I finished reading “The Hacienda” and immediately wanted more. Isabel Canas’ novel has breathed new life into a haunted house story I suspected that I already knew. I’m excited to read her second novel, Vampires of El Norte.
“What Moves the Dead” by T Kingfisher
I’d been working toward reading T. Kingfisher for some time and had found that there was always something else on the to-read pile ahead of them. I did, however, absolutely devour this book and will start “What Feasts at Night” shortly. The reworking of Poe is very strong, very alien and unique, trying to find that place between the familiar and new insight.
“Glimpse into Terror” by Clarissa Ross was probably the weakest of the books that I’ve read for this challenge. It’s a remarkable display of structured writing as it hits every plot point, beat, character moment, etc., without really maintaining a sense of craft. Like visiting an unfinished rental property, every cement slab, every beam, every support is marked out clearly. Characters get one trait each (“The Balding Doctor” being one of the funniest, unintentionally, as it pops up in the middle of very serious conversations in a backhanded way) and otherwise seem to be inversions of each other. Definitely a story that has potential but never really fulfilled it.
I’ve been following up on my own writing submissions again. I missed two calls that I wanted to submit to in February, another in March, but I’ve got three other pieces out currently. I received two rejections yesterday, one of which came with some decent feedback, which was nice. I recall Gene Wolfe saying that anything that’s personalized in a rejection, even if it’s short notes, means you very nearly had it. The general notes come back: sentence to sentence this is very strong prose, but I have no idea what you’re getting at. Three pages of reply for a short fable called “The Casket Wife” would probably be the longest feedback I’ve gotten in some time. (And thorough!) I poured a drink and carried on.
The Library Never Closes 