Katherine Nabity's Blog, page 183
August 30, 2015
#ROW80 ~ August 30th Update
Writing: I have, more or less, one scene left to write for the first draft of One Ahead, episode 1 (or whatever I’m going to call it*). I should have the first draft done by Monday night as planned. Then, Eric will read it and we’ll decide what needs to be improved. I already suspect that one part doesn’t work as well as it should.
Writing on the stripped down laptop still seems to be working best, even if it means missing emails occasionally. Free writing is still getting done on a nearly daily-ish basis.
*I actually haven’t nailed down the naming convention I want to use and Eric doesn’t yet have a cover concept. This whole Abbott project might actually be happening to the surprise of everyone.
Blogging: Still in a bit of a blogging slump. I apologize to my fellow ROWers for the “Likes” rather than the comments. I don’t feel like I’ve been able to get my feet back under me since vacation. This is the struggle of the introvert: most “relaxing” activities really aren’t. It’s not that I don’t enjoy seeing people, visiting with people, partying with people, in person or on the internet, but it isn’t refreshing or rejuvenating. I’d like it to be, but it isn’t.
Other: Still have quite a few VOTS pages to convert, but it’s mostly under control. League starts this week and I still have the schedule to post when I get the information for that. The second part of the Python programming class started yesterday. I have four weeks of fun scheduled there.
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August 28, 2015
Pinned: Gothic and Imperiled
In Arizona, in the valley, September is *almost* autumn. The average highs don’t fall below 100F until mid-month, but the days become noticeably shorter. There’s football on the television and fall ultimate frisbee league begins. It is the start of my favorite third of the year and my reading tastes turn darker than usual.
Michelle at Castle Macabre is here to help usher in the season (no pun intended):
And, in its tenth year, R.eaders I.mbibing P.eril will be hosted by The Estella Society!
In addition to the three Poe stories for the readalong, I’m probably only going to read one novel that is roughly “gothic” in September: Robert Bloch’s Psycho. I’m sort of interested in whether it really does fit some of the Gothic tropes. I might fit in another short novel in, maybe a reread of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle or The Cormorant by Stephen Gregory.
My “magic” book for the month is going to be Ricky Jay’s Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. It’s a bit episodic so I may read it intermittently rather than straight through.
I also have two ARCs scheduled for September. It’s going to be a dual of supernatural Westerns with Paul Lederer’s Showdown at Guyamas and Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry.
Tentatively, I also have October planned:
There are again two ARCs: The Witch of Lime Street by David Jaher and The Miser’s Dream by John Gaspard. I’m really looking forward to the third Eli Marks mystery; Gaspard does a great job. If I don’t end up reading The Cormorant in September, I think I will probably read it in October. It’s been on my shelf a long, long time. My magic-related book for the month (aside from the two ARCs) is Suzanne Weyn’s Distant Waves.
And…there’s also a Hamlet read-along going on at The Edge of the Precipice in October which I hope to join. It’s been a while since I’ve reread it.
Quite a few of these books are Perilous reads. And who knows what I’ll draw for Deal Me In! I *am* working my way randomly through an anthology of boxing mysteries.
Pinned: Gothic and Otherwise in September
In Arizona, in the valley, September is *almost* autumn. The average highs don’t fall below 100F until mid-month, but the days become noticeably shorter. There’s football on the television and fall ultimate frisbee league begins. It is the start of my favorite third of the year and my reading tastes turn darker than usual.
Michelle at Castle Macabre is here to help usher in the season (no pun intended):
In addition to the three Poe stories for the readalong, I’m probably only going to read one novel that is roughly “gothic” in September: Robert Bloch’s Psycho. I’m sort of interested in whether it really does fit some of the Gothic tropes. I might fit in another short novel in, maybe a reread of Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, but we’ll see.
My “magic” book for the month is going to be Ricky Jay’s Learned Pigs & Fireproof Women. It’s a bit episodic so I may read it intermittently rather than straight through.
I also have two ARCs scheduled for September. It’s going to be a dual of supernatural Westerns with Paul Lederer’s Showdown at Guyamas and Deadlands: Ghostwalkers by Jonathan Maberry.
It’s going to be a good month.
August 25, 2015
Review ~ The Turn of the Screw
A very young woman’s first job: governess for two weirdly beautiful, strangely distant, oddly silent children, Miles and Flora, at a forlorn estate…An estate haunted by a beckoning evil.
Half-seen figures who glare from dark towers and dusty windows- silent, foul phantoms who, day by day, night by night, come closer, ever closer. With growing horror, the helpless governess realizes the fiendish creatures want the children, seeking to corrupt their bodies, possess their minds, own their souls…
But worse-much worse- the governess discovers that Miles and Flora have no terror of the lurking evil.
For they want the walking dead as badly as the dead want them. (via Goodreads)
“It’s beyond everything. Nothing at all that I know touches it.”
That’s a gutsy way to introduce your horror story, Mr. James…
The Turn of the Screw seems to be one of the end-alls of ambiguity. The governess, our narrator, is perhaps unreliable. She’s young, inexperienced, and finds herself isolated in an incredibly unfamiliar situation. Mrs. Grose, the housekeeper, tells her about the lurid goings-on of her predecessor and one of her young charges is expelled with little explanation. Is it surprising that her imagination primed on Gothic literature (she mentions The Mysteries of Udolpho by name) might run away with her? Or…does it?
James hits many of the gothic tropes. Our disenfranchised governess is properly stuck in her job and feels pressure to do well. Bly, the house, is seen as something of a barrier; one that keeps the governess in her place, but also as something that the children seek to be free of. Mrs. Grose is the inverse of the helpful servant. She knows half-tales and often she seems to be the densest material on the planet. Once again, the main action of the story is set in the past, though only removed by a few decades.
One of the things I find most uncomfortable about The Turn of the Screw is a detail I would have missed if I hadn’t gone back to reread the prologue. The story comes to an abrupt conclusion, but Douglas–the storyteller in the prologue–claims to have known the governess, that she was his sister’s governess. Which, not to spoil the end of the story, means that the governess was not held responsible for any wrong-doing. Douglas also claims to have enjoyed walks with the governess while at home from school himself. Which brings to mind, to me anyway, the walks that Miles and Flora took with miscreants Quint and Jessel. That’s the ambiguous bit that I’m going to chew on for a while.
Publishing info, my copy: Public Domain, Kindle edition
Acquired: Amazon.com
Genre: Gothic horror
August 23, 2015
#ROW80 ~ August 23rd Update
Finish first draft of One Ahead‘s first story by September 1st. Considering that I haven’t put together a good week of writing since June, this seems like a lofty goal. But I’m in a good position story-wise and I think I can do it.
Update
Somewhat took a week off of blogging last week and missed a couple of check-ins. I just needed a mini break.
You know how people, myself included, set summer reading lists? I decided, after dreaming about being back in college, to set a fall syllabus. It combines my writing schedule, my blogging schedule, what I’d like to read throughout the rest of the year, and the 2-3 online courses I’m going to take. Unfortunately, it didn’t include the work I need to do on the VOTS website that became suddenly necessary. Oh, well. That’s how the cookie crumbles. I’m a scene and 35% of The Turn of the Screw behind where I’d like to be.
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August 22, 2015
Deal Me In, Week 34 ~ “Flash”
Hosted by Jay @ Bibliophilopolis
“Flash” by Loren D. Estleman
Card picked: Six of Diamonds
From: Murder on the Ropes, edited by Otto Penzler
Thoughts: While I know that everything here is supposed to be done for my enjoyment and I do love reading, blogging sometimes feels like obligation. I was inordinately happy when I drew this week’s story and discovered that this short story was indeed short. I’m now doubly happy because it was *good* too.
Midge is former boxer, now working as a bodyguard for a…well, we’re never told that his employer is a mobster, but he does have the ignoble nickname of Jake the Junkman. Midge’s boxing career ended when he *didn’t* take a dive in a twelve-round match. He’d been offered the money, but his opponent was actually too good. Unfortunately, that’s not the way it looked to the boxing commission. Midge found himself with debts, scars, hearing loss, and one good suit, an electric blue number, when Jake Wassermann hired him. Now, a few months into his employment and already in debt again, one of Wassermann colleagues buys Midge’s debt. All he wants from Midge is a favor.
In eight pages, Estleman tells a great story and let’s us get to know the big lug that is Midge. And a goodly bit of those pages is about suits: Midge’s blue “flash” versus the gray and brown tailored suits Mr. Wassermann would prefer that he’d wear. Telling details, a short story writer’s best friends.
About the Author: One of the things that I love about mixed anthologies is reading a story that I like by an author that I’m unfamiliar with and realizing that the author has a huge catalog of works, a few of which are already on my read-one-day list. Loren D. Estleman has written a few Sherlock Holmes pastiches (already on my list), several detective series, and Westerns as well (which are probably going on to my list).
August 18, 2015
Review ~ The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick
We assume that the Indian rope trick is a piece of ancient Hindu magic. But think again: it is actually the product of a hoax which appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1890. This wonderfully researched, playfully written book takes us on a journey through Victorian society where we discover the interest in magic of Charles Dickens; Alfred Russell Wallace; Edward, Prince of Wales; Lord Northbrook and Charles Darwin. We learn how in an age of reason the British came to love all things Oriental and how the legend of the rope trick came to be perpetuated throughout the 20th century as fanatical public figures and aristocrats went to India in search of it and returned claiming to have seen it being performed. This is a charming history book filled with colourful characters, known and unknown, all of whom pursued an obsession. Some were respected members of society, some were incredibly eccentric and utterly deluded. It is set against the background of Victorian society and shows how the writing of history itself can perpetuate myths and legends. (via Goodreads)
The Indian Rope Trick: A fakir throws a rope into the air. Or maybe chain, or maybe a simply a ball of twine. Or maybe he entices the rope skyward through the use of music played on a flute. A young boy climbs the rope, maybe willingly or maybe after an argument with the fakir, and disappears. After a while, the boy reappears and climbs back down the rope. Or reappears in a basket on the ground. Or maybe, the fakir shouts for him and, when the boy doesn’t return, the angered fakir draws his scimitar and climbs the rope himself. After bloodcurdling screams, the dismembered limbs of the boy are thrown to the ground, to be reassembled and resurrected by the fakir after returning to earth. All this is done in the open air.
This is a legendary trick. Literally, it is a trick based mostly in legend. What is considered an ancient magic of India is barely more than 125 years old, the product of Orientalism and a “hoax” article that went the equivalent of viral for the late 1800s/early 1900s. While the original Tribune story was widely syndicated, the correction was not. When the trick was refuted by some of the best skeptics and magicians of the time, many travelers to the Mystic East recalled actually seeing the trick performed. Unfortunately, memory is terrible to rely on for actually remembering things and many of the witnesses were “remembering” an event that happened in the far past. Lamont notes that the above story became more fanciful the further in the past the reminiscence.
The Rise of the Indian Rope Trick is also a book about history and how writing about history and using other works about history can be misleading. Part of the problem with the rope trick is that historians in the 1800s weren’t necessarily using primary sources when writing about India. Their point of view was skewed by writers who wished India to be seen either as a place full of superstitious natives (that Imperialism could save) or a place full of wondrous miracles (that could save the Empire from the downer of science).
Lamont is probably the second funniest non-fiction writer I’ve read, after Mary Roach, but I wish Rope Trick had been a little more intuitively organized. There was a bit of repetition that I think could have been avoided by going at it chronologically. Also, despite the blurb, this book is about the trick, not really about the personalities. Still, a solid read and I’ll be on the lookout for Lamont’s other books.
The Modern Rope Trick:
Publishing info, my copy: Abacus, 2004, trade paperback
Acquired: Paperback Swap
Genre: Non-fiction, magic
Previously: Read Magic in Theory, co-written by Peter Lamont, earlier this year.
August 12, 2015
#ROW80 ~ August 12th Update
I have two partial scenes that are going to need rewriting, expanding, or exorcising. I plan on getting through them and to 20K by next Sunday’s update.
Update
When Chris headed to Ecuador, he left his old laptop with us. It’s slow, heavy, runs hot, and lacks a battery. I can coax it to run Firefox via a plugin wireless “card,” but it’s not a pleasant experience. It has no problems running Word and Excel and, surprisingly, Spotify. This makes it an excellent diversion-free writing machine. I have it set up in my old office area, away from my speedy, two-monitor system. It’s nice not having the temptations social media, online games, or endless television. I’ve even been doing my free writing!
I’m getting more writing done while working on the old laptop in the other room, but watching less Justified.
— Katherine Nabity (@Katen) August 12, 2015
Monday: Word-count-wise, not a great day. I had opened fall league registration for our local ultimate frisbee organization and the first 24 hours of that requires some hand-holding as 200 people sign up. I also spent a stupid amount of time dealing with Century Link as I tried to get my broken service cancelled. I did clean up a scene, added details that I had skipped, and plus a 134 words.
Tuesday: Much better forward progress. I did more of the same and added 1006 words.
I still haven’t cut what I’m probably going to need to cut, and still have 3000 words to go for the week. But, I’m optimistic.
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August 11, 2015
Review ~ October Faction, Vol. 1
This book was provided to me by IDW Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
October Faction Volume 1 by by Steve Niles and Damien Worm
The October Faction details the adventures of retired monster-hunter Frederick Allan and his family… which include a thrill-killer, a witch, and a warlock. Because sometimes crazy is the glue that binds a family together. (via Goodreads)
I had given up on requesting comics/graphic novels through NetGalley because ePub is a craptastic platform for viewing graphics of any kind. But in the case of October Faction, it was the art that drew me like a moth to the Adobe Digital Editions flame.
The story isn’t too shabby either. Frederick Allan was a monster hunter in his younger days, but now he finds himself surrounded by those very monsters, and they’re his family and friends. In the first five issues in Volume 1, I didn’t get too much of a feel for the kids and his wife and their backstories, but those are stories for other times.
The art, of course, is what I enjoyed most. The brightest colors in the pallet are blood red and sepia. The backgrounds are a grungy combination of collage and watercolor, the characters sharp and angular. It provides a great October atmosphere. Why was I reading it in July?!
Publishing info, my copy: My Adobe Digital Edition edition doesn’t have a title page. Grr. Arg.
Acquired: NetGalley! Individual issues of October Faction are available where comics are sold. Volume 1 will be available August 11th.
Genre: Horror
August 9, 2015
#ROW80 ~ August 9th Update
Wednesday: Finish my rewrite/note-taking on One Ahead.
Got within ten pages of finishing my reread. Switched over to writing. +200 words. Ended up doing some research on spiritualism in Iowa in the early 1900s.
Also set up our promo schedule for the next two months.
Thursday and Friday: Add 850+ per day. That should get me to 16,000 on the manuscript by Saturday.
*cough*
On Friday, I submited all the advanced promo stuff for Luck for Hire for next weekend.
Saturday and Sunday: I haven’t decided whether I want to take weekends off. Maybe I’ll use S&S as slush days or to work on David P. Abbott and The Open Court, which is a collection David Abbott’s articles that I’m lightly editing and formatting as I read them. They’re in the public domain and I’d like to put them out as a freebie ebook.
I got to 16K, but not until today. So, for this week, they were definitely slush days. Slush days are a procrastinators greatest ploy…
Sunday: ROW80 update. By Sunday, I should have a better idea of what I need to do for the rest of the round.
And here we are!
Goals
I have two partial scenes that are going to need rewriting, expanding, or exorcising. I plan on getting through them and to 20K by next Sunday’s update.
I goofed off quite a lot since Wednesday. I plan to use Habitica to help me “earn” my goof-off time.
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Visit other Row-ers and encourage them!
