Tag: books

January Write Day: Same Routines

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

The holidays have come and gone, and we had a good time over several family engagements. Both of our boys were off school/daycare for over a week, but we managed to fill most of the time with activities or family gatherings. Now, it’s back to the routine.

I spent quite a bit of energy in December trying to organize/reorganize things at home: toys or clothes our boys have outgrown, storage space, holiday decorations, etc. These are the types of things that prick at the edges of my mind until I do something about them, so I’ve tried. There are a few more big items I’d like to tackle as well, such as getting a shed installed to help us organize our yard tools, our garage, and other storage areas.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1.
    • Likely next reads: I’m eyeing The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar in my Audible library. Not a series, but an intriguing fantasy novel nonetheless.
  2. All the routines, but more.

Read three books?

Yes! I finished four books in December:

  • Behind You is the Sea, by Susan Muaddi Darraj
  • The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1
  • The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World, by Robin Wall Kimmerer
  • The Good Turn, by Dervla McTiernan

That last one was less than two hours long, and I definitely chose to read it to meet my goal more than anything else. My decent December reading helped get just a bit closer to my GoodReads Challenge goal for 2024. I had set out to read 30 books this past year, an all-time high for me, but only got to 24. I’ve set my goal for 2025 to 24, as that’s clearly been within my usual range the last few years.

All the routines?

Somewhat. I was a bit more consistent with exercise in December, although not as consistent or dedicated as I would have liked. I didn’t do any writing (or perhaps only one writing session).

On the writing front, I’ve stalled in the midst of a read-through of Uprooted, the first of my novella duology. I came to a section that I wanted to rewrite and reframe entirely, to better introduce characters and backstory, and haven’t had the energy to dig into it.

I’m hoping focusing on this section early in January will help me get back into it more routinely.

Goals for January

  1. Read three books. Even though my GoodReads challenge is only 24 books, I’d like to beat that number this year.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and Blackfish City, by Sam J. Miller
    • Likely next reads: The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar, and not sure what else.
  2. All the routines, but more. Exercise and writing, while trying to stay organized around the house.

Steve D

December Write Day: Tentative

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

November flew by. We had a great Thanksgiving, and aside from some significant work events for me, I don’t really remember what happened last month.

Our 11-year-old dog has been moving slowly, and we finally learned he has arthritis in his hips. A couple medications have him as perky as ever. We haven’t finished putting up our outdoor holiday decorations, and this week we’ve finally gotten a bit of the rain that the Mid-Atlantic has sorely needed. I’ll just need to wait for a clear day.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. All the routines, but more.

Read three books?

No, but I still made decent progress. I finished An Afro-Indigenous History of the United States by Kyle T. Mays and Behind You Is the Sea by Susan Muaddi Darraj, and I continued my long journey through George R.R. Martin’s A World of Ice and Fire.

I’m also listening through the first volume of a collection of stories by Clark Ashton Smith, a fantasy author who wrote during the 1910s, ’20s, and ’30s. I’m still deciding which series I’m going to dive into next, and I’m hoping to do so this month, when I have a week off work around the holidays.

I’m not on pace for my Goodreads challenge of 36 books this year, but I’m not that upset about it.

All the routines… but more?

Meh. I’ve been a bit more consistent about working out, but I still haven’t dedicated the time to it I had really intended. But it’s definitely making a difference to just do something on a regular basis.

Writing did not progress much in November. If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been terribly absent from this site as well. I’m definitely still interested in my current routine of haiku, book reviews, and the occasional “blog” type update, but nothing more at the moment. I’ve found it difficult to sit down at my laptop for a dedicated amount of time, for a variety of reasons.

So, I’m just keeping it in my mind for this month without explicit pressure.

Goals for December

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin, and The End of the Story, Collected Fantasies of Clark Ashton Smith, Book 1.
    • Likely next reads: I’m eyeing The Map of Salt and Stars by Zeyn Joukhadar in my Audible library. Not a series, but an intriguing fantasy novel nonetheless.
  2. All the routines, but more. Again, just trying to develop more consistency with exercise and writing. A continuous work-in-progress.

Steve D

November Write Day: Mentality

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On LifeLeave a comment

October was an improvement over previous months. Not necessarily for my goals. More for my overall mental health. By taking some pressure off myself and refocusing on my immediate priorities, I feel like I had room to breathe in October, even if that meant backing away from my usual goal-seeking.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. All the routines.

Read three books?

I completed two reads in October: A Curse of Krakens, which I loved and reviewed here, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, one of George R.R. Martin’s off-shoot stories from world of A Song of Ice and Fire. I also reviewed that one, here.

I ended up powering through A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms during our beach weekend in early October, which already feels like ages ago. Sitting on the beach while the boys played in the sand for a few hours was solid reading time.

I’ve also been working through A World of Ice and Fire, the encyclopedic history of Martin’s fantasy world, partly because I really enjoyed Knight, and partly because I wanted to arm myself with knowledge prior to watching House of the Dragon season 2. Season 1 was so grim that I don’t care about spoilers. I wanted to know the highlights of the Dance of the Dragons so I wasn’t shocked with whatever happened this season. I haven’t watched it yet, but I’m still working my way through the encyclopedia anyway.

I’m hoping it will actually provide some inspiration for my own fantasy world-building at some point.

All the routines?

I feel good with where I landed in October. I exercised a bit and set some goals to achieve by the end of the year — simple ones, like “go to the gym x times”. I had a much-needed vacation with just my wife and sons at the beach. I did some writing for the first time in a couple months.

Goals for November (even though we’re halfway through)

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, that encyclopedic history I mentioned. I doubt I will actually finish it this month. It’s a doozy. I also have barely started Behind You is the Sea, by Susan Muaddi Darraj.
    • Likely next reads: I’m still on the hunt for my next fantasy series. A family member recently recommended N.K. Jemisin.
  2. All the routines, but more. I have a couple soft exercise goals for this year, really just to be more deliberate about working out and go to the gym more often than I have been. I don’t have any hard and fast writing goals, but I’m thinking about it more, which is a step in the right direction. With the holidays coming up, I just don’t want to fall off a cliff again.

Steve D

Book Review: A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

I finally picked A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin off my bookshelf to read, and I ended up powering through most of it during our relaxing beach weekend.

I had always intended to read this story, a novel set within Martin’s world of Westeros that takes place a century before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire.

While I had little doubt that I would enjoy this story, as I’ve enjoyed Martin’s other Westerosi writings, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is an excellent example of the depth of Martin’s world-building in this series.

While the familiarity of the world brought me to this novel, the obvious joy with which Martin writes about Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg kept me reading. Dunk is an interesting protagonist in that he has traveled all over Westeros as both a squire to a former knight and a knight himself, and yet he doesn’t have much familiarity with the great houses of Westeros, except what he has seen himself or absorbed from the knight who had trained and knighted him. He provides a good counterpoint to the protagonists of A Song of Ice and Fire, many of whom are in positions of power, or come from families power.

Dunk has no power, except his sword, armor, and horses, and the optimistic chance that strangers on the road will recognize his knighthood. Egg, Dunk’s unlikely squire of noble birth, is a good foil to Dunk’s taciturn, blunt, but ultimately honorable nature. Egg comes from privilege but grows to respect Dunk and the experiences they have together as a hedge knight and squire with no permanent home. Dunk must choose to remain honorable, even in the face of corruption and cruelty from his fellow knights, or lords in whom he could find stability, comfort, and gold.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a good story in its own right, but I definitely feel like it enriches and is enriched by the wider world of Westeros. I also read this novel alongside The World of Ice and Fire, a literal encyclopedic history of the Seven Kingdoms co-authored by Maritn and beautifully illustrated by several artists. I was able to read the wider historical context of the period in which Dunk traveled Westeros to better understand some of the more minute plot details.

Like all great world-builders, Martin relishes the opportunity to write about people just trying to survive in this world, even if they are heroes whose legends have not yet grown. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a testament to that joy. I’ll be looking forward to any future installments in this series.

Steve D

Book Review: A CURSE OF KRAKENS lands the trilogy masterfully

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

A Curse of Krakens is the third and final installment of Kevin Hearne’s The Seven Kennings series, which I rounded out fairly quickly on the heels of A Plague of Giants and A Blight of Blackwings.

A Curse of Krakens is a fantastic finale to the Seven Kennings trilogy. Oddly enough, I feel like I don’t have much to say about this specific book, because it so wonderfully builds upon the themes and characters of the first two novels and brings them to a fulfilling conclusion (alongside some exciting climactic moments, of course).

As a finale, this story expertly builds upon the narratives of its predecessors while elevating the story’s themes to a fulfilling ending. The pervading themes of grief, loss, and the characters’ ability to pick up the pieces and strive for a better future, both as individuals and as a collective, ring true to the end of the story. In fact, that eagerness to build something better from the rubble is exactly where this story lands.

I could see a scenario where a reader may find this overarching theme too “preachy”, but I find the optimistic, hopeful ethos of this world to be refreshing in a genre that is so often dominated by grim characters and grimmer worlds. I can’t think of a single thread from this sprawling story that was left untied by the book’s end. A Curse of Krakens really is the most fitting end to this series I can imagine.

Steve D


Book Review: A BLIGHT OF BLACKWINGS leaps above middle book syndrome

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

A Blight of Blackwings is the second installment of Kevin Hearne’s The Seven Kennings series, and I could not resist diving straight into it after I finished A Plague of Giants a few weeks back.

As with the first book, I greatly enjoyed A Blight of Blackwings, which felt somewhat different from its predecessor and deftly maneuvered around the dreaded middle book syndrome.

Hearne achieved this by lacing this book with its own somewhat contained narrative threads that appeared separate from the larger series plot. The introduction of characters like Pen, Hanima, and Koesha enriched the plot without making the reader feel over-burdened with new voices. After being given the proper time to develop in their own right, each new character ended up serving the larger narrative in their own ways, without becoming subsumed by it.

Where some middle books, especially in trilogies, struggle to maintain narrative momentum, Hearne provides tangible story progression that is not wholly divorced from the wider series, so the reader does not feel like they are just getting “filler” content before the finale.

Hearne also manages to hit similar emotional stakes in this book as the first. Grief, and the myriad ways in which characters process their grief, is a significant and explicit theme in the first book. Grief and loss play just as important a role in Blackwings, but in a much different way.

Where the first book used dramatic scenes to demonstrate the power of grief – and anger, and sorrow, and despair – Blackwings focuses this poignancy on smaller, more intimate scenes that deepen the reader’s connections with the characters.

In short, A Blight of Blackwings both inherits and expands upon its predecessor’s themes, creating a story that builds upon the series without feeling repetitive.

I’ve already started book three.

Steve D

On Publishing Sooner or Later: Pros & Cons

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On PublishingLeave a comment

Over the last few months, I’ve been processing my ideas for writing and publishing books going forward. I last published something in 2019, with my short mythology series on Wattpad. I didn’t intend to go five-plus years until publishing my next story, but here we are.

I’m ready to embark on the next phase of my book writing/publishing journey. I say “embark”, because I’m not necessarily ready to publish right now — just to take the next steps. What I haven’t quite decided is how I want to proceed.

I could focus on my duology and try to get those out in 2025, at the soonest. That would enable me to attend a few book conventions or festivals with my duology and my previous novel, The Warden of Everfeld: Memento. I could also hold back, prepare several different stories, and then pursue a more deliberate publication schedule to drive higher overall sales.

So, I need to make a list of the pros and cons.

Publish sooner?

There’s no reason to make two different pros and cons lists, so I’m just going to focus on the most immediate question: Do I want to publish something in the near term, regardless of longer-term timelines?

Pros of publishing sooner

I could get my author name out there again.

  • Perhaps have new stories will help drive sales to WoEM. Then again, maybe that will draw unwanted attention to the fact that I have yet to publish my intended sequel to WoEM.
  • This likely implies a social media “presence” of some form, something I’m not thrilled about.

It would allow me to attend some book conventions or festivals with more than one book to sell.

  • I attended exactly one convention to sell my first book in 2019, and I greatly enjoyed it. It was so much more rewarding to talk to people about my book and meet other authors/creators face-to-face, instead of trying to advertise online.

I could feel like I’m making progress on my writing goals.

  • Perhaps a mental hurdle, but sitting on “finished” unpublished works for years could be a detriment to my motivation.

Cons of publishing sooner

I would be left with another uncertain publishing gap.

  • I could focus on finishing and publishing my current duology. However, once completed, I would feel the same pressure to identify a publishing timeline for my next work.
  • All the book marketing/sales threads, forums, and articles say that you shouldn’t leave too long a gap between publishing cycles. I’m not sure how important that is to me, though.

I’d likely need to establish a social media presence.

  • I’m not particularly interested in the idea of producing social media content just to get my name out there. I understand it’s something lots of authors have to do, but it would require additional mental energy I’d need to prepare for.

I’m not decided, but I think I’m leaning towards publishing sooner just to have something attainable to reach for. More pondering is needed.

Steve D

August Write Day: More Space to Plan

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On PublishingLeave a comment

July has been a busy month, for a period I usually find to be the doldrums of summer. We took an extended vacation around the 4th, I’ve traveled for work, etc. I must admit that I was not actively tracking my goals for July, but I feel like I ended up hitting most of them anyway.

Perhaps it’s more a matter of routine, or a bit of a mindset I’ve been in to just get things done. Either way, I feel good about where I’m at.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Read three books.
  2. Finish New Earth.
  3. Stay on top of my shifted priorities. 

Read three books?

Yep! I finished three books in July, all audiobooks again:

  • Childhood’s End, by Arthur C. Clarke
  • Among the Beasts and Briars, by Ashley Poston, and which I reviewed here
  • A Plague of Giants, by Kevin Hearne, which I reviewed here

I’m thoroughly enjoying Kevin Hearne’s trilogy and will definitely be finishing A Blight of Blackwings in the next week or so.

Finish New Earth?!

Yes. Basically. I finally came up with my ending, which, of course, was a scene that had been staring me in the face for months. It’s the type of scene that I knew I had wanted to incorporate in some way during revisions. The ending isn’t perfect and likely needs some more work, but I’m honestly relieved to say that I have ended this story.

I still have a lot of revisions, and working with an editor, to do before this duology is anywhere near finalized.

For the moment, I’m happy to put a pin in it. I feel like I need to do some serious self-evaluating and self-reflection to figure out my writing goals. I haven’t yet nailed down a consistent writing routine, so I want to step back and consider how much I can reasonably focus on writing week-to-week to give me a better sense of how long each project will take, rather than writing into an unknown void of time.

Stay on top of shifted priorities?

Yes, mostly. Another change we have coming up is our oldest starting kindergarten, so our daily drop-off/pick-up is about to change. I think we have a plan figured out, and we just need to see how it goes.

Goals for August

  1. Read three books.
    • Current reads: A Blight of Blackwings, by Kevin Hearne, and The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl.
    • Likely next reads: A Curse of Krakens, by Kevin Hearne, the final installment of this series. And… I’m not sure what else at the moment.
  2. Plan for/test a writing routine. I’m not committed to sticking to a writing routine yet. I just want to put in the effort to figure one out and do some much-needed longer-term planning for my writing projects.
  3. Figure out my next writing steps. I have two projects I’d like to make progress on, but it’s difficult to prioritize, because I’m not sure when or in what order I will be publishing anything.
    • I haven’t decided whether I’m just going to publish my next thing and hope for the best, or whether I want to plan out a publishing phase of three-ish stories, to try to boost overall sales and carry into some convention work. So, goals #2 and #3 go hand-in-hand, really.

Steve D

Book Review: A PLAGUE OF GIANTS is a superbly intricate story

On By Steven D'AdamoIn On Storytelling, ReviewsLeave a comment

A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne, the first in his Seven Kennings series, has been on my radar for far too long. I finally got this book on audiobook, and man, I can’t believe I neglected to read this sooner.

A Plague of Giants is a highly enjoyable read. This is perhaps one of the most well-rounded fantasy stories I’ve read.

The world-building is superbly intricate and layered into the plot in a way that’s accessible to the reader. This is introduced to the read through a framework structure, where a bard is recounting stories of a recent war to a crowd of refugees who had fled from it. The bard, through his “kenning” – the system of magic in this universe – can take the appearance and voice of whoever’s story he is telling. Thus, we’re treated to multiple voices through the voiceover narration of Luke Daniels and Xe Sand in turn.

The plot is well paced, and the multiple point-of-view narratives keep the voicing dynamic. This is the type of story where the first third feels to come from multiple unrelated angles, but each of the POV narrators end up building towards a larger theme.

The framework style of storytelling is effective and introduces its own plot mechanics that add depth to the main narrative. The bard and a local scholar spend time together between recountings of the tale, so that the scholar can record the bard’s oral history in writing.

And the characters feel authentic. This book carries weighty themes of grief and loss without burdening the reader with them, instead allowing each character to experience these feelings in unique ways. The characters wrestle with their own perspectives or histories even as they’re experiencing new waves of loss with the onset of this war, forcing the characters to react and reassess their own values in real time.

A Plague of Giants is one of the best fantasy novels I’ve read in recent memory. I cannot wait to start book 2 in this series.

Steve D

July Write Day: Space to Plan

On By Steven D'AdamoIn Fantasy, On LifeLeave a comment

I unintentionally took a week off from this site, so we have some catching up to do.

June gave me some much-needed headspace in a lot of different ways. First, we had a destination wedding vacation with some family, but without our kids, which was a really nice change of pace. The boys had fun with my mom for a week, so they also had a change of pace. Then, we had an extended 4th of July holiday in our usual spot with a bunch of my wife’s family, which is a different sort of relaxation.

This all gave me a mental break from work that I’ve been putting off for ages, and also some quality time with my wife, and then also our kids. It also allowed me to do a lot of thinking without the pressure of everyday routines.

Last Month’s Goals

  1. Finish three books. Likely:
    • Current read: Star Wars: Tarkin by James Lucena
    • Likely next reads: The Storyteller by Dave Grohl, perhaps The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.
  2. Finish New Earth? I just need to power through to a fitting ending. I think I just need to be okay with a decent ending, and then come back to it in revisions.
  3. Enjoy vacation. Work has been crazy, and a big deployment is happening while I’ll be away, so I’m stressing a bit about that. But this will be a real vacation from everything, so I want to embrace it. I just need to get ready for it, mentally and logistically.

Finish three books?

I finished four books in June, all audiobooks:

  • Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures, by Merlin Sheldrake
  • Tarkin by James Luceno, which I reviewed last month
  • Among the Beasts and Briars by Ashley Poston, which is worthy of a review
  • The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, which closes out my long trek through The Complete Sherlock Holmes collection on Audible

Honestly, I’ve read so much since late June that I had forgotten which books I had finished just a few weeks ago. Vacation time is also reading time.

Finish New Earth?

No, but I got closer, and then had some distance from the pressures of writing. I thought about writing a lot, and I thought about what I wanted my next steps to be. Not what I thought I should do, or what would be expected of me.

That’s the trap I perpetually fall into — conflating what I think others expect of me with what I actually want for myself.

I won’t go into detail until I take some meaningful action, but a publishing plan is beginning to coalesce in my mind, one that hinges on me getting my self-publishing shit together, and also finishing these books in a reasonable timeframe.

Enjoy vacation?

Yes! We spent a week in Tenerife, Canary Islands for a destination wedding, a trip we had not planned on taking a year ago, but one where we could not pass up the opportunity to celebrate with family and visit somewhere new.

Then we spent six days at a family lakehouse with my wife’s siblings and cousins. The family has grown in the last year+, so our boys have some baby cousins to play with. And our oldest, turning six soon, has come out of his shell in a big way this year, and it was on full display on this vacation, when he tried all sorts of new things without the timidity he often showed as a toddler.

A further thought

Overall, I’ve had a real chance to evaluate my priorities and refocus my attention where it’s needed most. I haven’t had exercise as an explicit goal in a couple months, yet I feel like I’ve been more active more consistently in recent weeks. Even just feeling like I’ve improved in this area is a good step forward.

For the moment, I’m focused on retaining my shifted priorities and not just reverting back to bad habits now that vacation time is over.

Goals for July

  1. Read three books. I’ve just finished Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke, so I’m off to a good start.
    • Current reads: The Storyteller: Tales of Life and Music by Dave Grohl, and The End of the Story by Clark Ashton Smith (a collection of his short stories that I will likely pick away at for some time).
    • Likely next reads: A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne has long intrigued me, and I feel ready to sink into a proper fantasy series again.
  2. Finish New Earth. Yeah, yeah, I know. Just finish it and worry about the ending later.
  3. Stay on top of my shifted priorities. This is not the space to detail these, but there are a number of things guiding my attention and focus that I need to stay on top of. Exercise/health is one, but there are others. So the goal is to just stay on top of these things and not allow myself to be weighed down by them this month.

Steve D