Whoooo-boy, has it been a week. It’s been almost impossible to work on anything, and I’m not entirely sure why. It just seemed like every time I gingerly picked up my current short story draft, someone or something immediately interrupted. I also had a lot of moving-related tasks to do–getting papers notarized, signing B-Bug up for school, etc.–which I did get done, so it wasn’t like I haven’t been productive at all–just…not so much on writing.
Still, since the writing part was so hard, I focused on the one small habit I could do: I read a short story every day. Which felt great, btw. I cannot recommend the Clarkesworld collections high enough: if you want a source of fantastic short fiction, pick up those. They seem to have a vaguely more science fiction/science fantasy bend, which is a great compliment to the Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror collections from Prime Books (also fabulous sources for top notch short fiction).
In unrelated news, I’ve also been struck by an odd obsession with palazzo pants–long, wide legged, high-waisted, light pants. Probably because post-baby, I’m stuck rocking my old maternity pants which are getting might loose, but I’m not yet back to fitting into my pre-pregnancy pants. I’m calling it The Postnatal Wardobe Slump. I’ve been getting the major itch to try my hand at sewing my own clothes, which I used to do a bit back in the days of my youth. Something about fitting clothes to your specific shape, to be most flattering to you, is getting very appealing. Palazzo pants are supposedly to be an easy pattern…hmmm…
It’s hot. Stay cool, stay safe, and stay healthy!
Maggie Slater 