#Weeknotes S03 E28

Happy Birthday, Julia Child, without whom we wouldn’t have any of the cooking shows I’ve come to watch (or hate watch) over the years. She’s the true G.O.A.T.!

WRITING
This week, I’ve just been continuing last week’s writing theme of “Slow and steady.” And it paid off in the form of another “7 & 7” week!

  • This week’s writing chain: 7 days
  • Total writing days this week: 7 days
  • Pieces out on submission: 2

Still have two pieces out on submission, since I was able to find a third market to submit one of my stories to after it was rejected from the second. That’s all right, though–part of the gig!

Getting my momentum back last week was like pulling teeth. Keeping it was no easy task, either. But I managed to get through a revision of the short story I’m working on, and now I’ve got a whole new draft to revise for this week. Will definitely need at least 1-2 more passes after this.

It’s a good feeling knowing (or thinking you know) how much longer a piece has until done. At least, as long as the cats don’t keep getting in the way.

READING
I’m at what I think is Act III of M. Rickert’s THE SHIPBUILDER OF BELLFAIRIE, and so far it’s every good thing that’s been said about it! I’d preordered the TPB I’ve been reading–I mean, because you always preorder friend’s books, right?–and the lovely M. sent me a copy of the gorgeous hardcover.

I know it’s Substack and all, but I couldn’t resist signing up for the free tier of Etgar Keret’s ALPHABET SOUP newsletter. Ethical lines are hard, especially when it comes to one’s second-favorite writer.

IDIOT BOXING
I knew nothing about the various RURONI KENSHIN live-action films, so I was curious when I saw two of them available on Netflix, RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE BEGINNING and RUROUNI KENSHIN: THE FINAL. I watched the former before learning it’s actually the last installment of a five-film series. Which is a prequel. In other words, THE BEGINNING is actually the final, which took place before the beginning… I think I’ve got that straight now. The point is, I’ll be hunting down the rest of them!

IN THE WILD
You find the strangest things strewn about the landscaping of local strip malls, but this seems especially Ithacan…

A red flowery bush near a painted blue rock with the words 'don't close the book when bad things happen in your life, just turn the page and begin a new chapter' on it

Stay safe out there. Stay masked. And if you can but you’re not already, get vaxxed!

#Weeknotes S03 E27

I think a corollary to “Slow and steady wins the race” is “Sometimes, just slow the fuck down.” At least that’s what I told myself this past week.

Since my return to the office, I saw my workload increase by 30% and last week, I know I’ve got a pretty big project ahead of me next week. Those aren’t complaints. Just context that I need to remind myself about to stay off my own damn back about whatever “lack” of progress I’m making.

WRITING

  • This week’s writing chain: 4 days
  • Total writing days this week: 4 days
  • Pieces out on submission: 2

This might not be the greatest start to a writing month ever, but still. I’ve got two pieces still out. One came back rejected–a personalized rejection from a major market, at that–but I turned around and sent it to another. I got a nice note about it, but I’m going to experiment with that Heinlein rule of not rewriting except to editorial demand and see how far that gets me.

I figure it’s better to focus on the progress I did make this week. Besides submitting, I did get to play around with some ideas. It’s good to play, artistically, even if the end result doesn’t get you anywhere.

In the case of something new I working on, the end result shouldn’t ever see the light of day! It started out as a satire but the more I wrote, the more it sounded like something that could be mistaken for some kind of neoreactionary screed, and nothing I could do in these early stages was going to make it any better. So in the trunk it goes. The trunk, but not the trash! One of the few writer truisms I believe in is, “Never throw anything away.” I mean, one day I might have the brainspace to shape it into what I meant it to be. Or, it’ll become part of an essay or a character in a story. Something. But only if I still have it and, gods willing and the creek don’t rise, it never gets seen in its incomplete form because… hoo, boy…

READING
It looks like that “Jia Tolentino” poem is gone. Good because whatever you might think of her or her family, that piece was just… like, what the fuck?

Came across “Not Just Frida: The Importance of Surrealist Women” and asking myself why Leonora Carrington’s story collections are still burning a hole in my TBR pile.

IN THE WILD
It’s gonna be some fun times going to work in a healthcare facility with this delta variant going around the way it is. Sure, I’m masked and everything (since OSHA’s COVID-19 ETS says we have to be), but I guess if I want to minimize the risk to me and mine, work is probably the only place I’ll be going for awhile. I mean, at least they’re regularly disinfecting the place as much as they can…

Elevator buttons still damp from being wiped down with disinfectant

July Writing

  • Longest Chain in July: 21 days
  • Total July days: 28 days
  • Pieces submitted in July: 2
  • Total 2021 Writing days: 148

Looks like I was unequivocally back on my bullshit in July. Not bad for how overwhelmed I was feeling for a spell. And not just with returning to the office, but with a bunch of ideas for stories and projects that kept coming at me faster than I could write them down. Of course, in my heart of hearts I know a lot of it is no good, but you never know until you get it all down.

But I pulled it together. Finished and submitted a short story, and put out another piece for a reprint anthology. (Fingers crossed!) That was probably my key breakthrough for the month: getting back into the joy and the pain of the submissions process…

#Weeknotes S03 E26

I hate it when these posts start sounding all samey–yes, another week of work and another week of writing. But at least it was a good writing week, despite the (non-)help the furry children had to offer…

WRITING

  • This week’s writing chain: 7 days
  • Total writing days this week: 7 days
  • Pieces out on submission: 2

That’s right, two pieces out on submission. So while I stress on those, it was back to writing. I’m editing another piece right now which wasn’t quite as close to done as I thought it was. That’s okay, though.

It’s funny, I thought I was just going to replicate the same sort of process I used with the story I finished and submitted last week. Nope, just doesn’t fit the piece I’m working on. So yes, turns out there are things I need to do every time just to get that first draft out. After that, it’s anything goes in the editing stage.

Work has kicked my ass, though. It’s why I only went 5 writing days last week. This week I pushed through Friday and yesterday even though a break would’ve probably been a better idea. Maybe I could’ve lived with not getting another “7 and 7” week, but I was so close to finishing out the month on a streak that I didn’t want to break it. Which is the point of The Chain, but still…

READING
Halfway through M. Rickert’s THE SHIPBUILDER OF BELLFAIRIE, which definitely makes the workday commute bearable.

I randomly chanced upon this story in my feeds, “Barong” by E.P. Tuazon on THE RUMPUS. I mean, how was I not going read a story titled “Barong”? It’s a great piece! (Even though it wasn’t about the type of barong I would prefer to read about).

IDIOT BOXING
Huh. Did I watch anything this past week…? I don’t think so. Too busy, I guess.

IN THE WILD
Went here to restock on vital supplies (i.e. a 25 lb. bag of rice). Will keep coming here if they keep this up…

#Weeknotes S03 E25

First official week back in the office and man, did it kick my ass. The extra hour earlier I have to get up just to get to work on time really adds up. At least the actual travel time is still my own (I take a bus to work). But by Friday, I had nothing left.

WRITING
Because of all that, this wasn’t a “7 and 7” week. I’m not even mad though.

  • This week’s writing chain: 5 days
  • Total writing days this week: 5 days
  • Pieces out on submission: 1

Ooh look, a new stat! I sent a reprint out while I wait for the last story I’ve finished to cool before I send that out this week. And, I’m about halfway through revising another story. So all in all, this has been a productive July for writing.

READING
Well if I’m not writing, then I’ve got time to read, right? Especially since my preorder of the latest novel from my favorite writer in the universe THE SHIPBUILDER OF BELLFAIRIE by M. Rickert has come in! Slightly ahead of the pub date I might add, so I feel compelled to take advantage of that fact!

IDIOT BOXING
I liked the first five episodes of MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVELATION. Seriously, the only way I would’ve enjoyed it more was if they used the old school animation, but that’s just me.

If this story line’s not your bag, that’s fine. And you should express that if you feel you need to. But getting worked up in a way that makes Kevin Smith, of all people, tell you to “Grow the fuck up,” you are truly lost!

IN THE WILD
Walked into my local really wanting a Snapple lemonade after work one day. But they didn’t have Snapple. I’m not dunking on the company (I mean look at they work they put into that label) but let me just say… it wasn’t Snapple.

#Weeknotes S03 E24

Busy week but somehow I managed to stay locked in to a writing groove. A lot of my writing sessions were like this, and I didn’t even mind…

WRITING
It’s what helped me pull off another “7 and 7” week!

  • This week’s writing chain: 7 days
  • Total writing days this week: 7 days

I finished–like, finished, finished my first short story in I don’t know how long. Did a final pass and sent it out to a beta reader yesterday. I don’t know if anything will ever come of it, but I do know that it’s as good as I can make it. So I’m going to sit on it for a few days before submitting it and moving onto the next thing.

READING
I don’t necessarily like how my writing time seems like it’s eating up my reading time, but I can sure live with it.

While my book TBR list expands, I do manage to catch things online here and there. Like this article on “Why You Should @readappalachia”. (h/t to Belt Publishing!) And when I saw one of @readappalachia’s recommendations, it reminded me that my feelings of anger around flip-flopping intellectuals who try to cosplay rubes aren’t totally unreasonable.

“The book, What You’re Getting Wrong About Appalachia by Elizabeth Catte, is the gospel tract that I give to people from the region to get them to understand the region, and that “Hillbilly Elegy” is problematic at best.” The New York Times bestseller is widely known as a portrait of the region, and one reason why those who are local to Appalachia want more people to read work by Appalachians instead of outsiders….

By the way, I’ve also read and can heartily recommend WHAT YOU’RE GETTING WRONG ABOUT APPALACHIA.

IDIOT BOXING
Finished up LOKI the other day. I don’t know if they needed to stretch it out for 6 weeks; I feel like I would’ve enjoyed it more if I’d binged it all at once. But I like where they’re going with it!

IN THE WILD
This was my last WFH week. Back in the office on Monday, which means no more rolling out of bed 15 minutes before work and walking right over to the desk. Which means it’s back to a daily commute for me. And so it’s nice to know that the more things change on the regional public transit system, even during a pandemic, the more some things stay the same.

#Weeknotes S03 E23

Last week was just really, really busy. Part of it was catching up on the previous shortened work week. It’s always fun when you’re caught up in a repetitive cycle of “hurry up and wait.” But hey, it keeps the bills paid and let’s me keep writing. Speaking of which, maybe work wasn’t the only reason last week was really full.

WRITING
We got a “7 and 7”. July’s off to a great start!

  • This week’s writing chain: 7 days!
  • Total writing days this week: 7 days!

A change in mindset definitely helped.

I can’t remember the last time I had 10 complete pages that I wouldn’t be ashamed to show to an editor. Now, if I can just the last 10 pages right, I’d have something. Well, let’s see what happens in the next few days.

READING
Not much time for book reading this week, but I added Jeffrey Ford’s latest story collection BIG DARK HOLE to the TBR list. Ford is one of those writers along with Howard Waldrop and M. Rickert who, if I see their name on a book cover with something in it that isn’t a reprint, it’s an automatic buy!

I did come across this Esquire article on Lou Diamond Phillips. It wasn’t until years after LA BAMBA (1987) that I found out Phillips has some Filipino blood. But it wasn’t until the other day when I found out that he could count the number of Filipino roles he’s played on one hand. I’m not an actor at all, but boy was this relatable content.

IDIOT BOXING
I don’t know this for a fact, but I bet if you dug deep into the old JOURNEY INTO MYSTERY comics you’d find all the poses that Richard E. Grant did dressed in the Classic Loki costume in the episode of LOKI called–well, I’m sure you can guess.

IN THE WILD
Nature is healing in the 607.

#Weeknotes S03 E22

It’s not Saturday, I’m not in a park, but it is the 4th of July! So this’ll be quick.

Makes me wanna pick up the horn again. But I’m having a hard enough time keeping up with the writing as it is. One art at a time, Don! And besides, it was a pretty heavy work week. I physically went into work a couple of days to move offices. Just about everyone’s moving offices. That, on top of all the other stuff I need to stay on top of made for a busy week.

WRITING
Not a bad writing week, even though I flaked on a day. You’d think it would’ve been on my birthday, but no. Either way, it’s still momentum and I’m gonna ride it out this week!

  • This week’s writing chain: 4 days
  • Total writing days this week: 6 days

READING
I just didn’t have enough mental spoons to make much headway into Donald Barthelme’s COLLECTED STORIES. But my reading addiction needed to be fed, so when I found a reference to Jason Hackworth’s MANUFACTURING DECLINE: HOW RACISM AND THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT CRUSH THE AMERICAN RUST BELT, the next thing I know it’s in my e-reader!

IDIOT BOXING
I’m all caught up on the LOKIs. I like where they’re going with it.

IN THE WILD
Saw this when I went in to grab a to-go coffee (yes, it’s also a bar). One day, I’ll feel comfortable sitting and writing inside a third space again.

June Writing

  • Longest Chain in June: 5 days (twice!)
  • Total June writing days: 22
  • Total 2021 writing days: 120

Okay, better. Better than the past few months, anyway. And as far as a six-month writing run goes, it’s the best I’ve had in, I dunno, ever.

120 days. Call it four months out of the past six. In other words (::back of the envelope, counts fingers, carry the one…::)–that’s like 4 and a half-ish days a week, right? Not a bad start toward rebuilding my process to be something more sustainable.