It's good to be home. It's also good to see my mom moved from ICU to a regular hospital room on Sunday. She should be discharged possibly as early as tomorrow, after which she'll have about 6 weeks of physical therapy. We never would have thought such a thing possible several days ago. Thanks to everyone for their prayers, thoughts and best wishes.
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As you can imagine, I wasn't able to concentrate much on writing, although I made a few notes on some of the stories I'm working on.
I was able to do a bit of reading, reading over a dozen short stories and one novel, Jonathan Lethem's excellent Gun, with Occasional Music.
ICU visiting hours left a large three-hour gap in each day that I filled by visiting the local Borders and the Half-Price Books in Mesa. Found some pretty good stuff at Half-Price including A Saucer of Loneliness: Vol. VII of the Complete Stories of Theodore Sturgeon and yes, the very first installment of The Year's Best Fantasy (before "Horror" officially entered into the title).
I also picked up a current genre magazine at Borders. No, I won't tell you what it was, but it wasn't F&SF. (I finished the September issue on the initial flight to Chicago.) The magazine I bought is one I've bought before - a mag you'd probably recognize - but I hadn't read it in out two years. I thought the first story was okay, but a weak choice for the lead story. The second - also okay, but that's all. The more I read, the more my disappointment level rose. "I know I can write as well as some of these people," I told myself. Then I read Ursula K. LeGuin's "Buffalo Gals, Won't You Come Out Tonight" from TYBF. Okay, I can't write like that! But I'd sure shoot for LeGuin's level any day.
Maybe those stories I read in the mag are the best stories they receive. (I sure don't know why they'd withhold the good stuff.) Maybe my stories aren't as good as theirs, but I think mine can at least compete. Anyway, it gives me hope...until I read LeGuin, that is.
Now Reading = James Tiptree, Jr.: The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon - Julie Phillips
Now Playing = The Complete Recordings - Robert Johnson
3 comments:
I am compiling a list--although at this point it is only a mental list, but a list nonetheless--of books and stories to cheer me up about my own writing prospects, relative to what's out there already. Part of me screams that this is a waste of time and distracts from just writing good stories that I would want to read. The other part of me just stuck a note to the screaming part that said "kick me."
The screaming part might be right, but the note-writing, list-making part is more fun.
Anyway, we should compare notes.
And that's great about your mom. I hope the next week is peaceful for you.
The list is a great idea...wish I'd thought of it. Now I have some things to put on it.
Thanks for the thoughts. I'm hoping my mom is on the road to full recovery.
I think the best advice is to write stories you'd like to read and hope that some editor likes it too.
Absolutely. I think the fact that I've yet to find a consistent supply of stories I really want to read is encouraging. It means that, if I can hone my craft against the rough edges of my invention, there is a place for what I want to write in the market. But I try not to waste any time wondering if what I write is saleable, only if it's good.
That said, I just found a "kick me" sign on my back. It's hard to resist turning it over and writing that list down... Or maybe I'll just write the closing of the story I've been working on. Such hard choices!
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