APH: Look After Yourself Edition
Needless to say, the past two weeks have been bizarre, panic-inducing and without precedent. Covid-19 of course is pretty much all of the zeitgeist right now.
Working in the public sector means this last week specifically has been a bit of a blur. Writing and loved ones have kept me sane.
I've been working on a non-fic piece which has been an incredible blast to write. As alluded to in the last newsletter, this ticks several boxes for me including video games, architecture, and power structures. I'll be looking to whip that piece into its final form in the coming week.
I'll admit that due to the day job the efforts for the short story this week have suffered, maybe a couple of hundred words here and there in sporadic bursts. But, I'm working within the boundaries set by exhaustion, actually getting sleep and feeling sane. I'll take the victories where I can right now.
Another short one this week. I've got a week off work (exceptionally timed annual leave on my part) and then a week of 'who the hell knows what will be happening' after that.
Links
Probably handy given the current situation:
"It is universally recognized, in fact trumpeted, nowadays that regular exercise is good for your mental health. It is less often acknowledged that for a severely depressed person, vigorous exercise can seem as difficult as running two Boston Marathons in a day.
At least walk. Ask your spouse/partner/friends/relatives/hired helpers to drag you outside, or even to the gym. Try for a little aerobic exercise—i.e., something that makes you short of breath—each day."
2) THE DANGER IN THE DARKNESS: WRITING AND DEPRESSION
Along the same lines, the above piece from GNOH by D.I Russell is a really good read.
3) For the Lulz
The NYRB reviews and discusses Dale Beran's latest book which covers 4chan, toxic politics, and the mess we're in.
Robin Sloan on writing with lightness.
"I don’t mean to pick on a stray paragraph. It’s just that you encounter this so often: the insistence that writing should be difficult, serious, painful. Blood on the page, all that. For many writers, it’s a key part of their mythologies of themselves.
And writing can be, very often is, all those things; so it’s not wrong.
It’s just incomplete, because writing can also be fun, matter-of-fact, rushed, bonkers, commercial, crass—and totally successful. Anything can work. Not everything does! But the gates of the city are wide open and there are a thousand ways in."
5) We Read The Script For The BIOSHOCK Movie That Almost Was
Scott Wampler at BMD got his hands on a script for the scrapped Bioshock movie. Surprisingly, it sounds pretty good!
6) Covid @ Home
A no nonsense, simple guide to living through the current shitstorm.
Finally, another piece from the NYRB, this time on genre stalwart James Ellroy. This one serves as a biography and a tour through his writing output.
Right, I'm off on a grand quest for a bag of pasta. See you in two!