Tag: updates

Public-domain image of a hand holding a pen, apparently writing, at a sunlit desk with papers and a white coffee mug on it. The sleeve of a cozy gray sweater is visible.
books, daily life, Uncategorized, updates, writing

Friday Update/School Prep

amongthegoblins

It’s back-to-school-time! I teach part-time at a local elementary school, and today I went in to set up my desk and attend a safety seminar online (all in Czech, so perhaps I didn’t absorb as much as others…). Next week I’ll go around to locate the classrooms of the classes that I haven’t taught before, as well as meeting with Czech colleagues to discuss how the year’s lessons will run. We’re using a new structure this year, with lots of co-teaching, so I’m guessing lots of coordination will be required. Everyone seems very gung-ho, though, so I hope things will go off well.

The one unfortunate problem with returning to school is returning to an early-morning schedule. I asked not to be given any classes that started before nine, but unfortunately that request wasn’t granted, so I’ll be waking up around six for the next year. (I used to wake up later than that, but I’m trying to reduce excess stress in my life, and cramming myself into my clothes five minutes before the tram comes doesn’t make for a healthy or productive workday.) As I’m also trying once again to fight back against my lifelong foe, Chronic Sleep Deprivation, I’m trying to make myself turn all screens off at nine so as to be in bed by ten. We’ll see how that plays out in reality.

Looking forward to seeing Fran tonight. It’s a chilly, rainy Friday, and I’m guessing we’ll have a quiet weekend. We want to go to an ice cream festival this Sunday, and I think we’ve got about a fifty percent chance of beautiful weather; the other fifty percent will be comically inappropriate. But I’m guessing the ice cream will be worth the visit.

Dal (my smaller cat) is running around the house like a handful of bouncy balls. He knocked over a flowerpot that used to contain a basil plant but (post feline depredations) now contains dirt. Contained, rather; he decided to flip it over and gleefully play with the dirt, leaving a big sweeping spiral on the floor. My fault for not throwing out the remnants of my poor plant before the dirt dried out. Sadly, he isn’t very good at sweeping. Yggi (my big cat) has sensibly decided to hang out under my chair and doze.

Reading: Still The Haunting of Hill House, Edith Wharton’s ghost stories, and A Suitable Boy. Writing: VOID is at 160k, I think. Have not finished any shorts yet, but have a long list to work on.

Have a good weekend–
Kate

Public-domain image of a hand holding a pen, apparently writing, at a sunlit desk with papers and a white coffee mug on it. The sleeve of a cozy gray sweater is visible.
adhd, books, daily life, movies, updates, writing

Friday Update

amongthegoblins

It’s Friday, my dudes.

I’ve been very into containers this week. It seems to help a bit with executive dysfunction as regards cleaning up, as a lot of my brain paralysis re: putting things away seems to derive from having nowhere to put them. So I’ve been collecting little baskets, bowls, and boxes for all my little things (hairpins, perfume, erasers, etc.) and joyfully putting them away. I still have a long way to go before I’d call myself “tidy,” but it’s nice to have things displayed where I can enjoy looking at them. What’s annoying me is that the only top drawer in my kitchen is too narrow for a silverware divider, but too shallow for a basket, so I’m still looking for a way to organize the silverware. A serious and concerning problem, obviously.

Rainy and cool in the Czech Republic. Still enjoying the last bit of quiet, since messages are starting to come in from my public-school job and I’m guessing we’ll be in meetings next week. I’ve been working on a lot of different anthology submissions, hoping I can get at least most of them done before they’re due. Still reading A Suitable Boy and rereading The Haunting of Hill House, but have also started reading a collection of Edith Wharton’s ghost stories. Yesterday I rewatched about half of Father of the Bride (skipping over the cringe parts), which I watched again and again when I was a kid because we didn’t have many VHS tapes. I was surprised by how well parts of it held up, as it’s kind of a dumb movie; the emotional scenes are really well. Was also kind of horrified by the protagonist’s behavior, though. It’s hard to imagine someone being so ugly about their daughter’s wedding. I’m not sure how much of that is from the original (made in 1950) and how much was just considered funny in the 90s.

Not much to report on, really. Looking forward to seeing Fran this weekend and going to writers’ group tomorrow. Hope all of you are doing well.

Best,
Kate

Public-domain image of a hand holding a pen, apparently writing, at a sunlit desk with papers and a white coffee mug on it. The sleeve of a cozy gray sweater is visible.
books, daily life, fiction, movies, short stories, updates

Friday Update

amongthegoblins

Another quiet week. More people are coming back from vacation, but I only had to teach a few lessons this week, and really enjoyed the free time. I finished my submission for writers’ group early, which was a nice treat; usually I’m up late Friday night to get it done.

Re: computer: We looked at parts to build one, and it made my brain ache, so for peace of mind I went with a laptop. Hello, new Acer. May you prosper.

Fran’s mom is visiting. Met her for the first time yesterday and it was lovely. We don’t really have a common language (even if I spoke more Italian, I wouldn’t understand Sicilian), but I’m picking up bits as fast as I can and making Fran translate the rest. Got to taste proper Italian sausage yesterday (of course her mom brought a lot of food in her luggage ^_^). Did you know they sometimes put vegetables into the sausage casing? I did not, but I support it.

Went to a giant craft store the other day. Bought way too many craft supplies and had a great time.

Cold Comfort Farm was funny but had a lot of flaws: the parody was clunky, and I don’t think the author quite managed what she was going for. But I started watching the movie just now, and it seems to do the job much better. Quite funny; will see if it holds up.

Besides the new section of VOID, I started two new projects: a short story for submission, and another one for Halloween. “But Katherine,” you say, sounding rather exasperated, “every week you tell us about a new project you’ve started. Very rarely do you mention a project that’s finished.” Well, I’ll tell you that that’s an entirely valid point. Wish me luck.

Love all. Miss most of you.

Kate

Public-domain image of a hand holding a pen, apparently writing, at a sunlit desk with papers and a white coffee mug on it. The sleeve of a cozy gray sweater is visible.
daily life, updates

Friday (Saturday) Update

amongthegoblins

Not a lot of news this week. Still enjoying a light work schedule because of clients’ vacations, so have had a lot of time to write. Was finally able to complete a new chapter for a piece of fanfic last updated ten months ago, and have been enjoying the influx of happy reader comments ever since. It’s really a nice psychological boost to get that much immediate feedback on a piece of writing, especially when my main project won’t see the light of day for years.

Inconveniently, the new “short story” I started last week is on track to become another monster. For some reason all my “short” pieces keep ending up snugly in the 10-12k range. I’ve got a whole list of them (“Wake Your Ghost,” “We Go Hiking,” “Coven”) waiting to be edited, and two more (“Summerweek,” “Spirits in the Dark“) that were published by JMS Books. But it’s a hard length to market. I don’t think it’s that readers don’t want them, but that most magazines can barely afford to pay for short stories that are actually short. I’ve thought of putting mine up for sale myself, but I’m not sure how to cut through the massive crowd of self-pubbed ebooks long enough to get anyone to look at them. If you’d like to read them, let me know.

Still reading A Suitable Boy. Also reading Cold Comfort Farm (because A Suitable Boy is too large for me to leave the house with). No one told me Cold Comfort Farm was a parody of a gothic novel! It’s kind of funny, though a little clunky at times. I always used to confuse the title with Cold Sassy Tree, which I suspect is a very different kind of book.

Here’s something that happened today: during my online Czech lesson I spilled water all over my laptop. It shut right down, and I’m not sure yet how it’s doing. My girlfriend Fran, though she had her second COVID jab yesterday and was feeling crummy, went out with me and bought a tool kit to open the case for more efficient drying, so fingers crossed. (Fran also let me borrow her laptop, and thus am I now writing to you. Fran’s the best. ♡)

Progress this week: About 3,000 more words on VOID. The new story, “Dreams Errant,” is also at about 3k, but who knows how long it will be.

Happy weekend!

Public-domain image of a hand holding a pen, apparently writing, at a sunlit desk with papers and a white coffee mug on it. The sleeve of a cozy gray sweater is visible.
Uncategorized

Friday Update

amongthegoblins

I’m having a quiet day today. Vacation season in Prague means I’m teaching a lot fewer lessons (I earn my bread and butter teaching English, mostly to children), so I’m enjoying a bit of a break.

I’ve been wanting to post here more regularly, but wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to take this. I had a writing blog a long time ago, but could never quite decide what I wanted to post there, and eventually abandoned it. (You can still see it here if you’re curious.) Author blogs are tricky if you’re not already a steady seller. You have to decide if your blog is for your readers or for other writers, and there’s not a lot of crossover between the two styles. Plus blogs aren’t quite as much a thing now as they were ten years ago. So I think this is just going to be whatever it wants to be, at least for now.

Today I’m doing a little of this and that. I resubmitted a short story that had been rejected, and decided to trunk another one that wasn’t doing well. Short stories are something I’ve been working on. Since I work in novel form (and not short novels, either), I have trouble fleshing out a character and delivering a strong plot within a few thousand words. I started a new piece last night with that thought in mind, and and it feels promising, but it also has the potential to become another monster. Oh, well. Monsters have their place.

I’m also working on my ongoing novel project, THE VOID AND THE RAVEN. This is going to be a real doorstopper of a book, and will probably be take years to complete. It’s high fantasy (if we can call it that with no elves) and I’m really enjoying writing it, but I do sometimes feel as if I’m painting a cathedral with a very small brush. It’s good to have a chunk of time to work on it.

Some inspiration:

-Competitive reality TV shows about art and design. I feel a little silly to be binging these, but it’s really satisfying to see professional artists being driven to create the best thing they can as efficiently as possible. So far I’ve seen one season each of Blown Away, Interior Design Masters, and Next in Fashion. (Many thanks to my girlfriend for letting me mooch off her Netflix account.)

–A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. I’m maybe a tenth of the way through this behemoth, but I love it so far I love it. It’s such beautiful writing that it really makes me want to elevate my craft. I wish I could carry it outside without needing a suitcase to carry it in.

So that’s Friday in Prague for me. How have you been lately?