Elizabeth Bonesteel's Blog, page 3

Well.

A lot of other people have expressed sentiments with which I agree, and I’m inclined to leave it to them.

My father would be bitterly angry at and disappointed in this country. I am, too.

I feel like I’m seeing the place for the first time, which is probably too bleak for a lot of people. I feel like I should keep most of that grimness to myself. It doesn’t help, I know. It doesn’t even help me, except that I need to strategize to keep my family safe, and acknowledging reality is a big pie...

A Brief Interlude

There’s so much happening in the world, so much to say.

I’m not going to say any of it. I am, however, going to post this quote from my almost-done-no-really-for-sure-this-time book:

“I don’t think a lot about what comes next. I don’t imagine some sweet reunion with my mother. But I do remember her. A little; you can’t really remember someone with any clarity for very long. But that’s what I take from her death: not the promise of meeting somewhere outside of all this, our souls reunited. ...

Procrastination, Summer 2024 Edition

I always mean to blog more, but lately so much of what I want to say feels very personal. Not that I don’t share personal stuff here, but I’ve been reading so much about promotion and marketing lately, I feel like I should be doing something different with this blog. Like, I dunno, flogging for newsletter subscribers or doing book reviews or hyping my own stuff.

None of which is my kind of thing, you know? I’ve done reviews of things, but with one exception I don’t review books. (I reviewed ...

Meanwhile, In France

So today France did something rather extraordinary: contrary to predictions, they knocked the favored-to-win far-right out of power. It’s not a perfect win, of course – such things rarely are – but it’s heartening for those of us who are desperate to find fellow humans who actually give a damn. It’s been hard here in the US lately, and I know not just for me. France’s ote reminds me how much more energizing hope is than anger or fear.

And of course France makes me think of my parents. They b...

Anniversary

Just over a year ago, my father died, and I’m still constantly caught off-guard.

I’m starting to lose the sound of his voice. I remember how he sneezed, though–quietly, up into his head. Probably not the healthiest way to sneeze, but I do it, too, having been trained from early childhood to make As Little Noise As Possible. And I have his hands, and his horrible sense of humor, although like most children of irredeemable punsters I think my sense of humor is slightly less horrible than his. A...

Success

I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say publishing is bad for authors.

Not all authors? Sure, I can agree with that. But it’s bad for a lot of authors, possibly even most authors. It’s not an industry that nurtures or celebrates art.

That’s not intended as an insult, just a statement of reality: publishers have to eat as well, and the bottom line for any book is whether or not it makes enough money. But it’s more than that, really. Publishers have plenty of authors who limp along with mid...

Reasons To Hope

This has been a bad week for me. I’m not sure why. It’s possible the approach of the anniversary of my dad’s death is a big piece of it; I seem to have very little patience in general, and everything seems bleak and pointless. It’s not like my dad’s death is new, or news, but people say odometer moments can be a Thing with grief.

Regardless, my brain has been a bastard for the last several days, and I probably owe apologies to a lot of people. But in deference to the optimists of the world, I...

Review: ALAN WAKE II (2023)

You know the drill, kids: There Will Be Spoilers.

Summary: Superb. A melancholy, frightening, tense, and occasionally hilarious puzzler/shooter with a convoluted but confident narrative. Gameplay is consistently interesting, with the story split between two compelling, disparate characters. I did not want it to end.

Spoilers ho!

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There is a cutscene roughly halfway through Alan Wake II in which Alan (Ilkka Villi/Matthew Poretta) walks away from a group of NP...

Where Have I Been?

I always feel strange telling people I’ve been having a rough time of it. I have so much in this life—safety, a healthy family, a partner I love and trust—and the world has been such a shitshow. It’s weird to complain about writing struggles and grief when so many larger things are coming apart, hurting people far worse than I’ve been hurt.

But I’ve been struggling, and it’s made blogging difficult.

Grief is a strange thing. It’s different for every thing you’re grieving. Grieving my fathe...

First Christmas Without

(I have been away from this blog for a while. I’ll write about that later.)

In my family growing up, Christmas dinner took place on Christmas Eve. The meal was open to guests, but realistically we rarely had anyone there but our immediate family; grandparents, aunts, and uncles were too far away, and with occasional exceptions my friends and my brother’s friends went home to their own families. The meal was always the same: turkey, creamed onions, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied swe...