Wednesday Wrap Up 6.4.25
I’ve been down for the count a lot this last week. My stomach has been going in and out of varying levels of yuck. Last night was the worst so far. It’s affecting my work life a lot, but I am still plugging away, slowly and surely — hence how late it is that I’m posting this today.
On Saturday, I went to the Sacramento Book Festival. It was a good time. Connected with some of my writer pals: Karen McCoy had a table with her first book; Brian C.E. Buhl was doing his thing with Water Dragon Publishing; I bumped into Richard Crawford and caught up – he’s also doing a short story a week; bumped into Jason Denzel and talked about having him on the Tuesday livestreams once I restructure the format; lastly, I reconnected with my old buddy James Rollins after not seeing each other for well over a decade. Y’all should check out all of their books. Oh… but the best part of the festival was a young lady randomly telling me I have great hair! Total confidence booster.
Speaking of the livestreams. I had lunch last Friday with Rook, we talked about many things, the two biggest being my writing livestreams and my storytelling performances.
First and foremost, I’m going to stop producing my own live shows for the time being. I’ll still perform at other events or venues that invite me. However, we’re working on a livestreaming format for the storytelling performances so that my fans around the world can enjoy them. Secondly, my teaching is undergoing another brand shift. Expect more on Write Right Now in the coming weeks.
Yesterday, I took a free Irish language workshop, Irish With Mollie. I approached it with cautious trepidation. Mollie turned out to be my favorite kind of teacher: charismatic, energetic, knowledgeable of how to teach rather than just spout information, and ready to engage with posts in the chat. Within a few minutes, I’d learned more about the basic construction of Irish as a language than I had in all my years of study on my own. I came close to weeping with joy. I signed up for further classes. I’ll probably post about my progress in future updates.
WRITING
Pretty much all writing has slowed down with my stomach illness, as well as updating Patreon. However, I did write this month’s Epic Epistolary Episode. I’m jazzed to see Nathanal Hayze’s adventures unfolding. These will be in the mail in the next couple of days.
I also posted Weekly Story #3 to Patreon. I’ve opened the short stories to all members, not just paying supporters. So, if you want to read a new story every Saturday, go join my Patreon. Voting is now open on which story gets the audio recording treatment.
READING
- Gentleman Junkie, by Harlan Ellison – Took a break from this one this week.
- The Hundred Days, by Patrick O’Brien, narrated by Patrick Tull – I’ve got a couple of hours left in this one. I’m savoring the ride.
- Wonderworks, by Angus Fletcher – This continues to be brilliant and mind-bending. I’m going to work on integrating what I’m learning in this into the short stories I’m writing.
- America Fantastica, by Tim O’Brien – I’m so glad I decided to do this again for Reading as a Contact Sport. O’Brien is a genius. I know some people had issues with the “likability” of the characters the first time we looked at this one. If you join us, I hope you’ll come to the book with an open mind. Not all stories have to be about “likable” characters. The prose is delicious, and every seed planted has a payoff. This is a tragic story about the toxicity of certain aspects of the American experience. I’m a better writer for having read this book.
- Hurdy-Gurdy, by Tim Seibles – I dove back into this one since making it the poetry Book of the Month. It made me remember why I love Seibles’s work. He’s a master at poetic narrative.
WATCHING
I’m spent today. I’ll share my thoughts on stuff I’ve been watching next week. I’ll talk about the latest season of Dr Who, the last Mission: Impossible movie, and Andor — and how people are comparing it to A New Hope.
Oh, yeah… I also use Amazon links to get a small commission because I’m a struggling creative in a late-stage, free-market capitalism hellscape.
