“Grounding”
Fresh dirt clods exposed,
untapped dark soil revealed,
to invite new growth.
Steve D
Tag: Steve D
April Write Day: Change
I don’t remember much about March except that it was stressful. Lots of family obligations. A long weekend trip for my grandmother’s funeral. And some work things to keep me occupied.
My grandmother’s funeral was bittersweet in the appropriate way. We saw a lot of family we don’t see very often, and the entire service provided some much-needed closure on her years-long battle with Alzheimer’s.
The drive back from the Midwest was like seeing the transition from winter to spring in real time. As we crossed the Appalachians, the grass became greener, and more trees sprouted buds. In the Maryland piedmont we found many trees with new leaves, and plenty of undergrowth. I’m glad spring is here.
Last Month’s Goals
- Finish three books.
- Small acts – Exercise.
- Small acts – Writing.
- Continue daily meditation/affirmation.
Finish three books?
Yes! I finished Aspects by John M. Ford, and then powered through audiobook versions of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and A Closed and Common Orbit, by Becky Chambers.
Beginning with Aspects for my first Ford read is likely not ideal, since he passed away before finishing the first of what was evidently planned to be an extensive series. But, I will definitely be returning to his other earlier works for a voice and style that I really can’t compare to anything I’ve read in the fantasy realm.
Chambers’s first book in the Wayfarer series, my review of which you can find linked above, was delightful. The second book was different in a way I wasn’t quite prepared for, and I’ll get into that more in a review next week.
I’ll return to this series. I’m just taking a bit of a break with some reading I’m greatly enjoying. See below.
Small acts – exercise?
I feel like I was pretty active in March, which is always a good place to start. I went to the gym once for a 1-hour session and had seven shorter sessions of resistance training or yoga. I also swam a bit with the kids and stretched nearly every day; I just didn’t track those activities.
I’m definitely still hitting spells where I don’t feel like I have time for much aside from stretching for two to three days at a time. However, I think I’m getting better at taking the time I have and dedicating it to more intense workouts, even if it’s only once or twice per week. So that’s something.
Small acts – writing?
Meh. I posted here four times total in March. If I had stuck to my Wednesday/Sunday schedule, I should have posted nine times.
I haven’t done any story writing. One interesting development is that I don’t feel guilty about it. It’s not that I don’t care about it. I’m just not kicking myself for being preoccupied with so many other things. I know I want to make more time for it, so that in itself feels good.
Meditate & affirmate daily?
No, but I’ve become more consistent, and it’s definitely helping.
Goals for April
- Finish three books.
- Current reads: Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle by Manda Scott; and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- These are both hefty enough that I have no particular sights set on my next read. If Scott’s historical fiction is as deeply intricate as the first few chapters indicate, I may just continue with the Boudica series.
- Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
- Bronze medal: short yoga session
- Silver medal: longer yoga session and/or resistance training at home
- Gold medal: 1-hour gym session
- Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
- Bronze medal: basic admin for this site, my email, my imprint, etc.
- Silver medal: take notes, or organize older notes
- Gold medal: Revise/rewrite my duology in, at least a 15-minute focus session
- Continue daily meditation/affirmation.
Book Review: THE LONG WAY TO A SMALL, ANGRY PLANET
I recently listened to the audiobook version of The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, a story I found delightful in its character-building, and intriguing in its world-building.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet presents a vivid galaxy of unique species governed by the Galactic Commons. Humans in this story are among the least powerful species, their Exodans having survived the destruction of Earth (at human hands) and only recently invited as a GC member species. The Galactic Commons includes a diverse array of non-human species, each with their own cultures, histories, and perceptions about their galaxy and the other peoples within it.
Chambers is very deliberate the language she uses to describe each species and individual. While their physical traits and cultural norms may differ, all GC member species are People, and all are referred to as Sapient. Specific individuals are also male, female, or non-binary, with standard pronouns that appear to be widely accepted across the story for such designations. This helps acclimate the reader to each character’s voice and perspective, while making it seem plausible that they speak a common language (called Clip) and have relatable mannerisms and colloquial speech patterns.
Within this setting, Chambers explores a rich tapestry of relationships, inter-species politics, and grounded character struggles aboard a long-haul ship. Rosemary Harper, a human from the Mars settlement, is the lead protagonist, but she does not necessarily drive the narrative.
As the newest member of the Wayfarer crew, a long-haul tunneling ship which bores holes through the fabric of spacetime to create tunnels through which ships can jump light-years across the galaxy, Rosemary is an observer who becomes a more and more prominent member of the crew. She develops her own relationships with her crewmates and shows how her clerical and research skills can help their ship.
But Rosemary’s outsider status as a spacer means that her perspective is a suitable entry point for the reader into this world.
Chambers’s writing is funny and poignant, with realistic dialogue and good escalation amid more tense moments and scenes. Her character development would work in any setting, but the fact that she couples this with believable sci-fi world-building elevates the story into a compelling narrative.
This was a book I couldn’t put down, and would gladly read again.
I would likely purchase and read a hard copy, because the audiobook’s narrator made some interesting inflection and pronunciation choices that took me out of the story for scattered moments.
Steve D
Haiku Sunday – Rife
“Rife”
Furious orders,
known policies dismantled,
just to sow chaos.
Steve D
Haiku Sunday – Hole
“Hole”
Cozy wood panels,
cozy wood-burning fire,
and afternoon naps.
Steve D
March Write Day: On a Track
February came with the flu, hitting myself, my wife, and our oldest in rapid succession. I feel like I lost an entire week due to drained energy, no appetite, and just trying to keep our household afloat. I definitely lost a couple pounds.
We’ve been preoccupied with a lot of external priorities. A theme and focal point that has crystallized for me over the last couple weeks is resilience. I can’t control much of what happens around our family, but I can control our response to it or at least guide it.
I’m looking into ways to build resilience, in our household, in our friends and family connections, and in our community.
As expected, these thoughts and anxieties and external pressures have taken some of my focus, and that will need to continue.
Last Month’s Goals
- Finish three books.
- Small acts – Exercise.
- Small acts – Writing.
Finish three books?
I read two books in February, and one was a doozy. I finally, after several months, finished reading The World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin and others — Martin’s encyclopedic history of his fantasy universe, written as if by a Maester of the Citadel.
I’m not going to review this book; if you thoroughly enjoy A Game of Thrones and other attendant books in that universe, and you love world-building, then you’ll find this an interesting read. My one gripe is that there was no detailed map of Essos, despite there being about 75 pages on the civilizations of that continent.
I also read the comic collection of Star Wars: The High Republic, Phase II, Vol. 1: Balance of the Force. I happened to pick it up in a local bookshop one weekend, and I knew it would make an easy read for my monthly goal. It was solid. I haven’t read anything else in the Star Wars: The High Republic series, despite there being at least three “phases” of comics and several novels. I think I’ll continue with Phase II, at least.
Small acts – exercise?
February was a slow month for exercise, what with the aforementioned illness. I recorded exercising about three times, although I definitely stretch more consistently than that.
I’m already off to a much better start for March.
Small acts – writing?
I didn’t do any note-taking or writing/revising of my current novellas-in-progress.
I did quite a lot of reading of emails and articles following everything that’s happening in the US — leading me to focus more on resilience.
I posted three times on this site, after getting it back up and running, but again, illness. I’m once again off to a solid start for March.
Goals for March
- Finish three books.
- Current reads: Aspects by John M. Ford; and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Likely next reads: A friend at work just finished reading The Hobbit for the first time, and we’ve been talking about it, so it feels like time to pick it up again.
- Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
- Bronze medal: short yoga session
- Silver medal: longer yoga session and/or resistance training at home
- Gold medal: 1-hour gym session
- Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
- Bronze medal: basic admin for this site, my email, my imprint, etc.
- Silver medal: take notes, or organize older notes
- Gold medal: Revise/rewrite my duology in, at least a 15-minute focus session
- Continue daily meditation/affirmation. I’ve started doing this very recently. I have attempted a meditation routine in the past, but it has been quite a while since I’ve tried to stick to a daily routine. I think t really does help put things in perspective and center my mood.
Steve D
Book Review: BLACKFISH CITY and the scarily real imaginings of our post-apocalyptic future
I’m way behind on posting this. Last month, I finished listening to Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller in audiobook.
This book had jumped out to me both for its stunning cover — cyberpunk feel with Indigenous artistic themes — and its intriguing synopsis.
Miller constructs a fascinating future world where refugees and oligarchs have fled or abandoned their fallen cities due to climate disasters. Miller deftly alludes to a multitude of climate disasters causing upheaval around the world, but really only goes into detail in one instance, as it affected a few of the characters.
Many of these refugees fled their homes for a newly built city in the Arctic Circle — an eight-armed floating city called Qaanaaq. The design of Qaanaaq is intricate and authentic. Miller describes geothermal pipes used to warm the entire city, and a highly computerized system that mostly runs the underlying infrastructure needs of the entire city.
Qaanaaq feels like a place that could very easily exist in a post-climate disaster world, both exploitative of the people who’ve lost everything and serving those who have profited from the chaos of a crumbling global civilization. It is technologically advanced and still not free of poverty, overcrowding, resource scarcity, and bureaucratic ignorance of real people’s issues that plagues rapidly growing cities.
I found it difficult to connect with the characters at first. I couldn’t quite place the age of most of the characters until much later int he story, so I assumed they were all Adults — this was not the case. Miller’s brilliance is in the way he slowly weaves interconnectedness between the characters, but this also requires patience from the reader to allow those connections and the wider story to unfold.
Fortunately, the world-building is what really kept me invested. Once some of the plot began to reveal itself, the pacing picked up, and I began to understand the wider narrative better.
This was a highly enjoyable story, and Miller is a fantastic writer. I genuinely hope to return to this world in future stories.
Steve D
Haiku Sunday – Up
“Up”
Warm sunny morning,
early bagel excursion,
hints of winter’s end.
Steve D
February Write Day: Smaller Steps
Well, January has been… interesting. Being in the U.S., there has basically been a near-constant barrage of infuriating news/rumors ever since the inauguration, and it’s been tough to keep up with and also maintain my own sanity.
I also just discovered that someone basically stole my domain, I assume to siphon SEO traffic off it — this is the only logical reason I can think of, and it’s not at all comforting.
So, if you’ve been trying to access my website for the last month and hitting a DNS error, I deeply apologize. This is a blatant testament to the fact that I have not put much thought into this endeavor in recent weeks. I was able to access my WordPress site without issue, and had no need to visit my own website to check that it was working properly.
Ugh. Anyway.
I’ve been trying to get a better handle on balancing all the various priorities in my life. I think the last few months have felt like trying to scoop up sand with my bare hands, only for the grains to sift through my fingers, so I’m never able to do as much as I want or need to.
My brain is cluttered, and I end up vacillating on what my “real” priority should be in any given moment.
Focusing on Small Acts
I’m trying to focus only on small acts — across the board in my life. I have an incredible skill/curse of always being able to see the forest for the trees, but sometimes feeling overwhelmed by it.
Writing. Exercise. Family. Community engagement. I think about these things in terms of grand gestures and statements, rather than small acts I can build routines and habits around. I need to remember how to play the long game again.
So, that will be a focus of this monthly series for some time.
Last Month’s Goals
- Read three books.
- All the routines, but more.
Read three books?
Just one – Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller, for which I have yet to write a full review. I also made progress on three others and ended up finishing one of those right at the beginning of February.
It is far too early to be concerned about my GoodReads Challenge of 24 books. Small acts!
All the routine, but more?
I think I’ve done alright on the exercise front, where I’ve managed to intentionally do some kind of physical activity and track my progress several times per week. What I haven’t done is get back to the gym in any meaningful way — maybe once in January.
I haven’t made much progress on the writing front, either, but I have definitely been thinking about it more and more. I used to think about my fantasy universe, Úr’Dan, every single day, turning over story details and ideas in my head constantly.
While I have managed to think about my writing more in recent weeks, it’s been more in the vein of how I want to publish and to what extent I want to market my books. At this point, I just need to get back to writing, and I think I’m in a better place to do that now than I have been in about a year.
Goals for February
- Finish three books. I’ve already got one down, since I finished the massive encyclopedia of The World of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin. This took me several months to read in little sections at a time, so I wish I could count that effort, but I’m at least 1/3 of the way through my February goal.
- Current reads: Aspects by John M. Ford; and We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy, by Ta-Nehisi Coates.
- I’m not far enough in either of those to really think about my next reads yet. I may pick up a paperback of The Hobbit, just for comfort. It’s my all-time favorite.
- Small acts – Exercise. Bare minimum: stretch and meditate every day, and if I do any of the following in addition, that’s ideal.
- Bronze medal: short yoga session
- Silver medal: longer yoga session and/or resistance training at home
- Gold medal: 1-hour gym session
- Small acts – Writing. Bare minimum: get back to posting here every Wednesday and Sunday, and not just haiku. Achieving some combination of the following throughout a given week is ideal.
- Bronze medal: basic admin for this site, my email, my imprint, etc.
- Silver medal: take notes, or organize older notes
- Gold medal: Revise/rewrite my duology in, at least a 15-minute focus session
I want to make progress. I just need to narrow my mental energy to the here-and-now.
Steve D
Haiku Sunday – Peace
“Peace”
A sacred contract,
to tolerate, allow space-
not for bigotry.
Steve D
Evening Satellite Publishing 