Planning mode

mood: Good
music: Hoobastank--Same Direction
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So I've been thinking about this year's NaNoWriMo project, trying to plan without overthinking it. The next installment in the story of Luta Paixon and the crew of the Tane Ikai, I know that much. The resurgence of a problem from Nearspace's history, and new personal problems, of course. I'm really looking forward to working with those characters again. I just have to be careful not to get too locked into things before November 1st arrives.

Also working on a new short story, tentatively called "Shades." Sort of a creepy contemporary fantasy, I think. Still working it out, slow progress so far, but I like it.

What I can't seem to work up much energy for is final editing and submission of the so-close-to-finished stories sitting in folders on my desk. They're like the files that used to sit on my desk at work, saying "don't touch me!" But I'm going to have to get tough with them soon. Maybe this weekend.

Just finished reading William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. I really enjoyed it all the way through, and then the ending fell kind of flat. Disappointing, because I found it gripping and interesting and unique, and then--blah. The explanations for everything just weren't satisfying. Ah well, on to the next one. So many books, so little time.

One thing I learned today: Reading probably isn't declining as much as the worry-mongers would have us believe. Check out this essay by Paul Collins.