2023 More Reading: February (+ Writing Update)

Completed reads for February:

• The Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien, ed. Humphrey Carpenter
• Best Stories of Walter De La Mare (collection), by Walter De La Mare
• Of Mice and Men, by John Steinbeck
• The Thunder, Perfect Mind (poem)
• Cannery Row, by John Steinbeck
• Cats and Dogs, by H.P. Lovecraft

The Thunder, Perfect Mind is the MacRae translation.

February was an excellent writing month. As noted elsewhere, I submitted the edited Old Phuul (98,807 words) to the publisher on 2nd February. I have since immersed myself in writing short-stories, completing several this month:

• The Dream of Florian Neame (2500 words): Deindustrial science-fiction about a dodgy alchemist in a future where technology has regressed some five centuries or so.
• Gilding the Lily (2500 words): Weird fiction/fantasy set in 1920s Britain about a certain El Dorado and a certain lake. I have subsequently realised I need to do some work on character motivation, but I think it is definitely promising.
• Blackberry Picking (4100 words): Fantasy erotica set in a pseudo-Ancient Greece. Yes, really. Think a gender-flipped take on a Hylas-type story, with the basic concept of consent added.
• The End Game (2400 words): Some old guys in a pub play a game of chess – the last ever game of chess – during the apocalypse. Obviously speculative, but despite the premise it is not actually dark enough for Horror.

I am also half-way through the Testament of Theophilus Schnee, a Lovecraftian occult-summoning story played for laughs with the ‘academic’ framing device.

• March 1, 2023
• 2023 More Reading, Old Phuul, Reading, Writing
• 2 Comments