November 14, 2018 at 4:19 pm (Artists and Writers, destinations, Filipino Writers, Links, Places, Traveling, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, Cee Neuner, inspiration, Ireland, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, writing process
Cee Neuner, thank you for coming up with such interesting prompts.
When Self Can’t Sleep: 3 a.m. in her cottage at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig
Late October: Walking back to the cottage after dinner in the Main House, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
The cottages at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig make maximum use of natural light.
Self was able to keep working on Blue Water, Distant Shores, her novel-in-progress about 18th century Philippines (As of now, 322 pages)
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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November 7, 2018 at 5:56 am (Artists and Writers, Surprises)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, causes, elections, Ireland, politics, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
5:36 a.m. in Annaghmakerrig, self stumbled around the dark room, looking for her MacBook.
Open.
Beto O’Rourke down three points to Ted Cruz in Texas.
Upper Chamber of Maine legislature (Senate) flips to Democrats.
Real-Time Seat Forecast:
U.S. Congress: Democrats + 33
U.S. Senate: Republicans + 3
On Twitter, first tweet self read is from Karl Taro Greenfeld and he says : “. . . seeing Nancy Pelosi . . . ”
What? What? We’re still in business?
Stay tuned.
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November 2, 2018 at 12:59 pm (Books, Lists, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, book lists, Fridays, Ireland, novellas, reading lists, science fiction, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
With this book, the 33rd on her 2018 Reading List, self has exceeded her Goodreads Reading Challenge (32 books). YES! 2018 so LIT!
Next year, self will up her goal to 33 books.
Opening paragraph:
- I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.
lol
Really liked Autonomous (finished last night) except for the torture scenes.
Next up:
- Dead Letters, by Caite Dolan-Leach
- The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski
- Missing, Presumed, by Susie Steiner
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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November 1, 2018 at 7:13 am (Books, Conversations, Recommended, Surprises, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, humor, novel, reading lists, science fiction, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Autonomous, p. 147:
After ordering tea, the man slouched so far over the bar that Paladin could see a pale stripe of skin showing above the waistband of his pants. It was time to try his opening gambit. Offer a piece of personal information, and humans will be sure to offer some of their own.
“I have never been here before, and it is not what I expected,” Paladin vocalized, turning his torso and face towards the man, who looked up with an expression of vague surprise. He hadn’t expected anyone to talk to him, least of all a giant robot.
lol
lol everywhere.
Stay tuned.
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October 31, 2018 at 6:41 am (Books, Eavesdropping, Recommended, Surprises, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, Ireland, novel, reading lists, science fiction, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Paladin and Eliasz go “undercover” to catch Jack the Smuggler, purveyor of the (illegal) Homework Drug (Which has an actual name, but please: self is teaching on-line. Does she have time to look up things? She just keeps thinking: Adderall. Adderall all the time)
- Paladin noticed that Eliasz had changed his posture subtly, slouching and pulling his bangs over his eyes in a way that made him seem younger. He could pass for a postgraduate, and it was clear these drunk bio hackers were already responding to him as a peer. Paladin briefly admired this bit of HUMINT artistry, then considered that some of the records associated with Eliasz’s prints placed him at twenty-nine years old. Perhaps those records were accurate, at least in respect to the man’s age.
There is some really dry wit happening in the head of Paladin (who is AI). There is something really fetching about androids, robots, synths and such. Wouldn’t you agree? So much analyzing, so many surprises!
Stay tuned.
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October 28, 2018 at 5:48 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Recommended, Sayings, Sundays, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, discoveries, Northern Ireland, poetry, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
Self really likes that the cottage is full of poetry books. Every time she comes, she discovers someone new.
She found a book called Landscape of Self (Belfast: Lapwing Publications, 2015) by Aine MacAodha.
Here’s the first half of a poem called
To My Children When I’m Gone
Some mountains are higher than others
Winter can cause frost bite.
Without a bit of darkness
We may not appreciate the light afterwards.
Remember the good in the world
The take your breath smiles
The smile from a stranger in a strange place
The beauty in a daisy chain
The elegance in a buttercup
The wonder of a webbing spider
The warmth of a heart
When another’s fiery arrow hits it
Love and goodness costs nothing
Hatred causes illness
Treat the nature around you with respect
Treat your spirit with kindness others too
Manners are easily carried.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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October 27, 2018 at 10:34 am (Books, Lists, Personal Bookshelf, plans, Recommended)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, book lists, Ireland, novel, reading lists, Saturday, science fiction, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, weekends
Ordered this last week. Can’t wait to start reading.
But first, self has to get through:
- Jade City, by Fonda Lee (on the last 100 pages; so far: five stars)
- Autonomous, by Annalee Newitz
- All Systems Red, by Martha Wells
- Dead Letters, by Caite Dolan-Leach
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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October 23, 2018 at 12:33 pm (Books, Explorers, Filipino Writers, Philippine History, Places, Women Writers, Writing)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, historical fiction, Ireland, The Philippines, Tyrone Guthrie Centre, work-in-progress, writing process
Self has cut so much from her novel-in-progress, Blue Water, Distant Shores, it’s now just 314 pages.
The parts that stay, that made it through three drafts, will be part of the end manuscript now. For sure.
Such as this passage:
The new Gubernador-General announced his intention to establish a system of garrisons ringing the southern Philippine kingdoms of Maranao and Sulu, to contain the Moslem threat. Everyone knew this was idle talk. Spain could not send more soldiers. As the situation stood, she could barely hang on to her prize, the Most Holy City of Manila.
Matias’s watchtower preceded the Church. The site he found was a narrow spit of land that followed the Bago River from its mouth to the Guimaras Strait, which united the Visayan and Sulu Sea.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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October 21, 2018 at 1:37 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Recommended, Traveling, Women Writers)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, Asian American Writers, discoveries, fantasy, Ireland, novel, reading lists, Sundays, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
This is the 2nd of four science fiction books self has with her at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig.
And she ended up working on her historical fiction here (and one horror story).
#lifeyouknow #crazylikethat
She skimmed through The Stone Sky and was operating at serious disadvantage since she was reading the end of a trilogy and didn’t know what a Syl Anagist was or anything. But she was able to piece it together.
Plus, it was a mother-daughter angst story, which self will admit is not her favorite.
When she began Jade City she was quite disheartened to be reading about so many different characters. But the crusty old grandfather intrigued her. And now she’s met Shae, the prodigal daughter.
INTERESTING.
Stay tuned, dear blog readers. Stay tuned.
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October 17, 2018 at 3:30 pm (Artists and Writers, Books, Recommended)
Tags: Annaghmakerrig, artists residency, discoveries, inspiration, Ireland, Irish writers, poetry, Tyrone Guthrie Centre
from the poem Return Visit (in the collection I Bailed Out at Ardee, which I discovered in a bookshelf in my unit at the Tyrone Guthrie Centre in Annaghmakerrig)
There’s a sign,
you that’s one for signs,
you’ve climbed the mountain,
gone into the wood
to touch the stones —
the stones can’t be found.
Scan the view.
Weigh the lean
mid-winter air.
That sapper’s mark
has its eye on me.
I stand there years,
then know-nothing,
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