Mishmash of Thoughts

The distracted ramblings of someone in the middle of revisions

I’m currently in the editing stage of a new book. So I’m very distracted, which is probably why this week’s newsletter is a Mishmash of Thoughts. Please forgive me.

Thought #1: Paddington

I watched Paddington 1 & 2 recently, and they are amazing. They are great family films, so if you have kids, I highly recommend. My daughter loved Paddington 1. But even if you don’t, I still recommend them. They made me laugh; they made me cry. And this moment from The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent about Paddington 2 is 100% correct:

Thought #2: Beowulf & Coraline

I was thinking about how, in a rough, sort of depressing way, the epic poem Beowulf and the children’s novel Coraline by Neil Gaiman have something in common. Why was I thinking about this? I don’t know. But here we go.

After attaining glory by killing the monster Grendel and Grendel's mother, Beowulf returns home where he is crowned king. But the story doesn't end there. Once king, a dragon starts plaguing his land. He must now prove himself worthy of the crown. While he succeeds in slaying the dragon, he is mortally wounded. His land is safe, his ultimate glory attained, but he dies. Death and glory are bound to the dragon, just as they are bound to Beowulf. This reminded me of the famous line in Coraline: “Being brave doesn’t mean you aren’t scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway.” Like Coraline, Beowulf has learned what's at stake from his past interactions with monsters, but goes up against the dragon anyway.

Thought #3: When Among Crows

Veronica Roth’s latest novella, When Among Crows, was awesome. Subgenres like urban fantasy can sometimes get too bogged down by the trappings of their own genre, either being so concerned with what's been done before that they try to reinvent the wheel, or too fixated on satisfying the genre's expectations—tropes—that they become painfully predictable. When Among Crows doesn't do any of that. It’s about Polish folklore creatures in contemporary Chicago, adhering to the most basic criteria of urban fantasy: that it is fantasy set in an urban environment.

The story bears some similarities to The Witcher books (which I loved), not only because of their Polish folklore influences, but its blend of brutality, romance, and the journey of a band of misfits on a quest to find a monster. The book also has a killer opening paragraph. Not enough is said about Veronica Roth’s prose. I would say more now, but I’m still processing. Maybe another newsletter will be devoted to that subject.

Thought #4: An Immense World

I just finished reading An Immense World by Ed Yong and it too was incredible. Did you know that Fire Chaser Beetles track wildfires from miles away so that they can mate amidst the flames? That mosquitos sense carbon dioxide and body heat, but only come running when the two are combined? And that our sensory pollution of the environment—like light pollution and sound pollution—is causing the extinction of certain species? For example, did you know that almost seven million birds die in the US and Canada every year from flying into communication towers? And that this could be averted if we just changed the lights on the towers from static bulbs to blinking ones? Food for thought.

What I’m Reading Now:

• Semi Dual: The Occult Detector, Volume 1: 1912 by J.U. Giesy & Junius B. Smith

• Small Town Monsters by Diana Rodriguez Wallach