I’m in major…

I'm in major 'accomplish-stuff' mode, with more to come. I told Kevin yesterday that I was tired of being a grown-up. It's true. Among my many errands for yesterday was paying for our permits at Village Hall. One step closer to breaking ground on project. I can't even remember everything else I did yesterday -- I was a little productivity machine. The children are stressed by the move and freaking out a lot too. I've been managing to write for 1-2 hours each day this past week, and I think that's the only thing that's kept me sane.

Well, that, and playing Caracassone with Jed and Kam on the iPhone. Also, reading Charlaine Harris's Sookie Stackhouse novels, which are funny and relaxing. I really like the explicit working-class Southern culture of the books; Sookie is a waitress at a bar, and class issues are often overt in the text, something I don't see that often. I'm on book 3. I tried to read The Wind-up Girl, but had to put it aside because it was too bleak for me to handle right now. Maybe later. It's well-written, but gods, depressing, both in setting and character.

I also started reading The Magicians recently; I fell for the Borders advertising billing it as a grown-up Harry Potter. Not far into it, but so far, pretty good. We'll see. I got a little depressed when I started it because it seemed better than the newest parts of the book I'm writing, but then I reminded myself that no one expects first drafts to be perfect. Well, apparently no one but me.

I'm at the stage in the book (halfway through? two-thirds?) where the characters are sort of wandering around, flailing. Which mostly means that I haven't figured out what they're supposed to be doing yet. It's frustrating, because the opening is solid, and I know what the ending will be. I think I'm supposed to be ramping up to the secondary crisis now, which I can do, and it makes sense that the characters would act this way, that they would take a while to figure out what's actually going on, and only then try to take action to change things. But what do they do in the mean time?

I think the answer may be 'throw fireballs' -- but is that really enough?

Whoops -- Anand woke up, and is screaming. Dammit. Must go.

5 min later -- I ignored the screaming for a few minutes while I went to the restroom, and he stopped. He stopped! Anand apparently went back to sleep, all on his own. This is brand-new for him, and very exciting. Will it continue? Will his parents finally get to sleep through the night? Stay tuned!!!

He will be nine months old tomorrow. This is what Kavi was doing at nine months.

5 thoughts on “I’m in major…”

  1. I also have tried to read the Wind-up Girl, and found it bleak. I couldn’t get into it. I’m finding this is true of a lot of sci-fi/fantasy novels these days. I like Kage Baker, and really loved Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files novels. Devoured them. Those are really grown-up Harry Potter. And some of the few fantasy novels I have laughed out loud at reading…

  2. Will be very interested to see what you think of The Magicians when you finish it. There is one chapter in the book I found breathtaking, and overall the whole thing really worked for me.

  3. I heard a reading from Windup Girl at WorldCon last summer, and was impressed and so bought a copy. I have not started it yet. I am reading an old book from 1964 at the moment, and have not decided whether to begin Windup Girl or Who Fears Death next.

  4. The Windup Girl is probably the best book I’ve read in a long time. I made myself read it slowly, as there’s lots going on, both at the sentence level and with the overarching structure. It is bleak, but then I loooove me some bleak post-apocalyptic settings. TWG also has a very satisfying ending, IMO.

    I love it when kids go back to sleep on all their own. I have been known to stand, poised on tip-toes, head cocked to one side listening, and do a fist pump in the air when he doesn’t peep again. Hope it continues for you!

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