Elizabeth Bonesteel's Blog, page 10

Flashback Three: January 4, 1965

To continue.

Monday Jan 4

It’s been a while since I’ve chipped away at this, and my parents’ declining memories have made me realize I really need to be writing down more of what I remember. I can’t ask them about any of it anymore.

The older I get, the more history in general intrigues me. Times were different, but people…people were so much the same.

After the S—–s left we bundeled the children off to bed then decorated the tree.

I believe we’ve already covered my horror at this...

No, these aren’t New Year’s resolutions.

I have about 30 pages left on the second-to-last (read: ugliest) pass of this revision, so of course I must blog instead of work.

Also: Fuck, 2020 is starting pretty poorly, isnt it?

Stories that have absorbed some of my energy: the Middle East, of course. The clown show in our current government, of course. The wildfires in Australia. Im privileged to have some true friends there on the other side of the world, and communication is spotty and damn, what the hell can I do to help them?

Im...

No, these aren't New Year's resolutions.

I have about 30 pages left on the second-to-last (read: ugliest) pass of this revision, so of course I must blog instead of work.

Also: Fuck, 2020 is starting pretty poorly, isn’t it?

Stories that have absorbed some of my energy: the Middle East, of course. The clown show in our current government, of course. The wildfires in Australia. I’m privileged to have some true friends there on the other side of the world, and communication is spotty and damn, what the hell can I do to help them?

I’m...

The End of the Tens

Well, that was a decade.

On social media, I’m surrounded by people making lists, cheering themselves on, projecting enthusiasm and hope for the future. And I know, of course, all those lists are curated: when someone asks you the good things that happened to you, you give them a list of…good things.

But it’s intimidating, you know? Especially in some cases. A lot of people, at least viewed from the outside, seem to have lives that—modulo a few tiny bobbles—only get better. I hope for their...

Retreat Is Not An Option

I’m tired. Aren’t you tired?

This week we’ve seen more and more insurmountable evidence that the president of the US has used his office for criminal behavior. (Raise your hand if you’re surprised. Anyone? Didn’t think so.) We’ve seen the corresponding assertion by the US Senate that they’re officially going to do fuck-all about it.

And most seriously, we’ve seen the UK vote decisively to leave the EU, and all the misinformation and racism used in that campaign is very much twin to what we’...

Gratitude

It’s Thanksgiving Day here in the US.

Thanksgiving’s never been a big-deal holiday to me. When I was a kid, it meant a few days off school, and one day of listening to my parents argue about cooking. As an adult it became variously the one day a year we all sat down at one table, or a great time to get take-out pizza and watch movies all day in my pjs. Since I got married, it’s become a mélange of our blended family, complete with competing side dishes.

This year it’s a little different....

The Middle Child

REMNANTS OF TRUST had a terrible release date.

I’m sure there are worse release dates to have, but everything that came out in November of 2016 was pretty much subsumed by the cultural devastation of the US election. By the time people rallied enough to resume their normal lives (to the extent that any of us did), most books released in November and December were old news. Of course, given everything, it was unlikely REMNANTS would’ve gone anywhere anyway, but it’s yet another opportunity...

My Youngest Turns 2

On October 17, 2017, BREACH OF CONTAINMENT was published in the US.

I don’t blame you if you missed it. Most people did. I touch on some of the reasons here, but that’s neither here nor there. On that fall day my baby became available for purchase, irrevocably out in the world.

When I contracted for this book, the plot was barely a gleam in my eye. We’d subbed a single volume; we sold three. As part of the deal I had to come up with a quick paragraph-or-two summary of what the second and...

About Fridging

So, I fridged Greg’s mother.

This is not a spoiler. She dies on page 5 of THE COLD BETWEEN. In the prologue, no less. A bunch of other people die too, and they’re also not insignificant, but for the purposes of THE COLD BETWEEN it’s Greg’s mom that matters.

To be honest, I’m not sure what I did qualifies as a proper fridging. (I’m way more bothered by what I did to Dee in REMNANTS OF TRUST, and he remains perfectly healthy.) We get only a brief glimpse of Kate, and the incident that takes her...