Hey hey!

It's been a long stretch past Halloween this week after the icky un-fun that is Covid payed an unwelcome visit to our house.  Boo!  But we kicked it to the curb with the help of the omicron booster jabbed a few weeks back for one of us and anti-viral meds for the other.  Yay!

That regrettably hit my writing productivity this time around, just in time for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which occurs every November. 

In chatting with a friend about it just a day or two ago, he said he uses it as a motivator to get words on a page for various projects, irrespective of their status as a novel or something else.  And I absolutely commend him for it.

I tried NaNoWriMo several years ago, wanting to get as much words as possible, while knowing that I wouldn't actually finish the novel.  I flamed out after about a week and it took many more sessions to get back into a writing rhythm. 

I learned that I'm much more of a distance runner than a sprinter when it comes to writing.  My productivity may not win races, but I pride myself on getting across the finish line.

For me, every month is NaNoWriMo.  It's one part of the larger marathon.  Still, it would be nice to beat last month's so-so results.

And I shall endeavor to do just that.

One word at a time.

Faith Nyms is a supremely competent ops commander in New Grelland's military.  She often provides strategy and insight to the upper levels of leadership including the Burnhelt family.

She must strive all the harder for the respect of her peers due to her long romance with Matt Burnhelt.  Despite what could be seen as a position of nepotism, she is widely considered to be the best commander in the entire Grellish armed forces.

She is often serious, but deeply loves Matt.  Perhaps obsessively so.  Faith is very seldom apart from him.

And she has a soft spot for his brother, Ed.

His quips are often the cause of Faith's stifled or no-so-stifled chuckles.

As indicated above, the week of Covid did no favors to much in my life, including my writing productivity.  I reached page 479 with about 135,300 words.  Last months stats had me at page 440 with about 124,300.  There's a few extra days on this round since this reader group email is coming a bit further into the month.

So.  Yeah.  Not great.  But better than nothing.

Keep at it.  And keep writing.  I hear this month is nationally dedicated to it or something.

Work in Progress Out of Context Quote of the Month:

Hekati: You deserve this. You killed the airborne kliost. You murdered a new world before it was born. Everything that will happen. Know that you have it coming.

The Witcher: Season of Storms- Andrzej Sapkowski, translated by David French

To use a term from Joanna Penn's podcast, this is an "inbetweenisode" for the Witcher series.  The ever-grouchy and horny Geralt finds himself embroiled in the twisted politics of a kingdom with a looming succession crisis, the nightmarish creatures mad sorcerers, and a few supernatural canines. 

Geralt just wants to get his stolen swords back and get out.  Circumstances conspire to prevent him from doing just that. 

It's nice to see a new novel adventure of the Witcher.  Sapkowski imbues the characters with compelling dialogue and motivations.  And the monsters are extra grotesque.

Special credit must also go to the translator David French.  I'm reasonably sure that the prose pops all the more in English thanks to his efforts.

Andor on Disney+

This show is dissimilar to any other Star Wars movies or series of the Disney era.  It's not focused at all on the Jedi.  It's a slow burn that shows the Empire's gradual strangling of the last vestiges of the Old Republic's freedoms. 

Cassian Andor is not the rebel spy we meet at the beginning of Rogue One.  He's a thief with utter contempt for the Empire's arrogance.  He gets pulled into the rebellion starting with his lethal encounter with corporate security.

Mon Mothma is also a stand out in this show with her scenes on the Coruscant in the Senate and her loveless household.  She stands on a knife's edge.  It will be interesting to see the path that takes her fully into the rebellion.  I'd love to see more shows with her after this two season run reaches its end.

That's all for this time.

Stay smart.  Stay safe.

Jim