Interlude: Happy New Year!
Hello all the way from the last hours of 2024.
I keep needing to remind myself that despite not having anything published this year (alas!) that I accomplished quite a bit.
Early this year, I finished a novella (currently on submission). Being the longest thing I’ve written so far, I wasn’t prepared for the need to rest up and recharge for a few months. Even then, I completed three short stories before the holidays came up. We also had our beloved old dog’s health scare that really took its toll. So, I made myself a small promise - I’d try to read through all the Earthsea books before the end of the year.
It wasn’t a goal, and also I gave myself permission to not take the deadline very seriously. If I did it, great! If not, no sweat. I was mostly interested in finishing the series - I’d read A Wizard of Earthsea more than once, but The Tombs of Atuan once, and I had a vague memory of being “caught up” by reading the third book. But halfway through The Farthest Shore I realized I’d never read this book before. I was in uncharted waters, but had the odd sensation of recognizing their ebb and flow.
What an uncanny feeling to read for the first time a book that feels like it should’ve been an influence on you. Perhaps it’s partly because I was thinking about Sparrowhawk’s sleek little boat, and where there’s boats there’s sea voyages, but it felt deeper than just that. I also noted something about the structure taught me how to expand the novella into short novel territory. I have to admit that I had initially considered structuring the story in similar fashion to immrama, but was up against a deadline, so. . .
Given that the fix-up novel’s a venerated genre tradition, who knows? I may go back and add some of the parts I’d initially imagined.
But that’s all in the future. For now, I’ve been cultivating a quiet end-of-year. For my birthday I finished Tehanu, a book that feels monumental even today.
I’m now starting Tales from Earthsea.
I won’t finish in time, but I’ll finish - which seems to be as good a sentiment as any to end 2024.
May you have a Happy New Year, friends!