Blogtober post 2
It’s 10:30 at night, I’m exhausted… and I still have work to do. I’m pretty sure that’s the tautology of a self-employed, freelance writer’s life: I still have work to do. That’s just the writing. That’s not counting the work that comes with being a teacher and a literary critic. Though, I’ll admit, the critic part of me is on hiatus while the writer catches up and the teacher designs a new class.
For reading today, I’ve been looking at:
- How to Write a Sentence and How to Read, One by Stanley Fish
- Steering the Craft, by Ursula K Le Guin
- Reading Like a Writer, by Francine Prose
- A bunch of poems and short stories, both from my personal library and online.
All this was in preparation for the new writing class I’m designing, “Exploration of Craft.” I have a basic idea of the first three lessons and their assignments… I think… Maybe? Mostly! We’ll go with mostly! I just have to do a little juggling on some of the reading. The class should be ready for students in November.
I did some rearranging in my room. It’s a slow process. I’ve got a lot of stuff to try and pack into this little room. Once I’ve figured it out, I’ll be better prepared to start streaming some writing and recording session.
I rewrote a new chapter of Halloween Jack today. It’s interesting trying to figure out what Jack would do with an enemy that doesn’t put up with his shenanigans. It’s fun going back through this story. Oh… and Fionna!!! In some ways, she’s even scarier than Jack.
Got a look at the final version of the new cover for Halloween Jack and the Devil’s Gate. It’s so gorgeous. We’re going to wait on the cover reveal once we have all three covers finished and a high res camera to capture all the awesome details Keliana Tayler put into the work.
Speaking of Halloween Jack, I practiced reading from Halloween Jack and the Curse of Frost for about an hour today. Tomorrow I’ll be spending a few hours the afternoon at the studio recording the audiobook version. If I stay focused and on track, I might just get the whole thing done tomorrow.
Oh, I also traded DMs on Twitter with a pal who knows a lot about Chinese culture to help provide resources for Halloween Jack and the Red Emperors. She gave me some links that really helped clarify some names and the roles of some mythological figures. Best of all, the resources are going to let me be that much meaner to one Halloween Jack.
Scheduled 4 posts for the Nine Tenths project, and that’s all I’ve done on that today. Feel like a slacker. Means I’ll have to write a handful more pages tomorrow to make up for today.
I got a call this afternoon from one of my earliest fans, asking questions about some publication dates. He’s got some stuff coming up and wanted to make sure he wasn’t going to miss anything. I assured him he wouldn’t and told him that I would send positive energy his way, and would bring him some reading material once his stuff settles down. He thanked me for all the years of entertainment and joy I’ve given him and his family. I got a little teary-eyed.
Planning both a show and writing workshop for the third weekend in October. Details coming soon.
Booked a flight to LA for World Fantasy Con.
I watched both AEW’s debut show and WWE NXT. Some amazing wrestling and wrestling storytelling going in both of those shows. AEW knocked it out of the park. LOVE me a good faction war. Some of the talent on both shows is a little raw, (no pun intended) but that adds to the energy and excitement. Showed me that the nearly-continuous polish in Raw and Smackdown, both the promos and in-ring action can be a detriment now and then. It’s a really exciting time to be a wrestling fan. I can’t wait to see what happens tomorrow night with Smackdown’s move to Fox.
Feels like I should have more, but it’s escaping me right now. Well, that was my working day. I think I’m going to lose myself in some Taoism and poetry before I crash out.
