I have finally embarked on a long writing project, a novella that is part of something I’m doing with Brian Keene. I thought I had the germ of the idea a few months ago, but I got sidetracked with other things and a new, fresh idea came along. I started yesterday and have about 3000 words as of today. I say “about” because I can only estimate. Thus far, I’ve been writing longhand in a spiral-bound journal and I’m guessing about 250 words per page. I’m not quite sure why I’m going about it this way, but it is working, so I’m not going to second guess the process. I don’t have any idea where this story came from or where it’s going, exactly, but I keep thinking about it even when I’m not writing, so that’s encouraging.
My latest essay at Stephen King Revisited is up: Graveyard Shift looks at the historical context of King’s first short story collection, Night Shift. Rich Chizmar’s thoughts about the collection also went up today. Speaking of CD, I received my contributor copies of issue #72 of the magazine on the weekend. In addition to my regular column, I have the featured review of Revival, which I am now listening to on audio and appreciating it even more the second time around.
I’m not a huge football fan. I could fill a book with the rules I don’t understand. I couldn’t even name all of the positions or what their responsibilities are, but I do enjoy watching a game from time to time, especially during the playoffs when there’s so much at stake. I particularly enjoy the offbeat plays, like the faked punt or the one where the entire team shifted position to turn an unlikely player into an eligible receiver who then lumbered down the field unmolested to catch a touchdown pass (this might have been in a college game). The two games on Sunday couldn’t have been more different. Green Bay dominated and lost, and New England dominated and won. I couldn’t believe the turn-about by Seattle so late in the game after looking incredibly drab and listless for 58 minutes.
I just finished re-watching the five episodes of the first series of The Fall, starring Gillian Anderson and Jamie Dornan. Anderson does a passable (to my ears) British accent in her part as a Detective Superintendent sent by Scotland Yard to Belfast to conduct a 28-day review of a stagnating homicide investigation. She links up a couple of other crimes and comes to the conclusion there’s a serial killer at work, played with creepy delight by Dornan. Anderson’s character makes others uncomfortable because she is cold, calculating and because she is sexually aggressive. If she were a man, no one would blink at her having a one-night stand with someone she met only briefly, but because she’s a woman, her colleagues and superiors are outraged. It’s an interesting mirror on contemporary sexual politics. Season 2, consisting of six episodes, is now up on Netflix.
