As a creative woman "past middle age a fortnight or two ago," I am still walking, albeit more slowly, through the fog. Now, it's primarily about keeping myself from going crazy, rather than being relevant.
Finding joy in the act of creating- which I do find seems to translate into others liking what I do. Your list of accomplishments is amazing- Most of us can't boast anything close. As for the internet, it's like a sea of garbage from which, every so often, there surfaces some creature that deserves our attention. Most of it is flotsam. Being happy with whatever grace we are allowed, finding beauty and humor wherever possible- that's what it's about for me. Mortality is creeping through that fog, and I'm all out of breadcrumbs. Leaving mugs behind instead. :)
Glad to hear you've found a way to keep moving forward. I can tell you for sure that there's two people in Casa Appel who are looking forward to more Karen stories. I believe Alexa has been pushing the first two at all of her Discord pals.
Now, if I can just find my keys in this dumpster, maybe I can get my own machine moving again.
Yes, actually, you can even read part of it online, since I am going to be expanding "The Red Mother" (up at Tor.com) and its related stories to novel length, maybe. Disaster bisexual Vikings and Scandinavian monsters FTW. Thank you for asking!
Oh these all make me very excited to read the book (as if I weren't already). I feel like I often don't pay epigraphs enough attention, but the ones in the Jacob's Ladder books were very illuminating. And it's great to reread a book and come back to an epigraph, now with knowledge of the story it's put in conversation with.
Confirmed: writing with no visibility feels like being at the bottom of a deep well, screaming. The only thing worse is sitting down and going quiet.
i'm sorry to hear about your publication challenges. whenever or wherever your next book comes, i'll certainly support it. cheers, andrew
Ah! Well I loved the Karen book I read and more...just do it because you love it. You are an amazing writer!
<3<3<3
As a creative woman "past middle age a fortnight or two ago," I am still walking, albeit more slowly, through the fog. Now, it's primarily about keeping myself from going crazy, rather than being relevant.
Finding joy in the act of creating- which I do find seems to translate into others liking what I do. Your list of accomplishments is amazing- Most of us can't boast anything close. As for the internet, it's like a sea of garbage from which, every so often, there surfaces some creature that deserves our attention. Most of it is flotsam. Being happy with whatever grace we are allowed, finding beauty and humor wherever possible- that's what it's about for me. Mortality is creeping through that fog, and I'm all out of breadcrumbs. Leaving mugs behind instead. :)
Drinking my tea out of one of those mugs right this very second, as it happens....
Thank you, Elizabeth
Glad to hear you've found a way to keep moving forward. I can tell you for sure that there's two people in Casa Appel who are looking forward to more Karen stories. I believe Alexa has been pushing the first two at all of her Discord pals.
Now, if I can just find my keys in this dumpster, maybe I can get my own machine moving again.
Okay, I laughed out loud at the dumpster.
Hang in there, man.
I'll have some tales to tell when we next meet up, that's for sure.
Can I ask about the Nordic fantasy? Really curious about that one!
Yes, actually, you can even read part of it online, since I am going to be expanding "The Red Mother" (up at Tor.com) and its related stories to novel length, maybe. Disaster bisexual Vikings and Scandinavian monsters FTW. Thank you for asking!
I will go check it out!
Also does the next White Space book follow the one Millay/one Yeats epigraph pattern or change it?
Both, as it happens!
***
I screamed, and—lo!—Infinity
Came down and settled over me;
Forced back my scream into my chest,
Bent back my arm upon my breast,
And, pressing of the Undefined
The definition on my mind,
Held up before my eyes a glass
Through which my shrinking sight did pass
Until it seemed I must behold
Immensity made manifold;
Whispered to me a word whose sound
Deafened the air for worlds around,
And brought unmuffled to my ears
The gossiping of friendly spheres,
The creaking of the tented sky,
The ticking of Eternity.
--Edna St. Vincent Millay
Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,
Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,
Upon the breathless starlit air,
Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;
Fix every wandering thought upon
That quarter where all thought is done:
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul?
--W.B. Yeats
The past has no existence except as it is recorded in the present.
--John Wheeler
Oh these all make me very excited to read the book (as if I weren't already). I feel like I often don't pay epigraphs enough attention, but the ones in the Jacob's Ladder books were very illuminating. And it's great to reread a book and come back to an epigraph, now with knowledge of the story it's put in conversation with.
ooh, I really like the Yeats one.
Me too!