The leaves are turning. The warmth of summer that lingered on unexpectedly through September snapped off last night, like a lightswitch.
Autumn, sudden.
The past few weeks haven’t been as productive a time as I would have liked. The schedule started off a little tight, just a squeeze around the ankles — but it wasn’t long before it swallowed me whole. Faced with the prospect of three hours of sleep a night or writing, I tried to split the difference. The scheduled only coiled tighter, me pale and gasping.
This past weekend gave me a chance to catch up a bit, getting in about five hours or so a day. Some good writing came out of that time.
I could use more. I’m starting to slip into that mindset where every free minute, every unfilled block of time I run into, I think “Mm, just sneak a few lines in, yes..?”
This is a tough story on a couple of different levels. It has a lot of moving parts and I’m just taking them out and fiddling with them, seeing how they fit together. Also, It’s been a while since I started something so big, so new. Assam & Darjeeling was plotted out so early in my head, I’d forgotten how it felt to just discover things as I went along. Not a bad feeling, but there is a sense of driving along in an unfamiliar town and saying “I know where I’m going and where to turn, but nothing looks familiar at all.”
Mostly, I’m just waiting to turn.
Although, it might not be so unfamiliar as I thought. Neil Gaiman talks at one point about how all of his stories connect “around the back” — and this weekend I found one of those connections in this latest project. It is very, very likely that we might get to see a couple of (very) brief cameos from Assam & Darjeeling. Which was unexpected. I knew I wasn’t done with that world or some of those people — there still some stories to tell, of course — but I didn’t expect to see any of them so soon.
So it was nice to realize that when so-and-so wandered through the background of a scene eating fresh strawberries out of a colander, it made sense.
On the subject of that nice Mr. Gaiman… I’ve been listening to him reading his latest, The Graveyard Book, and I’m enjoying it a great deal. I expect you might as well. The actual proper book with pages and words on paper arrived today — two copies, actually. One for me and one for my daughter’s upcoming birthday (shhh). I’m looking forward to digging into it after I finish John Crowley’s Little, Big — which was recommended by my wolf-brother Akela and something I’ll have to write about here once I’m done.
So for now, I’m just listening to Gaiman. It feels a lot like Roald Dahl to me — the way it kind of crinkles up against your fingertips like his stories do.
I think that’s a compliment — it’s meant to be, at any rate.
You can download the audiobook from iTunes. Or you can go analog and use your eyeballs for a change. Recommended, either way.
And on the subject of audiobooks and eyeballs… Watch this space. It’s October now, with Halloween just around the corner. I’m fairly certain that I’m going to have the time to put together a nice little surprise for my podcast listeners — especially the reluctant ones who just want to read something of mine, dammit. I’ll keep dropping hints as we get near the end of the month.
And no, it’s not related to any news about agents or publishers. Not yet.
“Hints” reminds me that I’ve been woefully behind on getting the new podcast out there. No one to blame but myself. That’ll happen this month as well. I never realized it would be October so soon.
October’s been surprising in a number of ways, not the least of which has been the variety of people finding me: Old high school classmates on Facebook, old coworkers and business associates on LinkedIn, and a fair number of new podcast listeners from all over. The oddest part is the old classmates and coworkers — they’re coming out of the woodwork. And my gluttonous, pythonic schedule isn’t doing me any favors or giving me time to sit down and remember who everyone is and how I know them. So if you’re waiting, no offense. I’m just catching up to you. I’ll get there.
And speaking of October surprises and the passage of time… I’ve made an effort to not rant about politics during this election time — at least, not to do it here.
(you know it’s coming)
But…
(there it is)
I encourage all of my US visitors/listeners/readers to dig deep into the candidates while there’s still time — get intimate with their positions, their background, their character. And look at all of the candidates, not just the one who favors your hot button issue or who represents your party affiliation. Find out for yourself who they are and what they stand for. Don’t let your decision rely solely on the spin of pundits or your own superficial perceptions. That’s way too easy to do these days. A steady diet of soundbites can make you feel full, informed . . . but those are hollow calories. The good news is, there’s a wealth of information out there that you can sink your teeth into. It’s up to you to go further than you have before.
Fantasy and science fiction has always straddled an interesting boundary. It’s easy to peel back the surface of those stories, so far removed from our own world, and see that they’re teeming with political and social commentary. Whether the author meant it to be there or not, we discover it nonetheless.
That being said, now would be a good time to read (or reread) Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451. Even if you don’t get political, it’s Banned Books Week so you should do your part.
They’re prescient books, to say the least and, to quote Bertolt Brecht, “The bitch that bore him is in heat again.”
Too much? What I mean to say is this: We need to educate ourselves. We need to vote.
We need leaders who will be responsible, who will be held accountable.
Well. That’s my screed. Why don’t you have a free listen to Gaiman reading a chapter from The Graveyard Book.
And take a cookie. You’ll feel better.