No, not from snow. This year has been pretty light in terms of the white stuff. At least so far. We’re enjoying a nice January thaw, but who knows what the next month will bring.
Digging out from under COVID and the subsequent fogging and fatigue. Trying to re-establish some kind of schedule and get into writing again. More on that down the page.
Status
Marva Collins Series
School Days and Working Class are both available on Audible now. Rumor has it that Hard Knocks will be up for pre-order soon.
Shackleford House
Still stalled along with everything else, it seems.
What Am I Reading
I’ve been working through a bunch of new names for the last few weeks in addition to the usual suspects. This month’s recommendation comes from one of you.
James Haddock’s Derelict Duty is old fashioned space opera with a battered hero, a collection of fun sidekicks, twists, turns, betrayals, and unexpected allies. The world building is first rate and I’m a sucker for somebody building up instead of tearing down. In fairness, there’s a fair amount of blowing up, too, so don’t mess with Nac’s family. Ever.
It’s listed as a trilogy but only the first two books are up. I’m really looking forward to the third.
But – as always – never take my word for it. Grab a sample and see what you think.
Looking Ahead
The surfing hasn’t been going very well, yet, but I think I’m beginning to get a handle on it. Slowly. Translating a concept into relevant actions has proven to be difficult.
On the plus side, I’ve started walking and talking again. Trying to get back to walking every day. That morning walk is the foundation for everything else I do so getting that back in rotation after several months of little-to-nothing is big. We’ll see if I can keep it going.
My plans for February involve reading a lot, walking a lot, and dusting off the writing tools to see if I still know how they work. I still have stories to tell. I just need to get the fog cleared away enough to see what they are.
Fingers crossed!
Until next month, safe voyage.
Blast from the past on that 2 book trilogy. I discovered that before I found his fantasy pattern and have re-read book 1 a couple of times. While I wish sometimes he would complete the trilogy – the two books due stand on their own.
Hope the fog lifts soon. I’ve been thoroughly enjoying Working Class and looking forward to seeing how things wrap up!
I agree with you and Stewart. Not too optimistic that the last book in the trilogy will come out since he’s issued a number of others since then (including 2 books in the Dragon’s Envoy series that pretty much calls for a third). But having written SF, steampunk, post-apocalyptic SF/fantasy cross-over, and a number of fantasy books, all have entertained me. I don’t expect he’ll get nominated for a Hugo, but like that Milky Way candy bar and 6 ounce glass bottle of Coca-Cola when I was a kid, it’s truly delicious scarfing down one of his books.
Sending good wishes for your year of surfing, Nathan! And thank you for your book recommendations; it’s always fun to see what a favorite author likes to read.
The audible of working class has some issues. I really noticed on chapter 4, words are cut off mid stride and sometimes there are no pause between words. Eg. Itsoundlikethis.
Have you tried any of Dorothy Grant’s books. I liked her Combined Operations series.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0892FRJ5R?ref_=dbs_m_mng_rwt_calw_tkin_0&storeType=ebooks
I hadn’t but I’ve grabbed a sample. Thank you so much!
I just had a book club, with The Magician’s Butler, which I love, and have read four times, so far. The gals in the club asked me what I thought The Magician’s Cat will be like….. Here’s hoping you are well and hearty, and able to do lots more writing. I’m a total fan!! ❤️
Hi Nathan
Have just started listening to Working Class. The narrator at the start of each chapter specifies which chapter it is, this doesn’t match the text in the Audible screen e,g, announces Chapter 4 but the screen shows Chapter 5. It appears that the 16 second starting blurb about author and narrator is chapter 1 and it stays out of sync with the narrator thereafter.
With regards to the Derelict Duty 3rd book, it appears that the author went onto writing other novels, most of which I’ve enjoyed.
Thank you for letting me know.
Podium is aware of the problems with the Audible edition. They’re working on it.