Tag: About Writing

Reading Project, 12

Book 35 … Living with Borrowed Dust: Reflections on Life, Love and Other Grievances by James Hollis PhD, published by Sounds True in 2025.

Had this unread on my shelves from last year. This time the title grabbed me, “living with borrowed dust.” That’s the dust of the stars we are all made of. I’ve read a few of James Hollis’s books by now, and reading this one, started to suspect that he’s regurgitating his material. And that once I’d read one I’d read them all.

That could be true about this one. It’s a kind of a autobiography/memoir—I can’t tell the difference between them. He has this aphorism, “Shut up; suit up; show up!” First time I read it, several years ago, I laughed. But took it on board. This is me, here, showing up in this project I set myself back in January.

When I read the quote above on page 106, I felt vindicated. Thought I should’ve saved my money. Because also in this little book Hollis quotes regularly from his previous books. So it’s hard to understand isn’t it, that my next read is also one of his?

Book 36 … Living Between Worlds: Finding Personal Resilience in Changing Times by James Hollis PhD, published by Sounds True in 2020

It’s an earlier book and while almost the same size, it’s weightier. Chewier. “Living between worlds” … I relate to that. I’m living between worlds, as we all are in the West. Yesterday I watched two thirds of a documentary about life in the climate-challenged parts of the world. Millions of people already impacted. And I can’t even let myself continue thinking about it all—takes too many spoons—I’m not strong enough.

But … This book. The two worlds are our inner struggles and our “modern human existence”. Looking back through it, I see I’ve underlined many sections, a sure sign I wrestled with it. In this book, Hollis is proving to us that we “human animals are equipped for survival”. With creativity, wisdom and connection, he means.

This is the kind of book I have lying beside me on the couch for a few months, to be able to read a couple of pages anytime I feel like I need to work out my mental muscles.

And this book is the reason I began a side project, painting various scenes from Theseus in the Labyrinth. Done two. More planned. Theseus turned out to be a non-hero to me. After he killed the minotaur, he abandoned Ariadne, and sailed off into the wide blue yonder. Typical for a rolling stone?

Book 37 … A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M Miller Jr, a 60th Anniversary edition published by Orbit Books in 2019.

I remembered starting to read this a good few years ago but could not recall why I didn’t finish it. Recently, a good friend recommended it—raved about it, in fact—saying it was the best, greatest sf novel of the 20th century. So I bought it since my local library has moved on.

Lol, might even send it to him. After I give my sf reading buddy a go at it though I seriously doubt he’ll be able to get into it.

Couldn’t remember anything about the Canticle after I confirmed it wasn’t the story about the monk who went underground in New Zealand and expected to come out in the northern hemisphere. That was a short experimental film I saw somewhere, also many years ago. I guess I conflated them since they are both about monks.

I can totally understand now why I didn’t finish it. Though, just for the heck of it, may re read it. Maybe next year. It could be one of those books that improves the better you know it. I have to give it that opportunity.

A review in Good Reading calls it a “seriously funny, stunning, and tragic, eternally fresh, imaginative, and altogether remarkable, A Canticle for Leibowitz retains its ability to enthrall and amaze.”

While a review in The Story Graph said: “There is a lot of science talk, but more in conversation/discussion rather than its use. Also there’s a lot of religious style quotes and I hate that writing style. And in general the writing style is boring and at times confusing because of huge jumps in time.”

It’s post apocalyptic, written in the nineteen fifties and probably the author went to war and had surfeit of battlefield memories he couldn’t get out of his head. There are huge time jumps and so there aren’t any characters I could get invested in. It even felt impersonal, like an overview.

Book 38 … The Messenger by Markus Zusak, published by Pan McMillan, this edition from 2023.

Tore through this in a couple of hours, a disappointingly lightweight read. Then learned it had been made into a TV series and can just about see that as a lightweight script as well, if I could be bothered viewing it. (And couldn’t find it for a pic.)

About Meld …

To all those readers keenly following MELD … I have been feeling quite doubtful about continuing it. Though I’ve written dozens of good chapters, it seems that unconsciously I’m burdening yet another suffering viewpoint character with an additional internal entity. And that, after three versions already on the same or similar theme. I’m obviously going to have to do more dream therapy.

So, while I sleep on MELD, I’ll repost EARTH GIRL. I don’t think I’ve yet posted her story on this (WordPress) blog. Lol, among 600+ posts? I can’t find it. I think offered it on Google+ back in that day.

I’ve got a nice cover for it, thank you ronnie@https://tegnemaskin.no/

Links, 1 …

That is, links between Mongrel, part 1 of the series and Meld, part 2. Ordinarily these might be called back-stories telling how various characters got to the point that they enter the story.

Though in this case, it’s the ongoing premise that needs more explanation than I can fit into the main tale. So I have recruited a group of supporting characters to tell their side of events, in the hope that they will then just slot you into the cycle.

This was a 500 word Flash Fiction try-out that describes Claire King’s secret project. If you’ve been reading long enough you’ll probably recognize the Dolphinate, who live in the Delta in Lodestar.

This little painting represents a bunch of new life in a petrie dish.

1. Rita de Heer, The DolphinateDownload

Reading, 2

The project continues.

Next up was Chasm City by Alistair Reynolds, published in 2001. “A hardboiled pursuit/revenge thriller set in the RS universe,” from the author’s website. RS = Revelation Space, which I don’t know anything about other than what I’ve just read. Thriller? Nah.

An eight-day read, worked at diligently. Dense and detail rich. According to my research after reading it, this is Reynolds’ second published novel. And also second in reading order, it’s a ‘stand-alone’ as the Reddit experts tell it, but which surprised me as there seemed quite a bit of bloat. Stuff, that for the sake of the pace, readers could’ve done without. Stuff that I wanted to skim, but ended up plodding through because of not knowing what was essential to the plot.
There goes my theory that editors don’t look as closely at authors with a lot of books already published.

At times I thought I was reading about Mars. I think it was a case of stories bleeding into one another due to proximity. In this case, me watching The Expanse Series by James S A Corey on television. I think probably due to the sheer size of the chasm. Very Martian. Though in this case, it’s a planet called Yellowstone and a large part of the chasm is domed over.

Life in the chasm is very interesting, regional. As can be expected the upper classes live in the Canopy, the slums are in the Compost. Travel is by semi sentient vehicles that claw their way up and down and along hanging vegetation and cables. The slum dwellers are all about making a living. The rich play at turkey shoots, where they free a prisoner and force them to run for their lives.

The two main characters, with at first separate stories, eventually seem to meld into one another. The POV character keeps changing identities, and is as slippery as an eel to keep hold of. I found that quite disconcerting as the story is complex and I found it easy to get lost in. I did a lot of re-reading.

Why didn’t this turn into a DNF read? (Did Not Finish for those of us at war with acronyms). It could’ve, to be honest. But Reynolds also wrote the Revenger trilogy… Revenger, Shadow Captain, and Bone Silence. Three of my favorite modern science fiction reads.

Fantastic worldbuilding, great characters, piracy and treasure hunting, a gripping plot, a steampunk flavor. Rave, rave, rave.

Reading Chasm City I kept wanting to give Reynolds more time to come good, to tell the story with as much verve and vitality he’d shown in Revenger. I think now, knowing the Chasm City was only his second novel, that he was still learning.

‘Seeding’ info in stories on the go …

What I’m writing now in Lodestar contains a few events that for better a better reading experience, should’ve had their beginnings seeded into earlier chapters. For example, you will meet Moab, one of the Marl-Family. He was thought lost/dead, never mentioned because that’s the herder/hunter folk’s tradition.

The chapter being wrangled into existence is one of my so-called bridges from section to section. The timeline is complex at this point. I may later post a map.

Snippet 2

Once everybody crossed the channel there was a confab among the Kuri-Family group. Since they were last to cross, their decisions would stay private a while longer. Jenk gave Moss, Kyle and Io his instructions, to explore the road west, mark the water-crossing somehow, and rest in the new grazing grounds. Discover its seasons. He gave more than half the herd into their care, consisting of most of the brood animals, young females and a few sires. Plus they had their own riding camels and stringers, of course.

“A few herdies wouldn’t go amiss,” Kyle said.

“Suggestions?” Jenk said tersely. …

“Lewit and Jeldie? Not her fault she’s a Jovat. Not his fault he’s a Lomack. Merin and Kier? Same again,” Kyle said.

“Marl-Fa might want to come totally,” Moss said. “What’s against asking him? I’m young for chiefing, anyone wanting to grab the chance will say. And then? We have exactly three defenders?”

“The Marl-Family and all their camels?” Jenk said. “We don’t know how much grazing there will be. But I hear you.”

“Jenk,” Kuri-Chief said. “Camp with them this side of the Red Channel. The tidal flats, sea-lettuce grazing will last a day or two. One or the other of the young men and Ivy can cross the water, see the lay of the land. The grazing, campsite near any freshwater supply. Once they return, you rejoin us.” She gestured at Kes and herself. “We’ll speak with Marl, Kier and Merin, when we arrive at the Party Camp.”

Kuri-Chief at the head of the column, and Kestrel at the rear, swung into east with the remaining third of their herd. Nearly all of the remaining animals were stringers and trained riding camels, carrying the Kuri-Family’s tent, a couple of annexes and also all the numbers fostering children. With a few additional animals destined for slaughter, they were a lean and mean herd.