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.

 


4 Responses to “November becomes December”

  • Sabine Says:

    I got the ebook and audiobook of Leviathan Falls. Now I spend almost every waking moment either listening to the audio as I take walks or do chores, or reading during meals and at bedtime. Bedtime was a big mistake; it’s hard to put down this book! I reread the previous book in the series, just to be prepared.

    Now I need to put Larque on the Rise on my reading list. Thanks for the tip!

  • Sabine Says:

    Oops! I meant Larque on the Wing! Better than being on the rise.

  • Pence Says:

    I recommend ‘The Hands of the Emperor’ by Victoria Goddard. Hands down the best book I’ve read in at least a decade. One warning – its a rabbit hole – I missed a couple of meals reading it and had a couple of very late nights.
    And her Greenwing and Dart series is great fun and well done. She is gifted in her character depictions.

  • Brigitte Says:

    I recently discovered _The Steerswoman_, read all four back-to-back and enjoyed the journey immensely. I loved how those curious, capable characters exploring their underexplored and enigmatic world took me with them and welcomed me into their company. Plus lots of food for thought about the power of sharing knowledge. These are fantastic novels, and I’ve already gifted the first volume for three of my friends. I’m on a mission to spread the word — I cannot comprehend how they are not prize-winning bestsellers.

    Above all: Thank you for this wonderful reading experience! It will stay with me, I’ll reread them, and I’m truly grateful.