Life and Things
I got to meet Chuck Wendig, Kevin Hearne, and Fran Wilde. Cool pics and autographed books.
October was also our local Pumpkin Festival, wherein I learned that I’m closer than I probably think in making that first Devil’s Slide walk. The festival was a good deal of walking, but I didn’t start to have flare issues until people began crowding me and triggered my demophobia.
I did a walking historic tour of Fort Mason this month and didn’t have any problems there either. Snapped some nice pics too ? I learned that this is where my grandfather would have left from, heading into World War II’s Pacific theatre. That was awe-inspiring, to think we touched across time, quite by accident.
It was a month of synchronicity in more than just that. My sister recently got me into watching Law & Order: Criminal Intent. The other day, who should randomly show up as Moriarty in the Sherlock: A Case for Evil movie that I’m watching, but Detective Goren. Days later, a historical fiction book shows up on my lists that turns out to have been written by the guy who plays Captain Ross. I snagged it, then learned he also does the narration of the audiobook, so I used an audible credit. He has such a soothing voice ? Extra synchronicity points since he calls to mind Ari, from the story I’m working on.
I’ve been working on desensitisation therapy, to help my anxiety over change, and my rigidity in behaviour inculcated by decades of mild to moderate OCD. One of the first steps was to start mixing things up when I put out brekkers at work. Each day, the items have to go in a different place. Gods, but the first few days were excruciating. I like things just so!! Partly, it signifies safety. It’s an illusion of control. I say illusion because there’s no control really. You learn that right quick when you try to change such behaviours.
Blog Stuff
Still adding things to Kreutzet. It’s going kinda slow, but that’s okay. Taking my iffy health, I’ve slowed on the blog tours, blitzes, etc, that I post so my email isn’t overwhelming. I’ve been trying to do more of the memes, and things for variety, and also remember that I don’t have to do any of it. Sometimes, I have trouble remembering that.
Books Read and Reviewed in October
Gate of Air by Resa Nelson, 3*
Ocean’s Fire by Stacey Tucker, 3*
The Others Among Us by Hanan Anoun, 3*
Riters by Roy Harris, 3*
Wild and Wonderful (and Paranormal) West Virginia by Denver Michaels, 3*
A Journey to Yonder by Nidhi Kaur, 4*
Mad or Bad: Crime and Insanity in Victorian Britain by David Vaughn, 4*
Education of a Coroner by John Bateson, 5*
The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle, 5*
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, 5*
Savage by Nicole Conway, 5*
The Writer’s Lexicon by Kathy Steinemann, 5*
Writing as a Path to Awakening by Albert Flynn deSilver, 5*
Best Reads of the Month
The Goblins of Bellwater by Molly Ringle, 5*
This was a fun read with a twist on Fae lore. Based loosely on the poem ‘The Goblin’s Market’, it asks what might be expected if goblins roamed the woods in Washington state. Here, the goblins are an invasive species, come over from Europe. The native preternaturals are called fae as well, something I’ve always personally done.
Hex by Thomas Olde Heuvelt, 5*
A truly creepy read, though for me the true horror came not from the Black Rock Witch, but from man’s inhumanity towards man. The fact that the same thing horrified the witch herself kinda says somethin’, ne? This book reinforced my growing love for books written by Icelandic/Scandinavian/Dutch authors. I enjoy many translated books for the glimpse into culture constructs. For instance, in HEX, these people have a certain pragmatism for dealing with Katherine that doesn’t devolve until she begins breaking her usual pattern and they don’t know why. This reflects a cultural trait. What can I say? It’s the anthropologist in me.
Writing as a Path to Awakening by Albert Flynn deSilver, 5*
This was a lovely writingcraft book that illustrated what power writing can have in combination with mindfulness and meditation. 5/5 highly recommended!
Best Series New to Me
Savage by Nicole Conway, 5*
It’s got dragons!! Seriously, that should be enough. Dragons make everything better. I enjoyed the exploration of grey elf culture. They weren’t akin to how I’m used to thinking of ‘grey’ or ‘dark’ elves. There’s also the possession/symbiosis with Noh. Who or what is he? I wanna ‘noh’ more!! (Yea, yea, I know. Bad pun)
What the Feck?
I’m frustrated because I cannot post my full review for this book. I personally find it to be one of my best, but it was a sponsored review that the author didnt like. They chose an ad instead of the review. I rated it three stars. Loved the Ocean’s Eleven/ saviour of the people story, with its quantum applications. Jack and his gifts were awesome. The worldbuilding was cool. It’s a post-apocalyptic techno-dystopia.
Then there are the random erotica scenes. They don’t mesh. The power dynamics could be more elegantly done. Many of these scenes serve no purpose to further the story. Where the male characters are well-drawn, the female characters seem there only to be sex objects. I got the feeling the author wasn’t happy a female reviewer found the sex scenes tasteless and gratuitous. But the rest was awesome! I wish I could have it distilled from the pointless erotica. Oh, and the synopsis and cover neither one do any justice to the meat of the story.
#justsayin
