Neal Stephenson — TRAVERSING Z

hello, 2014.

i have to keep reminding myself that it is 2014, because i am starting off by . . . rewriting the england sections of talassio yet again. i had a feeling they’re still too slow, but i wanted to get some outside confirmation . . . and now i have it, in the form of agent responses. it’s frustrating to have to work on these chapters Yet Again, but everything else seems to get a check mark: idea is good, mythology is original, writing is lovely. it just takes too long to get moving.

perhaps, then, a last hump to start a good year?

in other news:

i had a last acceptance just before the bells rang out: “the queen of lakes” will be in fae this year. i did right by rose at last!
i will probably be lurking at both fogcon and wiscon this year.
i finished stephenson’s quicksilver and i am still working through my muddled feelings about it, which i may put here eventually.
i am very much overdue to get back to workshopping and critiquing, and apologies to anyone out there that i promised to crit last november. i need to finish this england revision and then i will be able to focus on other tasks.

aaaaand i am now officially procrastinating. sigh. the holiday was quiet, the year is new, yet the burnout lingers . . . but this revision ain’t gonna write itself.

quick

if, many years from now, when this is done and perhaps even published . . . if people ask me what did you want it to be? i will point to this book, and say, “i wanted it to be as rich as this, but with more feeling and a heck of a lot more women.”

it’s a kickass read. very much My Thing. but it also leaves me seething with jealousy . . . of the scholarship involved . . . and of his word count. o, to have 400k to play with in a single book!

this month is proving difficult. very relieved i did not commit to nanowrimo (and really, even without the craziness do i need another big writing project? no i do not), as i have suddenly been given a crisis to manage at work. i still have a short story to polish, the novel revisions to complete before i lose all sense of italy . . . and we’re playing host for the holidays this year. there needs to be an extra month between november and december.