Week of: 5/16/26

Is that really a full month of updates?! I'm so proud of myself!

I'm still wrestling with the idea that I have anything particularly profound (or important, or interesting) to share (I can hardly bring myself to care about the minutia of my day, so how can I expect others to take interest?) -- but maybe I can finally learn to just set all aside for the sake of... well... simply doing the things that I choose to do.

Self-esteem is an unheralded part of the writing process, I find. Almost unacknowledged. Yet in the morning as I sit down to write, along with everything else that's more familiar (e.g. plot, character, language), my belief or faith or trust in myself is a large part of what I struggle against. This post is a very minor means by which I'm attempting to push back against the mental traps that whisper that, maybe, all of this effort really isn't worth it. Maybe I'd do just as well to doomscroll.

Speaking of "struggle," this week I didn't make much progress in my writing as I'd like. At the same time, I did make some. Which aspect of that I routinely choose to focus on will make a big difference going forward, I believe. So here's to making some progress!

Reading-wise, I finished Never Flinch. Roundly enjoyable... though, I'll say that, having grown up very much as one of King's "Constant Readers," I'm disposed to enjoy much if not most of his output. I tend to... resonate with his style, having sort-of molded my mind to it over the years.

At the same time, I think it suffers in that King has developed a number of characters through these novels and they all seem to wear fairly thick plot armor. I was never really concerned for any of their safety, and so the whole experience winds up just a little bit toothless. An older, less mature King would have slaughtered at least half of the crew, I think, resulting in potentially a less kind and comforting novel -- but maybe also a more engaging and memorable one.

Also, I finished (well, started and finished) The Alchemist. It's meant to be all profound and wise, and... basic bitch that I am, that's exactly how I received it. I'm sure there's trenchant criticisms available (Goodreads seems full of 'em, at least), but I'm not certain I need any of those. Perhaps I can just take what insights and pleasure I find without needing to probe much more deeply?

All right. Bring on the next month!

Week of: 5/9/26

Don't let's call it a streak!

Three weeks running, are you kidding me? How exciting! And I'm sure you're wondering: did I receive any rejections this week?

Well! I sure did! Including my first rejection in many-a-year from Clarkesworld, so that helps me to feel like I'm right back in the game, lol.

I've been wondering a bit about some of the writerly adjacent activities, like critiquing, etc. It's not clear to me how I can work these things into my schedule at present, but it's always nice to have others around on the same journey, sharing in the ups and downs.

Let's see, news: I finished a flash fiction piece this week, put in time on the first draft of one or two longer stories, and edited an older one to a shape where I think it's more or less ready to go out. I'm a little ambivalent on the value of reworking older stories like this -- it seems to go against Mr. Heinlein's sage advice, never to rewrite (except to order) -- but for the moment, it's at least a process I'm enjoying. So maybe that's reason enough?

On the bookshelf, I'm reading Stephen King's Never Flinch. Yet another step in the never-ending quest to read his bibliography. With some minor quibbles along the way, perhaps, I'm enjoying it. I'm just glad he continues to write. And I'm happy for him that he's found such apparent pleasure in writing his Holly character; it's really nice to see.

Okay, back to it. Till next week! (he said with unearned confidence)

Week of: 5/2/26

Woot!

Do you see this, universe? Two weeks in a row -- yer boy is serious!

Another only somewhat productive week of writing, but I'll take it. Every step forward is a step forward. I've had more rejections, too! Well, one. One rejection. It will take some time to get things cranked back to the point where I'm getting them regularly, but I'm excited for that.

I'm not even being facetious. I love getting rejections! Mostly! Certainly I love getting acceptances more, but I've at least trained myself to understand that each rejection is a stone on the path towards eventual success. (The chocolates my writing group Wordos handed out for rejections helped somewhat in that regard, I'd imagine. Thanks, Wordos!)

Now, you might be asking whether I'm just going to come on here each time and talk about getting rejections... and I'm wondering that, too! But for now, it's just about putting in the time, building the habits that I want to have, so please bear with me: an imperfect man on an imperfect journey.

In other news, I finished Christopher Moore's Fool. It was enjoyable, for sure. Not too deep... and not trying to be, and that's a-okay. I plan on following up with the sequel through audiobook. (Do audiobooks count as "reading"?)

If you're reading this, I just want to wish you a fantastic day/week/life.

Till next time! 😄