The Wonderful World of Was: August
When monkeys attack! Sure, there's other stuff in here, but maniacal monkeys!
Howdy, howdy!
July is over, so it must be time for my newsletter!
And what a month it was. As I wrap up the month, I have to confess to being a little tired: it feels like I’ve been writing non-stop. Of course, I haven’t; July was certainly my most productive month since my blitz in April, but I wrote less words than I did in either February or March and my editing doesn’t come close to either of those months (or January, for that matter).
So, what have I been writing? Certainly not either of my novels. I really need to get back into those, and hopefully August will be the month for it. But I’ve been saying that for a few months now…
I finished the short story I was working on last month. I also wrote a couple of blog posts, one of which is related to that short story; one of which wasn’t. I also wrote a third one, which is tiny enough to disregard, as well as an equally disregardable website update). I also read a ton of books and wrote reviews for them. My memory doesn’t work quite well enough to say how many books I actually reviewed during the month, but I can say I posted six of them in July (August is proving to be even bigger, with eight scheduled!) But I’ll get into all that further down this newsletter.
In news that I won’t delve into below, I also wrote another short story. Well, the first draft, so there’s plenty more work to come. As they say, all first drafts are shit; something I take as a truism, because all my first drafts are shit. So I’m aiming to publish a less shitty version of it in August. I’ll also be posting another blog post, so there’s plenty of content on the horizon, and, and more importantly, plenty of stuff to aid in my procrastination with those novels.
So with that out of the way, let’s get into this newsletter!
July Writings
I had hoped to get back into editing Till Death Do Us Party, but procrastination holds far too much power over me. I redrafted (and redrafted, and redrafted) the short story, Pestilence’s Party with Rona, then followed it up with a blog post about it. I also wrote up a blog post looking back at the first three volumes of Neil Gaiman’s classic fantasy, The Sandman, a small post introducing a mood board (it doesn’t count towards my word count, but I made a mood board!) and a little site update announcing I’m writing about my inspirations.
All in all, it was a reasonably productive month, with me writing 32,858 words. My editing hours weren’t particularly huge, with 13:15 spent refining my words, but the overall effort wasn’t horrendous.
Last month, I commented that I might spend some time in July formulating a plan of attack, and that didn’t happen. It won’t happen in August, either; I have a fair amount of writing scheduled, as well as a host of book reviews. Not only does writing the reviews take time, but so does reading the books in the first place.
An Antarctic Light Show
I’m not going to share the photos of space captured by the James Webb Space Telescope; those pictures have been all over the internet for the past few weeks. They’re absolutely astounding, but I’m pretty sure anybody who wants to see pretty photos of space has seen those pretty photos of space.
Instead, I’ll focus on pretty photos taken closer to home, which I haven’t seen as widely circulated. Thanks to the volcanic eruption in Tonga, Antarctica was bathed in pink hues, thanks to aerosols bending the light. These photos are a rare sight, and an absolutely stunning display of a rare, natural phenomena. You can check out the photos and read about it here.
Pestilence’s Party with Rona
I might be avoiding the next draft of Till Death Do Us Party, but that hasn’t stopped me preemptively writing a short story set in that universe, which I’m dubbing Afterlife of the Party. It’s a story about a virus, so surely it has to go viral, right? Just make sure to push it on everyone you know, make them do it, and so forth until it has as many readers as COVID-19 has victims.
After a character in my manuscript made a glib remark about Pestilence “blowing his wad on the coronavirus” (yeah, I know, this book is going to be all class), my mind wandered to what that would look like. Not literally; there are some things that even I’m loathe to write, but how Pestilence, that Horseman of the Apocalypse, would thrive on not just creating such a pandemic, but steering the narrative to get misinformation out in the world so us mere mortals wouldn’t think to appropriately protect ourselves. You can read that story by clicking this link—and please do, I’m fairly partial to the little tale.
It’s a story I almost didn’t bring to life, given the toll COVID-19 has taken on the world. However, I strongly believe we should be doing more to protect ourselves, and those we love. If you followed my advice and clicked that link, you’ll see an introduction where I articulate as much.
But sometimes an introduction isn’t enough to convey my entire thoughts on the matter, and I wrote a separate blog post where I talk about trying to find humour in these horrific times, and rage against a world that is happily moving on despite people still losing their lives. I’m not as partial to the post as I am to the story, but since you’re clicking on links, you can click this one too, which will take you to that post, Finding Humour in a Pandemic.
Bye Bye, Boris!
It was only a couple of months ago that I celebrated Australia voting out our Prime Minister, Scott Morrison. Though half a world away, I’m now celebrating the resignation of Boris Johnson; another win against post-truth populism, and another sign that, one day, this world may be a better place than it currently is. With Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak duking it out to see who will reign supreme after UK Conservative Party members finally elect a winner in September, it’s hardly going to reshape the country :it’s still going to be under Conservative Party rule, after all.
But whoever they choose, they will have to be better than Boris Johnson. Once broadly considered a joke (here in Australia, at least), Johnson has always been a savvy operator who, after taking the UK Prime Ministership, has shown just how dangerous and toxic he is. This article provides a nice overview of his horrifying history: no matter which course UK politics takes from here, the country can breathe a sigh of relief that from here on out, it will be without Boris.
Saturday Snippets
“But,” I hear you say, “It’s a Sunday.”
Yeah, and I used to only share these online on Saturdays, too. Times change, I have a seemingly increasing number of snippets to share each month. Besides, I published these on the website yesterday. Which was a Saturday.
These provide a little glimpse into what I’m working on (and when I have a new short story out, a little promotion to push it upon people), so why not take a look?
I also made a mood board. It’s not worth its own heading, but you can click this link and take a look at that, too.
When Monkeys Attack!
Southwestern Japanese city, Yamaguchi, is under attack from monkeys!
These primates are terrorising the city as they bite and claw at people, attempt to snatch babies and sneak into nurseries. Traps to capture the monkeys aren’t working because they’re apparently not interested in food, so their nefarious motives remain unknown.
If you happen to be in Yamaguchi, or if this is indeed the beginnings of our Planet of the Apes-type future and you find yourself accosted by a monkey, be sure to follow these instructions:
Do not look them in the eye.
Make yourself look as big as possible, such as by spreading open your coat.
Back away as quietly as possible without making sudden moves.
To read all about this latest scourge of mankind, be sure to click here. You never know when you might find yourself face to face with a monkey in a dark alley.
The Sandman
I’ve been incredibly excited for Netflix’s adaptation of The Sandman, which hit Netflix a couple of days ago. Because I write this newsletter in advance, I haven’t seen the series yet, even though it’s likely that I will have seen an episode or two by the time this reaches you. Hell, I might even have something to say about it in the next newsletter.
The Sandman is based on Neil Gaiman’s seminal classic, a mature, modern fantasy all about dreams and nightmares, a narrative about narratives. Not to mention one of the greatest fantasy epics ever written. So check out the Netflix series, but also check out the comics.
In preparation for the series hitting screens, I’ve gone back and started re-reading the trade paperbacks, and have a post breaking down the first three volumes on the website. Why not take a look at Mr. Sandman, Bring Me a Dream: The Beginning and familiarise yourself with this wondrous series Gaiman gifted the world?
Between my rants about The Sandman and a couple of earlier posts about the joys of Usagi Yojimbo, I have created an all-new category for my ramblings, Inspirations. You can read about my reasoning here, but in short, I’ll endeavour to write about works that inspire me every month or so.
Booker’s 2022 Longlist
The Booker Prize 2022 longlist has been announced. I could wax lyrical about what wondrous accomplishments these books are and how they’re worthy of one of literature’s highest honours, but that would be bullshit: embarrassingly, I haven’t read a single one. But I will say that reading through the entries, they look like great reads, and the list serves as a reminder that I would probably benefit by broadening my reading horizons.
The longlist comprises:
The Colony, by Audrey Magee
After Sappho, by Selby Wynn Schwartz
Glory, by NoViolet Bulawayo
Small Things Like These, by Claire Keegan
Nightcrawling, by Leila Mottley
Maps of Our Spectacular Bodies, by Maddie Mortimer
Case Study, by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Treacle Walker, by Alan Garner
The Trees, by Percival Everett
Trust, by Hernan Diaz
The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida, by Shehan Karunatilaka
Oh William! by Elizabeth Strout
Booth, by Karen Joy Fowler
Head to the Booker Prize’s website to learn more about the books. It also includes some fun facts about this year’s longlist, like the youngest author to ever be longlisted at 20, and the oldest ever at 87, proving you’re never too young or too old to succeed; and while three previously shortlisted novelists are included, so are three debut novelists. I’m not going to spoil all the fun facts; click here to go and have a read for yourself.
Reviews
I mentioned up top that I posted six book reviews in July. Although not a single one is a Booker Prize nominee, this list of books is full of some wonderful stuff: July was a great month for reading!
Why not read the reviews, and if you’re looking for a new book to spend some time with, take the plunge with an independent author? Each review has a link to the book on Amazon, and despite what it may say about me profiting from it, rest assured I won’t: Amazon deemed me too inconsequential to qualify for a commission, and updating all the reviews published before this point is too onerous a task for someone as lazy as me.
Meara: Legacy of Love by Anya Wylde
Behind Blue Eyes by Anna Mocikat
Spectacular Silver Earthling by Mara Lynn Johnstone
Sweet Baby Mine by Maria Daversa
Cuckoo Cuckoo by Nicholas Ponticello
Manipulator’s War by Elise Carlson
You may recall at the beginning of this newsletter, I mentioned August is also a big month for reviews—so big, in fact, that I have already published three of them. If you feel so inclined, why not take a look at those ones, too? I’ll save listing them for the next newsletter, but the reviews are there if you can’t wait.
So, What’s Next?
I have a ton of books to review, so my crystal ball tells me that August (and beyond) is going to be filled with reading books and writing about them. And as if I’m not reading and writing about reading enough as it is, I’ll be continuing my rediscovery of The Sandman with a second post.
I’ll also be editing and rewriting my upcoming short story, which is set in the smartworld, my series of dystopian tales. The story veered away from its original intent, which is fine (and always, a little exciting for me), and I was a decent part of the way through the draft when the hook it needs finally dawned on me. So it certainly needs a lot of work, but I’m hoping to be able to include a link in the next newsletter.
I’d like to be able to commit to getting to the next draft of Till Death Do Us Party, but my magic eightball’s telling me “Not fucking likely.”
That’s a Wrap
I’ve bored you long enough, so it’s time to bring this newsletter to a close. Be sure to join me for even more boredom in the next edition of The Wonderful World of Was!
TTFN,
Was