Geez, I have a lot of things on my non-work-related to-do list:
- Finish writing the two blog drafts currently waiting in the queue
- Write up the handful of new entries that are sitting in my head
- Update my other blog
- Read issues 9 and 10 of Apex Digest (yes, I’m a bit behind on things)
- Read issue 5 of IGMS
- Read Damned Nation
- Read Goodbye, Darwin (courtesy of Cavan Terrill) and write up a little review
- Write a story for a flash challenge at Liberty Hall to get back into the swing of things
- Work on my fantasy short story and finish it up
And that’s just the short list. Of course, I’ll be going back to work for a half day on Monday to see how I do and will be slowly working regular daily activities and physical therapy into my routine, as well. Not to mention copious amounts of sleep, since I’m sure all this ‘new’ activity will wear me right out for awhile until I get back up to regular strength again. Looks like the ‘busy’ just found its way back into my life again. Should be fun.
Tags: apex-digest, cavan-terill, damned-nation, fiction, goodbye-darwin, igms, liberty-hall, reading, Writing
As of today, I’m finally about halfway through Peter F. Hamilton’s 6-volume Night’s Dawn trilogy. I finished up The Neutronium Alchemist – Part 1: Consolidation, so I’ll be ready to crack open the next volume over the weekend. This is a series that I am enjoying quite a bit – it’s a fascinating and expansive universe, to say the least – but I can’t say that I’m completely enamored with it. It’s not one that I would consider omg-can’t-put-it-down good, though I am curious to see where he’s headed with things. Hamilton has somewhere between six and ten different story arcs running at any given time, all of which overlap with one another from time to time. It’s a lot to keep up with and may, in fact, be taking a little away from my overall enjoyment of the series.
Another novella that I’m keeping tabs on right now is Kealan Patrick Burke’s Saturday Night at Eddie’s, hosted as a free serial at Subterranean Press. It’s dark, with a hint of the macabre, and an air of mystery that keeps its readers guessing. It’s voiced beautifully, which only adds to its appeal. So, go give it a read. The first three chapters are up right now, with more to come.
Tags: books, kealan-patrick-burke, neutronium-alchemist, nights-dawn-trilogy, peter-f.-hamilton, reading, subterranean-press
I don’t do New Year’s resolutions; I never have. I think they’re kind of a nice idea, mind you – it’s just that most people break them before January ever reaches its close. So, it seems to me that setting resolutions is a somewhat pointless endeavor.
Now, that said, I have been thinking about setting some personal goals for myself for this year. They’re not really what I consider resolutions, in my mind, because if I don’t make these goals, there’s no pressure or guilt involved. These are just things that I’d like accomplish this year. But if I don’t make it, it’s no big deal; life will go on.
- I need to lose some weight again this year. I’ve been experiencing some health issues in recent months, due in large part to putting back on the weight that I’d lost earlier last year. So back to eating healthy and exercising for me.
- I haven’t enjoyed writing the last couple of months. My life has been super busy and rather stressful, and I haven’t really given any of my stories much thought, let alone any time. So, I’d like to exercise a little discipline, now that weekends are my own again, and see what I can get written this year.
- I have a reading list to get through that will likely take me a few weeks. Plus a friend is bringing me a bunch of books from his speculative fiction library. I think I’m going to be busy for a while.
- I’d like to revive Penitent Tangential, if for no other reason than my own personal enjoyment. I think I’ll actually have time for it again now.
Aside from the weight issue, none of my goals this year are, in the long run, all that important. I have a fixer-upper house that is actually quite a bit more important to me and my wife, so I’ll work on fitting writing and reading around repairs and upgrades. Ultimately, I’ll just have to take it one day at a time and see how things work out.
Tags: halo, halo-2, health, life, Penitent Tangential, reading, Writing
I’ve got a rather well-rounded speculative fiction reading list to start off the new year, courtesy of my wife and sister. Wanna see it?
- Forever Odd – I’ve been a fan of Dean Koontz’s work for years. I’ve always enjoyed his ability to cross genres in nearly every single book. In high school and college, I’d collected a number of his titles. My interest scaled back in recent years, however, as some of his more recent books seemed, well, a little boring (i.e. Ticktock, Intensity, etc.). And I was disappointed that (to my knowledge) he never completed the Fear Nothing trilogy – he left far too many questions unanswered at the end of the second book. His Odd Thomas trilogy, however, is fascinating and has drawn me back to his work. My wife bought me the second book in the trilogy, and it’s high on my priority list of books to read.
- By the Light of the Moon – Continuing with the Dean Koontz theme, this book again adds to my Koontz collection. (I really need to take stock of my Koontz books again and figure out which ones I still need to get copies of.)
- Eldest – My sister thrilled me by giving me a Limited Edition copy of Christopher Paolini’s second novel. Now, there are folks who think it’s ridiculous that adults have been so captivated by YA fiction like the Harry Potter and Eragon series. Critics further complain that both series read like a junior high writing assignment. In Paolini’s case, it should be noted that he wrote Eragon while still in high school and self-published it. Later, it was discovered by an editor of a major publishing house and reprinted on a large market. As such, I don’t mind the writing style of the first book. It’s a fun and interesting story, and I’m looking forward to digging into Eldest and seeing how Paolini continues the story. I will, of course, have to re-read Eragon, though, since I need a refresher on events that have happened there.
- The Protector’s War – This one is the sequel to S.M. Stirling’s Dies the Fire. An unknown extraterrestrial force has rendered all technology on Earth useless, forcing people to fall back to more primitive ways of living. Dies the Fire tells how people come together in tribes in order to survive. The Protector’s War takes place eight years later, as one particular warlord seeks to destroy two tribes and take their lands. It’s an interesting and fascinating story, and I’m looking forward to checking in with some familiar characters again.
- Old Man’s War – I’ve been eager to get my hands on some of Scalzi’s books since I stumbled across his blogs this past year. OMW is the first in a trilogy and is Scalzi’s debut novel. It is followed by The Ghost Brigades and The Last Colony (forthcoming), both of which I’ll be looking to lay hands on later this year. He’s also written a rather tongue-in-cheek novel titled The Android’s Dream that’s just hit bookshelves in the last couple of months.
- Elantris – I first heard about Brandon Sanderson’s debut novel through Orson Scott Card’s writings. He had talked about it in one of his semi-frequent reviews, and being the OSC fanboy that I am, if he endorsed with such high praise, then it was something I definitely wanted for my own library. I was finally able to land a copy of Elantris, and I’m eager to tear into it.
I’ll be writing reviews for all these books as I complete them, so stay tuned here. Currently, I’m in the midst of Peter F. Hamilton’s 6-volume Night’s Dawn Trilogy, so once I complete that, I’ll begin working my way through the rest of these.
Tags: brandon-sanderson, by-the-light-of-the-moon, christopher-paolini, dean-koontz, dies-the-fire, elantris, eldest, eragon, forever-odd, john-scalzi, nights-dawn-trilogy, odd-thomas, old-mans-war, orson-scott-card, peter-f.-hamilton, reading, s.m.-stirling, the-protectors-war
It figures – life gets exceptionally busy, yet my mind finds that it is exceptionally quiet as of late. Well, mostly quiet. One of the hazards of the chaos that goes with being a new homeowner is that it leaves me very little time with which to stay in touch with current events. As a result there hasn’t been much for me to think and ponder on the last couple of weeks, hence the dearth of writing here lately. Of course, that doesn’t mean that my brain is actually inactive. It just means that I’m focusing on a number of other things right now.
I recently read a book called For Women Only at my wife’s request. The book had been loaned to her by one of our friends, and it became a great conversation point for us in clarifying some areas of miscommunication in our relationship. Well, I’ve been working on the counterpart to that book, For Men Only and finding quite a lot of useful information there, as well. Once I’m done reading it, then my wife will read it, and we will sit down and compare notes. I also have the opportunity to read through Stephen Lawhead’s Pendragon cycle, so what little free time I have will probably go toward that.
As always, there are lots of stories percolating in my brain demanding my attention. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time to do anything more than scribble some quick notes about each, just so I don’t forget the basic storyline, and hope that I will be able to get back to them at some point in the near future and put them down on paper.
I’m also doing a little bit of a restructure on my website. I’ve added a wiki in order to catalogue some hard-to-find bits of information, and I am eventually going to replace the portal on my main page with something else that will make it much easier to access my forum, wiki, and blogs. This all takes time to set up, of course, and what little free time I get at work has been going toward that endeavor.
Tags: communication, for-women-only, misunderstandings, reading, relationships, wiki, Writing
I don’t get it. Why are some people so antagonistic toward adults who read, and enjoy, youth fiction? I’ve met a handful of such people, listened to their scorn, read their sarcasm as they condescend toward those of us who thrill toward some youth fiction authors. They can’t understand why aficionados of well-written prose would make such a big deal out of stories “written for kids.”
In my experience that’s because a lot of these people are not avid readers. They wouldn’t know a good book if it smacked them square in the face. Just because such books are written for kids does not mean that they are childish. What attracts me to authors like J.K. Rowling and Christopher Paolini is that their writing, while geared toward kids, doesn’t ‘talk down’ to kids, and thus becomes very enjoyable reading for adults, as well. This is aided by the fact that the writing is top-notch – the geographies of these new worlds are very detailed, the plots twisted and constantly surprising, the characters developed and believable. That, my friends, is what so attracts me to some authors of youth fiction. And because the books are so well-written and enjoyable, I don’t mind that their primary target audience is for someone ten years younger than I am. I simply have a good book in my hands that is engaging and entertaining – and I intend to continue enjoying good writing wherever it may be found.
Tags: christopher-paolini, fiction, j.k.-rowling, reading, youth-fiction
