What strangely lovely weather we’ve been experiencing here. If I were better rested I’d be able to enjoy it even more. Hopefully I can soon get these sleep issues straightened. As it stands, I’ve little energy for normally daily activities, let alone anything extra.
Due to a variety of events, most recently a busted water heater, things have been a little hectic around here. As a consequence, our re-read of Lord Dunsany is on hiatus. Hope your own week went well, and hope to see you back next week.
I haven’t been a New Year’s Resolution kind of guy for years. I suppose I had talked myself into thinking it was cheesy or unnecessary or something of the kind.
But I’ve been fighting the blues off and on for a number of months now for reasons detailed earlier, so this year I came up with a pretty simple phrase to help me remember my resolutions, one that I can repeat to myself in the mornings as I wake. (I try to remember, when I rise, to be grateful for all I have, but sometimes that’s difficult when the alarm shrieks me into consciousness to make sure the children are up and moving.)
Last year about this time I looked back over the year and seemed to think I had my deadline issues under control and that I was in more balance, but it turns out I was deceiving myself. Honestly, I still haven’t figured out a non-stressful way to deal with deadlines, and I’m still not in balance, although I try.
On the plus side, I continue to have a wonderful, supportive family.
This year has had its challenges, only some of which I’ve alluded to. My mother continues her long slow fade into Alzheimer’s, which is very sad to watch. My sleep apnea issues have returned in the last couple of months, so I guess it’s time for another appointment to see if the med team can figure out what’s wrong again. Sleep apnea sure beats diabetes or cancer or any number of other terrible diseases, but I’d be lying if I’d say it doesn’t suck to wake up feeling tired every single day.
I hope all of you have been having a pleasant December.
As usual, silence here means that I’ve been busier than usual. First it was with writing, or, rather, revision, up until the day before Christmas Eve. Then it’s been with traditional and pleasant holiday things like picking out gifts and wrapping them and meeting old friends and gathering with family.
I’ve taken some time off for reading some different books and to play Battle Academy 2, my chief present this year.
It’s been a miserable few days here at the Jones household. First my eldest came down with something that knocked him out of commission on Tuesday and Wednesday. Then it hit my wife and me. Head cold, general aches, that kind of thing. I managed to work through it on Thursday after resting a little extra, fully expecting to bounce back by Friday. I have a pretty high constitution, despite the fact that I’m not a particularly robust looking guy, and I almost never get sick.
This time, though, my wife and I got worse and worse, bad enough that she called in Friday (by Thursday she had mostly lost her voice). Bad enough that Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, I wasn’t good for anything except lying on the couch. Usually I’m the first one in the family to bounce back from anything, but this time it hit me the hardest. I did some reading, but I was in enough discomfort that writing or revising weren’t real options. Today I finally feel about as good as I felt last Thursday, which is pretty icky, but which is the picture of health compared to the last three days.
I’ve been dispatched down the river Yann on a secret mission, so our re-read of A Dreamer’s Tales will have to conclude NEXT Friday.
For now, here are two items of interest.
First, one of the greatest sword-and-sorcery writers of the ’70s (and one that by all rights should be a household name) has a new book out. Charles Saunders’ newest novel has been covered in glowing detail by Fletcher Vredenburgh at Black Gate. Go check out the review, and buy the book.
Second, if you’re any kind of fan of Barbarian Prince you need to look into a phone app titled The Road of Kings, which was very clearly inspired by the old board game and is great fun, so long as you keep in mind the game experience it’s trying to emulate. I’ll write a longer review, probably at Black Gate, when I get back from my sojourn on the Yann.
Hardboiled Monday is temporarily on hold today so I can get all nearby reader attention to come to the Evansville, IN North Park Library on Wed. Nov. 12th!
My good friend and fellow writer Mark Rigney will be holding forth with me starting at 6:30, talking about all things books: craft, genres, publishing, the whole enchilada. Yes, we’ll have books to purchase, but the emphasis will be on a seminar-style chat. Questions will be welcome! And YOU, yes YOU, are welcome to attend!
I’ve returned from DeKalb Illinois, where I was treated royally by Big Read organizers Steve Roman and Edith Craig. Steve and his wife Karen showed me around the downtown and took me out for dinner, then drove me to the Ellwood House, where I addressed the audience about the importance of fantasy fiction and delved into its history.
I promised attendees that I would provide a list of highlights from among the books I mentioned over the course of the talk, and here they are.
Me with just a little less gray than I have these days.
I turned over my fourth Pathfinder novel this week. It’s a little strange thinking that it won’t see the light of day until two years from now. By then my daughter will be a junior in high school and my son will be a sophomore in college. Sometimes I think time would feel less like it proceeds at such a breakneck pace if I didn’t constantly have my children changing to show me. My wife and I don’t feel particularly different than we felt two years ago (although I do have more gray) and with luck we won’t feel too different in two more years.