since i could say

It's been a while. I'll not make excuses; I feel like I do that so often when I come here. It is what it is, and that's all. A few things of note have happened:
Writing the Other, the workshop I attended in June that was hosted by Mary Robinette Kowal, was amazing. Three days of intense lectures and discussion about how to approach race, sexuality, disability, history, etc. in writing, followed by three days of writing time. I made some good friends, and write a lot of words, and had some great conversation. And baked pie with Mary and Stina, and played LARP croquet. It was perfect. I find myself still mulling over points made in various discussions, and I definitely view books I read through a different lens than I did previous to this workshop.
Shortly after attending Writing the Other, I found out that I was accepted to Viable Paradise, a weeklong writing workshop held every October in Martha's Vineyard that's taught by prominent editors and writers in the SF/F community. I'm going to Viable Paradise!! YEAH!!
Pool: I'm finally settling into my game and improving as a player. Which is great. Both teams I play on are doing really well this season, and I'm really enjoying it.
We've managed to go camping twice now this summer, and it's been SO NICE to get out of the city. Both camping weekends were beautiful, lots of mellow time around a campfire. Reading time. The second weekend I was barefoot most of the time, reconnecting with the earth. I need to do that more often, out of the city, feet on the dirt, surrounded by trees.
Last weekend we spent at the beach with a friend and her family. Like the camping weekends, it was great to get out of the city and breathe in the salt air of the ocean. We were on Fire Island, which is a phenomenal beach, clean and lovely. And I only got a little sunburned.
Books:
12) The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. This book has a fantastic eerie fairy-tale quality to it. Definitely recommended.
13) Queen of Kings by Maria Dahvana Headley. Cleopatra as undead? Awesome! Seriously, this is a good read. A grim, unsettling version of what happened to Cleopatra and Antony. I can't wait to read more from Maria Dahvana Headley.
14) Shadowfell by Juliet Marillier. I really enjoyed this read. It's about a young girl in troubled times in a fantastical land who loses her family and is helped along her journey to figure out who she is and where she belongs by several mysterious figures. Great fantasy YA. And the first in a trilogy, I believe; I'll have to go find the others.
15) Sixty-one Nails by Mike Shevdon. One of the blurbs on the cover of this urban fantasy says, "Neverwhere for a new generation." I don't think this one is quite as good as Neverwhere (which is one of my most favorite books ever) but I did really enjoy this. It's dark, but it has a sharp sense of humor and the fairy folk are interesting, not the traditional elves etc. I definitely want to read the sequel.
16) The Gaslight Dogs by Karin Lowachee. This was a really interesting read, especially through the lens of the Writing the Other workshop. Picture an alternate version of early America, when the white settlers were fighting with the Native Americans, but add expeditions to the north, one of which brings home an Inuit girl suspected of witchcraft. It doesn't actually take place in America, but the parallels are clear, and it was really interesting to read the approach to both Sjenn (the Inuit girl) and the interactions between the colonizers and the oppressed indigenous groups. While I was somewhat dissatisfied with the ending--I felt that there was more story to be told--I thought that Lowachee did a good job with approaching writing other cultures carefully and respectfully.
17) Three Parts Dead by Max Gladstone. Holy hell I enjoyed this book. Magic, fantasy, corporate intrigue, dead gods, and gargoyles; what's not to love? The writing was snappy and sharp, the characters well drawn, the plotting tight. I'm excited to read the rest of this series. I'd recommend this to anyone who likes fantasy.
I did a good job taking care of myself this year until this summer, when I sort of fell off the wagon. Not that I've been crazy, I just have fallen out of my good habits. On Friday I reinstituted them. So far, so good!
And now, I've got four and a half hours until pool starts. I intend to write 500 words, edit at least five pages of Emmelina, start my proofreading project, and handwash some sweaters before I have to leave. Think I can do it? I do! Happy Sunday!