Today's a studying day, I think. I was feeling kind of sick yesterday, so I mostly stayed in bed and read or watched tv; I saw Igby Goes Down, which was a much funnier movie than its promo copy makes it sound. Enjoyed it. The only real work I did yesterday was catching up on e-mail, though I did catch up pretty well. But today I need to study Spanish, and possibly read through some of my Sri Lanka reference books and take some notes for that last story I do want to write for the book, the one that engages directly with the war.
I suppose I might even take a stab at the YA novel, but I'm not committing to that. Actually, what I might do is just re-read what I've done so far, and then let it simmer for a few more days before trying to write anymore. That should build up some nice urgency, which tends to help me write better stories.
I'm also reading Vikram Chandra's magical realist novel, Red Earth and Pouring Rain -- haven't decided yet whether I like this book or not. Good on the sentence-level writing, but the overall structure is very complicated, and it's hard to tell if it's going to justify itself or just feel forced and overly-clever. We'll see. There are some fun elements, though -- the reincarnated monkey typing the story, the actual gods (Yama, Hanuman, and Ganesha so far) being present in the story (and the apartment), the young sardonic son who has returned home from study in the West, the juxtapositions of modern college story with 18th c. military narrative. A lot to like, no doubt.