SO HEY HI GUYS HOW ARE YOU has anything been happening since the last Macro Monday anything at all what’s that nothing’s been happening everything is fine oh okay cool see you later.
*pulls bucket back over head, hums quietly to self*
Ahem.
Yeah, no, if only it were that easy to duck and cover.
Obviously, I hope you’re doing okay, and if not, feel free to say so and email me or say hi on Twitter and while I’m not sure I can offer much by way of actual optimism and encouragement, I’ll be happy to do my best.
In other news, expect this blog to go quiet until around December 1st — this week I’ll be fucking right off to Hawaii, which, y’know, I know, woe is me. We’ve been trying to get back to Hawaii since our son was born (on our last trip, my wife was saddled with morning sickness resulting from the tiny person, which led to her reduced enjoyment of the overall Aloha experience), and so we’ve been planning this trip now for a while. I did not quite expect that it would fall in the wake of such a bleak time, but I’m going to use it to get away, bask in the sun like a mule-kicked hound, and clear away any of the brain spiders that have been building webs in my skull over the last week (really, the last many months).
This means obviously that any extra writing talk will be shuttered for the rest of the month, so I won’t be around for the remainder of National Novel Writing Month. (Though, part of me suspects that most participants in NaNoWriMo are gonna need a mulligan. And probably a bottle of whiskey apiece.) I’ll note quite selfishly again that if you’re looking for a big epic fear-crushing bundle of my own writing advice, you can grab my 8-book bundle for 25% off (so, $15) with code NANOWRIMO. Click here to do exactly that. Or, for a more polished and concise presentation, you may find value in The Kick-Ass Writer, which is free for Amazon Prime subscribers.
Or, more self-promo alert, if you’d rather the sweet nepenthe of escapist fiction, for some reason a bunch of my books are on sale in e-book. Looks like Zer0es, Blackbirds, Mockingbird, The Cormorant, they’re all down to $6.99, and even Thunderbird on Kindle is pre-orderable at $7.99. Invasive is down to $9.99. (You might argue that given the climate, both Zer0es and Invasive will give you lots to talk and think about.) Then there’s Forever Endeavor, which is just $2.99 and does some neat things with time travel and regret and also tying together some elements of the overall Wendigverse…
ANYWAY.
Self-promo flurry over.
Here I’ll also note some books by authors I love recently —
Just started reading the flipped-on-its-head Lovecraftian noir tale, Hammers on Bone, by Cassandra Khaw, who is really good and also really twisted so, y’know, go looky.
If you want to amp up that cold, greasy feeling of a reality slipping away from you, continue on and read the Southern Reach trilogy by Jeff Vandermeer.
I’m behind on my Daniel Polansky, but really, just go grab The Builders right now.
If you want non-fiction, Mary Roach is always a funny and informative winner, and her newest, Grunt, is no different — the science of the military, of the soldier, laid bare.
Ramez Naam’s The Nexus Trilogy is on deep-sale right now and so worth it.
Finally, I just finished reading three books that aren’t out yet, but you should really look for in the future — Sarah Gailey’s River of Teeth (WILD NOT-QUITE-WEST HIPPOPOCALYPSE!), Christopher Golden’s Ararat (INFERNAL TERROR ON A MOUNTAIN!), and Mur Lafferty’s Six Wakes (CLONES MUST SOLVE THEIR OWN MURDERS IN SPAAAAAACE).
There you go.
Books.
Now, I’ll take your recommendations, since I’ll be traveling to and from a faraway island and that means I’m on planes for a very long time (~22 hours total), which means I’m going to have an opportunity to flee social media and do some damn reading.
Recommend for me a book.
Do this now.
I’ll wait here under this bucket.
*hums quietly to self*
Tonya S. Rothe says:
I recommend White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America
by Don Jordan and Michael Walsh.
White Cargo is the forgotten story of the thousands of Britons who lived and died in bondage in Britain’s American colonies. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more than 300,000 white people were shipped to America as slaves. Urchins were swept up from London’s streets to labor in the tobacco fields, where life expectancy was no more than two years. Brothels were raided to provide “breeders” for Virginia. Hopeful migrants were duped into signing as indentured servants, unaware they would become personal property who could be bought, sold, and even gambled away.
This is an excellent read and helped me to put some of my fellow Americans recent political choices into a better perspective.
November 14, 2016 — 11:32 PM
janinmi says:
Two recent reads that are still resonating in my mind: Mongrels by Stephen Graham Jones, and Queen of Iron Years by Lyn McConchie and Sharman Horwood. You may have already read Mongrels, but if so, it’s certainly worth re-reading. The McConchie/Horwood book is a novel about a time traveler who journeys back to the age of Boadicea. I recc both these books to anyone, without reservation.
November 14, 2016 — 11:41 PM
Mary Contrary says:
Dark Nights of the Soul, by Thomas Moore. I had it checked out of the library when all hell broke loose, and it’s been… let’s say I’ve ordered my own copy. I’ll need to hold on to it pretty tight for the next few years.
Now aloha the hell out of there!
November 15, 2016 — 6:17 AM
deborahleighwrites says:
A close friend of mine spent election week in Hawaii, and it was a salvation, in light of the results. Your timing is great. I think it’s going to be a fabulous escape.
I found I had no desire to write, at first, but then I remembered that in my storyland, there is no Trump, and polishing a short story of 11K words was my escape.
Reading: i just finished a very sad memoir that is one of Australia’s Top 20 books of all time called HOLDING THE MAN (Penguin Press). Alas, it’s depressing, but it’s what I most recently read, and it was good, so I’m recommending it for somewhere down the road. There’s a fantastic film adaptation from 2015 that I encourage people to Netflix.
THE KICK-ASS WRITER: Thanks for the heads up about it being free for Prime members. That would be me. Gonna go partake.
Finally, you didn’t ban us from recommending our own books this time 🙂 , so take a look at WAKE NOT THE HANGMAN about a 15-year-old who conspires with his father’s three slaves to escape.
Aloha! Travel safely!
November 15, 2016 — 8:04 AM
Jason P. says:
Just finished Pittsburgh Noir, part of the city Noir series by Akashic Press.
November 15, 2016 — 8:12 AM
merrymeet says:
Wolfsong by T.J. Klune – fantastic story with werewolves but the main point is how the principal character becomes who he is and finds home. I didn’t want to put it down (:waves: I’m a long-time lurker, never ’til now poster)
November 15, 2016 — 10:19 AM
Aberdeen says:
Thirteen by Richard Morgan. It eerily resonates with the times.
November 15, 2016 — 10:36 AM
Hedgehog Circus says:
We were all bummed out about the US election here in New Zealand, so Mother Nature kindly sent us a distraction in the form of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. Nothing like two minutes of the house rolling like a ship at sea to focus the mind.
I just finished Crosstalk by Connie Willis – a telepathic love story – excellent read. And Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, bit gruesome, but also good.
November 15, 2016 — 8:52 PM
decaying_orbits says:
Taking my 10-day annual Maui trip in a few weeks. Paradise.
November 16, 2016 — 5:24 AM
Diane says:
Hi, can anyone tell me how to get Kick Ass Writer “free on Amazon Prime” as Chuck says? I can’t see how to do it. thanks!
November 16, 2016 — 8:23 AM
terribleminds says:
Are you in the US?
November 16, 2016 — 10:02 AM