Phew! So…how’re things? Getting settled into the new normal has been something of a challenge, with B-Bug home and needing schooling, and Goldbug deciding that naps are indeed for suckers (just like B-Bug! Ah!), and then–you know–a pandemic on top of it all. But I have actually started forcing myself to read more generally, instead of just getting sucked down the never-ending News Hole of Doom like the past few weeks, so I’m not completely wasting my days. We’ve been baking cookies and bread and things, and playing some Pikmin. I’m still excited to say I’ve got two stories coming out in the next couple months, so that’ll be fun, and I’m hoping to start some promotional stuff for Negative Spaces: An Anthology of Survival Horror pretty soon, too!
Writing-wise, I’d like to pat myself on the back for actually getting a few paragraphs written (by hand) most days. I’m nearly to the end of a new short story, which feels pretty marvelous, given how insane things are about the house currently. It’s strange, but writing by hand feels like a completely different cognitive process to typing. For one thing, it slows me down a lot, which means I’m less verbose (cutting words down after writing a bloated draft is more my style, usually) and sometimes even downright sparse, so it’s a very different draft that comes out in ink verses the printer.
I’ve also been battling a pretty bad case of “get all teh writing bookz” which usually happens when I’m not writing as much as I’d like. Somehow reading a book on plotting (or, as is my current obsession, not plotting) feels capital P “Productive.” I’ve only gone on a bit of a book-buying spree, trying to keep in mind that we’ll be moving in June, and the last thing I want is to replace all the books I’ve already culled from my shelves. *eye roll*
But I’m due for April’s Poly-reader Notes post here soon, so look for that next week. I’m getting close to finishing a few long-standing holdovers, so hopefully I’ll be able to shove a few “currently reading” books over to my “read” list. In the meantime, stay safe and take care of yourself! Hugs all around!
Maggie Slater 