Queen of Wands
Currently reading:
Your Favorite Scary Movie: How the Scream Films Rewrote the Rules of Horror by Ashley Cullins
Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele
An American Sunrise by Joy Harjo
Books finished this week: 1
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Ordered from Bookshop.org.
Why this book: I spotted it on a “most anticipated books of 2025” list at some point and included it on my own list at the start of the year. All I needed to know was “slasher starring old people.”
Thoughts: Slashers are probably my favorite kind of horror media. I like plenty of monsters and a good haunting; demon stuff kind of creeps me out too much to be enjoyable. But a person in some kind of bonkers get-up, chasing folks around their hometown/college campus/retirement home? I’m in. So I was basically predisposed to like Autumn Springs. Rose, our main character, was excellent, and I really liked the cast of characters we met in the community. The first few kills and the alternate explanations——accidents, old age, etc.——were clever. I knocked off a point because the pacing was a bit slow; I don’t think this book had to be 400+ pages long. Also (and I recognize probably no one else will be bothered by this), but they used each other’s names in dialogue too much and it bothered me. There was one spot when a character called Rose by name at least twice in only three or four lines of dialogue. Again, I know this is stupid——read the book, ignore me!!
Library updates:
October was busy. When I wrote out my November calendar, I was glad to see some more gaps on the whiteboard, more quiet nights. We’re only a week in and I’m very glad for that free time. I haven’t written much, but I’ve read a bit more. I voted for Mamdani on Sunday and he is officially New York City’s mayor-elect. I think my plantar fasciitis has come back, though in my left foot this time; I’m resting my heel on an ice pack as I type.
There are good things, and nice things, and helpful things, but this week just felt like a bit . . . much. So I’m trying to just enjoy the quiet and not force myself to do too much. I’m glad the sun is up when I get up to go to work, though I’m sad to lose her earlier in the evenings. The extra hour of sleep last Sunday didn’t feel like much help, and I spent a lot of the days this week thinking it was midafternoon when it was only late morning, at best.
My tarot class ended, but I’ve been trying to turn to the cards whenever I feel like I need some guidance or another opinion. In a spread this week, I got the Queen of Wands as a sort of “future” card. She’s confident, courageous, creative, a leader. I’m taking that as a sign to perform magic and lean into my creativity, to rediscover the writing spark that has strayed a little too far the last few months. I look forward to becoming her.
Finally, for this keeping track of my querying journey, it’s been relatively quiet, but some changes to the count:
Queries sent: 32 | Rejections: 13 | Requests: 1Time is relative, and strange, and my brain doesn’t have much to offer beyond that riveting thought. So we’ll call it early this week, and I’ll see if I have more to say next Sunday!
Closing thoughts:
Make some time for quiet, if you need it. Or fill your calendar, if you need that. Build a schedule——a life——that fulfills you.
