Random Thoughts for a Monday

(Some of the more interesting stuff encountered or re-read in the last few days while working on the big book of weird fiction; couldn't find the Jamaica Kincaid collection to add it to the shot.)I'm sick of internet kerfuffle, so I'm avoiding it this week. It's not for lack of sympathy, but for lack of time and lack of energy and also because it's getting more and more depressing for me personally to emphasize the negative when there is a lot of non-polarizing positive out there that needs support. (Like, GO BUY A BOOK FROM AQUEDUCT PRESS RIGHT NOW! Okay?)Me, I'm practically ancient now--a half-senile writer with deadlines on various projects between now and May 1st who is slowly "deliquescencing" into that comfortable stage between Young Turk and Old Fart. The world is just one big story, just composed of books, just composed of paragraphs and sentences.I don't know how much Ann and I read this weekend, but it was a lot--not just for weird but Clarion submissions and much more. One thing all of this affirmed for both Ann and me: Caitlin R. Kiernan has written so many amazing horror/dark fantasy stories that it's going to be hard to choose just one.Meanwhile the first--check out Mark Teppo on the Nature of Magick.Meanwhile the second--check out Booklifenow, where Tamara Kaye Sellman will be guest blogging this week. Next week, Cynthia Ward and Nisi Shawl.