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!