One More Detour on the Writing Road

Working...

Sat, 25 Apr 2026 16:20:49 GMT

Work on Chaos Agent, the next Jani book, continues at a slow but moderately steady pace.

The usual political and personality clashes abound, but the culture clashes are also mounting. So many opportunities to trip and fall on one's diplomatic face keep presenting themselves, and not all of them will end well.

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I did it again

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 02:09:05 GMT

I've had a copy of Thud for years and have never read it.

Currently addressing this omission.

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Making Money

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:40:15 GMT

I started my reread of Making Money only to realize after a chapter or two that I didn't recall any of it. At least one scene usually sticks in my mind*, and there are so many of Lord Vetinari being Lord Vetinari that I definitely should have remembered. Adora Belle Dearheart is one of my favorite minor characters, so I'd have at least recalled her.

And Mr. Fusspot. I would've remembered the dog, if only for one of the funniest scenes I have ever read in any Discworld book:

Watching a dog try to chew a large piece of toffee is a pastime fit for gods. Mr. Fusspot's mixed ancestry had given him a dexterity of jaw that was truly awesome. He somersaulted happily around the floor, making faces like a rubber gargoyle in a washing machine.

Maybe you have to have had a dog, idk.

Anyway, I think this is the first time I've read it. am enjoying it. Moist von Lipwig is such a conflicted, seat-of-the-pants sort of person.

*except for Night Watch, which failed to make an impression. I recalled that there was a rebellion at some point, but that was it.

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Still reading Pterry

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 02:44:38 GMT

Finished my reread of Wyrd Sisters last night.

Every time I think I've found a Discworld book that contains nothing relevant wrt current events...yeah, no.

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WAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Sat, 05 Jul 2025 00:48:11 GMT

Murderbot spoiler
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( Read more... )

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A Saturday

Sat, 31 May 2025 23:40:11 GMT

Lately I've been concentrating on gardening, cooking, and plotting with occasional actual writing while easing a bit on the social media. To date, I think it's the better way to go.

Still rereading Pterry. I finished Mort, and started Maskerade. It's funny how details come back to me even though I haven't read these books in years.

Also good to burst out laughing while reading.

Anyway, worked outside this morning. Then I set up a pot of chili beans and went for a walk. A cooler than usual late spring day here in NE Illinois, but pretty all the same. (Photo is of a sailboat on Lake Michigan. The water is calm and both sky and water are very, very, blue. There are some large rocks in the foreground)

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The Truth

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 04:07:38 GMT

Finished Pterry's The Truth very early this morning. As usual, many aspects of the story seem to apply. The first and final conversation between William de Worde and his father Lord de Worde struck me particularly.

Lord de Worde: "Don't you agree, then, that it's time for a ruler who listens to the people?"

William: "Maybe. Which people did you have in mind?"

I'll be taking a break from Pterry for a bit. Next up, a short story collection. "Wodehouse on Crime."

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Still Pterying

Mon, 07 Apr 2025 04:25:00 GMT

Since last I posted, I finished both Feet of Clay and The Fifth Elephant.

Feet of Clay contains one of my favorite exchanges between Sam Vimes and the Patrician.

“Commander, I always used to consider that you had a definite anti-authoritarian streak in you.”
“Sir?”
“It seems that you have managed to retain this even though you are authority.”
“Sir?”
“That’s practically zen.”

In my mind, I hear Alan Rickman's rolling r when he says "practically."

I liked The Fifth Elephant mostly because we get to see Lady Margolotta, the Patrician's chess-by-mail partner. It's been a while since I read it, and I forgot she's a twin set-and-pearls teetotaler.

Next is The Truth. Just started it.

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Feet of Clay

Mon, 17 Mar 2025 16:00:13 GMT

Started my reread with vague memories of the plot. Golems. The Watch. Some seriousness.

Then during my read last night I came to this part:

"In a way, it didn't matter who they were. In fact, their anonymity was part of the whole business. They thought themselves part of the march of history, the tide of progress and the wave of the future. They were men who felt that The Time Had Come. Regimes can survive barbarian hordes, crazed terrorists, and secret societies, but they're in real trouble when prosperous and anonymous men sit around a big table and think thoughts like that."

Pterry always managed to slip something in.

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Still rereading Pratchett

Thu, 13 Mar 2025 04:07:20 GMT

I finished Soul Music last night.* It's a sweet story. I'm a fan of Death, and I do like Susan. I have an icon of her, but it's not in my free account batch and I don't know if I can exchange it.

Next up, Feet of Clay.

Liking this paper book stuff.

*make that early this morning

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Pterry reread continues

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 22:09:47 GMT

I finished Going Postal and decided to try something...lighter is the wrong word. Narrower focus? Just different? So I went with Soul Music.

Such sharp dialogue in some places, especially between Susan and Albert.

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Well...

Tue, 04 Feb 2025 02:05:08 GMT

...just finished watching the last two episodes of The Prisoner.

Granted, it had been decades since I last watched it, but I am shocked at how much I didn't remember.

As much as I like McGoohan, I was pretty underwhelmed overall. Maybe I need to think about it some more.

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Things I'd do differently

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 17:54:09 GMT

If I were planning those first Jani Kilian books now, I would definitely reconsider the use of diacritical marks in names and titles to denote changes in class/rank of my aliens. Either that, or I would make sure I WROTE DOWN ALL THE DETAILS AND KEPT THAT DOC IN A SAFE PLACE.

I did construct a language overview page on my website. I thank myself for doing at least once a week.

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The Prisoner

Tue, 21 Jan 2025 05:49:57 GMT

Rewatching "The Prisoner" for the first time in ages. I was about 10 when I first watched it. I know my dad liked it. Not sure if my mom did—it really wasn't her kind of show. I didn't understand much of what was happening, but I liked Patrick McGoohan. The guardian bouncing beach ball, Rover, scared me a little, though.

So far, I've seen the first two episodes. Memories of plot etc are vague, almost like I'm watching them for the first time. I do remember Leo McKern as one of the Number 2s. He was in episode 2, and I'm pretty sure he appears again.

ETA: I guess I'm waiting to see what I feel the series is about. According to the Wikipedia article about the show: "A major theme of the series is the conflict between individualism, as represented by Number Six, and collectivism, as represented by the Village. According to McGoohan, the series aimed to demonstrate a balance between the two ideologies."

I'm sensing more authoritarianism vs democracy, but there could be underlying reasons for that. Anyway, I'm planning on one episode per evening, so #3 tonight.

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What's next?

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 03:20:23 GMT

Finished Pterry's Jingo early this morning. On one level, I thought I was reading the news.

Something less timely next, I think. Men at Arms? The Fifth Elephant?

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The Mystery of the Lost Glove

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 02:45:01 GMT

A few days ago, I lost a right-hand glove. It wasn't expensive, but it was just the right amount of flexible vs padded and was easy to slip on and off.

Thing is, I was sure I had been wearing it when I drove home. Which meant that I lost it somewhere in the garage/house/car devil's triangle. But I looked everywhere—I checked under the front seats, the floor. The shopping bags. My handbag. All my coat pockets. The pockets of coats I had not worn.
I then drove to the last store I had visited and checked around the spot I parked, then went inside and asked if anyone had turned in a glove. Nope.

Drove home. Gave glove up for lost, but set aside its partner just in case because devil's triangle.
Yesterday, different gloves. I needed to check my phone, so I did what I always do—I slipped off the right one and tucked it under my left arm. Did phone stuff. Moved around in my seat—as I did, the glove slipped out of place and fell between the seat and the door. Dug it out, then squinted into the dark space, and oh look.

Let us recall that I had entered and exited the car several times over the course of the last several days and did not see that glove.

Devil's triangle. I'm telling you.

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rereading Pterry

Tue, 14 Jan 2025 16:01:53 GMT

For the past few weeks, I've been trying to pull away from nighttime screens by reading actual paper books. Imagine!

I've started with an out-of-sequence Pterry reread. First, Hogfather, because it seemed appropriate for December. Followed up with Guards! Guards!, then Lords and Ladies.

Now I'm reading Jingo, which seems appropriate to the times in so many ways. It also contains one of my favorite, idk, processes? Namely, Lord Vetinari* manipulating Sam Vimes into acting like, well, Sam Vimes.

*Lord Vetinari is one of my "Spock crushes**." In my mind, he's played by Alan Rickman.

**crushes on literary/film/TV characters. Mr. Spock was my first. Lord Peter Wimsey. Loki from the Marvel TV series. And Vetinari.

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::blink::

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 01:28:36 GMT

That's how fast January is flitting by.

I have a new short story out in the latest issue of Boundary Shock Quarterly. Every issue has a different theme—for this issue, it's "First Contact," with alien life of whatever sort. The story is entitled "It's Not the Face," and it involves a couple of characters I've been writing about in serial short story format for the last few years. Their names are Del and Gia and they were once R&D test pilots in the 12th Expeditionary Corps, evaluating experimental long-haul spacecraft. Then their lives took a turn and they've been in trouble ever since.

This is the 5th story I've written in this world (6th if you include a sidebar story that appeared in the ZNB Anthology Solar Flare). I have a few more in mind, and then a novel to wrap it all up.

I've been having fun with this world and these characters while at the same time learning that I can write short. It used to be a struggle to keep the story from spinning off into a novel or, if I was lucky, a novella, but over the last few years the shorter form seems to be working.

It's good to learn new things.

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Wed, 25 Dec 2024 01:57:43 GMT

I set out to my favorite grocery store this morning expecting a crowd, and I wasn't disappointed. But all the checkout stations were open, so things moved surprisingly quickly.

My Christmas dinner with friends will take place on Boxing Day, so tomorrow will be pretty laid back. Cooking may be involved. I'll be watching my favorite version of A Christmas Carol later, the 1951 version with Alastair Sim as Scrooge. The lead-up will be "The Nightmare Before Christmas."

My current bedtime reading, Pterry's Guards! Guards!, is proving a little too damned topical in parts. Funny how that man always nailed it.

Happy holidays to all. Belated Solstice wishes. Looking forward to longer days.

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the paper book thing

Thu, 19 Dec 2024 05:06:09 GMT

My fiction reading has declined over the last few years. Markedly.

I do read. Online articles. Blog posts. Ebooks. But a paper book that I have to hold with two hands has been a rarity of late.

So a little over a week ago, I decided I wanted a seasonal read and dug out Hogfather. Bedtime reading, for 15 minutes, a half hour. Finished it, then grabbed Carpe Jugulum. Finished that—time for a Guards book. So, Guards! Guards! it is.

Feels weird to read something that requires the use of a separate lamp to see in the dark.

Anyway, I've reached the point where I look forward to that quiet time. Unplugged.

Not a situation I would've ever expected.

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I keep meaning to come back here...

Sun, 15 Dec 2024 17:41:24 GMT

I'm mostly trying to get into the habit of confining longer posts to my website blog. Nothing earth-shattering gets posted—mostly cooking/recipes, plant stuff, info about wips and life in general. My never-ending quest to declutter my house and my life.

But I'm glad this place is here.

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Fri, 07 Jun 2024 22:42:49 GMT

Damn.

Just missed getting a photo of the Cooper's hawk that perched on the rail of my deck.

Lovely bird. Just wish it didn't lurk near bird feeders.

Yeah, I know—that's where the food is.

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Monday

Mon, 18 Mar 2024 15:28:40 GMT

I keep meaning to come back here and post more often, but then I don't. Given how much I miss the old LJ, I really should make more of an effort. The-place-formerly-designated-by-a-blue-bird is trash and while its clones have their strong points, I'm finding the same issues that made TPFDBABB a pit are bubbling up more frequently. Better to spend more time in a quiet tidal pool instead of storm seas.

I'm also trying to center my website more, for all it needs a revamp. WIP snippets (wippets?) will be posted there instead of FB etc because ownership, AI training, etc. I found out that a couple of my books were used to train at least one AI engine and while it may be way too late to close that barn door, oh well. Gonna try to do it anyway.

Anyway, it's a grey, cold day here in NE Illinois. After having gone walkabout for most of the year, Winter has decided it wants to hang around a bit. Of course, the daffs have formed big buds, the crocuses and hellebore are blooming, and the pussy willow catkins are opening, so nights in the 20s (F) are just what we need right now. I'm especially concerned about the pussy willows because they usually bloom a few weeks later and are the first thing the bees and butterflies have to feed on. But now it's too cold.

Oh well, time to wrap up tax prep. Other things to do. Off I go...

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Just another Friday

Sat, 29 Apr 2023 16:11:20 GMT

Yesterday's Errand Day proceeded apace. Bought more than intended at TJ's b/c I always do--the coffee cream chocolate cookies aren't bad. I told the check-out person how much I loved the aioli garlic mustard sauce and they said that if TJ's ever discontinued it, that was one protest letter they'd right.

I use it instead of mayo in tuna salad. It's that good. Imo.

Found tile samples I needed at Big Box. Also found eye drops and antacid b/c it's that kind of store. A new pizza pan. Gardening gloves. Then it was off to collect Herself and to home.

Last evening I put out some of the lawn ornaments. The wire-and-glass-bead dragonfly. The spinnies and rain gauges. I'm taking a chance with the rain gauges because if we get any more nights below freezing residual water could freeze and crack the glass measuring tubes. Looks like it will be lows in the 40s for the coming week though, so safe enough for now.

Yesterday was supposed to be my off day wrt step count but thanks to lawn mowing and big box trekking, I hit my target. So I'm taking today off. A rainy Saturday. Good day for it.

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Just checking in

Sun, 22 Jan 2023 01:10:58 GMT

I'm coasting on social media for the time being. Longer posts usually on Facebook still, though I wish I could break that habit. We'll see what I can manage this year.

One reason I'm coasting is I have some house renovations going on. No real demo, but new flooring in living room/kitchen/dining room/bathroom and general kitchen/bathroom refresh. It's winding down, and I'm very happy. But I have loads of Stuff--cleaning supplies, mugs and glassware, the sorts of products that accumulate in bathroom drawers--that need to be sorted and ::finger crossed:: mostly disposed of. I did buy a set of nice matching glassware as a sort of housewarming gift to self. At 64 yo, I thought it was time to ditch the college-era emblemware.

In other news, no snow in NE Illinois currently and very little to date. I'm concerned that it means February will slam us hard, which has happened in the past. I know that snow cover is a good thing, but I kinda like not having to wrestle the behemoth snow thrower up and down the driveway.

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