(To learn more about the Sunday Circle as created and curated by author Peter M. Ball, click here!)
What am I working on this week?: Worked through some major kinks this past week, including a full-stop day where I just had to pull back and think for a bit on how to continue. This week, I’m charging ahead on the 1k/day with a bit clearer idea how the next few chapters play out. I’ve also got a friend’s story to beta read ASAP, so that’ll be getting some focused attention here for a bit, too.
What’s inspiring me this week?: A friend of mine loaned me The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony back around XMas time, and since I’ve been meaning to get a better grip on Greek mythology, thought it would be an interesting foundational book. AND WOW. I wish I’d read this ten years ago. It is one of those chewy books I can’t read fast, and I don’t want to, because almost every passage makes some insane connection with something else that totally illuminated the structure and creation of myth. I’m trying to keep a reading journal to document the various thought-fizzing happening, but it’s not a regular habit yet. I suspect at some point, I’ll just have to purchase my own copy so I can make notes in the margins, because it’s that kind of book. (And I suspect I’ll be rereading it again on a semi-regular basis–it seems like the kind of work that will produce different revelations at different times in one’s life.)
Also just picked up a copy of the Great Courses DVD-series class Writing Great Fiction, taught by James Hynes who has taught at the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, which while it’s retreading some familiar ground, it’s also approaching some key concepts from a slightly new angle to me, which is making some things stick that haven’t in the past. I’m quite enjoying it, even though I’m only two short classes in. And at least so far, the questions it poses have helped me through one sticky spot in the current novel WiP. Love immediate applicability!
What am I avoiding?: Actually, writing-wise, I’m doing pretty good staying on task (besides the usual daily I-don’t-wannas). But I seriously need to do some reorganizing and tidying of the downstairs, because the toys are starting to take over, and the clutter is getting distracting. A task for today, perhaps!
Maggie Slater 
Sounds like you’ve had a productive week. It’s been many years since I read The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony. I have no idea what I thought about it back then except that I thought it was a weird title (I was very young & ignorant). The writing course sounds interesting. Good to hear it’s useful.