Ecce Sigum

Immanentize the Empathy

Author: John Winkelman

Weekly Round-up, December 13, 2025

John Winkelman
Two tree stumps in the snow, backed by an old wooden fence.

This was another hectic week. The above photo is part of the hecticness.

The stumps are the remnants of a hackberry tree which was sending its roots under the floor of my basement, causing the concrete to heave and putting upward pressure on the poles under the floor joists. That upward pressure was causing a noticeable bulge in the floors above, and recently we have noticed some new cracks in the old plaster on the walls of the second floor.

I contacted Armand the Tree Guy (aka Armand Lawrence) a couple of weeks ago, after my next-door neighbor recommended his work. He and his crew arrived around 10:00 and were done with the tree at 12:30. And the whole forty-foot, double-trunk tree, chopped into pieces, fit into a single trailer.

Hopefully the damage will now stop, and the floor of the basement gradually subside as the roots of the tree decay over the next few years. I am sad to see the tree gone, but I would be more sad if, say, the plaster on the interior walls were to collapse and bury the cats.

Reading

I am still working my way through Ivan Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Notebook, and still loving it.

Writing

Due to the afore-mentioned chaos, I have not had time to write.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Aliens, Fae
Setting: Lost City
Genre: Noir

Listening

On the evening of Wednesday, December 10, Jack and Julie Ridl hosted a virtual poetry reading in which a dozen poets read their work to an online audience of over a hundred. It was wonderful! I saw many names and faces which I have not seen in many years, several of them from the Caffeinated Press/3288 Review days, and some from more recent events involving the Grand River Poetry Collective and the Grand Rapids Literary Festival. I took notes, and I hope to retain this energy into the Christmas holidays, when I will have some time off and maybe will have the focus and energy to do something creative and meaningful.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, December 6, 2025

John Winkelman

The first week of December, 1984. I was nearing the end of the first semester of my sophomore year at Springport High School. When I wasn’t in class or attending wrestling practice, or band practice, or milking cows, I was holed up in my room with my Commodore 64, learning how to program and playing games. And learning how to program games.

I was also listening to the radio. I had a cheap clock radio thing at the time, which mostly brought in static and country music, but could be coaxed to pull in the oldies station or the contemporary rock station Q106 (“It may not be your favorite song, but it has a lot of the same notes!”). John Lennon had been murdered four years previously, and his son Julian Lennon was on the charts with “Valotte” and “Much Too Late for Goodbye.”

I bring this up because for the past few months I have been following “Charlie’s 80s Attic Radio Station” on Facebook, and recently made the mental leap that, if there is a Facebook page, maybe this Charlie fella has website.

And he does! Charlie’s 80s Attic is real! And he streams the music which is on his social media lists, along with a whole lot more.

In general, I try not to go nostalgia-mining when writing, but these tunes sure do bring back a lot of memories.

Reading

Having finished Invisible Work, I am now about a quarter of the way through Ivan Turgenev’s A Sportsman’s Notebook. I have the Everyman’s Library hardcover edition, which includes a bookmark ribbon attached to the spine. This ribbon is one of the greatest cat toys ever invented, and I need to be circumspect whenever I read this book anywhere near Poe or (especially) Pepper.

Writing

Not much of anything new this week. My brain was fried from an unexpectedly chaotic and busy Thanksgiving holiday.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Portals, Cyborgs
Setting: Urban
Genre: Folk Tale

Listening

Julian Lennon, “Valotte,” from his 1984 album Valotte.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, November 29, 2025

John Winkelman
Milkweed pods in the snow.

I spent the evening before Thanksgiving sitting in the living room under a blanket and therefore also under two cats, drowsily reading Invisible Work: Borges and Translation. Eventually my brain couldn’t take more of this, so I looked up which streaming service offered Name of the Rose. It was Apple TV, one of the many channels which have replaced cable, which replaced channels.

I typed Name of the Rose into the search bar in the app, and the movie came up as expected. Next to it was a documentary, Umberto Eco – A Library of the World. Since my head was already in that space from reading about Borges and translation, I selected the documentary instead of the movie.

And that was very much the right choice to make.

One of my favorite moments was Eco’s comment in an interview that while the Pope in Rome and the Patriarch in Constantinople will never stop arguing about the filioque clause, they must both agree that Clark Kent is Superman.

Reading

After almost two months of working away at it, I finished reading Efraín Kristal’s excellent Invisible Work: Borges and Translation. I will be thinking about this book for a long time to come, and will certainly revisit it from time to time.

Now I am reading the recently published There is Room in a Horse for the Whole Boy, a collection of poems by Barbara Saunier. This book was one of the first few published by the Grand River Poetry Collective, of which I am a part.

Writing

Nothing of note. Life, as usual, happened.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Spiritual Beings, Aliens
Setting: Lost City
Genre: Cyberpunk

Listening

PROJECT Trio, “Sweet Pea,” from their 2012 compilation album Random Roads Collection.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, November 22, 2025

John Winkelman

This past week was the first week this year in which I didn’t put in a minimum of 45 hours at work. In theory this would mean that I could take that extra time and brain capacity and put it to good use. In practice, I took that extra time and started up a new game of Stardew Valley. Did I read much? Nope. Did I write much? Nope.

However, this mental down-time has done me some good, as my stress level is much-reduced. Stardew Valley doesn’t take a lot of brain power to play, and as a gaming experience it is peaceful and delightful, and emotionally in the same realm as having a cat dozing on my lap.

All of which is to say, this past week was for decompression and rest. Next week can be for more cerebral pursuits.

Reading

I didn’t read much this week. I looked at a couple of pages of Efrain Kristal’s Invisible Work, but will probably need to go back and re-read those pages, as nothing stuck.

In the past week I have picked up two new books – A Sportsman’s Notebook by Ivan Turgenev, and Devouring Time: Jim Harrison, a Writer’s Life, the new biography written by Todd Goddard. I had ordered the Turgenev back in May, right before life became, er, complicated. The book was backordered at the publisher and I quickly forgot I had ever ordered it. The Harrison bio was published early last week and was also backordered at the publisher, but it arrived at Books & Mortar yesterday.

This is an interesting coincidence. I have been aware of the Turgenev for a long time, first thanks to my Russian Studies classes at Grand Valley State University back in the early 1990s, and more recently because Harrison mentions Turgenev’s book in several places in his fiction and non-fiction writing. So to have both books arrive in the same week was a nice boost to my mood.

And I had paid for the Turgenev when I ordered it six months ago, this felt like getting a free book!

Writing

I am just about ready to pound out a couple of thousand words using the following prompts:

Subject: Kaiju, Fae
Setting: Urban
Genre: Technothriller

Notice that I did not say “I will complete writing etc.” as I have not yet started this story, for reasons outlined above.

While I am following the same techniques for this year’s Month of Writing that I did two years ago, I am making sure I have a solid story idea before I begin writing, rather than just pounding out words five minutes after generating the prompt. And as you can see, this combination of prompts is a doozie. I have figured out enough of the story that I can begin writing, but considering the genre, “kaiju” and “fae” will be metaphorical.

That is, more metaphorical than usual.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Apocalypse, Cryptids
Setting: Mountains
Genre: Slipstream

Listening

“The Distance” by Cake, from their 1996 album Fashion Nugget. In 1996 I was living in Eastown, working at a bookstore, and trying to decide what I wanted to do with my life. I think I was primed for “The Distance” to re-surface in my awareness because of a conversation I had with my partner a couple of weeks ago, discussing the music we listen to when we are in “the zone.” Also Cake has some similarities to one of my favorite bands back in The Day, Soul Coughing.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, November 15, 2025

John Winkelman
Red Maple leaves displaying autumn colors, scattered on a sidewalk.

Here I am at the end of the last week of the Big Project which has consumed so much of my time outside of the normal boundaries of the work/life balance. I still have the Small Project, which is manageable now that the Big Project is in the rearview mirror. And I could use a little down time before the inevitable Next Big Project.

The first snowfall of the season hit West Michigan this past week, and made a beautiful mess of everything. Our property sits on the side of a gentle hill, and the placement of upwind houses and fences causes an eddy which pulls all of the neighborhood leaves into our back yard. These leaves will provide some much-needed nutrition for my yard, as most of the soil in this part of town is a very thin skin of soil on top of a huge pile of sand.

Reading

I have finally found enough consecutive quiet minutes to dive back into Invisible Work: Borges and Translation by Efrain Kristal. I can feel my brain humming in a way it seldom has since the heady days at the bookstore or, before that, college. Before college my brain didn’t so much hum as buzz, which is an entirely different, much less pleasant state of being.

Writing

I am writing! For the first time in months, maybe even in a year, I am consistently putting words to paper. Not enough words to “win” That November Thing, but enough that I feel as if I am accomplishing something. And most of those words are coming together in an order which I find satisfying.

As stated previously, this year I am doing what I did two years ago in the penultimate year of NaNoWriMo: Generating prompts using my custom-built Prompt Generator, then writing something which uses all of the parts of the prompts.

Previously overarching goal had been to write a minimum of 50,000 words, which I did easily by only working on a prompt until I ran out of steam and then immediately generating another prompt and immediately diving into it.

This year, when I generate a prompt, I let the prompt sit for a little while as I think through all of the possibilities until I come up with something which will be interesting to write and also (I hope) to read.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Kaiju, Super Powers
Setting: Lost City
Genre: Cyberpunk

Listening

Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, “Stop Dragging My Heart Around,” from Nicks’ 1981 debut album Bella Donna.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, November 8, 2025

John Winkelman
A super-bounce ball in the parking lot of the polling location, lit by the morning sun.

The year is winding down. I have gone from far too much work to fit in a week to just about enough to fill a week. And that feels like a vacation.

Speaking of vacations, Z scored us a night at the Gun Lake Casino hotel, which we will take advantage of in the very near future. I look forward to getting out of town for a day or so without having to drive hundreds of miles.

Reading

At the end of last month I picked up several of the poetry books published by the Grand River Poetry Collective, and immediately moved them to the top of my to-read stack.

Writing

November is the Month of Writing, so I am writing! I have fragments of a few stories, and home to complete at least ten by the end of the month. I originally hoped to do one a day, but already I am several days behind, due to some low-grade depression and a mid-grade bout of food poisoning. Still – as long as I write a little every day, I will be content.

One of the tactics I use in order to keep myself sane is to only work on one story at a time, and when I am finished with a story (which is not the same as finishing a story) I generate another prompt and let it stew until the next morning. That gives me more time to get my head in the necessary space to do some focused work.

And it also makes for some interesting dreams.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Evolution, Possession
Setting: Outpost
Genre: Cyberpunk

Listening

Béla Fleck and the Flecktones, “The Sinister Minister,” from their 1990 album Béla Fleck and the Flecktones.

Interesting Links

Weekly Round-up, November 1, 2025

John Winkelman
Trees against a clear blue October sky

This past week was calmer than most, so I completed several projects around the house and prepped for the Month of Writing. I also indulged in some retail therapy and am now the proud owner of several more books of poetry.

Reading

I have had more time to read lately, though that time has come in small, intermittent chunks rather than large, dedicated blocks. To match this, I have been reading through my back issues of genre magazines Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, New Edge Sword & Sorcery, and Dreamforge. When I have slightly larger blocks of time I dip my toes in the wonderful Invisible Work: Borges and Translation, by Efraín Kristal.

Writing

Today is the first day of The Month of Writing (formerly NaNoWriMo), and I am undoubtedly writing something at this very moment, as this post goes live.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Possession, Relic
Setting: Border Town
Genre: Slipstream

Listening

Another amazing mashup by Bill McClintock: Peter Gabriel and Sly & the Family Stone – “Thank You (Falettinme Be Your Sledgehammer)”

Interesting Links

October 2025 Books and Reading Notes

John Winkelman

October was a fantastic month both for reading and for acquiring new books. I had more quiet time than I have in any other month this year, and I also know that November will be exceptionally busy, due to it being the Month of Writing (formerly NaNoWriMo).

And this year has been very stressful, so I indulged in some retail therapy.

And finally, the Grand River Poetry Collective held an event on October 30 at The Lit (formerly the Ladies’ Literary Club), where I picked up all of the Collective’s books which I had not yet purchased.

So yeah, a good month to be a reader and collector of books.

Acquisitions

Books and journals which arrived in October 2025
Books and journals which arrived in October 2025
  1. Jeff Chang, Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America [2025.10.02]
  2. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies (And Other Stories) [2025.10.06]
  3. Shrikant Verma (Rahul Soni, translator), Magadh (And Other Stories) [2025.10.06]
  4. Efraín Kristal, Invisible Works: Borges and Translation (Vanderbilt University Press) [2025.10.09]
  5. Peninsula Poets, Spring 2025 [2025.10.15]
  6. Tim Hawkins, West of the Backstory (Fernwood Press) [2025.10.18]
  7. Peninsula Poets, Fall 2025 [2025.10.20]
  8. David T. Courtwright, The Age of Addiction: How Bad Habits Became Big Business (Harvard University Press) [2025.10.27]
  9. Barbara Saunier, There is Room in a Horse For the Whole Boy (Grand River Poetry Press) [2025.10.30]
  10. Christine Stephens-Krieger, Love Garden at the End of the World (Grand River Poetry Press) [2025.10.30]
  11. David Cope, Moonlight Rose in Blue: Collected Poems 1971 – 2024 (Grand River Poetry Press) [2025.10.30]

Reading List

Books, journals, and magazines which I read in October 2025
Books, journals, and magazines which I read in October 2025

Books

  1. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  2. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.10]
  3. Peninsula Poets, Spring 2025 [2025.10.19]
  4. New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1 [2025.10.19]
  5. Peninsula Poets, Fall 2025 [2025.10.20]
  6. New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #2 [2025.10.22]
  7. Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.26]
  8. Dreamforge #6 [202510.28]
  9. New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #3 [2025.10.31]

Short Prose

  1. Kameron Hurley, “Living the Old Stories” (Patreon supporter reward) [2025.10.01]
  2. Tobias Buckell, “The Grove’s Lament” (Patreon supporter reward) [2025.10.01]
  3. Sarah Langan, “You Have the Prettiest Mask”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.02]
  4. Nicole Kimberling, “Nostalgia in a Box”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  5. Vandana Singh, “Sticky Man”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  6. Stewart Moore, “Madeline’s Wings”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  7. Jack Larsen, “Bright and Shabby Buses”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  8. Kristin Yuan Roybal, “Separation Theory”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #42 [2025.10.03]
  9. Alisa Alering, “The Night Farmers’ Museum”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.05]
  10. Ayşe Papatya Bucak, “Half-Papatya”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.05]
  11. Erica Clashe, “The Shine of Green Floors”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.06]
  12. Leah Bobet, “The Mysteries”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.07]
  13. Joanne Rixon, “Wires from the Same Spool”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.07]
  14. Quinn Ramsay, “The House of the Gutter-Prince”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.07]
  15. Kirk A. Johnson, “Carnivora”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.08]
  16. Jim Marino, “Acting Tips for Remaining Unknown”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.09]
  17. Zack Moss, “If You Had Been Me Then What Would I Have Been?”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.10]
  18. Kathleen Jennings, “Gisla and the Three Favours”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.10]
  19. Nicole Kimberling, “Time Travel Self-Care System”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.10]
  20. Gillian Daniels, “King Moon’s Tithe to Hell”, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet #43 [2025.10.10]
  21. Margaret Killjoy, “Come Lay the Crone to Rest”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.11]
  22. Bryn Hammond, “Sister Chaos”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.16]
  23. Jesús Montalvo (Gonzalo Baezra, translator), “Chak Muuch”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.19]
  24. Sarah A. Macklin, “Tears of Eb”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.19]
  25. Prashanth Srivatsa, “The Pillars of Silence”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.19]
  26. Michael Moorcock, “The Folk of the Forest”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.1 [2025.10.19]
  27. Daniel Quiogue, “The Demon of Tashi Tzang”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.19]
  28. Jacquie Kawaja, “Fang”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.20]
  29. Gemma Files, “Revelstroke”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.21]
  30. Jeremy Pak Nelson, “A Debt Forgotten, A Debt Unpaid”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.21]
  31. J.M. Clarke, “The Eyes of the Demon”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.22]
  32. T.K. Rex & L. Ann Kinyon, “Water, Which Laughs At All Things”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.22]
  33. David C. Smith, “Atonement for a Resurrected God”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.22]
  34. June Orchid Parker, “How Many Deaths Till Vengeance?”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery Magazine #1.2 [2025.10.22]
  35. Scott Edelman, “Answered Prayers”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.22]
  36. Deborah L. Davitt, “Pterrors of the Caribbean, part 1”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.23]
  37. Henry Szabranski, “Climbing the Motherman”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.23]
  38. Jamie Munro, “Counterclockwise”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.23]
  39. Floris M. Kleijne, “Summit Attempt”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.24]
  40. M. T. Reiten, “Robot Princess”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.24]
  41. H. Orion Kim, “The Dryad’s Smile”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.25]
  42. Robert Silverberg, “House of Bones”, Dreamforge #5 [2025.10.26]
  43. Deborah L. Davitt, “Pterrors of the Caribbean, part 2” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.26]
  44. Nyla Bright, “Mothers Know Buttons” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.26]
  45. Ronald D. Ferguson, “Never the Twain” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.27]
  46. Scot Noel, “Pangenesis” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.27]
  47. Alexandra Seidel, “The Shepherdess, the Roc, and One Errant Sheep” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.27]
  48. James Verran, “Silent Partnership, part 1” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.27]
  49. Jane Linskold, “The Problem with Magic Rings” Dreamforge #6 [2025.10.28]
  50. Matt John, “Beating Stars, Dying Hearts”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.28]
  51. Premee Mohamed, “The Betrayal of the Rhinoceros”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.29]
  52. Thomas Ha, “St. Fario’s Feast”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.30]
  53. John R. Fultz, “Gravediggers of Carsonne”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.30]
  54. Oliver Brackenbury, “Something Oathlike”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.30]
  55. Molly Tanzer, “Jirel and the Mirror of Truth”, New Edge Sword & Sorcery #3 [2025.10.31]

Weekly Round-up, October 18, 2025

John Winkelman
Carp at the bottom of the Grand River in downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan.

This was another exceptionally busy week, but relief is on the horizon. And no, I don’t mean the inevitable heat death of the universe or the more imminent fascist takeover and destruction of the United States. I have some breathing room, and I intend to spend that time breathing, and also reading and writing.

Reading

I pulled the first issue of New Edge Sword & Sorcery off the shelf and am reading my fill of, well, sword and sorcery stories. They are quite good! Widely varied in tone and voice, and all are fun. I found a couple of editing issues, but no more than in any other first issue of a magazine.

In more in-depth reading, I am a few pages into Efraín Kristal’s Invisible Work: Borges and Translation, which I picked up on a whim after reading a Metafilter thread about, well, Borges and translation. I loves me some Borges, and I love reading works in translation, so this book is my catnip.

But John, I can hear you thinking, What about all the other books you were reading a few weeks ago?

I am still reading them. They are still on the “currently reading” pile. They just are not currently at the top of the pile.

Writing

For That November Thing, I have settled on a repeat of what I did a couple of years ago, being a pile of flash fictions and short story fragments. This format seems to work for me in times of uncertainty.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Revenge, Environment
Setting: Subterranean
Genre: Procedural

Listening

The Kinks, “Destroyer,” from their 1981 album Give the People What They Want.

Interesting Links

  • “ICE Raids Are Only Half The Story” (Farm to Taber, YouTube) – Brief overview of how MAGA farmers are using the H2A visa as a legal form of slavery. This is an open secret among MAGA, and is so endemic that the basic assumption must be at any farmer who voted for Trump did so because they want slaves to work their farms.

Weekly Round-up, October 11, 2025

John Winkelman
A Cross Orb Weaver spider (Araneus diadematus) warming herself on our back porch.

This past week was quiet, locally, though the rest of the country is in deliberately-induced chaos as incontinent President Trump is in the late stages of dementia. It is safe to say that his cheese has slid almost entirely off its cracker.

Reading

I am working my way through a pile of old literary journals and other such magazines. Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet has been at the top of the stack, but I grabbed issue 1.1 of New Edge Sword and Sorcery magazine for a change of pace. Both publications are excellent, and differ enough in their offerings that I can switch back and forth to keep both fresh in my mind.

Writing

Still planning my November writing project. Stay tuned for updates.

Weekly Writing Prompt

Subject: Language, Dragons
Setting: Lost City
Genre: Lovecraftian

Listening

The Alan Parsons Project, “Eye in the Sky,” from their 1982 album Eye in the Sky.

Interesting Links