novels. I wanted to read some cosmic horror because I’m unsure if I want to add a cosmic element to my novel. I can safely say that this novel is an example of what I won’t be doing in my manuscript.
While Marino’s writing can be pretty good at times (he describes a character as “a 36 year old bird of prey” and “a raptor gone vegetarian”), the way he waxes lyrical about art can go on for a paragraph too long (and he talks about art a lot). The main character, Lark, is a well-liked and well-respected sculptor. One of the other main characters in this story is Betsy, Lark’s reclusive sister who paints forgeries. The sibling relationship is simply stated, with very little actual emotion between the two of them. I found their relationship a little flat. They could have been roommates and nothing would have changed. There was also an interlude that’s longer than any of the chapters from the perspective of a ghost. Having such a chapter early on in the novel didn’t help in my engagement. I started to care less and less with each passing page.
I finally finished The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan. We’re down to the last 2 books in the series. I went straight into listening to Towers of Midnight on audio. I don’t usually do this with series. I try to mix it up by reading a different book in between, but I am having flashbacks to when I first read The Wheel of Time and I recall loving these last three books so much the first time around I couldn’t wait to experience them again. Let’s see if that impression holds up.
I also listened to Voyage of the Dawn Treader by CS Lewis, the third novel (in publication order) of the Chronicles of Narnia. This one is my favorite so far. It had everything I liked about the first two books (the whimsical characters, the grand adventure, and many fantastical settings) without feeling drawn out. I’m hoping the rest of the books are as good or better than this one.
Lastly, I’m finishing up the Echoes of the Fall trilogy by reading The Hyena and the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky. This is my “bedside book” so it’s going to take a little while to finish. Ever since I’ve gone back to the office for work, I’ve almost given up on reading physically/digitally. Audio is just an easier medium for me right now, with my long commute and having to work in a windowless office for 9 hours a day. Reading with my eyeballs is a luxury. I still read physical books, just slower. If an audio version is available for a book I have physically, I’ll swap back and forth. That’s allowed in the book community, right?
Writing
I’ve gotta be honest: Going back to the office 4 days a week after working from home full-time for 8 years is kicking my ass. I’m waking up an hour earlier, returning home pretty late, and thus have little time or energy for writing. I’ve tried to write in the mornings before starting my work day, but there’s actually very little time between when I arrive at the office and when I have to start working. I get ready to put some words on the page, make it about a paragraph or two, then stall as my to-do list grabs my attention and doesn’t let go until quittin’ time.
I attempted to write in the evening after dinner earlier in the week, and while I wasn’t physically tired, my brain refused to do any of the creative thinking required to make progress on my novel. This past week was my slowest by far. It doesn’t help that I am struggling to come up with a believable reason to have the characters I created do anything to advance the plot. I need to sit back and work on the characters, I think.
MYTHOS – First Draft progress report: 27,031/120,000 – 22.5%
+229 up from last week
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What have you been reading and/or writing this week? Let me know in the comments below.
The Night Bulletin 