I’ve recently been reprimanded by a friend, who draw my attention to the fact that I haven’t posted here for a while. Well, not reprimanded, really: it was a very sweet note inquiring whether I was ok.
I’m sure the thought hasn’t crossed people who follows me on Twitter, as I’ve been very active over there, but still it’s a note worth addressing.
Yes. I’m ok.
I’ve been neglecting the blog, even if I didn’t want to, because I’ve been trying to get my Patreon off the ground, with mixed results so far. Remember you can follow me over there even without subscribing to one of the tiers, and some of the posts are free.
I have some time on my hands, today, so I’ll try and migrate some of those posts back here.
Meanwhile, some updates.
On work
I have grown increasingly tired of the construction industry. Further proof, if needed, is that the most important week of architecture and design has recently occurred in my city, and I couldn’t bring myself to give one single fuck.
I’m not working on a new book, I’m not active on LinkedIn, I’m not working on incredible secret projects (well, they’re secret, but not particularly incredible). I’m not even teaching anymore.
And can I tell you something?
It feels rather good.
On readings
One of the good consequences of working less is that I don’t have to power though my days only to reach the evenings with my brain bleeding through my nose.
So, I’ve been reading.
I’ve been reading essays and fiction, I’ve been reading fairy-tales.
The last novels I read were Stuart Turton’s The Devil and the Dark Water, recommended by a friend because it’s a story that mostly takes place on a Dutch ship like the novel I’m working on, Jim Butcher’s Death Masks, though the series has too much magic politics for my taste, and Caroline Freeman-Cuerden’s Battle Elephants and Flaming Foxes: Animals in the Roman World because I need it for my novel. Maybe. And anyways it’s a fun topic.
Currently, I’m reading Gemma Hollman’s The Queen and the Mistress: The Women of Edward III because I liked her Royal Witches a lot, picked back up David Mitchell’s celebrated The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet even if it’s set around seventy years too late for me, and I’m still working through Sophie Lewis’ Abolish the Family: A Manifesto for Care and Liberation. The last one is a difficult read: I go through a couple of pages, slam it shut because I agree with it so much it makes me angry at everything, rant a bit and then drink a lot.
.
.
On the novel
Yes, I’m writing a Gothic novel, and yes, it’s going well. I am going through my third draft, currently, which is half editing, half translating from Italian to English, half re-writing. Yes: it’s three halves.
I found a wonderful Nigerian association that was willing to work with me, as some of the characters in the novel are Yoruba, and the next step will be to employ sensitive readers and beta readers while I query for agents and publishers.
A prospect agent asked me to do some mood boards for the characters in the story, and I’ve been posting them on Patreon, but here are some of them for you blog readers as well.
That’s all I’m willing to share, right now.
Enjoy your spring, and see you soon.
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