Tag: reading

IWSG, March 2023: I Wish I’d Written That

John Winkelman

The past month was kind of hectic due to a new project at work coinciding with my girlfriend and I, after three years, finally contracting COVID. It wasn’t serious for either of us, thanks to both of us being fully vaccinated and boosted, but it was a boring two and a half weeks of being stuck in the house waiting for the home and PCR tests to come up negative.

Fortunately, we had the cats to keep us entertained.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for March 2023 is: Have you ever read a line in novel or a clever plot twist that caused you to have author envy?

Well, I mean, YES!!!!!!! All the time. Almost every book I read has a turn of phrase, a scene, a twist, or something like that, which makes me say, “Well, dang! I wish I wrote that.”

The first one that comes to mind is a scene from Neil Gaiman‘s most excellent American Gods. One of the characters, let’s call him “MS,” is killed, and a few of the other characters hold a sort of wake for him, trading stories back and forth. After a little while MS is there, laughing along with the other characters and adding his own comments to the stories. It is handled so subtly that I had to go back and check that I was reading what I thought I was reading. The scene was so well written that there was no sense of disconnect, just a realization that “Well of course MS is going to show up at his own wake. That’s the kind of person [sic] he is!”

This description does scant justice to the scene.

Another is Mary Oliver‘s poem “The Poet Goes to Indiana” from her collection Why I Wake Early. In particular, this section:

…and there was once, oh wonderful,
a new horse in the pasture,
a tall, slim being-a neighbor was keeping her there—
and she put her face against my face,
put her muzzle, her nostrils, soft as violets,
against my mouth and my nose, and breathed me,
to see who I was…

Remarkable! In the fifth line, “soft as velvet” would have worked, but it would have been mundane. Ordinary. There are a million things as soft as velvet. But soft as violets? That is something unique, and enduring.

I could go on and on. Almost everything I read has at least one sentence which is noteworthy (and hopefully more than one, but not always). The moments of awe and revelation are infrequent, and valuable in their rarity.

(Also rare, fortunately, are the lines, plot twists, and scenes which make me think, “Thank the heavens I didn’t write that.” Uncommon but not unknown.)

I will repeat one of my guiding principles, as related by author Karen Lord: “Read well.” Reading well is as much a skill as writing well.

 

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December and All That

John Winkelman

New reading material for the week of November 27, 2022.

Well, NaNoWriMo is over, so my daily routine, such as it is, is back to normal. A little more reading, a little more journaling, a little more sleep. December is here, and with it the usual holiday angst, though there is considerably less this year than in the previous couple.

(just kidding about the sleep)

Two new bundles of bound pages arrived at the house in the past week. On the left is the latest issue of Poetry, which is almost certainly the last one for my subscription. And on the right is the eighth edition of the Long List Anthology of works which were considered for the Hugo award in the previous year, but didn’t win. These anthologies are excellent, full of superb and varied stories.

In reading news, I am well into Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment, and loving it! It’s a much easier read than The Brothers Karamazov, but then the list of books which fit that criteria is vast.

In writing news, things have slowed down just a little as I figure out how to connect what I wrote for NaNoWriMo with what I wrote before NaNoWriMo 2021. I have a sense for what I want to do, but knowing that no matter what I write to complete the pre-first draft will almost certainly be completely changed in the next edit, I have difficulty taking the step of putting my ass in the chair and typing those words.

Happy December, everyone!

Whole Lotta Writing Going On

John Winkelman

Pre-Thanksgiving snowstorm

Brief update this week, on account of I have a very full plate.

No new book arrived this week, so here is a photo of the bird feeder outside my dining room window, before half again that much snow was added to the pile. It’s been a wacky couple of days here, weather-wise.

In reading news, I just finished Jim C. Hines’ Terminal Peace, and it is really good! A fine conclusion to a fun trilogy.

In writing news, I am fast approaching 50,000 words in my NaNoWriMo 2022 story Cacophonous. I expect to “win” before Thanksgiving, and possibly finish the draft by the beginning of December. And writing at this pace is turning my brain to mush.

NaNoWriMo is Serious Business

John Winkelman

Praying Mantis at Blandford Nature Center, taken October 21, 2022

For the tenth year in a row, I am attempting NaNoWriMo. So far things are going very well, in that I am several thousand words ahead of schedule, and the story I am writing is still interesting to me, which is very important when writing. If my work is boring to me it will probably be boring to everyone else.

No new reading material arrived in the past week, which is fine, as I still have over half a thousand unread books and journals to work through, and that takes time. Lots and lots of time. Therefore, please enjoy this photo of a gravid female praying mantis which I discovered on a walk around Blandford Nature Center on the afternoon of Friday, October 21.

Currently I am reading The Wolf of Oren-Yaro by K.S. Villoso. It’s really good! I should be finished in a couple of days, and then maybe on through a few more issues of Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, or something.

In writing news, it is all Nano, all day. Or at least those parts of the day when I am not working or sleeping or hanging with my honey, or teaching or eating or attending to the cats.

Kinda Cold Out

John Winkelman

Pepper and the books which arrived in the week of October 1, 2022

Woke up one morning, and there was frost on the porch roof and the windshields of nearby cars. That hasn’t happened in a while.

This was an excellent week for the acquisition of books, and Pepper would like to share with you this list.

First up, from my soon-to-end subscription to Two Lines Press, is João Gilberto Noll‘s Hugs and Cuddles, which looks like it will be a great read.

Next is Marissa Lingen‘s chapbook of short stories, Monstrous Bonds. I met Marissa at ConFusion back in 2015, and have enjoyed her fiction, poetry and book reviews for several years.

Next is Duncan Hannah‘s memoir 20th Century Boy. As I wrote back in August, I had not heard of Hannah until reading excerpts from this book in The Paris Review, and when I searched for more info discovered that he had died this past June. How’s that for timing?

Next is Jim C. Hines‘ newest entry in the Janitors of the Post-Apocalypse series, Terminal Peace. I see Jim every year at ConFusion, so I hope to run into him again and, with a little luck, get this book signed.

Last but not least, and fresh from a successful Kickstarter campaign, is Michael J. Sullivan‘s Fairlane, the sequel to Nolyn and the second book of the Rise and Fall series.

In reading news, I have two more issues of The Paris Review left on my stack, and should be finished with them in short order.

In writing news, I have completed nothing cohesive, but am making good progress on the worldbuilding for my NaNoWriMo project. So even if I don’t write 50,000 words in November, I will have a good base to finish the book, no matter how long it takes.

IWSG, October 2022: The Best Characteristics of a Genre

John Winkelman

Grand Rapids skyline from the 10th floor of the county court building

September 2022 was one of the busiest months I can remember of the past several years. Weddings, work, Zyra’s business, and late summer chores, errands and spontaneous events have left little time for writing. Fortunately, most of the business and busy-ness is behind me now, so I can get back to planning my November project.

It’s the first Wednesday of October, which means that it’s time for the new Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. This month’s IWSG question is:

What do you consider the best characteristics of your favorite genre?

This is an interesting question, as it forces me, for the sake of this article, to choose a favorite genre. And that is…complicated. Looking at my bookshelf, I have roughly equal numbers of fantasy, science fiction, poetry and literary fiction. In each category I have my favorite authors, and my favorite books, which were not necessarily written by my favorite authors.

The books I find most compelling are those which sit in between more established genres, which are sometimes labeled as “magic realism,” or “slipstream,” or “the New Weird.” If the sense is closer to science fiction these are sometimes labeled as “cyberpunk.”

So I guess my favorite genre is whatever you call it when everything seems like it should be the current world, but things are just a little…off. Or maybe a lot off, but the off-ness starts out small. “This, only more-so.” Reducto not quite all the way to absurdum. For instance, William Gibson‘s Pattern Recognition,  Michelle Tea‘s Black Wave, Rita Indiana‘s Tentacle, or The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols. A case could also be made for Neal Stephenson‘s Baroque Trilogy. My current favorite of these fictions is Kim Stanley Robinson‘s The Ministry for the Future, which at this point feels more like precognition than speculation.

What I like about this very loosely-defined genre is that it allows us to explore riffs on the real world without changing the fundamental nature of the world. It’s less “What if magic existed?” and more of “What if Aunt Maggie could do magic?” What if cryptocurrency was treated like a currency instead of like a commodity? What if laws were ACTUALLY enforced equally across all regions, races, classes and genders? What if California seceded? What if all of Christianity were reduced down to the Golden Rule? What if someone developed a gene therapy which reduced the amount of sleep necessary down to one hour in 24?

This approach to storytelling can also accommodate changes in scope or scale. For instance, what if the War of the Roses, instead of being transposed to Westeros, took place in an apartment building in Dayton, Ohio? Or what if a couple of spoiled, entitled toddlers were fighting over who got the best toys, except it was expanded to a global scope and titled “All conflicts in the world where monied interests profit off of the misery of the downtrodden?”

(See? The stories we tell about ourselves CAN influence the world around us!)

Stories which explore the ramifications and outcomes of these subtle tweaks to the existing reality can be important cultural touchstones, and useful for driving the collective imagination.

How about you-all? What are the best facets of your favorite genre?

Insecure Writer's Support Group BadgeThe Insecure Writer’s Support Group
is a community dedicated to encouraging
and supporting insecure writers
in all phases of their careers.

September 2022 Reading List

John Winkelman

What I read in September 2022

Despite the craziness of my schedule, this was a pretty good month for reading. I passed 100 volumes read for the year, and 150 pieces of short prose. I have even managed to retain most of what I have read, which is a bonus.

Books and Journals

  1. Mario Levrero, Empty Words [2022.09.04]
  2. The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.06]
  3. The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.11]
  4. T L Greylock and Bryce O’Connor, Shadows of Ivory [2022.09.13]
  5. Sara M. Harvey, The Convent of the Pure [2022.09.16]
  6. The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.16]
  7. Sara M. Harvey, Labyrinth of the Dead [2022.09.16]
  8. Marguerite Duras (Kazim Ali, translator), Abahn Sabana David [2022.09.18]
  9. The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.21]
  10. The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.25]
  11. The Paris Review #235 [2022.09.29]
  12. Poetry #221.1, October 2022 [2022.09.29]

Short Prose

  1. Anuk Arudpragasam, “Last Rites”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.01]
  2. Diane Williams, “Garden Magic”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.02]
  3. Leigh Newman, “Howl Palace”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.02]
  4. William Styron, “From an Unfinished Novel”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.03]
  5. Olivia Clare, “Women and Men Made of Them”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.05]
  6. Matthew Baker, “Why Visit America”, The Paris Review #230 [2022.09.06]
  7. Emma Cline, “The Nanny”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.06]
  8. Willa C. Richards, “Failure to Thrive”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.07]
  9. Fernanda Melchor (Sophie Hughes, translator), “They Called Her the Witch”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.09]
  10. Kathryn Scanlan, “Yet You Turn to the Man”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.11]
  11. Taylor Koekkoek, “Dirtnap”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.11]
  12. Molly McCully Brown, “If You Are Permanently Lost”, The Paris Review #231 [2022.09.11]
  13. Clare Sestanovich, “By Design”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.12]
  14. Beth Nguyen, “Apparent”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.13]
  15. Jesse Ball, “Diary of a Country Mouse”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.13]
  16. Senaa Ahmad, “Let’s Play Dead”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.14]
  17. Rebecca Makkai, “A Story for Your Daughters, a Story for Your Sons”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.15]
  18. Ashleigh Bryant Phillips, “An Unspoken”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.15]
  19. Andrew Martin, “Childhood, Boyhood, Youth”, The Paris Review #232 [2022.09.16]
  20. Sarah Manguso, “Perfection”, The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.16]
  21. Emily Hunt Kivel, “The Juggler’s Wife”, The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.19]
  22. Ottessa Moshfegh, “I Was A Public Schooler”, The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.21]
  23. Jamel Brinkley, “Witness”, The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.21]
  24. Amy Silverberg, “The Duplex”, The Paris Review #233 [2022.09.21]
  25. Rabih Alameddine, “The July War”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.21]
  26. Shirley Hazzard, “An Unpublished Story”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.22]
  27. Shanteka Sigers, “A Way with Bea”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.22]
  28. Eloghosa Osunde, “Good Boy”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.24]
  29. Thomas McGuane, “Slant Six”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.25]
  30. Ayşegül Savaş, “Layover”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.25]
  31. Lydia Davis, “Six Stories”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.25]
  32. Patrick Barrett, “Saint Cuthbert’s Incorruptible Body”, The Paris Review #234 [2022.09.25]
  33. György Dragomán (Ottilie Mulzet, translator), “The Puppet Theater”, The Paris Review #235 [2022.09.26]
  34. Dantiel W. Moniz, “The Loss of Heaven”, The Paris Review #235 [2022.09.26]
  35. Melissa Febos, “The Mirror Test”, The Paris Review #235 [2022.09.26]
  36. Jack Livings, “River Crossing”, The Paris Review #235 [2022.09.29]
  37. Anthony Veasna So, “Maly, Maly, Maly”, The Paris Review #236 [2022.09.30]
  38. Mary Kuryla, “Hive”, The Paris Review #236 [2022.09.30]
  39. John Jeremiah Sullivan, “Uhtceare”, The Paris Revew #236 [2022.09.30]

So This is What Fall Feels Like

John Winkelman

New books for the week of September 18, 2022

A few days ago, after weeks of teasing, the first autumnal weather arrived here in West Michigan, heralded by rain and an abrupt drop in humidity which made the inside of my head feel like as gray and chaotic as the skies outside. While there have been summers with hotter specific days, and periods of higher humidity, I don’t remember experiencing, subjectively, such a long-lasting, uncomfortably hot-and-sticky summer as was Summer 2022.

Then again, maybe I am just getting old. I love summer, but I am ready for fall to do its thing.

The only new reading material to arrive in the past week was the latest issue of Boston Review, subtitled “The Politics of Pleasure,” which I anticipate will be a great read.

In reading news, I am concentrating on my pile of Paris Review back issues until that pile is gone. Switching between genre fiction, heavy philosophy, and literary fiction in rapid succession was doing no favors to any of these books. So Paris Review it is until I get to the end. As of today I am near the end of the Fall 2020 issue (#234) and should reach the end in short order.

And in writing news, still not much to report though I have done considerable world-building in my head. I just haven’t yet put it to paper or pixel.

The Long Tail of Summer

John Winkelman

Praying Mantis on Rose Bush

The evenings in the past week have been much cooler, and therefore more conducive to sleeping. My schedule, however, has been exceptionally full, so while the quality of my sleeping hours has improved, the quantity has not. Thus I am in an odd limbo state where, because I am finally sleeping deeply for the first time in months, the transition from being asleep to being awake (usually precipitated by a small orange cat laying down on me and purring in my ear) is more jarring than it would be with the previous insomnia.

And also I continually feel slightly stoned.

Since no new reading material arrived in the past week, here is a photo of a praying mantis lurking in our back yard.

In reading news, I just started Shadows of Ivory by T.L. Greylock and Bryce O’Conner. I picked this one up just before ConFusion this year, in the hopes that I could get it signed by Greylock. Alas, she did not attend, but that gave me the chance to actually read the book before getting it signed, which is the polite way to go about it.

I am well on my way to finishing my stack of back issues of The Paris Review, having just opened the Spring 2020 issue. About ten more to go!

And in writing news, still not much going on. I only have so much space in my brain, and am currently operating at maximum capacity.