A little, sneak-preview, if anyone's interested, in my novella. Still waiting for the cover as patiently as I can. (The artist isn't late or anything; I've been going crazy since I placed the order.)

• Are you publishing/self-publishing anything?
• Would you, maybe, want a copy of my story?
• Would anybody want to read my story?

A little something to enjoy before Halloween.

So, I tried my hand at writing my own translation of one of my favorite passages in the Bible.

1 The words of the Preacher, son of David, King in Jerusalem.
2 Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher. Vanity of vanities; the whole is vain.
3 What is left over for man in all his toil in which he toils under the sun?
4 A generation comes and a generation goes; but the earth remains forever.
5 And the sun rises, and the sun goes [down]; And to his place, there he strives to rise.
6 Going to the South, returning to the North—turning, turning, the wind goes; And over its turning, the wind returns.
7 All the rivers run into the sea, but the sea is not full.
[From] the place where the rivers run, there they return to run.
8 All these words are tiresome. Man cannot utter [it].
The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled by hearing.
9 That which is is that which will be, and that which is done is that which will be done; and there is nothing wholly new under the sun.
10 Where is...

More Chesterton today. Another short one. Please enjoy.

How are the WIPs going?

I finally finished that chapter I'd been struggling with. Got most of the way through the next one as well. It seems like very little writing, to be honest, but life got in the way here and there last week.

I started reading a new book, Wake of Malice by Eleanor Nicholson. It's the third part of a series and is shaping up to be my favorite. There's a humorous tone Nicholson captures in this one that makes it a delight to read so far. I loved the characters instantly, which has been one of my criticism of the other books: I disliked the main character in the first book, and it became a struggle to finish; in the second, the character was more likeable, but annoying. In both, the author is rightly displaying a type of person trapped in a type of sin and telling a story about that person's evolution into something better. In this book, she keeps the pattern going, but somehow I don't find myself as irritated by the main character as before. Maybe that's personal ...

How are the WIPs going?

This last week, Eden got my main focus somewhat to the exclusion of my Dragon Hunters story. However, I think I did some good work on both. I wasn't quite comfortable with how I had ended the fourth part of Eden, but I was hit with inspiration and wrote two new endings for it that just manage to make the book a bit more depressing than it was before. By God, I pray I can finish this series. This is supposed to be the darkest part in the whole story, and I don't want it to end here. The next book should start to shine a little ray of hope. Maybe I'm just getting carried away by my own writing.

Oh well. I've printed out the second part of Eden—so far, I'm calling it "Stained"—and my red pen is ready for battle. This one, I fear, is the weakest part of the whole collection. It has some good bits in it, but so much of the story is just me setting things up for part three. It's been a while since I've read through it, though, so maybe I'll feel differently this time ...

How are the WIPs going everyone?

I'm still working on my Dragon Hunters story. The chapter I'm on just keeps getting longer and longer. I'll probably divide it into two once I get to the end, but I'm just not sure yet where the best place for that division lies; it's hard to judge until I have the ending set.

I've also nearly memorized "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe. I say 'nearly' because, though I'm seemingly able to recite any one verse, trying to do the whole thing in one go is still a bit of a challenge, and the latter verses, which I haven't spent as much time on, are still a little rough. However, now I'm also working on memorizing "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by Keats.

I think more people should memorize poetry. It's like eating something. Once you get the words in your mind, they get digested and become a part of you more so than from reading it. It's also fun to recite poems, now and again, even if you're only doing it for yourself. The first poem I ever memorized was "Stopping ...