November 2023 Update
Book 2/3 and Audiobook
I have decided to start doing semi-regular updates for what I am working on and what I am reading and consuming. At most I will publish one once a month.
Writing
For those wondering, yes, I am still working on a sequel to Dawn Must Follow Night. I have made a fair bit of progress, but I still don't really know when I will reach the end. It feels close, and we will see how it comes out. I could very well conclude the series in a second book, but the pull of the trilogy for fantasy writers is strong. If I get enough draft material it will be hard to resist it.
I also have some ideas for fiction/non-fiction. I have a short story completed that I will take a look over and probably put up on here. It's quite weird, but some of the sentences I found are really fun. I also can't get Colonization of the Internet out of my head, and like the video games in my backlog I refuse to uninstall I swear I'll finish it. It is long overdue.
I have now narrated all of Part II and am starting on editing. I already know I'm going to have to re-record one of the chapters due to a weird microphone mishap. The chapters will go up on Patreon when they're done, and then once a week on YouTube. I might also take the opportunity to finally make a version of my map that I can use in the video, and also in 2nd edition of book 1 and eventual sequel.
Podcast
We will be on hiatus for a very important reason, which I plan to announce on a short episode. Our comeback episode will be Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. You can pick up a copy if you'd like, or read my essay on here. We also plan to announce that it's time to start reading East of Eden, and how many pages/chapters for our first episode on it.
Current Reading List
The Shadow Rising by Robert Jordan
- I've been barreling through this one since I want to start East of Eden on time. Jordan's overstated prose and meandering for over 600 pages is starting to wear, but some of the scenes are truly worth reading for. Notably Rhuidean, Perrin back in the Two Rivers, the dream sequences, and others I'm sure I've rushed through. I've also enjoyed a few quiet moments between characters that are otherwise always glaring at each other and cutting each other down. Elayne and Thom got to have a pleasant chat onboard a ship while dolphins glittered alongside. And Perrin got to sit under the moonlight overlooking a Whitecloak camp. Nynaeve remains my least favorite main character because she bullies literally everyone she meets, and is so powerful she rarely gets humbled. Aviendha was a surprisingly fun new character, and I mostly liked the other Aiel characters. But I'm definitely going to need a break before starting Book 5.
The City of God by St. Augustine
- Have been dipping into this and meditating on it. I'm due to dip back in soon. Usually come away convicted and fascinated at how applicable Augustine is to the modern day and church. It's a different culture and a different time, and it's not easy reading by any means, but the Word is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and it is inspiring and helpful to see how a mind like Augustine's applies It. I've been mulling over his indictment of plays that depict the immoral deeds of the gods, even when the play paints them disapprovingly. I thought of popular television shows fascinated with awful people. Whether or not the show depicts their deeds in a favorable light, they still show the deeds, and Augustine would assert that it gives people an example to use as an excuse.