| | | | | | Nothing like a beach holiday to get your read on, am I right? 🏖️ Well, actually, it rained almost the entire time we were in Moruya, so we didn't spend much time at the beach. At one point floodwaters covered our driveway, so it literally wasn't an option. (As a first time 4WD-owner, I was actually pretty keen to drive through the river, but my wife sensibly vetoed that.) Still, that just means I was reading indoors instead of outdoors, which was just as nice and not nearly so sandy. Here's what I read: | | | |
There Is No Antimetics Division ☣️ Are you getting a sense of déjà vu? Don't worry, that's not a cognitohazard eating your brain - I have indeed written about this book before. But it was the self-published version, not the newly-minted Penguin version, which has been revised, updated and redacted, though there are plenty of redactions in the original text as well. I won't go into the plot here, because this review does a far better job than I could. | | The long and the short of it is that I liked all the new scenes, but I also liked all the scenes that were cut to make room for them, so I wouldn't say the new version is better. Most of the edits seem to be around plausibility. The new stuff creatively buttresses various weaknesses in the original plot, while some of the wildest, most daring moments have been tossed aside. The result is a novel that's still deeply strange, but probably more commercial.
Maybe not, though. Word of mouth is everything, and I think most people are more likely to recommend a book for being astonishing than for being believable. | | | |
Either way, I enjoyed this story, for the third time in a row. | | | | | | | My new book comes out on April 1 🔥 |
A deadly blaze. A desperate girl. Zoe Gale has three days to crack the case . . . | | | I decided to try an experiment. I came up with a prompt and started writing one of the stories for 300 Minutes of Survival. Once I'm done, I'm going to feed the same prompt into an AI and see which story is better. Want to see my work in progress? | | | | | |
Events 🎫
- March 19-22, NSW: Manly Writers Festival (I assume it's a festival in Manly, not one I was invited to for having a moustache) - March 28, ACT: SCBWI Professional Development Day - April 1: I Know What You're Hiding comes out - August, WA: Kimberly Writers Festival (details soon) - September 9-13, NSW/VIC: Write Around the Murray Festival - October, SA: Once Upon a Festival - November: Choppy Water comes out (that's my new book for adults, but you're not supposed to know about it yet! Shhh.)
There will be more, so stay subscribed! Thanks for reading, everyone - drive safely.
JH🖊️
| | | | | | Written on unceded Ngunnawal/Ngambri land. I acknowledge elders past, present and emerging. Always was, always will be.
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