A couple of updates are due here on the blog.
First, my short story Singapore Wept was published in Zetetic: A Record of Unusual Inquiry. The story is short, five or six paragraphs, and worth reading. Very relevant in this age of gun-related violence. If you have the time, hop over to it and give it a quick read. Also, every time you click on the link, it helps the spider bots of the internet with searches related to my name =). Read more
What I’m Reading
Darknet – Matthew Mather
I ordered this on my Kindle about a week ago and I’m still reading it. I find the premise of an AI machine program cloning people fascinating and perhaps a bit larger than this book and it’s that sense of scope that’s lacking that sometimes pulls me out of the story. Read more
In 2017 a couple of members from the Stockholm Writers Group participated in a writers conference in the United States. When they came back, one of them took a look around and wondered why we didn’t have anything close to that in Stockholm and decided to do something about it. Read more
What I’m Reading
One thing you need to know about me is that I’m reading polygamist. I normally read at least two books at one time. In my past, I could be at various stages in more than five books at a time, but I’m trying to keep my limit to three these days. Those three include one physical book I can open up, one on my Kindle that I read while I’m putting my son to sleep, and one craft book that I read during the weekends.
Last year I read 23 books. By my standards, that number was completely unacceptable. I normally read at least one book a week, if not more. Books are what keep my creativity flowing, they are what I study to hone my storytelling abilities, in other words, they are necessary. So when I see how few books I read last year, I cringe.
As for writing, I only wrote three poems, two halfway completed short stories, two completed rough draft short stories and one novella last year.
Also unacceptable. Read more
Two years ago I began a course called One Little Word, by Ali Edwards. To give you a brief description of the class, you pick a word that you feel is speaking to you. Maybe it’s a word you need to work with, like Clean, Less, or Focus. Or maybe it’s a word you want more in your life, like Hope, Flourish, or Courage. You could order a journal and supplies from the shop, or you could use anything as a journal. Each month Ali posts a video about the prompt where she encourages you to do something with the word. Practice something or create intentions. The idea is this word you’ve chosen is with you throughout the year. Read more
Today is the last day of 2017. Can you believe it? I’m thankful, but I still can’t believe it. In my head, I’m stuck somewhere around dandelion season and every time I walk outside the freezing temperatures remind me it’s winter.
I’m happy we’re saying goodbye to 2017 tonight. Nothing fancy for us. A cheese and salami plate. Some champagne. A sparkler or two.
And eating my goals. Read more
2017, it’s hard to believe you’re almost gone. Only a few days left to celebrate the holiday spirit, and to be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about that. Celebration isn’t a word I would use to describe the past few weeks. We didn’t get the tree up and decorated until a week before Christmas. And that little heart wreath we usually put on the door? It’s still in a box somewhere. The Elf must have felt sympathy for us, because it didn’t show up this year, either. Our kids are convinced he couldn’t find our new home because we moved.
Yeah. That’s what happened.
It’s not that we hate Christmas. We are just so so tired. Read more
As long as there’s no ice outside, we’re calling it summer. That’s what we’ve decided at my day job. And it fits, too, in a strange logical way. Although September is coming up fast, in Sweden the summer feels wonderfully long because of the amount of time everyone gets to enjoy it. Many who live here take advantage of that time. Expats return home to various countries, or perhaps visit a popular vacation spot. Swedes almost always travel to a warm sunny place. After a while, Stockholm begins to feel deserted. It’s not uncommon to walk past darkened storefronts and see the ‘summer notice’ posted on the door, and, for once, you’re able to find parking spaces. Read more
I once saw a video by Anthony Marra, author of A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, where among other things he talked about his revision process and how he typed his story over and over. That moment was special for me. Angels didn’t sing or anything, but it was the first time I had ever run across another author who revised the same way I did.
When I came to the end of my Ashborne drafts, I printed them out. Then I proceeded to type them in again–line by line. I worked on the language a little more. saw the story in a new light. I encountered each page and each scene as if I were discovering it anew day by day. Read more
