I have two or three things that I’ve been trying to pull together into coherent posts, but life continues to get in the way. This week has been tied up with, among other things, getting to the point of saying goodbye to our sick kitty, only to discover that she’s not quite ready to go. It’s been a rollercoaster of the worst kind, though I have to admit that at one point I couldn’t stop thinking of the bit from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and “Not dead yet!” If you haven’t seen it, I’m afraid I’m totally incapable of explaining it right now. In any case, Lazarus Kitty is here for a bit longer, apparently.
“This Place From Which All Roads Go” is now available at Daily Science Fiction. I have to say that I really didn’t know how it would be received, and it’s been wonderful to hear some positive things about it. Thanks!
This is one of those weeks where I would love to hear some good things, writing or otherwise. I am feeling very grateful today for a warm house, and for the way the hemlock boughs my daughter hung outside my window swing in the breeze. I’m feeling good about the new stories I’ve been working on.
Tell me, what’s keeping you going these days?
November 16, 2012 at 4:32 pm
I’m so sorry your cat is ill! That must be tough.
The Monty Python movies are my favourite things to watch when I’m feeling down.
I’m not sure if this is your sense of humour but I also love the Mimi and Eunice comic strip: http://mimiandeunice.com/
Pintester is great, too: http://pintester.com/. It’s a blog run by a woman who tests out all sorts of recipes and health and beauty tips she finds on Pinterest. She’s not exactly a domestic goddess so some of her posts are pure comedy gold.
(Fair warning, though, some of the Pintester posts include cursing. I’m also not sure if that’s something that might bother you. It doesn’t bug me but I have friends and family members who are offended by swearing!)
November 16, 2012 at 6:14 pm
Thanks, Lydia. Cinnamon is seventeen. It’s not unexpected, and it’s not something she’ll recover from. I’m trying to find my Zen with it all, and use it as a way of living more in the moment.
I’ll check out your recommendations–thanks for sharing them! And I’m totally not bothered by cursing. I’m…let’s say cleaner here than I am in real life. 🙂 I could definitely use some humor. I look forward to reading.
November 16, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I read your story, “This Place From Which All Roads Go” today on dailysciencefiction.com during my lunch break. I really enjoyed it. For me, it felt particularly poignant with Thanksgiving just around the corner. (Alas, my T-Day takes me out of the big city, over the river, and through the woods to miles and miles of farmland. Suddenly, I have a desire to dig around in some dirt.) Last month I really enjoyed “In the Library of Souls” on strangehorizons.com, so I had been looking forward to reading this new effort all week.
Thank you so much for your efforts and I look forward to future projects!
November 16, 2012 at 6:24 pm
Thanks! That’s great to hear. Sometimes I think having stories published feels a little like putting seed out for the birds. It’s good either way, but it feels even better when you get to see/hear about the enjoyment.
November 18, 2012 at 10:28 pm
I found a few moments to finish the story today. Thanks for breathing life into it and setting it free for the rest of us to enjoy. It didn’t make me feel good, but it did make me feel. And it made me remember. I remembered good and bad days from my youth…and that’s giving my brain a real workout! Ha! In any case, just wanted to say: another awesome story. It left me feeling contemplative. And maybe somber. Or some other word that might be escaping me now…
Have a great Thanksgiving!
November 19, 2012 at 8:38 am
Thanks! I’ll take contemplative and somber any day.
Holidays for me remain forever linked to my grandfather’s dairy farm. It’s been gone since I was in my early teens, But I can still remember so many things, from the boulders in the pastures to my grandmother scaring me by taking her dentures out.
December 10, 2012 at 8:37 am
This may be a little after the fact, but I figure every day is improved by a compliment so it’s still worthwhile me saying this.
“This Place From Which All Roads Go” was beautiful. To the point that I actually followed the author link (hence I’m here. Hello!). Which then made me realise that the two-parter I’d skipped past on Strange Horizons (on my way to the submissions link) was also yours, so I went back and read that.
And now I am just filled with envy at how beautifully you write. “Gaiman-esque” is the lazy point of reference, simply because he’s one of the few others who successfully describe these fairy-tale, magical worlds with a simple honesty, an acceptance that “this is the world as I find it in my imagination.” There’s an economical elegance to your writing – there was a line near the start of Library of Souls,
“not even when her death took root in her chest and stole away the space for her breath.”
that stopped me in my tracks. Such a beautiful expression of horror.
Which is all a long, breathless and slightly fanatical way of saying: bloody good job, old bean, and I can only aspire to write in the way you do. Your novel is waiting for me on my Kindle and I can’t wait.
December 10, 2012 at 10:07 am
Thank you. You’re very kind. Every day that comes with compliments is, indeed, a better day.