EpicFantasyNovel, Catherine Sharp. Own copy, ebook.
Including this because yes, for no especial reason except curiosity, I read through the 170,000 word first volume of my epic fantasy trilogy, which I started writing in 2005 and finished in 2014 except not actually because there appears to be a chunk missing in the middle though I do have notes for what it was supposed to be. It’s actually not too awful, maybe? I like the characters and parts of the plot, and the writing is largely adequate. I can’t see myself going back to it though, no matter how detailed the world-building I’d done was.

Fireheart Tiger, Aliette de Bodard. Own copy, ebook, novella, first read.
I adore Aliette’s writing and this did not disappoint despite its lack of dragons (there are still plenty of fantasy elements). It’s set in a vivid secondary world where the main character’s country has Vietnamese inspirations/influences, and sensitively and deftly tackles themes of colonialism and domestic abuse.

Peaches for Monsieur le Curé and The Strawberry Thief, Joanne Harris, Own copies, ebooks, first reads.
I’ve read a lot of Joanne Harris’ novels but these two, both continuing the story of Vianne Rocher from Chocolat and her daughters were new to me. (The Strawberry Thief only came out last year.) I enjoyed spending time with Vianne again, especially in Lansquenet, but some of the storyline of Peaches veered into cultural territory that I wasn’t 100% comfortable with how it was handled. I enjoyed Strawberry more, particularly how it interrogated some of Vianne’s past and current behaviour (and witchery).

The Four Profound Weaves, R B Lemberg. Own copy, ebook, first read.
This is Lemberg’s first novel in their Birdverse; though I hadn’t read any of the previous works set in it, it was easy enough to immerse myself quite quickly. Once I settled into the lyrical, mythic writing style, I enjoyed this exploration of gender and relationships in a rich fantasy world where weavers can use all kinds of materials to create life- and world-changing fabrics.
This was the book for February’s LGBTQ+ challenge from the Legendary Book Club of Habitica.

Let’s Do It: The Authorised Biography of Victoria Wood, Jasper Rees. Non-fiction, own copy, ebook, first read.
I’m trying to read more non-fiction, and though biography isn’t usually my thing, Victoria Wood (who died in 2016) was a comedian and writer I greatly admired. There’s a lot of detail in this bio (maybe more than I needed in some places) and plenty of quotes from family, friends and colleagues. And a lot to be read between the lines.

The Mask of Mirrors, M. A. Carrick. Own copy, ebook, first read.
The worldbuilding in this first of a trilogy is *chef’s kiss*. It comes from a long-running role-playing game, and that shows clearly with the world’s depth: intriguing parallel magic systems based around patterning (card-reading) and numinatria (numerology); a city divided between rich and poor, conquerors and conquered. Loads of interwoven mysteries, some of which are left that way, and a varied set of intriguing characters.

Most notable of the short stories I read this month: ‘Until Forgiveness Comes‘ by K. Tempest Bradford (Strange Horizons, August 2020). Every year on the anniversary of a terrorist attack, a magic ritual brings forth the ghosts of the dead so their loved ones can mourn. This story in the form of a news report looks at not just what happens but what effect this can have on the mourners, and indeed whether the ritual should happen at all. It holds the spectre of 9/11 of course, but also reminded me of the Bloody Sunday commemorations in Derry (near where I live).

Total for February: 7 novels (6 new-to-me), 1 novella, 1 non-fiction, 3 short stories
Total for 2021 so far: 15 novels (12 new-to-me), 1 novella, 2 non-fiction, 1 graphic novel, 6 short stories.

Her destination is the third planet from the sun, all blue and brown and occasional patches of green beneath the thickly swirling white clouds. But Ship has unexpectedly discovered evidence of transmissions between that planet and the next one out, and asks in its high, clear voice if she would be interested in investigating.

‘How old are the transmissions?’ she asks Ship.

Tens of revolutions of the planet around its sun. Those incoming from the third planet continued for some time after outgoing transmissions stopped.

‘And you think that is evidence there was once an advanced race in this system?’

It is possible. Ship pauses, and though of course it can’t show real emotion, she rather thinks it sounds hopeful as it asks, Would you like me to change course?

‘I suppose we could. Yes.’

They land lightly on the planet’s surface and she slides into her suit and leaves the safety of her ship for the first time since they left their homeworld. It’s strange to be under the sky again, to feel rock under her feet and see the sun above her, red through the atmosphere and the shading of her mask.

To your right. Seventy three paces.

‘That’s a sand dune.’

Beneath.

‘You could have told me earlier.’

Exasperated, she goes back inside, not bothering to remove her suit although she opens the mask to breathe in the stale, sterile air while she unpacks tools she hasn’t expected to use yet.

Still, it feels good to be doing something with her body after so long travelling, even if shovelling sand isn’t quite what she’d imagined. It both helps and hinders that the planet’s gravity is lower than Ship maintains. She digs carefully into the dune, not entirely sure what she’s looking for though Ship gives her frequent encouragement.

After longer than she expects and three breaks to take on liquid, as she begins to doubt there was ever anything there at all, she hits something hard. So hard that the shock runs through her limbs and she has to take a few steps back to recover, nearly stumbling in the loosened sand.

‘Ship? Is this it?’

Yes. Ship chimes its affirmation, never doubting.

‘Not just a rock?’

No. Look.

She sweeps the sand away to reveal an angular, long-necked creature, made of unfamiliar inorganic compounds and metal tarnished and pitted by age and storms. A cold and silent creature, smaller than she had anticipated. Such a very small thing to have carried the weight of expectation if, as Ship had surmised, it was sent here to explore. Such a small thing to have perished alone under the assault of a hostile world.

‘Ship, I think it’s dead.’

There’s a moment of silence, then Ship says, Bring it into the open.

She pushes more sand away, finds the edge of something flat and wing-like that she can grasp, and tries to haul the object out. Smaller than she had expected it may be, but it’s large enough to need a great deal of effort, particularly when something sticks. She lets go but the sand gives way beneath her. She finds herself sliding down the dune, panting heavily from effort and panic, alarms ringing in her ears and flashing in her eyes as they warn that she’s using her air too fast.

Calm!

The thudding vibrations beneath her announce that Ship is moving closer. She stays quiet and still as the sand stops shifting, concentrating on each breath until the alarms fade, all but the one which says she has only a small amount of air left. She has faith that Ship will keep her safe, and when its thick, flexible tentacle slithers down the dune to rest beside her, she pats it absently before using it to haul herself upright so she can guide it to the object they’ve found.

Ship drags them both out onto firmer footing. With the sand completely brushed off the object, she and Ship examine it, attempting to move joints and turn wheels, to coax some life back into it. But there’s no response, and the alarms have begun again in her suit.

‘I think we’ll have to leave it,’ she tells Ship reluctantly.

I understand.

She imagines an echo of disappointment in Ship’s voice, and offers, ‘I’m sorry.’

And even though Ship isn’t supposed to feel anything, it says, I am sorry too. And then, Perhaps we could leave it a gift.

‘A gift?’

I have recordings of the transmissions. We cannot play or understand them, but I believe I can make changes to a storage device so that it can read the data.

She smiles, glad that they don’t have to leave the creature entirely alone. With far more enthusiasm than she’d given the order to change course to the red planet, she says, ‘Yes.’

Night falls over the object not long after the ship leaves, and soon enough, the sun rises again. The day passes, and another day. And on the third, something blinks and shifts. Sensors wake. Information is identified and loaded. Music and words and hope and sadness and a promise: I’ll be seeing you.

And it knows that somewhere, somewhen, someone loved it.

Writing – GOOD
I finished reading the last draft of Dublin!Novel and made a lot of notes as well as rewriting the outline (which didn’t change too drastically apart from the first few chapters). I’m using a rewriting method that I’ve only done once before, with some success. Instead of taking the text from the previous draft and editing it, I’m completely retyping everything and making changes as I go along. I’m getting through this nice and fast! 3 chapters nearly done in about 10 days, and I’m fairly happy with that pace. And with my updates.
Once I’ve rewritten the first three chapters, I’ll give them another quick pass for anything glaringly bad (since a lot of it is fresh text) and then send them back to my friend for another look… She did ask!

Blogging – NOT BAD
I’ll settle for three Fridays out of four… Not always on a Friday though because I like to post my reading summaries on the last day of the month or the first day of the following month.

Raybearer, Jordan Ifueko. Own copy, ebook, first read.
Solid YA fantasy with an interesting grounding in several African cultures. I’ll probably look for the next one.

Normal People, Sally Rooney. Library book, ebook, first read.
Many many years ago, a teenaged blogger from the west of Ireland was part of a blog-visit-swap scheme I also belonged to. If you look carefully, you might find comments from her on some early posts here… She grew up to be acclaimed novellist Sally Rooney and I get a flutter of pride every time there’s some good press about her.
That said, it took me till the start of this year to read her second novel – well after it was made into a TV show! – and I haven’t read her first yet either. I will be doing so soon though, because I thought Normal People was an intelligent piece of writing about a beautifully-observed relationship, and I enjoyed it a lot.

The Once and Future Witches, Alix E Harrow. Own copy, ebook, first read.
This has gone straight onto my nominations list for the 2021 Hugos. It’s a really well-written alt-history fantasy about witches and suffragists in 1890s eastern America, with spells derived from common folklore rhymes and three sisters who are wonderfully strong & brilliant in completely different ways.

Tigana, Guy Gavriel Kay. Own copy, ebook.
I wanted to read something that would make me cry because I needed to feel some guilt-free emotions, and for that, I always always return to Kay’s novels. Tigana was his first standalone after The Fionavar Tapestry, and though some of it hasn’t entirely aged well, it still rips out my heart with its story of just what memory and home can mean.

Born to Be Mild, Rob Temple. Non-fiction, own copy, ebook, first read.
I got this because I follow Very British Problems (@SoVeryBritish) on Twitter, and this was a more personal book by its creator. It’s not the kind of thing I read very often, not in book form; it was a series of personal essays informed strongly by the author’s anxiety, and that made it a bit of a difficult read at the moment. I did enjoy it though, in a weird way.

Dublin!Novel, Catherine Sharp. Own novel, ebook.
Including this because reading through it from beginning to end on my Kindle ate up a good chunk of my January reading time.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Garth Nix. Own copy, ebook, first read.
This 1980s fantasy set in an alternative London was an utter delight. Its no-nonsense heroine Susan finds herself caught up in myth and folklore AND a very off-the-wall secret organisation of booksellers who look after that sort of thing.

Take a Chance, C E Murphy + artists, colourists, letterers. Borrowed copy, print, first read.
One of my Habitica challenges for January was to read a graphic novel. I do own a few, but this one belongs to (and is signed for) someone I really need to post it back to; I’m not even sure how it ended up at my house. It’s also written by a good friend of mine as her first and so-far only foray into comics and it feels very very much like her writing. So I liked it, more or less, the writing more so than some of the art. Chance is a hero but not a powered super like too many other people in her world, and that’s very relevant to the plot.

Total for 2021 so far: 7 novels (5 new-to-me), 1 non-fiction, 1 graphic novel, 3 short stories.

Reading – GOOD
I’ve read 6 novels so far this year, 2 of which were library books and 1 non-fiction, plus several short stories. I’m trying to re-read a bit more this year rather than keep buying new, too.
I’m doing a reading challenge on Habitica and I need to read a graphic novel by the end of January. I have the grand total of 3 on my shelves and 2 of them I’ve never actually read. So I guess I’ll flip a coin.

Writing – NOT BAD
I am working on the latest draft of Dublin!Novel, following the feedback from my excellent friend. I skim-read it in order to rewrite an outline that broke each chapter down into events plus my goals for the chapter and the knowledge I want both the characters and the reader to have at the end of it.
And now I’m in the middle of trying to read it as if it wasn’t my own novel, to spot for annoyances and inconsistences and plot holes and shoddy worldbuilding. I’ve been reading it on my Kindle which does help to give me a bit of separation from it, but doesn’t make it easy to make revision notes. I need to find a balance there.
I should be done with the read over the next few days though, and then I can finally get stuck into actual revisions!

Blogging – ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
I mean, compared to March – December 2020, I’m doing brilliantly; this is my third post of the year so that’s basically one a week!
On the other hand I did want to try to blog every Friday, so I’m not doing that well…

Yes, I finished the first draft of my 2019 NaNovel and was actually fairly happy with it – it has potential, anyway. And sure, I wrote over 52,000 words in November for NaNoWriMo, but I did that by giving myself permission to write a story that is definitely not for anyone but me. It wobbles, it wavers, it has plot holes the size of the black hole I may yet drop it into – a large part of the plot hinges on a bad (or maybe stolen) cheque despite it being set in the far future!

But I didn’t submit anything anywhere because I just couldn’t believe that anything I’ve ever written is good enough, and despite my hopes for 2020, I don’t think I levelled up as a writer.

However, I did send a much-published good friend the first three chapters plus a bonus flashback chapter of my Dublin!Novel (which I’d finished revising for the 5th time in May). She sent me feedback in early December since I’d asked her to hold onto it till after NaNo, and not only was it encouraging but she’d accurately identified the problem with the opening chapters that I’d known was there but hadn’t been able to put my finger on. I immediately thought of a way to fix it and strengthen the chapters, and now I’m ready to go, I think….

So my plans for this year are pretty similar to last year’s. With hopefully a bit more confidence. And a bonus intention to do something with a novel I’ve always been fond of…

• Rework Dublin!Novel and start to submit it places.
• Submit the three short stories I’m happy with, on rotation, starting in the last week of January.
• Write a short story at least every two months and submit as I get happy with them.
• Do a load of research for Hurricanes!Novel.
• Look into self-publishing Gumption.

I feel like I jinxed us all when I decided my New Year’s Resolution for 2020 was simply to go to the library more. I managed it for a whole 2 and a half months, and then the libraries closed due to Covid-19… OK, I could still borrow ebooks, and I sometimes did. But I also generally didn’t remember to as much as I would have by going to the physical library.
That said, I did read 13 library books in total so that’s one a month on average… Much better than the previous few years! (Zero since 2014 in fact.)
I also jinxed us all by buying prescription goggles so I could finally start swimming regularly again (the leisure centre closed after I’d been once) and by getting a reservation at a restaurant in my hometown that I’d been trying to go to for years…

Anyway, my writing goals for 2020 were reasonably simple, and I actually achieved some of them:

• YES – Finish the first draft of my 2019 NaNoWriMo novel (Hurricane!Novel) by the end of March.
• YES (well, in May) – Finish off the fifth(!) draft of Dublin!Novel by the end of April
• HAHAHAHA NO – Submit the three short stories I’m happy with on rotation.
• NOPE – Write one short story a month.
• NO BUT FOR REASONS – Get Dublin!Novel through another draft and into a submissable state, and start sending it out by at least August.

Some of these are goals I will be resetting for 2021…

Because it was such a bad year and I had whole months when I was utterly unable to write and didn’t read a lot either, I do at least want to round up my general reading & writing achievements…

• I read 82 novels, 2 short story anthologies and 19 novellas/novelettes, plus a lot of short stories and more non-fiction than I usually would.
  Of the 72 authors I read (not including short stories), around 75% were female, 4 were non-binary, and about 20% were authors of colour.
  My most read author was Diane Duane because I worked my way through her millennium editions of the Young Wizards series (which I’d never read before). Which I adored.
  Second most-read was probably Aliette de Bodard – I closed out my 2020 reading with her Seven of Infinities.

• I wrote 106,148 words of fiction (some of which were new words during edits) including 52,025 words for this year’s NaNoWriMo. (And you better believe I wrote a couple of extra words to get the palindrome.)

• I attended a large number of virtual conventions including my 4th Worldcon, CoNZealand, which I wouldn’t otherwise have been able to go to. And I successfully ran a 2.5 day programme for the first online Octocon in October, with the help of a greatly expanded and bloody brilliant programme team.
  I also agreed to work on the 2022 Worldcon, Chicon 8, and joined the bid team for the Glasgow in 2024…

• I made a lot of banana bread.

• I made it through 2020….

Moontangled, Stephanie Burgis. Own copy, ebook, first read, novella.
The latest in her Harwood Spellbook novellas, and a delightful fun F/F romance tale.

The Psychology of Time Travel, Kate Mascarenhas. Library book, ebook, first read.
Found this one by browsing through the ebooks I can get out of the library. It’s an interesting tale of time travel (obviously) with a predominantly female cast, and a look into how time travellers might learn to deal with death. It’s got love and death and humour, though not all the characters were entirely convincing.

All Systems Red and Artificial Condition, Martha Wells. Own copies, ebooks, first reads, novellas.
The first two of the Murderbot diaries, and I should have started reading these ages ago, because they’re fabulous. Murderbot is a tv-addict security cyborg and their adventures and attempts to live with humans are enthralling.

Sword of Fire, Katharine Kerr. Own copy, print, first read.
I am so ridiculously excited that this book even exists. I have been a fan of her Deverry novels (all 15 previous of them) for most of my life, and I was delighted when I found out that she was writing another. I even got to watch it being written in real-time because Katharine Kerr’s a member of an online ‘get your words done’ group set up by a mutual.
It’s a wonderful return to Deverry – I especially love that time has moved on over the course of all the novels, and the social movement in Sword of Fire feels like a natural progression. And since the central theme of the series has always been reincarnation, it was great fun trying to spot favourite characters in their new lives.

Flotsam, R J Theodore. Own copy, ebook, first read.
Picked this up because R J Theodore was a guest on Worldbuilding for Masochists podcast. It’s an interesting steampunk airship novel with extra gods and aliens, and an engaging central character (I have a soft spot for disaster captains).

Strange Practice, Vivian Shaw. Own copy, ebook, first read.
In this series (this is the first), Greta Helsing runs a medical practice in modern London, and her patients are vampires, ghouls, demons, and other supernatural entities. The plot was reasonably typical urban fantasy fare, but the writing was slower and more lush. Pretty enjoyable.

Total for 2020 so far: 10 novels, 2 novellas, 3 novelettes and lots of short stories

Wanderers, Chuck Wendig. Own copy, ebook, first read.
I was glad I had this in ebook because it’s LONG! (Although not as long as The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon, which is what I finished off 2019 with.) It was excellent company for a delayed flight but it wasn’t one I could read in one go, both because of length and because of its often grimly apocalyptic subject matter. There were times in it when I had no hope at all… but Wendig handled that deftly and never entirely crushed me. (Well, maybe once or twice.)
If you like disaster/post-apocalyptic fiction with threads of science, technology, mystery and politics – and want to take a road-trip across the US – this is a most excellent book indeed.

The Third Policeman, Flann O’Brien. Library book, print, first read.
I’ve been feeling guilty for years about not having read anything by the very well-known Irish writer Flann O’Brien/Myles na gCopaleen/Brian O’Nolan, particularly because I live in his home town. So my New Year’s resolution to use the library more tied in nicely to my determination to finally read one of his novels… and The Third Policeman was the one on the shelf.
It’s possibly satirical, definitely whimsical and absurdist and fantastical. The first chapter pulled me in; the next couple left me baffled, and overall I don’t know if I exactly enjoyed it but it intrigued me even if the reveal at the end left me disappointed in an ‘I knew it’ way. At least it didn’t put me off reading more by him.

A Pocketful of Crows, Joanne M Harris. Library book, print (a very pretty hardcover), first read.
I really like Joanne Harris’s novels (I’ve reviewed at least one of them in the past) and though I’ve mostly read just her thrillers and magical realism novels, I’ve also read The Gospel of Loki. This story isn’t a retelling of a myth or fairy tale that I recognise, but it had those qualities. I loved the prose, loved 70% of the plot, was disappointed by the ending because it felt that the main character should always have known about [redacted]…

Finder’s Keeper, Laura Anne Gilman. Own copy, ebook, novelette, first read.
I’m biased because Laura Anne’s a friend, but I do love her historical fantasy and I feel it’s what she does best. This is a US Civil War era story about a woman who can find things – but usually only for someone else. As her historicals usually do, it had a great sense of place and time, and an intriguing fantasy premise.

Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo. Library book, print, first read.
I’ve been wanting to read this first adult novel by Leigh Bardugo for a while, so jumped on it (pretty literally) when I spotted it in the library. It’s creepy and dark and delicious and I plan to re-read it and write a review.

Away With the Wolves, Sarah Gailey, Uncanny Magazine, first read.
An wonderful novelette with a strong take on disability and transformation.

Torn, Rowenna Miller. Own copy, ebook, first read.
I picked this up because I am a huge fan of the Worldbuilding for Masochists podcast which Rowenna Miller co-hosts. All the hosts use their books as examples (“In myyyyy book”) and I was intrigued by the premise. It turned out to be something completely different from what I thought in terms of world, but still very very good. I really did enjoy how beautifully textile arts/crafts and fashion were built into the world.

I also read a lot of short stories: Jodi Taylor’s latest St Mary’s installment, and most of the month’s Daily Science Fiction offerings.

Total for 2020 so far: 5 novels, 2 novelettes, a number of short stories.

Blogging – EXCELLENT
Yep, I am back blogging regularly, on a mix of things related to writing and books and words. My To Do list on Habitica has a ‘Blog’ task appear every 3 days, and though that’s a bit ambitious, this is still my 6th post this year…

Visiting the Library – GOOD
I didn’t actually set myself a target for how often, but I think twice a month to take books out is probably realistic. And I made my second visit of the year today. I did forget to take the books back that I’d finished, but I took out new ones, and handily found that I don’t need to have my library card with me. All my details are in the Libraries NI app on my phone.

Reading – OK
I’ve read 3 novels, 1 novelette and some short stories so far this month. Haven’t read any non-fiction yet, but I have another 13 days to do that, and a book waiting for me.

Writing – VERY GOOD
I’d hoped to write 500 words a day this month. I’m so far averaging 725 and I’m very happy about that as it means I’m well on track to finish writing this novel draft by the end of March. I couldn’t do it without the chat room word wars with my regular writing group, but that’s precisely why we have the group: accountability is great.