I must have repressed the memory of this stage of writing Ryswyck; in fact I know I did, because I blithely assured myself it wouldn’t take so long to write the second book in this ‘verse now that the ‘verse itself was properly realized. And that’s true so far as it goes. But I forgot
One day soon I will make a Lenten-themed post, but today is not that day. I braved the deep freeze last week to get my annual physical and purchase a new phone, as my old one’s memory was stuffed too full to function after five years. The new device, being well-designed in the much more
It is very cold and a very fine snow is misting down, and that is just as it should be. Some notes from the home front: While my tea is steeping, I’ve taken to picking up the camera and practicing shots on whatever I find marginally interesting in my flat. It is not yet light
It’s a thoroughly rainy Saturday: perfect for writing. To be honest, it hasn’t been one of those dancing-through-meadows-of-daisies kinds of months, at least as far as writing mojo is concerned. Nevertheless, I did complete the chapter I started before the whole “white nationalist attempted coup” thing, sent it to beta, and started storyboarding for the
Good afternoon! Things to be noted: Remember when I advised you, dear readers, to BURY THEM in votes? Well, just imagine if we hadn’t! I have for some reason not added to the 900 words I wrote on TLT last week. From the people who brought you fifty billion hearings on Benghazi, we are suddenly
So we are well away into the New Year, and I have sat down with The Lantern Tower again, determined to make the most of my favorite season for writing in. As usual I had bogged down right about the point where I’d be starting to build connective tissue between the first section and the
With this site back online and transitioning to a more robust server, I’m getting back into the swing of blogging with a dispatch update on the word trenches along this front. Regrettably, it turns out Pandemic Brain is not terribly conducive to writerly output. Fortunately, the solstice is approaching, and I’ve made use of some
The new leaves are out and making a deep susurrus when the wind gusts. Spring is no longer a matter of anticipation. So this morning I took my elevenses out on my balcony, to get my share of the sunlight before the shadow of the roof sliced it off. Clearing off my deck from the
I’m going to talk about this one today because just now I’m finding it hard. For those of you following the home team, I’ve been blogging from time to time in response to Robert Alter’s The Pleasures of Reading in an Ideological Age, a book which is 30 years old but which still offers a
Writers, what mad skills of other writers make you stand back and admire? I’m not talking about the obvious stuff; I’m talking about the kinds of things you know are tricky from trying to do them, and leave you dumbstruck when you see them done well. This question occurred to me by way of plotting