Robynettely

LHC #148: "A dance to the music of time: First movement, a question of upbringing; a buyer's market; the acceptance world" by Anthony Powell.  It was a race between hard and virtual copies, and hard won. Not really my sort of thing. I mean, it's readable and entertaining, but I didn't care that much about young British men in the 20's so it was easy to put down. The library website said it was 216 pages long, and this was a lie. It's three novels, each 200+ pages, for a total of 718. So I didn't totally know what I was getting into when I requested it.  LHC #149: "Fire Logic" by Laurie Marks. eBook. Much more my kind of thing. About a quarter of the way through, I started feeling like the author had loved "Three Winter's Tales" by Greer Gilman. LHC #150: "The House on the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune. It was on my sister's Christmas list, so I bought it and read it because if it's on both our lists, it's kismet. The...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51: Still n eed to take up comments and revise.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): I had written a couple of scenes in a setting back in August that I knew had to happen, but I didn't really know why, so they were missing the scenes preceding and following. Just before Christmas I realized why what happened in those scenes had to happen, and wrote a couple of thousand words (2600 actually) to precede, and a bunch to follow, with lots of scenes with existing characters being themselves to good purpose, progressing the plot. Exciting stuff.  Short Stories:  Worked on the AITA story but it's not quite ready to be sent it to some friends. and I got a little re-prioritized when I had an idea for Persephone, so there you go.  Critted  8  Got back   4   Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Anna Maria  (Faroe Island Knits). Did the second sleeve, put it all together...

  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis:  Maybe I should post it for comments.  Had a glimmering of what to do with Fairfax next.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): If, as I wrote about last month, it's got the beats of a romance novel, I need those other two sex scenes.    Short Stories:  Finished and posted that story I wanted to get on the 'shop. I'd read an article about fairytales and AITAs, and wrote an AITA of the MC of another story. Then I told a writer friend about it, and she suggested I make the story a series of dueling AITAs. I blew the idea off at the time, but then I thought about it, and I liked it, so I did it.  Critted  9  Got back   4   Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Anna Maria  (Faroe Island Knits). Second sleeve: started the colorwork.  Knitloops  (Knitty SS2021). Finished the f...

LHC #143: "Gamechanger" by LX Beckett. I found it hard to connect to any of the characters, but it moved right along so that wasn't a problem.  LHC #144: "Company Town" by Madeline Ashby. I read one of her sentient robot books before, and quite enjoyed it. I also met her a couple of times at cons and the like, she seems fine.  LHC #145: "Magic in Islam" by Michael Muhammad Knight.  Really interesting. I would have gotten more out of it probably if I knew anything of history or Islam. The introduction was my favorite part, but then it got interesting again towards the end.   LHC #146: "True Grit" by Charles Portis. I love westerns. This is an amazing read. I keep talking about it to people.  LHC #147: "A portrait of the addict as a young man" by Bill Clegg. Memoirs about addiction seem easier somehow to get through than books where it's a character flaw in a larger fiction. I wonder why. One of the MCs in Persephone has a histor...

  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis:  Maybe I should post it for comments.  Had a glimmering of what to do with Fairfax next.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): I was thinking about my friend's romance novel, where there were some flaws but some things she totally nailed, like the structural expectation of three sex scenes, each with a different emotion going in/out. Then I realized that if this story is a romance novel, then I'd just written the first of those three sex scenes. One of my MCs is ace, so there's not actually sex though.    Short Stories:  In order to have something for other people to crit, I pulled something out of the trunk. Everything always takes longer than I think it will! I didn't get through it.  Critted  9  Got back  2  Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Anna Maria  (Faroe Island Knits...

LHC #138: "The Limits of Enchantment" by Graham Joyce.  I read "Some kind of Fairytale" which was amazing a few years ago. I'm not sure why the library doesn't have more copies of his books?  LHC #139: "Swordspoint" by Ellen Kushner. eBook. I am always surprised when I read books that are very highly regarded and they turn out to be about characters. I have no idea why this is so. This book was a delight, though some of the extras were less polished.  LHC #140: "The Perfect Predator" by Steffanie Strathdee PhD, Thomas Patterson PhD, and Theresa H. Barker. A memoir about antibiotic resistant bacteria and phages. I devoured it.  LHC #141: "The Dragon's Path" by Daniel Abraham (half of James S.A. Corey, I've read one of his books). I talked this up so much, Ed wants to read it too. He will love it.  LHC #142: "The Iranian Metaphysicals" by Alireza Doostdar. Hard copy. Funny story, the night before this became ...

   Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis:  Maybe I should post it for comments.  Had a glimmering of what to do with Fairfax next.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): I found myself writing and layering in the same scene over and over, which I guess is how I work now.   Short Stories:   Critted  11  Got back   2   Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Anna Maria  (Faroe Island Knits). I'd done about half an inch of sleeve at the start of the month. Now I've got almost a foot of that and started the second sleeve as well. My yarn has dye lot issues.  Knitloops  (Knitty SS2021). Had first sock half way down heel. I finished that pair and started the next.  Striped long-sleeved t-shirt  (self).   I had shoulders and maybe 5 rows of sleeve at the start of the month, but this is good mindless ...

 LHC #135: "Days by Moonlight" by Andre Alexi. This is the most unpleasantly formatted ebook I've ever read. But on the plus side, that means I'm much more familiar with ebook settings now.  About halfway through, the POV character mentioned that he was black, and I thought to myself, well, that would have been a useful thing to know 100 pages ago, so I googled the author, and I guess most people who read this book will have a little bit more of a clue why they're reading it than I did.  Trashy romance novel by my friend Heather. That's how she described it, not the title. It was very fun.  LHC #136: "Seven Surrenders" by Ada Palmer. I read the first book in this series 22 months ago and was a little bit worried that I wouldn't be able to remember what came before. She managed this really well.  LHC #137: "Petty Treason" by Madeleine Robins. Another book with only one copy in the system. Although it says something crossed with Buffy the...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51: (Still)  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis:  Maybe I should post it for comments.  Had a glimmering of what to do with Fairfax next.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): More new words in threads -- like scenes that connect together with other stuff around them, which is how this seems to want to be written.  Short Stories:  Yup, worked on one.  Critted  8  Got back   8  Posted something that got rejected by the rather specific market I wrote it for, so I don't know what to do with it; also got a crit on something minutes before I sent it to the library!  Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Anna Maria  (Faroe Island Knits). I was a couple of inches from the armholes at the start of the month. The body is now done.  Knitloops  (Knitty SS2021). Worked a bit on the first one, let it sit for a few weeks, came bac...

LHC #131: "Cloud and Ashes: three winter's tales" by Greer Ilene Gilman.  Hard copy. A bit of work, but worth the effort. I can imagine wanting to have a hard copy of this that you just leave by your bed and flip through sometimes and read a few pages and see connections. It connected to so much stuff, really cool. I started this before #128 actually, and indeed finished it last.  I found myself doing sort of the same thing I do when I read something in French: read along for a little while, then do a sort of summary of what's going on. Much like reading poetry perhaps.  LHC #132: "This is how you lose the time war" by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. Went by very fast! This deserves all the accolades it's gotten, I loved the way it wrapped around on itself by the end.  " Karate Canada Technical Manual Level 1". Lent to me by my sensei. Really interesting, if you're into this sort of thing.  LHC #133: "The Prey of Gods" by Nicky...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 31-51:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis:  Maybe I should post it for comments.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Wrote more into the ending and somehow crossed 100K words. I realized one day that it all has to happen close together, and that the wedding has to be nearer the end than I thought, or none of it makes sense. I guess that's something someone who reads a lot of proper romance would know.  Short Stories:  Outlined one, edited two, finished nothing. I did make a bunch of checklist items to progress things though.    Critted  7  Got back   0 because I didn't post anything.  Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Penzance Mittens.  Finished.  Anna Maria (Faroe Island Knits). Bottom ribbing (in the car). Started the color portion, loving it.  Knitloops (Knitty SS2021). Started the first one. I'll probably make six...

LHC #127: "The Bonjour Effect" by Julie Barlow & Jean-Benoit Nadeau. This probably wound up on the list because one of my main characters in Persephone speaks French and not English, and I spend a lot of time on Duolingo. I didn't really enjoy this book. It made me feel icky. I think it was the whole "we" thing and then the authors referring to one or the other of them in third-person, which sort of reminded me of "The New Basics Cookbook" from the 80s.  There's also the problem of the inclusive vs. exclusive We (which I read about on Lingthusiasm a little while ago).  LHC #128: "The Screaming Staircase" by Jonathan Stroud.  Hard copy. I loved the Bartimaeus books. It took me about a day to read, very fun. LHC #129: "The Little White Horse" by Elizabeth Goudge. Hard copy. Maybe because of Terri Windling? It was sort of ridiculous, in a 1940's way.  LHC #130: "A Conspiracy of Truths" by Alexandra Rowland.  eBoo...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 29 -30:  Took up comments. It took hours! Which I guess is why I put it off for (checks notes) 8 months. How embarrassing.  Chapters 31-51:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Synopsis: Maybe I should post it for comments.  Persephone  (probably not its real name):  Short Stories:  Wrote one, edited one.   Critted  11  Got back  4  Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  0 Knitting Ballet Wrap (IK Spring 2005).  Finished the right front and both sleeves, seamed and done! The seaming was something else.  Penzance Mittens. Started the first one.  Ed and Prusa made me a grommet setter and we have a press, so I could finish that dress I started months ago. I still need to make ties for it.  

LHC #123: "The Monster of Elendhaven" by Jennifer Giesbrecht. Enormously fun. This read like the best kind of fanfic.  LHC #124:  "Absolutely nothing to get alarmed about: The complete novels of Charles Wright" by , shockingly enough, Charles Wright. Is it three novels? Kind of. Somehow I got the idea in my head that the library website was lying and the book was 624 pages, not 387, and was intimidated. The language is so rich and dense, to tally worth the effort.   LHC #125: "Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach" by Kelly Robson.  Shorter than I expected, and quite charming.  LHC #126: "Invisible Countries" by Joshua Keating. He's an editor at Slate, so that's probably how I heard of this book. I read a lot more on Slate before they limited me to a few articles a month at about the same time I lost my job, and now I'm just bitter.  The chapter on Akwesasne seemed really important, considering how Canada is dealing with repercussions ...

Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 29 -50 :  Need to take up comments and revise.  Chapter 51:  Finished and posted.  I really ought to buy myself a reward.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Continued writing series of infill scenes. This is very non-linear.  Short Stories:  Outlined something I've been writing. Pulled out something I drafted a long time ago because I was reading the news and had thoughts.  Critted  10  Got back   16 (!!  I must owe some crits to someone) Submissions  0  Out there  0  Rejects  1 Knitting Penzance mittens.  Finished.  Ballet Wrap (IK Spring 2005). Finished the damn sash, the back, and the left front.  Finished the sewing on that jumper. Now I just need a grommet setter and anvil and I'm good to go. Oh, and I need to make ties for it.  

LHC#119: "How to listen to Jazz" by Ted Gioia. I guess this came from my self-improvement phase of requests. It was published in 2016, so not that old, but its pre-pandemic publication shows. There's a whole long section where he discusses the concept of virality as if the medical sense would be new to people. Interesting, though.  I might have gone a little too hard on this one. I listened to a ton of jazz while reading it, and discovered a couple of tracks I loved, and some whole subgenres I apparently loathe. Eeew, cool jazz is so not for me.  LHC#120: "The Country Girls Trilogy" by Edna O'Brien. Not sure if this should be one or three, but it's one volume so for here I'll count it as one. In my annual tally of books read (maintained elsewhere) I'll count it as three. Very much worth reading. It's pretty clear why it would have been banned a lot though. Wow.  LHC #121: "The Memento" by Christy Ann Conlin. The voice in this is gr...

After last month's disappointing progress, this month I made some changes. I have tons of stuff that can just be typed. If I do some of that, it counts. And of course I need to push ahead with WWS.   Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 29 - 48:  Need to take up comments and revise.  Chapter 49-50:  Finished and posted.   Chapter 51:  It was nothing but a little heap of bones but I filled it in a lot.  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Madeline Ashby said something really useful on Twitter about blackmail, and I think I can finish a draft now. I wrote eight scenes that run a thread from beginning to end. Now I need a bunch more of those!  Short Stories:  I almost made an outline of one I started, but that never quite happened.  Critted  10  Got back  15 (seems backwards, doesn't it?)  Submissions    Out there  1  Rejects  1 Knitting Penzance socks #2. Out of time-out, finished. I h...

LHC #115: "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horowitz. Written in 1998, but still very relevant. I didn't realize until I was 20% in that I was reading this during Confederate Heritage month. What a fluke.  This book gave me an odd moment of rooting for Disney. If, in the early 90's, they had succeeded in building a theme park near Manassas, then maybe they would have made the Disney version of the civil war that could unite America.  LHC #116: "How Music Works" by David Byrne. So much of this book could just as easily be about writing.  LHC #117: "Someone who will Love you in all your Damaged Glory" by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. I'm sure it was recommended by someone. I dream of someday catching up to the books on this list, so I can remember when I asked for them, but I feel like it's never going to happen. Some of these were awesome (the one about going to see your brother's play) and some were meh. It's a short story collection, t...

This month I got a job, which had a substantial impact on my schedule. After a year of freedom, I need to find a better way to work my own projects back into my time.  Wind/Water/Salt  Chapters 29-46:  Need to take up comments and revise.    Chapter 47-48:  Finished and posted.  I messed a lot with the POVs of both these chapters.  Chapter 49-51:  Read and revised. Did you notice what I did there? It used to be 50. This book just keeps getting longer and longer. This month I had to write a complete new chapter!  Persephone  (probably not its real name): Notes, as usual.  Short Stories:  Scratched at one a bit.  Critted  9  Got back  6 Submissions  0  Out there  2  Rejects 1, but it was a nice rejection!  Knitting Penzance socks (me).  Started the month with the cuff of the first sock. Finished. Penzance socks #2. In time-out.  Penzance socks #3.  Finished. Penzan...

"The Kingdom of Copper" by S.A. Chakraborty.  I meant toto ordered it when I finished the first one? But the spoilers at the end were somehow for book 3, so I ordered that one instead, and then it was coming in four weeks, so I had to read this one in a rush.  I felt like the author saw much more in Nahri than I did. I found it too stressful to be able to properly enjoy.   "The Empire of Gold" by S.A. Chakraborty.  And here we are.  One time this woman was making all sorts of accusations against me and one of them was that I had called her a crocodile. I thought it was the most... bizarre thing at the time. Maybe this book explained that?  I found it much more relaxing to read than the previous volumes, because the characters (some of them) were in a position to be kind to one another occasionally. Though Chapter 42 wasn't my favorite. It felt like she ran out of time. I  LHC #113: "Ruined by Design" by Mike Monteiro. Hard copy. The library has 4...