December Newsletter

Hello again!

This past month I finally finished the second chapter of the novella and started on the third. I’m at a little over 6k words total now. I would have liked to get further, but I’ve had multiple emergencies to deal with, including getting COVID. Right now I’m just trying to hit the main plot points and flesh out the characters. I’ve written much longer stories before, but I’ve never ended up with an actual finished product longer than about 5k words. It’s definitely a learning experience, but I’m actually really liking how this thing is turning out so far.

I’ve also started working on a piece for the Storyletter’s upcoming horror anthology. Since the deadline is at the end of this month, I will probably prioritize this project for the next few weeks. Don’t worry though, I promise I won’t abandon the novella.

What I’m reading:

Smoke Ghost and other Apparitions, by Fritz Leiber

I enjoyed this short story anthology. I wouldn’t call it a horror anthology per se, but many of the stories do lean that way.

The Dead Key, by D.M Pulley

It was really easy to get invested in this thriller. The mystery of what happened at The First Bank of Cleveland (and what’s still hidden in the building twenty years later) is compelling. However, I did get the sense that the author had a bit of an agenda. Lots of negative references to old white men, who of course end up being the main villains of the story, and the only sympathetic white male character who matters to the plot dies at the climax before he can even do anything to help. The ending was also a bit anticlimactic after all that buildup. I’ll definitely check out this author’s other work, though.

Ancestors: A Prehistory of Britain in Seven Burials, by Alice Roberts

Oddly enough, this book also felt like it had an agenda in some sections, despite being nonfiction and on a completely different topic. Prehistory has always fascinated me and the author clearly knows a lot about the topic, but the constant ragging on religion and the patriarchy in the early chapters was kind of annoying and unnecessary. The other content was good, though.