Hi guys! How’s everybody doing?
It’s been a minute since I did one of these. Mostly because not much has changed.
New Steps
I got an email on the 25th letting me know that my story “The Reservoir” was given an honorable mention for the 2021 Quarter 2 Writers of the Future contest. It totally and completely made my day. I really needed it in that moment. It gave me hope that maybe this whole writing thing might be worth it. Especially because I have seen so many people say they entered every quarter for a few years before they got one. This was only my second entry. I’m pretty proud of that.
I’ve dug back into my novel and I’m making progress. I created a dedicated project planner for the next two years to plan and document my work on the novel and potentially the two follow up novels. I may be getting ahead of myself, but I had ideas for continuations of the story, so I wrote them down.
I decided to make a conscious effort to focus on my fiction. I will still be posting articles from time to time when a particularly interesting topic pops into my brain, but I’m not going to try and force it. I will continue to post check ins to let you guys know what I’ve been up to.
The Breakdown
White Night, The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
Ah, The Dresden Files. This series is the one that got me into urban fantasy. It is one of my favorites. White Night is number 9 of the current 17 books. There are also a several short stories and a graphic novel collection. The series had been on hiatus for years until Jim released two, count them two, new books in the series in 2020. It had been so long since I read them, I felt the need to re-read them before I dove into the new ones. I’ve been working on it for a while. Maybe by the time I get caught up, they will be released in paperback, or the price of the ebooks will have dropped?
The premise surrounds the life and times of Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, a wizard P.I. working in modern day vanilla Chicago. He doesn’t hide it. In fact, he is in the yellow pages under wizard. He is sarcastic and funny and can’t resist helping a damsel in distress. He’s kind of an idiot that way, but a brilliant investigator. He is certainly not a cut and dry good guy. He embraces gray areas like none other. There is a lot of back story and pain in his past that color his decision making. There is a cast of characters around him that are just as complex and lovingly written and who both aid and hinder Harry as needed.
I love the way Jim writes. It is the only fiction series I’ve felt the need to annotate favorite passages. Harry speaks on everything from complaining about a demon gorilla flinging incendiary poo at him to having a moment of introspection about the inevitable existence of pain in life and why it’s important. The juxtaposition of the hilarity Harry gets him into and the quiet moments of pain and hope and helplessness are incredible. The evolution of the characters and the story line are also fantastic. The farther in the series, the bigger the magic and the darker the undercurrent. It makes you laugh; it makes you cry. It makes you think and roll your eyes. It is just simply wonderful. I highly recommend.
Living Life
Still looking for a job… Yeah. Yet another problem I did not anticipate in relocating to Knoxville. Though lately I have had some positive movement. I’ve applied to some positions I find really interesting, which I believe would be a good fit for me. One in particular has me very intrigued. So, fingers crossed.
I’m still loving it here. But nothing much has changed.
Hope everyone is doing well and as always, check out my social media if you are so inclined.
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