This Saturday April 13th I’ll be at Medford Library for Boston Glory’s Media Day! I’ll have books and stickers, and give a short Spirit Foul reading. I’m looking forward to meeting some new faces and seeing friends!
What am I reading?
Feels like an appropriate time to give a quarterly list of books read this year:
– Arcanum Unbound by Brandon Sanderson
– Iron Prince by Bryce O’Connor and Luke Chmilenko (Audiobook)
– Dune by Frank Herbert (Audiobook)
– Jurassic Park by Micheal Crichton
– (in progress) Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg
– (in progress) One More Year by Meghan Kemp-Gee and Megan Praz
– (in progress) For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway
– (in progress) Eye of the World by Robert Jordan (Audiobook)
I’m not ready to talk about Wheel of Time (it’s gotten really interesting), and Bones is a read-a-quick-chapter every-so-often desk-top book.
One More Year is my first graphic novel, and it is so charming. It is an Ultimate (do we say Frisbee again now?) story! I will give final thoughts when I’m through, but I adore it. The artwork is jaw dropping and fun, with careful attention to detail. The story is easy to follow and leans heavily into the medium’s strengths in a delightful way. I will post a review for it when I finish, but just know this story is much different than Spirit Foul and I’m thrilled to learn from their style. Where Spirit Foul is fantasy, small-school scrappy Northeast Ultimate, One More Year is West Coast elite beach. And I’ve studied their marketing and kickstarter approach with admiration for everything they did right, where I have fallen short. They’re brilliant.
I’ve read For Whom the Bell Tolls before and I loved it. Sidebar the poem it’s named for is fantastic. I picked the book back up because I’ve been marinating on my own writing (more on that later) and I felt myself craving Hemingway’s character tension. I simply love this book, and the reread has both reminded me why, and shone light on more details now that I know the whole story. I understand it isn’t for everyone. But it IS for me. Maybe just because the main character is relatable to me, because the characters seem real to me, because the tension is palpable and masterfully crafted. Maybe because I’m a sucker for dark literature that features tough people in real situations. This corner of my reading brain is Raymond Carver, Hemingway, Poe.
What am I writing?
Not a lot!
I’ve had a few weeks now of “marinating.” You can probably see the excuses coming like billboards ahead. I’ve been thrown out of rhythm by life. We’re a weekish away from a baby that has already disrupted sleep and routine even before arrival! I’ve had more bartending shifts before the few weeks off for said child. Nesting like crazy. Selling my car, getting another, messing up my business taxes, our boiler and pellet stove breaking. Such will always be the way.
I wish we got frequent flier miles at the hospital and Ultrasound room, because we’ve been there a lot. Everyone is fine and healthy, and we’re blessed with Grade A medical attention. They’ve wanted to keep a close eye, and I’m thankful we have attentive care. In an unpredictable world, I’ve really come to appreciate the top-tier medical resources available in the Northeast. I’m becoming an annoying old person that’s prideful of my home in New England. This is thirty.
I am thinking about the next novel everyday. The one heavily influenced by nature, that I haven’t really talked about. Part of reading Hemingway is wishing to imprint some influence from that story into mine. Character tension, scene, tone, things like that. It’s still a load of work away, but I feel really good about it. Also, I have a few other things I’m working on. Not to disclose today, but I have a number of options to increase the amount and types of products I have to peddle. Stay tuned (and patient).
What do I recommend?
Journaling!
I mentioned this to Grace last night and got the typical “not my thing,” fake puking response.
No one needs to journal like me. I sit and type and type and catch myself up on the happenings and goings and feelings of being me on that particular day.
I would’ve told you I didn’t journal much through college, or before that. But a few pages every few months, over the course of years, has added up to quite the collection of memories. Things forgotten. Saiditbeforesayitagain journaling is stamping a landmark for backwards time travel.
Journaling doesn’t have to be complete sentences. Dashed words- meager, seemingly hollow- can mean much more later. Something like “work’s annoying, swollen, not sleeping, nesting,” would help my wife teleport back in time to all the feelings of being her right now, 9 months pregnant. It doesn’t take much to get the mind going. I recommend giving yourself some kind of window to peer through the hazy past when you’re feeling nostalgic or sentimental in the future. A dear friend gave us a journal like this for a wedding gift, and it’s a wonderful habit for memory.
My baby books are a form of journaling my mother did that I hadn’t truly appreciated until my soon-to-be-Dad Era provided unbridled context. I appreciate her work, and the work of my grandmother for writing me a series of letters as I grew up, and the work of my former self for saving all my cathartic outbursts for all these years.
<3
Real ZS