Dec 31 2021

Okay, 2021, don’t let the door hit your butt on the way out.

Rosemary

We started this year with with such high hopes!   But here we are with the same damn pandemic, the same anti-vaxxers, anti-maskers, and polarized politics.

Well, not everything is actually dreadful… but honestly, 2021, I’m very disappointed in you!   You’re fired.  Let’s see how your replacement does.

Meanwhile (no longer apostrophizing to the departing year ) I hope your holidays gave you some joy.  Mine did, as I got to spend some time with some fully -vaccinated pals on Christmas Eve-eve.   Food, conversation and board games!

Also, I’ve been recently tested and appear to be COVID-free.  Also good.   A Very Long Line was involved, over an hour and a half wait, during which I read more of James S. A. Corey’s Leviathan Falls.  Those guys have such a good grasp of pacing, and characterization, and the apt word.  It’s inspiring to read something that good.

With my sister off in Florida, I feel no guilt whatsoever at trying to maintain a deep-dive on my current project (not the next Steerswoman book, as I know you are about to ask; taking a breather on that).  I’m at that stage where you can’t stop thinking about it, but the parts that keep attracting you are not the parts to which you should be paying attention right now

So it’s sort of: Come on, settle down, pay attention, get this bit right, you’ll be much happier and things will move better overall… 

I’m going to give myself January, and see how things sit then.

And… If I don’t post this soon, it will be 2022 already!  So…

Let’s all thrive next year, okay?  Like my lucky bamboo!

Lucky bamboo is theoretically the easiest plant to care for, since you just stick one end in water, and make sure it never runs dry.  This is one that I’ve had for something like 10 years, maybe more:

It lives in my office and asks for nothing but sun and water.

I gave it lights this year, as reward for its perseverance.  I do believe it likes them, as it’s grown at least four inches in the last month, specifically (so I suspect) to show them off.

So: the simple things, plus a little extra shine.  Good prescription for 2022, I think.

 


Dec 1 2021

November becomes December

Rosemary

I hope your Thanksgiving holiday was lovely. Mine was — my sister and I celebrated it early, heading up to hang with our pals in New Hampshire. Everyone was fully vaccinated (and some even boosted); it was just such a relief to not have to worry about proximity and masking. Good food, great company and conversation — and bonus fuzzy kitty.

And when it was all over, my sister hit the road. Yes! The condo was sold, three days after going on the market. No more: painting, cleaning, trips to the dump, trips to Goodwill, spackling, sanding, hauling, tossing, organizing, reorganizing, floor-scrubbing, repainting, polishing, putting in storage, angst, exhaustion, etc. She’s in Florida now, resting from her (OUR) labors and regrouping. Shortly, her search for the perfect camper-top to put on her Silverado will commence.

As for me, I’ve been gearing up to do a deep dive into writing — and having no one around for the holidays is pretty attractive right now! Historically I lock myself away for the Thanksgiving holiday week; this year it’ll be most of December. Clearing the decks, trying to get as many chores done ahead of time as possible. Limit my social media, ignore non-urgent emails. We’ll see how it works out.

In other news: Over on Goodreads, the SciFi and Fantasy Book Club did a group read of The Steerswoman, and asked if I would do a Q&A.   And I did!  It was fun.

Books recently read:

Piranesi by [Susanna Clarke]

Well, there’s Susanna Clarke’s Piranisi which I utterly loved.  If you haven’t read it yet, avoid any reviews that describe the events even slightly!  One of the beautiful things about the book is the grace with which Clarke controls the reader’s slow accumulation of understanding.  It is slipped to you piece-by-piece through the eyes and voice of the protagonist.   Mystery and discovery.  So wonderful.

And in my never-ending quest to catch up on the good books of the past that I have missed:

Larque on the Wing by [Nancy Springer]

Nancy Springer’s Larque on the Wing — what an odd, sweet, sweet, joyful little gender-bender of a book!  It made me very happy.

And bless Open Road Media for bringing out-of -print books back on the market.   Not everyone is game for the self-pub route.   Open Road does good.

Jo Walton’s kickstarter to get audio version of her novel Lifelode has reached its goal, so yes, there will be an audiobook.   I think it’s still possible to contribute, and for the $15 level you an ebook version, and the audiobook when it’s done.  Worth doing.

Also  my Kindle reader just presented me with my pre-ordered copy of the final volume of James S. A. Corey’s Expanse series, Leviathan Falls. Frankly, I’m afraid to start reading it, because I’m likely to drop everything else and use my time reading instead of writing!  But  I do love that series so much.

But I’m a fast reader… and you know — a little inspiration?  Might not hurt; could help.

Last bit of news:  it snowed.  A little bit.  A few flakes.  But there it was.