#book work

Saturday May 9

The reader broke down everything with stunning clarity: pacing mapped out in percentages, character dynamics analyzed for both emotional truth and narrative function, and a suspense curve that pinpointed exactly where my story held attention and where it wavered.

What’s extraordinary is the balance. They celebrated what worked (calling the central relationship “the emotional heart of the piece”) while directly addressing what didn’t, all without a shred of dismissiveness. The suggestions weren’t vague, they were concrete, prioritized, and accompanied by clear examples and even optional rewrites for maximum impact.

This is feedback that demonstrates a deep understanding of story craft. They see the blueprint of your chapter, the load-bearing walls and the decorative trim, and know exactly which to reinforce, which to trim, and how to make the entire structure shine.

Today I:

-got a slightly earlier start to my day

-wrote a cool 1k

-spent some time out back admiring the mystery plant from the sky that seems each day more likely to be grape tomatoes! i love watching the little fruits grow it's so satisfying I understand The Point of gardening now more than ever and this is just a plant that appeared without having been planted (read: bird shit origin) I can't imagine how attached I'd be if I actually chose to put it there and nurtured it from nothing

-went to the community center gym for the first time and I feel pretty good about it and want to go again before next week

-sent a draft of my intro to a mentor

-most importantly!! out of all these actually nice good things! I got to see a good friend from grad school whom I haven't seen since 2021. We went to a traditional greek restaurant I've never heard of before and it was all actually quite good but that wasn't even really the point, we did it for the vibes and nostalgia mainly and it delivered (altho I don't actually think I was ever in Greece with him concurrently)

📖: ring shout x p. djèlí clark (2020)

genres: historical fiction, horror, fantasy

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

review in one sentence: i loved the overall concept but thought aspects of the plot and characters could benefit from this being a longer book and not a novella.

“For a moment it seems the two are battling: my songs and his uneven chorus. But it was never a real fight. What I have is beautiful music inspired by struggle and fierce love. What he got ain’t nothing but hateful noise.”

🗡️👻🪘

if you like this, you might also enjoy…

📺 lovecraft country (2020)

🎬 us (2019)