Rabbit Season
Currently reading:
Phantasma by Kaylie Smith
Tiny Nightmares: Very Short Stories of Horror, edited by Lincoln Michel and Nadxieli Nieto
The Collected Poems of Dylan Thomas
Books finished this week: 2
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: ThriftBooks, like half my library at this point.
Why this book: Anytime I find a book about superheroes, I’m all in.
Thoughts: Four stars for the superheroes and the world Vaughn built for them——this was a good time! The plot felt a little weak in some spots, in that some things just seemed to happen because they had to, not because the story was really leading there (like a certain romantic entanglement that I . . . didn’t love). But I really enjoyed this, and I’m excited to eventually read the sequel!
★★★★☆
Where this book came from: Ordered from Barnes & Noble.
Why this book: I was thinking of submitting a story to the next anthology, so I wanted to get a sense of the vibe. I also liked the idea of supporting an indie literary endeavor!
Thoughts: To be honest, I was expecting a little more variety, if this is meant to be a collection of the coolest stories available. I fluctuated between three and four stars on this one, because I felt like the collection as a whole was just fine overall, but there were definitely some standouts that deserve the higher star ratings (and to be read more widely). My personal favorites: “Hearts” by Mahieu Cailler, “Jump Seat” by Linda Bernal, “Animal Control” by Kathleen Furin, and “Dachas” by Philip Cesario.
Library updates:
I sent my first five queries on Friday night. It was mostly terrifying. My palms sweated. I had all the parts ready, and copying them into a QueryTracker form or the body of an email was easy; summoning the courage to hit submit or send was almost impossible. But I did it, and then I worked on some more research to expand my query list. Someone is out there who will love Amp as much as I do, and I can’t wait to work with them.
To mark this most auspicious occasion, I pulled some cards, as I am wont to do in times of great change or importance. From the Literary Witches deck I pulled a rabbit, which apparently means “waiting, making leaps, and adventure,” all of which very much apply. I’ve made the leap and started on this querying adventure, however long it will be. And I know, from reading the pages of just the five agents I’ve reached out to so far (and from my time in publishing, of course), that there will be quite a lot of waiting ahead of me.
I’m ready to keep leaping, and I’m ready to wait. It’s rabbit season. Bring it on.
Closing thoughts:
A lot of life is the hard work you put in, but a lot of it is also timing, the right things happening when they’re meant to. I genuinely believe that. I hope you’ll join me in working on and waiting for something that’s as important to you as Amp is to me.
Total books read from the Moratorium Library: 171
(Total books added to the Moratorium Library: 340)
This is the ThriftBooks order I mentioned placing while enjoying an aperol spritz in Cold Spring a couple weeks back. And yes, I ordered two copies of a book. AGAIN.
(Anyone want a copy of Wesley the Owl??)
And this is part of that more recent ThriftBooks order, meant as market research for my job.
