What I Read This December
Whitethorn Wood by Maeve Binchy
The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
Pagan Christmas: The Plants, Spirits, and Rituals at the Origins of Yuletide by Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling
Spider Dance by Carole Nelson Douglas
The Crown of Dalemark by Diana Wynne Jones
Swordspoint by Ellen Kushner (reread)
Black Powder War by Naomi Novik
Throne of Jade by Naomi Novik
Points For Breathing
I keep thinking there ought to be something important to post, but there isn’t.
We went out and got new fish for Liam’s aquarium today, as the last set died off over the past four months. I must stop flirting with birds and patting kittens in pet shops.
People coming over this afternoon, possibly. We’ll find out when/if they arrive.
I finished The Boleyn Inheritance in a day and a half. I’m enjoying reading instead of working this week. I’d forgotten what it’s like to just devour books. Particularly books not connected to something I’m writing myself, which qualify as “work books”.
I’m struggling with the end of the calendar year approaching and feeling as if I’ve accomplished nothing in 2006, which is a load of codswallop because I wrote a book, mothered a toddler, wrote parts of two other books, saw my third book published, created a new website, performed the marriage ceremony for two of my dearest friends, and performed in five concerts of various types. I read a lot, and researched a lot. I did a lot, but I don’t feel as if I accomplished a lot, which leads me wonder what I’d quantify as an “accomplishment” these days.
There’s more to this thought, but I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to publically post the rest of it. It needs more rumination and work, and while what I’ve written out is plain and true, it doesn’t sound very bright or optimistic. But then, recognising non-beneficial things and planning non-popular change rarely sounds perky or celebratory.
Swan Sister Update
I’ve had a remarkably good afternoon.
Total word count, Swan Sister: 22,525
New words today: 1,985
I finally got past the Major Thing that had to happen in order to get the rest of the book going. There’s another plot point that has to happen directly afterwards, but at least now everyone’s in the right place (geographically and character-wise) for it to occur. It’s going to need rewriting later because it’s all over the place, but now there’s something down that makes sense to my characters and to the story as a whole. Plus I have the added bonus of knowing exactly what happens next when I sit down to write.
It feels so good to not only be working on this again, but to have written through the Big Obstacle that has been lurking there since July. (Not that I’ve really had the time or headspace to work on it, what with ESTC and being ambushed by YA historical fiction. But still.)
Using The Force For Good, Not Evil
With things like this happening, if I were Jo Rowling I’d find myself hard-pressed to resist the urge to completely skebard everyone’s expectations by writing something totally unexpected. Alas, unexpected would also mean inconsistent with the way the series has been heading, and being untrue to the story.
But it would be really, really hard to resist the temptation. I’m just saying, that’s all.
This Has Been My Day So Far
LIAM enters the kitchen, clutching the little Fisher-Price parrot from the pirate ship he received as a Christmas gift from his GRANDPARENTS. MAMA is assembling his lunch to take to daycare.
MAMA: Hey, Liam, you’ve got your parrot. What does a parrot say?
LIAM: Arrrr!
Parrot, pirate; you say orphan, I say often….
