Robynettely

“Green” by Jay Lake. This was a Christmas 2014 gift, so it’s been sitting around waiting to be read for a while. I was looking for something to be mournful about and Jay Lake is dead, so I picked it up because he won’t be writing anything else (though I think there’s a sequel… or something else set in the same world). His short story roots showed, I thought, but in a good way. He didn’t drag a section out the way some books seem to. I found the writing nicely efficient. I also liked the variety of characters and relationships. “The Essense of Budo” by Dave Lowry. Another karate essay book. It’s quite accessible, and didn’t make me feel bad about my karate at all! “Codex” by Lev Grossman. The main character Edward is quite a bit like Eliot in The Magicians. Everything tied up really neatly at the end. “Westmark” by Lloyd Alexander. I read the Chronicles of Prydain maybe 12 times as a child, and at least twice as an adult, so I was appalled to find out there are other LA books ...

1st draft “Water Leopard”. Had roughly 37,000 words at the start of the month. Now I have around 44,250… I also worked on something about gothic houses.  Editing "Lucky Kate” . I think I’m doing the last pass now. “The Cicatrix Diary”. I had a brilliant idea that made the setting and characters work way better for a short story. Connecting It's the thing I don't do.  Maybe next month.  Circulating 1 Knitting Margaret Beaufort (AS Tudor Roses 2013). Finished button bands, danglers and blocking. It came out great. I followed the pattern everywhere except I doubled the waist shaping so it doesn’t hang like a sack. Tilted Duster (Norah Gaughan IK Fall 2007). At the start of the month I had just started the “skirt”. I finished that, and the first sleeve up to the cap. Rust Damask Jacket (Takle & Kolstadt). The month started with maybe 5 rows of the neck done, 10 inches of the first sleeve and two of the second. I finished that firs...

“The Folding Knife” by K.J.Parker. When I saw this book’s cover, it looked like something Ed would have read. And in fact this was the case. I found it a bit of a slog, actually. The plot wasn’t that much to drag me forward. “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall. I’d probably read writing by him in Outside magazine or some such place before. One of my karate friends recommended it. He’s really into running, and said it had really changed his outlook. I found this very readable, even if the real take-away for me was people who like running do better at it than people who don’t. “Zen in the art of Archery” by Eugen Herrigel. It’s karate essay season again! The best thing about this book was that it’s short. I wish I hadn't googled the author before reading it, but it was interesting within its context.

1st draft “Water Leopard”. Had roughly 30,000 words at the start of the month.   Now I have just shy of 3700? That seems high.   Editing "Lucky Kate” . Rewrote that last paragraph and had some other ideas too. I’m not sure how I feel about the ongoing process on this one, but ultimately if it works I guess it’s good. It needs to be finished at some point, doesn’t it. “The Cicatrix Diary”. This was just shy of 6000 words at the start of the month, with the plot repaired. My goal is to get it below 5000 words, because the one circulating story is hard to find markets for due to its length. Connecting Nothing Circulating 1 Knitting Rust Damask Jacket (Takle & Kolstadt). At the start of the month I had 3” to go on the body, and 7” done on the first sleeve. In Feb I finished the body, cut the steeks, picked up for the neck, did maybe three inches of the first sleeve, and started the second sleeve because it was small and portabl...