dear imaginary readers of this blog,
another year. i moved into my own house this year and it’s been busy getting settled, but it feels good, you know? it’s peaceful. anyway, my office is cosy and i’ve got a serious shelving shortage to attend to in the new year, but that’s definitely fixable. and i’m doing my work on the regular.
i’ve done some rewriting and editing of my novel. also, i took a screenwriting class out of UCLA and outlined a screenplay for TV. next, i will write said screenplay or it will write itself, a girl can dream. i’ve learned a lot. i suspect outlining has permanently changed the way i think about story, and i’ll incorporate the 3-act structure into my novels and short stories moving forward. in one capacity or another. who knows?
my goal for 2023 is to outline my novel and fix it. because. IT’S GOT PROBLEMS.
this is an understatement.
MUSIC
listen, i typed the word music and it looked wrong to me. does it look wrong to you? hmmmm, it’s a weird word when you look at it. anyway, i’ve been listening to lots of music on CKUA and CJSW, in particular dance music. i don’t know why. i don’t question inspiration wherever/whenever/however i find it.
my favourite new song of the year? ‘jackie down the line’ by DC fontaines:
TV
again, i watched a lot of TV this year, streaming it on-line. dizzying. highlights: RUSSIAN DOLL; STARSTRUCK; and, THE BEAR.
november was a deep dive into nordic noir, mostly for my screenplay class because i’m writing a southern alberta noir (crime) series. researching, you know? i revisited: TRAPPED; HINTERLAND; and, BORDERTOWN.
FILMS
i watched a lot of movies this fall and read a number of screenplays, too. it’s all part of the screenwriting class, right? a number of movies and their screenplays were assigned as course content, opening me up to movies i may not have selected. highlights: GET OUT; PARASITE; and, LA CONFIDENTIAL. i rewatched lots of old movies, too. the usual. too many good movies to list.
BOOKS
i read 37 books this year, up a bit from last year which is great. i’m still struggling to increase my reading but my concentration has improved greatly since i instituted daily reading (30 minutes) at my desk. i love it.
also, i’m handwriting AFTERIMAGE by helen humphreys, sentence by sentence. man, there are good sentences in this novel. handwriting is something i do every 3 or so years. i find it helpful–i think the sentences seep into me and make me try harder. also, i think it teaches me paragraphing.
my book mentions? BARCELONA DREAMING by rupert thomson, a lovely collection of linked novellas set in, you guessed it, barcelona. structurally terrific and there’s magic, too. i was transported.
PATTERSON HOUSE by jane cawthorne, a beautifully researched and written feminist book with real meaning. it’s a ghost story and, you know, these ghosts still haunt women.
and 2 short books. PARIS by hope mirrlees, a little book of poetry about paris, set in 1919. it’s lovely and trippy and a harbinger of what would come in experimental poetry. and, SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE by claire keegan, a novella that is pure and difficult and necessary feminist literature. it’s another ghost story because, you know, the catholic church still haunts women.
A good year. Onwards!
onwards, comrade. #carryon