Event
I’m one of the featured readers at this month’s Two Hour Transport!
This is a remote event held on Zoom. The first hour, starting at 6 PM PST (9 PM EST) is open mic, where attendants can read if they want to, usually for about 5 minutes each. Log in a little early if you want to read to be added to the list.
The 2nd hour, starting at 7 PM PST (10 PM EST) is divided between the two featured readers who read, well, anything that way that fits into 25-30 minutes each. It’s a good time!
Writing
In other news, I’ve officially taken the year of 2026 (part of it anyway) off from looking for a day job and am writing a novel. It’s not the same novel I mentioned in my last update. That one has not been abandoned, but it’s a much bigger and more complex project than fits into my current goals. I’m instead working on a paranormal romance (tags: enemies to lovers, spicy, fae, witches). I have a freelance editor lined up for September so will have at least a 2nd draft done before then.
Then, I’ll write a 2nd novel. What will it be? Your guess is as good as mine.
I’ve also been editing some of my existing short stories and sending them out, as well as looking at open calls for new story ideas. Pausing to write something different, I’ve found, is a good way to give myself a short mental break so I can then get back to the novel with renewed vigor.
Reading
A new Murderbot novel is out and I have already read it and it is much fun.
I have also greatly enjoyed Lauren Palphryman’s, The Wolf King this year (romantasy, werewolves) and indulged myself in listening to one of my all time favorite books, the classic House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende. I first read this book, in translation, maybe thirty years ago, and decided to listen to it in English to refresh myself on the story before trying to tackle it in the original Spanish.
Before I do that, though, I am determined to finish ¿Quién mató a Palomino Molero? (Who Killed Palomino Molero?) by Mario Vargas Llosa. I’ve made it through the first chapter in Spanish. This is another book I read in translation back in olden times. The thing that makes it a potentially easier read than some of my other favorite Latin American works is that it’s a straight up murder mystery; no fantasy or magical realism to cause confusion. The tough thing about it is that he wrote it during his time living in Peru, and it contains quite a few Peruvian colloquialisms (and I’m only a chapter in). Wish me luck.
And it guess I’ll cut it there. Nobody wants to hear about my obsessive attempts to achieve an Honour Mode run in Baldur’s Gate 3 or the Survivor title (again) in Guild Wars or how I never let gaming cut into my writing or my exercise time, but dammit, there are still other things I need to be getting done!
¡Ciao!