Greetings from the edge,
Keeping busy here in the broom cupboard. I’ve already got a new article in the works, tentatively about horror films that get scarier the more you think about them. I’ve decided to go for eleven entries this time. I may frame it as “ten and a bonus track” or something along those lines.
I’m getting a lot of feedback on The Bone Garden. Most of it is SPAG-related, but I’d much rather hear it from my peers than receive a boilerplate rejection letter from a stressed editor who gave up after the first misplaced comma.
It is maddening, though. It makes you question yourself. Do I actually speak English after all?
The frustrating thing is that I want to get into the real nitty-gritty, story structure, characterisation, similes, all the fun bits, but I can’t get serious beta readers to look past the grammatical flubs.
I’m still working hard to get it showroom-ready, and I suppose it proves that all the clever AI tools in the world are no match for Strunk and White, a vat of tea, and a motherlode of nicotine.
I’m juggling a few different projects at the moment and finding, once again, that there simply are not enough hours in the day. Still, I’m trying to build systems and habits that will make me a better writer in the long run.
Speaking of better writers, I’m almost finished with both Misery and The Silence of the Lambs. Between them, they feel like a masterclass in writing memorable villains. If nothing else, they’ve given me a few ideas for tormenting my Sunday D&D group.
See you in the margins,
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