Missives from Isolation #13: Holy Crap How Is It August Already
Pretty much the title. Time really has lost all meaning – I appear to have spent the peak of the summer sitting at my desk with a fan two inches from my face to survive. Much the same as the way I’ve spent most of this isolation period. Just hotter. Still working from home, still not going out much (because many Londoners are idiots who refuse to wear masks on the Tube, etc.), and waiting for the inevitable second lockdown to begin. I’ve been back up at the Toy Project, though, which is great, though we can’t yet start LEGO workshops. Hopefully soon.
In writing terms, Boiling Seas 2: Eventually I’ll Think Of A Title is coming along steadily. I’ve spent far too long and far too many words writing this airship sequence, though – like two or three times as many as I originally intended. As in I could finish the book here, if I wanted, with our protagonists only just arriving at the place where I wanted the book to finish. There may need to be some editing. I’m going to finish this bit and then take a break for a while, clear my head and then come back with a better plan. I really need a plan for this series as a whole.
I also came second in the UCL Publishers’ Prize the other month, which was a very welcome surprise!
A couple of short story opportunities have presented themselves to keep me ticking over in the interim. Grimdark Magazine is opening submissions for a competition in a week or so – I’ll be throwing something hopefully hat-shaped into the ring. The Black Library is also opening submissions (in October) for a bit of Warhammer/40k horror – if I can keep myself in the right frame of mind from my Grimdark entry then I should be able to put something together too. Maybe something with too many limbs. Got a week off coming up, which should give me time to get things flowing nicely.
That’s about it. If you want to read Ad Luna, it’s still very much available so do take a look. If you want to read an essay about it, you can do that too – but the book is probably better. I hope the book is better…
