Monday Morning Reset Button [05/08].

Oh, man, I’ve got to admit, last week felt like a pretty good one, although I think most of the reason I’m feeling it was so successful was because I managed to get several blog posts up, more than I usually do and more along the amount I’d like to do regularly. Hopefully, that’s the start of a beautiful trend, but Fandom High has officially started up, so let’s see how much that manages to distract me. I’m still holding out that it requires me to be at my computer more which mean also getting other things that require my computer done because I’m addicted to multi-tasking.

In case you missed it, there’s a new Featured Story from last year’s World Unknown Review up this week. This month, I bring you Robert Allen Lupton‘s exciting tale of pirate treasure in the swamps of Louisiana with “The Scrimshawed Ostrich Egg.” I love anything with voodoo and New Orleans, so he really managed to catch my attention with this one, and I really loved the mess the main characters get themselves into.

But before you go and read that, let’s have a look at the week that was and the week to come from little ol’ me:

Reading: I started reading Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe this morning. This book and I have an interesting relationship. I never had to read it for school somehow, but I picked it up in high school because it was so iconic and you always heard about how influential it was. I remember trying to start it a million times, but always getting distracted by other books. The copy I started today is that same copy I tried to read nearly two decades ago, but this time, I’m hunkering in for good. Even though all I can think of half the time is the Little Rascals episode Spanky.

HEY GOAT, HOLD IT!!

I also finished Lulu in Marrakech by Diane Johnson, which I thought was a very dumb book. It almost made me like Elizabeth Peters‘ Vicky Bliss books by comparison, and I’m sure some of you know how much I loathe Vicky Bliss. That’s how little I thought of Lulu, and that’s saying a lot.

Writing: Some of you may also know that when I write a first draft, I do it long hand, and I have a particular style of small notebook that I like to use. The only probably with this notebook is that it usually takes two of them to complete a novel. And I’ve currently misplaced the first notebook with the draft of Fearless, preventing me from really getting started on the second draft. Luckily, I have the next few days off so I can tear the apartment up looking for it, and then getting started on finally concluding The Slayer Saga.

I got in a few more rejections, putting me at a neat 50. The halfway mark! I honestly expected to have gotten there sooner, but it’s well before the half-way point of the year, so I’m sure I’ll easily get to 100 by the end of it. No new acceptances, but my story “The Lady of the Masks” will be arriving in Pulp Modern soon, hopefully tomorrow! I’m really excited to share this gruesome, sexy tale with you guys.

‘Rithmatic: Not a whole lot else going on. Work has been stressful as usual, but my manager is really striving to get some more people in to take the load off of me and the other part-timer right now, especially since our supervisor is leaving at the end of May. So there could be some interesting times ahead there. Weight loss is going well; I feel that the results are finally starting to show, and playing Fandom High during my lunch breaks is helping me to not eat as much. There’s an unconventional weight loss tool for you! I’ve also got three out of the four Divine Beasts in Breath of the Wild, which is a little bittersweet. I just don’t want it to end, although I know I’ve still got a lot more of my journey to go.

I’ve got to chug my way through this last day of work before I have a sweet little three days off, which I hope will be productive and enjoyable. How’s everyone else doing out there? Anything exciting to share in your world?

Happy reading!