floatboth | Reading

I skipped May. Whoops.

Reading

Finished

Garden Spells by Sara Addison Allen. A magical family. A town that looks at them side eyed. A sentient apple tree. It has the feel of Practical Magic, without the same depth of world building. The prose was lovely and the magic was subtle and sometimes amusing. I might pick up the sequel.

Started

The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss. It's a novelization of The Clone Wars movie. Given I'm trying to participate in a Summer of Clones event over on Tumblr, I felt like diving into some other people's take on the clones/the war might be good inspiration.

Karen Traviss also wrote the Republic Commando series of novels for Star Wars. I've sort of started the second one - Triple Zero - but it's sitting on hold at the moment. I'll get back to it after The Clone Wars, I think.

Re-Read

Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. A novel I've read so many times over the last few decades. In addition to Patricia McKillip, Poppy Z. Brite is up there as one of my favorite lyrical prose writers. I re-read Lost Souls every handful of years or whenever I fall into a pit of writer's block. It's always helped draw me back out and find joy in words again.

Watching

Given the big sadness of Anthony Steward Head's recent death, I just started a Buffy rewatch. The fact that I'm now the age both he and Kristine Sutherland (Buffy's mom) were when the show started gives me pause. Because the 90s were only a decade ago, you know? The episode "Band Candy" has been hitting different with every re-watch.

Listening

Nothing on the listening front.

Playing

A lot of my time has been spent playing, of late.

Star Wars: Outlaws

A few weeks back, a friend reminded me that Star Wars: Outlaws was a thing that existed. I've already beat the game once and I'm on my second play through at a harder difficulty. Time in game so far? 150.2 hours.

The game didn't do well on release. A combination of the typical games not being truly ready at release wonkery, a very hefty dose of sexism and misogyny and "anti-woke" bullshit (which you can see throughout some of the negative reviews on Steam) and "no one hates Star Wars like Star Wars fans" nonsense. But it's...absolutely fine. The story isn't anything groundbreaking and there's some repetition in the level designs and quests, but it's a fun game. The world is gorgeous and it's great to be able to jump between several systems and explore the planets available as you want.

There was a sequel in the works but it was canceled due to the lackluster beginnings. Frankly, Star Wars fans are the big reason why Star Wars fans can't get more of the things we love.

That game has got me wanting to go back and play Knights of the Old Republic and maybe the Jedi Knight games too. (I'd started Jedi Academy years ago but never finished it.)

And, of course, I still need to play Jedi Survivor.

Firewatch

I don't remember what prompted me to add Firewatch to my list, but I'm glad I did. It was a good story to play through. Full of beauty and tragedy. A microcosm of life.

Arcadia Cafe

This game is labeled as domestic horror. It's a bit of work-horror sim. I got it as part of a Ukranian Horror bundle on Steam, along with No One Lives Under the Lighthouse and Dread Fields.

It was pretty short and did end rather abruptly and I think there was a thread or two that could have been pulled to make a more cohesive story, but overall it was a good slice of life horror. Dread Fields is already giving me shivers.

raptureofthemoon

Time for the thefridayfive

1. Do you enjoy reading?

Yes. I have for as long as I can remember. Over the last two decades, between undergrad and graduate school and life, I've fallen in and out of the reading habit, but as soon as I find something that speaks to me, I will wallow in words.

2. What is the first book you remember reading?

Katie the Kitten. It was A Little Golden Book, I believe. My dad read it to me many times and then I learned to read it myself...and he actually had me read it back to front to test that I hadn't just memorized it. (When I started school, my teacher told him he didn't need to do that. That I was in fact reading.)

3. Who is your favourite author?

That's a tough one. I've had several over the years. One I always return to is Patricia McKillip. She had such a lyrical writing style. Poetic prose. She was a big influence on my own writing style.

4. What is your favourite book?

Two come to mind.

Something Rich and Strange by Patricia McKillip. It was part of the Froud Faerielands books of the early 90s and between the story, the lyrical prose and the environmental themes, it just hit all the right spots for me the first time I read it and it's stayed with me for decades.

Then there's Phantom by Susan Kay, which is a biography of Erik, the Phantom of the Opera. In the late 90s, I got very into Leroux and Webber and went on a bender reading different takes on Leroux's novel or additional stories set in that universe. And Kay's is probably the most poignant. It's actually time for another re-read...it's been about a decade.

5. What is the last book you read and the first you'll read next?

The last book was Garden Spells by Sara Addison Allen. I've also been re-reading Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite. (I often re-read that one when I'm struggling with writers block. It always helps me get out of my own head.)

I'm already onto my next new read, which is The Clone Wars by Karen Traviss.

After that, it might be Wild Space by Karen Miller. Or I may jump back to the "To Read in 2026" list I created at the end of last year, in which case, I'm not sure. Maybe Once Were Warriors by Alan Duff. It's been on my active list for the last couple of years now, ever since I watched the movie (which I watched because I wanted to see more of Temuera Morrison's work. Yep. Star Wars led me there.)

Current Mood: tired

raptureofthemoon

I have started my prompt response for the week one Summer of Clones event on Tumblr at least five freaking times so far.

Each start has been...not bad. But has felt like it just wasn't quite what I wanted to pinpoint. Not quite how I wanted to start.

I'm hoping this last one is. It feels a little different. Fingers crossed.

It doesn't help that every time I've started writing the last few days, I get interrupted by one cat or another yelling about something (they're old, they're loud) or Matt trying to talk to me about something annoying at work.

I finally told him last night that, the way I am with writing (fiction) right now...interruptions for me feel akin to how many ADHD people talk about interruptions.

It absolutely crashes my focus. It warps my thoughts. I lose the thread I was trying to pull and everything unravels and I lose all my words.

In the past, that hasn't been as much of an issue.

But since it's been over a blooming year since I've written much, I am on the struggle bus. And every noise, every meow, every "hey, this interesting/annoying thing--" is working my last nerve.

I know some of this is the mental pressure I'm putting on myself.

I don't write well when I'm tense.

And while there's no real need for that tension (this is a hobby)...it's still there.

And it will be until I can prove to myself and my scumbag brain, once more, that I have the capacity to write out even a small story.

Current Mood: irritated

raptureofthemoon

Six Sentence Sunday: Post six sentences from whatever you're working on, if you're game! Folks who don't want to make their own posts are very welcome to share their snippets here.

From "Rescue on Bernilla" (working title), part of the Written in the Dust series.

With the flick of a button, Echo replayed the audio message Knight Kea had sent to the Resolute two hours ago. Her voice was soft, steady, and efficient as she relayed the situation and the need for immediate evac for the Prime Minister and her family. As she started to provide coordinates for a pickup, there was a muffled sound in the background, like far away blaster fire. She looked sharply to her right and said, with no preamble, “Kark it.” Then her hologram flickered and cut out all at once as the interplanetary communications array was compromised.

“Don’t think I’ve heard any Jedi but Skywalker curse,” Fives said, dropping into the jump seat next to him.

“Don’t be fooled. I heard from Boil that General Kenobi can swear a blue streak. In multiple languages. Including Mando’a.”

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