Currently reading:
Ravenous by Sara Cooper
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene that Transformed Rock by Jonathan Gould
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Books finished this week: 1
★★★☆☆
Where this book came from: Picked this one up from McNally Jackson SoHo.
Why this book: There are a couple of authors I default to looking for in bookstores because I want to read more of their stuff. Clive Barker is one of those authors.
Thoughts: So, I definitely thought this was going to be, uh, scary? It’s more of a paranormal comedy, I guess I’d say——it’s the story of a demon who finds himself yanked out of Hell and wandering the earth until he’s trapped in a book by Gutenberg. It was a wacky premise that definitely had some body horror and other gross moments, but it wasn’t scary at all. And the humor was a bit undercut by the recurring bit of the demonic narrator popping back in a few too many times to demand that I burn the book and free him from his prison. Looking forward to getting back to the more messed-up Barker!
Library updates:
I can’t bring myself to tally my word count for this month, because I know it’s pitifully low. I lost my write-every-day streak as I dug into work edits and haven’t quite gotten it back. But I’m trying not to beat myself up about it, because I know I’ve had my ups and downs before and that I can get back to it again.
What also helped was winning a contest! Well, getting runner-up——but, damn, I felt like a winner. One of my favorite indies, Split Rock Books, ran a spooky short story contest this year and I found myself inspired. (And if you want to read the story, I posted it here on the blog on Friday night.)
They had a reading event on Thursday, and I feel very lucky to have had a few friends come up to Cold Spring with me for support! And it was really, really fun to read in front of an audience——even if there were two little girls dressed as princesses who did not want to be there sitting right in the front row. I want to write more, and I want to polish the stories I have, and I want to try to get them published, but I think I also want to try to do some more reading and sharing going forward.
Otherwise, it was a quiet spooky season. I was too tired to be very social or do too much, so I laid low this Halloweekend. I did see Halloween at Bibliotheque early last week, and then Get Out in concert, with live musical accompaniment by the New York Philharmonic. Huge shout-out to Britt (hi, Britt!) for being my plus-one in both cases! It’s always better to enjoy something spooky with a friend.
(And on a short work note, pre-order AJ’s book! AJ owns Bibliotheque, and I happen to have edited his debut novel, Yes, Yes.)
Pictured here, left to right: pumpkin cider and a good book on my balcony after dark; Get Out in concert at Lincoln Center; steak tartare at Le Bouchon in Cold Spring before my reading.
Closing thoughts:
Face your fears.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 238
(Total books added to the Moratorium Library: 504)
Local author Sara Cooper read from her debut, Ravenous, at the Split Rock event, and I immediately had to buy it.
