Forms of Fun

Tortoise at Racing Speed

A novel moving forward, encouraging PT progress, and my first fun outing since the surgery all made last week memorable.

Since many of you came to follow these Wanderings because you read some of my fictional works, I’ll start with a writing update. Shortly before I went in for surgery to repair my right rotator cuff, my collaborator, David Weber, sent me the expanded manuscript for our yet untitled fifth Star Kingdom (Stephanie Harrington/treecat) novel. Last week, I finished reading through the manuscript. I’m happy to say I’m excited to see how it’s shaping up. This coming Monday, Weber and I will have a long chat, after which the novel will take a major step toward it’s final form.

I’m not yet up to writing, but all the reading I’ve been doing is definitely making me look forward to when my right arm will be ready to let me start putting down stories.

I’ve now had a week of doing PT. All the exercises are stretches. I’ve been told I’m doing really well, but I know I still have a long way to go.

This was brought home to me last week when Jim and I went off to the zoo. We had a terrific time, but I was really wiped out at the end. It’s amazing how much not being able to rely upon one’s dominant arm throws everything off.

The day was pretty warm, which sent some of our favorite animals to cover. However, conditions were perfect for bringing out the best in some of the zoo’s residents such as the enormous Galapagos tortoise featured in the accompanying photo.

This week’s focus is on reading and PT, although I’ll be consulting with Jim on getting our garden going. To answer a question, we’ve already been asked more than once, no we haven’t put it off until too late. After something like 28 years of gardening in the same spot, we’re very aware that if we plant too early the high winds and crazy temperature fluctuations simply stress the plants.

Hope this finds all of you well. Thanks for your supportive comments and messages. Catch you next week!

Making Progress!

Nursemaid Persephone

This is Jim typing for Jane.

Today, Jane had her first PT appointment with Armand, the physical therapist. Armand evaluated the current condition of her arm and shoulder in order to determine how to proceed with therapy. Armand carefully moved Jane’s right arm in order to assess her level of flexibility, and seemed pleased with how far he could move it before there was any discomfort. He wants her to spend more time with her arm out of the sling, although she will need to keep it supported on pillows after the sling has been removed. She was given several very gentle stretches that she will be doing several times a day. He strongly advised against her even trying to type for at least a couple more weeks. She’ll have outpatient PT once a week for the next two weeks, then twice a week going forward.

Sleeping is still a bit of an issue for Jane, but she’s gradually moving on to more challenging activities during the day including reading a manuscript of her and David Weber’s next book. She’s still reading a lot for pleasure as well, with works by Diana Wynne Jones and Margaret Mahy high on her list.

Today, we hope to make our first purely for fun expedition since the rotator cuff surgery, heading off to the Albuquerque Zoo. Next week we’ll try to remember to let you know how that went. That’s it for now!

Reading and Recuperation

Irises!

This is Jane with Jim handling the typing since I’m still in the bulky sling, which pretty much keeps me from using my right hand to type.

Today makes three weeks since the surgery to repair my right rotator cuff. I’m doing okay, but I won’t lie, pain and erratic sleep patterns definitely remain part of my daily landscape. Because of this I’ve been doing a lot of reading. We’re keeping a list, and it seems to be averaging out to a bit over a book a day. When I can’t sleep, I’ve been choosing something familiar so I won’t be tempted to read just to “find out what happens next.” During the daytime my choices have been a lot more varied. I’ll admit, at first I chose a lot of lighter works, but as I’ve gotten a little more clear-headed I’ve shifted to new to me, potentially more challenging works. Interestingly, I’ve hardly listened to any audio books because those are usually my backdrop for when doing chores or crafts, neither of which I’ve been able to do as much of as usual.

Rather than listing everything I’ve read over the last three weeks I’m going to pick about a half dozen titles for your amusement.

The Serpent Throne, by D. J. Butler. This fourth book in Butler’s epic fantasy, alternate U. S. history continues to hold my interest. Although the book itself has a satisfactory ending, clearly there is more to come in the series.

Dreamforge Anvil Issue 14. I enjoyed this eclectic assortment of stories focused on possible futures. There is also an interesting hopepunk essay, a couple of pieces about writing, and a poem as a garnish.

House of Daniel, by Harry Turtledove. Depression era minor league baseball with brushstrokes of alternate history and a dash of magic makes for a fun and absorbing read.

Chasing Doctor Doolittle, by Con Slobodchikoff. I bought this book years ago, but it languished on my shelf because I never thought I had time to get into its meaty subject matter. The subject is whether animals actually have language. I wish I’d read it sooner, as the author’s writing style is as accessible as any novel without forgoing ample scientific notations to support his arguments.

Just Stab Me, by Jill Bearup. This seemingly light novel may actually be one of the most subversive works about the challenges faced by a modern novelist in the current environment where stories are all too frequently reduced to marketing hashtags. Read for the admittedly delightful plot, but at least for me what made this a keeper was the commentary on writing.

A Hunger With No Name, by Lauren Teffeau. ARC of a forthcoming short novel I very much enjoyed and am still mulling over the ending. I’ll let you know when it’s out.

The Cat Who Saved Books, by Sosuke Natsukawa. This whimsical novel of self-discovery takes on the difficult question of why in our increasingly busy sound bite world we still need to make time to read.

That’s it for now. Next week I’ll let you know how my first venture into outpatient PT goes. Take care!

Squirrelly Times

Squirrel Discovers Blue Feeder

This is Jim for Jane who still, of course, can’t type.

Today makes two weeks since Jane had her rotator cuff surgery. She had her recheck appointment yesterday, and we learned that she has five holes in her from the arthroscopic surgical procedure. In addition to patching up several tears, the surgeon shaved down a bone spur and did some other repair stuff. No wonder she’d been hurting so much.

Sleeping remains a challenge, and she has very little endurance, but otherwise she’s making progress.

Because of the lack of sleep, she’s still not doing much more than reading. However, bright spots have included our weekly role playing game via Zoom, and a couple of short visits with friends.

Jane will do proper thank yous later, but she’s really appreciated the presents, cards, and good wishes.

That’s about it for now. I’ll check in again next week, maybe with a list of some of the books and stories Jane’s been reading.

Take care and keep those good thoughts coming, they’re appreciated!

Late But Update

First Toad of Spring

This is Jim, letting you know how Jane is doing a week after her rotator cuff surgery. The surgery itself seems to have gone well, but it turns out Jane handles neither anesthesia nor oxycodone well. This meant that for the first couple of days after the surgery Jane felt pretty lousy, and high pain levels (turns out that rotator cuff surgery is really, really painful) meant that Jane didn’t sleep much either. However, we’re learning various tricks and techniques and if everything isn’t “all better,” we’re at least adjusting to the new situation. Jane’s right arm is restricted to an elaborate sling, so basically she’s been reading and not much more.

On the cheerful side, spring is here, heralded by toad song and scattered wildflowers, which does help keep our spirits up.

That’s it for now. Jane won’t be answering e-mails or responding to comments, but I’ve been reading her people’s good wishes, and I think they really help.

Hope to update you next week.

FF: Time Warp

Dandy Anticipates

I am writing this draft before my surgery, because I don’t know if I’ll have the energy to do so after.  Instead of telling you what I’m reading, I’ll tell you what I’ve finished, and then offer some of what’s on my “hope to read” list.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Witchy Kingdom by D.J. Butler.  Adds a lot of complexity to this alternate version of (mostly) North America.  I hope to read the final book in the series fairly soon.

With Strings Attached by Jonathan Kellerman.  Mystery/thriller author Jonathan Kellerman collects guitars.  In this book, he brings his love of research and fluid prose style to a look at his collection.  Also includes a few essays on luthiers of note.  I very much enjoyed.

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire.  Audiobook.

In Progress:

Not completely sure but a few possibilities.  I haven’t chosen a new audiobook, but I’m

This Island Earth.  I haven’t read this classic SF novel, but my pal Paul Dellinger gifted us with a copy of the book, as well as a copy of the movie.  I think it would be fun to read the one and see the other.

As pictured above, the adventures of Ursula Vernon’s Harriet the Hamster Princess books.  These are the sort of smart middle grade books an adult can enjoy just as much (and maybe more) than a kid.  Added bonus, the same whimsical illustration style Ursula brought to her award-winning graphic novel, Digger. 

I’ve also earmarked a few non-fiction books that I’ve wanted to delve into.  None are super “heavy,” but they are full of interesting content.

Also:

I’ve finished all our usual periodicals, but with April starting I suspect more will arrive.

Countdown Over!

Coco and SK5 (printed doublesided)

Today is my rotator cuff surgery.  My right arm will be in a sling for six weeks after, and I have fairly stern guidelines as to why I should not use that arm.  For this reason, I won’t be on-line much, and my responses to e-mails and Comments will be slower than usual.

No.  I won’t be using dictation software.  I wrote about why in more detail here, but the short answer is that after surgery my main job will be making sure I have a full and complete recovery.  I really don’t want to go through this again.  I’ve had a very painful time and before PT strengthened some of my other muscles so they could compensate, I had shifted to writing long hand since working on the computer was distractingly painful after a while.

My first job after will be reading through the manuscript of the fifth Star Kingdom novel.  David Weber sent me the file last Friday, and I’ve printed it out and put it in a binder so I can read without dropping pages all over the place.  However, I certainly am not going to be starting on this until I’m off major pain killers since my goal is not to amuse myself, but to give feedback to my collaborator and to do that, I need to have a clear head.

So, what will I be doing?  Sleeping a lot, I suspect.  Figuring out how much of my routine I can accomplish with one arm and a bit of very light use of the fingers of my right hand.  Reading.  If I have the energy, I have a thought about a craft project I can do with one hand, but whether I can waits to be learned.

For the duration, my website bookstore is closed, but you can still order e-books of most of my titles on-line.  As I mentioned last week, there’s a new edition of The Buried Pyramid available.  The novel is essentially the same, but there’s an extra content essay.

Jim and I hope to have him use the Wednesday Wandering to post updates, but since we don’t know how much spare time he’ll have, this is a hope, not a promise.  The same goes for the Friday Fragments.  I’ll certainly be reading, but I may not be able to update you every week.

Keep a good thought, and hopefully the time will pass quickly and I’ll heal well, and be back to my weekly posts really soon.

FF: Slowing Down

Rocking Roary!

I’ve really slowed down in my reading.  Losing “before bed” to my achy shoulder has definitely cut into my reading time.

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire.  Audiobook.  Urban myths, highways, and the classic ghost story all get new life and strange validation through Seanan McGuire’s prose.  This is more or less a short story collection, but the stories do interrelate.  (And, yes, I do know there is a novel that comes next!)

In Progress:

Witchy Kingdom by D.J. Butler.  So far, quite good.  Definitely not a happily ever after book, but also not a downer.  Adds a lot of complexity to this alternate version of (mostly) North America.

With Strings Attached by Jonathan Kellerman.  Mystery/thriller author Jonathan Kellerman collects guitars.  In this book, he brings his love of research and fluid prose style to a look at his collection.  Also includes a few essays on luthiers of note.  I’m quite enjoying.

The Girl in the Green Silk Gown by Seanan McGuire.  Audiobook.  Although this isn’t a short story collection, the novel does have a somewhat episodic progression in the early parts.  Uses the material from Sparrow Hill Road well without being unduly repetitious.

Also:

Newest American Archeology.  Finished off with some interesting book reviews.  Also finished the latest AAA magazine, in which I usually enjoy most the articles that focus on my local region, rather than those touting other areas (in this case, a very odd look at Paris).

Skim On Down!

Art By Jane Noel

Based on the photo for today’s Wandering, I bet you can guess what at least one bit of this week’s news is, but there’s more, so skim on down…

At long last, there’s a new e-book edition of my 2004 novel, The Buried Pyramid, available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo.  The cover art is by Jane Noel, who also did the interior design, including putting together some insane ciphers.  Blessings on her patient head!

For those of you who aren’t fond of series, I am happy to inform you that The Buried Pyramid is a stand-alone novel.  It’s set in England and Egypt in the 1880s, and is full of adventure and intrigue.  As with my other e-books, it also includes an extra content essay.

I’m terrible at talking about my own books, so let me share the cover blurb.

Is It Better For the Lost to Remain Unfound?

As a young officer in Her Majesty’s army in Egypt, Neville Hawthorne was assigned to escort German archeologist Alphonse Liebermann to find the tomb of Neferankhotep, a pharaoh said to be so beloved of the gods that they themselves built his final resting place.  Liebermann’s expedition suffered a disastrous ending from which all Neville gained was a permanently injured leg.  Now a civilian of middle years, financially secure, and knighted for his achievements, Neville has decided he will not rest until he finds the tomb of Neferankhotep.

Seventeen-year-old Jenny Benet grew up in the Wild West, daughter of a French frontier doctor and unconventional Englishwoman.  Now orphaned, having discovered that polite society bores her to tears, she flees to her Uncle Neville.  When Jenny finds he will be leaving for Egypt, she’s determined not to be left behind.

Dogged by messages from a cipher-crazed doomsayer self-styled “Sphinx,” Neville, Jenny, and their companions become drawn into an intrigue nearly as old as Egypt.  If they hope to succeed where Liebermann failed, they must pass from the land of the living into that of the dead—and be judged as no one in thousands of years has been judged.

Of The Buried Pyramid, Publisher’s Weekly says: Lindskold delivers an exotic historical fantasy that takes the reader from Victorian England to Egypt. Lindskold does a fine job of describing the English lifestyle of the day and ancient Egyptian rituals. The action [shifts] to high gear and the supernatural spookiness carries the story to a satisfying conclusion. 

With The Buried Pyramid, all but a couple of my backlist novels are available in new e-book editions.  I do plan to get the last few—my early books from Avon—out, but first…

Earlier this week, David Weber sent me the much-expanded manuscript of the next Stephanie Harrington novel.  Star Kingdom Five (aka SK5) doesn’t have a title yet, but it does take young Stephanie across the threshold to where she is more an adult than a young adult.  The challenges begin in court on Manticore, but return to the deep forests of Sphinx, where Stephanie, Lionheart, and their friends are confronted with intrigues and dangers quite different from any they have faced before.

My next job will be reviewing Weber’s new material, and then we’ll put our heads together to make sure we’re both delighted with the final version.

This manuscript arrives on the threshold of my rotator cuff surgery, but I’m going to try to start work before, and will pick it up again as soon as I can.

Next week will be my last Wednesday Wanderings of any length until my arm is out of a sling, so let me know if you have any questions, and I’ll do my best to provide an answer.

Take care!

FF: Split List

Persephone Poses Prettily

This week I’ve been reading almost as much non-fiction as fiction.  I’ve left out a bunch of short articles, because this is not a bibliography!

A reminder.  The Friday Fragments is not a book review column; it’s a list of what I’m reading and maybe a bit about my opinions.  I always read the comments section and enjoy learning what other people are reading.  Oh, and I don’t usually list shorter works unless in a collection or articles, I also don’t usually list scattered research reading.

Completed:

Witchy Winter by D.J. Butler.  Very different from the first book in the series in that there are numerous plot threads and timelines.  Good use of a wide variety of myth and folklore in an alternate historical setting.

Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon).  Audiobook.  I’ve read this novel, but I don’t think I’ve ever listened to it.  The reader is adequate but apparently can’t settle on one pronunciation for some of the names.  But he does Grace very well.  And Tab.

Making Poor Man’s Guitars by Shane Speal.  Non-fiction.  A terrific and fun read, mostly focused on making cigar box guitars.  Great anecdotes about various blues performers and their instruments.  Also offers a look at the history of the one-string guitar.

In Progress:

Witchy Kingdom by D.J. Butler.  So far, quite good.  Definitely not a happily ever after book, but also not a downer.  Adds a lot of complexity to this alternate version of (mostly) North America.

With Strings Attached by Jonathan Kellerman.  Mystery/thriller author Jonathan Kellerman collects guitars.  In this book, he brings his love of research and fluid prose style to a look at his collection.  Also includes a few essays on luthiers of note.  I’m quite enjoying.

Sparrow Hill Road by Seanan McGuire.  Urban myths, highways, and the classic ghost story all get new life and strange validation through Seanan McGuire’s prose.  This is more or less a short story collection, but the stories do interrelate.  (And, yes, I do know there is a novel that comes next!)

Also:

Newest American Archeology.  Early articles were quite good, but the later ones have been sloppily written and edited.  (Ex. “ancestor” used when “descendant” was apparently meant.  Someone should have caught that!)  This sort of thing always makes me begin to question the rest of a non-fiction work’s content.