October 2020 Wrap-Up
Writing
I got sooo little writing done in October, as far as primary projects are concerned. I have, however, been able to focus on my Deseran worldbuilding a lot in the past couple weeks, which has been really fun. In fact, it’s been so fun that I decided to change my November plans and focus on worldbuilding instead of The Half-Elves, since I was struggling to get into The Half-Elves in this season. I do still plan on working on The Half-Elves at some point in the not-too-distant future, but November isn’t the right time.
I do also plan on diving into the next round of Calligraphy Guild edits this month as I strive more purposefully toward a tentative publication date for that (which I’m really excited about!) So I’ll be trying to work on both of those and building up a foundation for future books also set in Deseran.
Reading
- A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan
- The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde
- Tom Sawyer, Detective by Mark Twain
- The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
- 1776 by David McCullough
- Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne
As I mentioned I might at the end of September, I gave into the eerie vibe with a lot of this month’s reading. I also (re)watched The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. This combination led to my reading several classics I hadn’t gotten to yet, which I quite enjoyed (with the exception of The Invisible Man, which wasn’t so much my cup of tea but which was still well-done).
I didn’t expect to enjoy Dorian Gray as much as I did; it was a great blend of disturbing and fascinating, given the themes explored, and the prose is beautiful.
A Natural History of Dragons is my new favorite thing and I need book two ASAP. The writing style and the genre are such an unexpected mix, but they work so well, and I love the Victorian-era-inspired fantasy world; it’s a great retreat from the usual.
Honestly, I didn’t dislike anything I read (to completion) this month.
I haven’t finished The Quick yet, though, which I started early on in the month. It’s a prime example of why books should have content warnings. XP The worldbuilding is fascinating, but the character relationships… aren’t my favorite. I’m about halfway through and my completionist side (which is using the argument of “this stuff only pops up occasionally and then it’s done for several chapters”) is warring with my “reading should be enjoyable” side (which is using the argument of “BUT IT POPS UP UNEXPECTEDLY AND IS RUDE”) over whether or not to DNF it.
I’ve also started Synapse by Steven James, after a lot of media on AI came up and I became intrigued to see the topic explored from a Christian standpoint (I have Daeus Lamb to thank for the book recommendation); and I’ve started on my complete Sherlock Holmes collection, which I’m enjoying quite a bit.
Other
I’m taking a gap year (or possibly two, depending on how things shake out), but I’m spending some of my time doing self-led academics and this semester’s focus has been on early U.S. history and civics, which has been surprisingly fun. I’ve never been one to enjoy civics (too much politics involved), but the series I decided to use does a good job of focusing on the function of government and how it ought to run (from a biblical perspective) and it’s helped me to better understand why I believe what I believe about government and solidify my views. And I’m really excited to dive into next month’s set of history books, which are focused on some of the values the United States were founded on.
I also have a budding side project that I’ve been focusing on more in the past week or two, which I’m excited to keep working on. No specifics yet, since it’s still in very early stages, but this survey might give a bit of a hint:
Plans for this month
- Calligraphy Guild edits
- Worldbuilding
- Budding project
- Studying
- Reading (not sure what yet, although the books I’ve started already will hopefully be finished by the end of the month)
- Assorted other writing endeavors
How about you? How did your October go? Read any good books lately? Are you participating in NaNoWriMo this month? Are you ready for the elections to be over? lol I’d love to hear from you! ^-^