Daynote - Tue 26 Aug

Back to the routine this morning, after a long and very fun day in Glasgow. It was fantastic to meet so many booksellers and my only regret was not wearing shorts, because it was very hot:

I skipped my walk today because I got over 22,000 steps yesterday, according to my watch, so I was pretty tired when I got home. I'm definitely hoping to do another trip pretty soon and add some indie bookstores to my list, since both of the ones I found before this trip are closed on Mondays.

ON DECK: I eventually managed -544 words in edits yesterday on four different trains (getting from East Lothian to Glasgow is a multi-step process, haha) and this morning I got -143, because I was adding things. Very, very close to my word count goal now with only about 100 pages left to go. Then a few little snippets to add and a final polish to the first 100 pages and that'll be me!

TOOLS AND PROCESS: I'm winding up to do some plotting and planning and brainstorming pretty soon, so I've been using my Supernote Manta again. I was very excited to see that they've released a very substantial update to their already pretty unique Digest feature, which allows you to save Digest snippets as text and use them in other note files. This has some pretty exciting implications for how I can use my Supernote for both worldbuilding/planning and research.

LISTENING: I caught up on a few podcasts while shuttling around Glasgow yesterday, including this excellent episode of the Adventures In Publishing-Land podcast. This week they tackle George RR Martin's fans and AI.

WATCHING: We started HOSTAGE last night on Netflix, a pretty decent and tightly made political thriller. Time was this would have very much been the main purview of the BBC, but Netflix are doing a pretty good job of stealing their lunch at the minute. Although what's up with streamers and incredibly bland titles?

READING: Back to THE POWER OF THE DOG yesterday and it's just terrific. One thing I really love about it is how much of a very clear narrative voice it has. A lot of thrillers have quite 'transparent' prose, in that it's very much focused on plot and information delivery. So it's really nice to sink into a book that is doing both exciting genre action and wrapping it in some gorgeous writing.

LINK: I enjoyed this Runalong The Shelves interview with the excellent RJ Barker. Always a joy to read or hear RJ.

UP NEXT: I'm pretty close to the end of this edit, so I suspect I might have the odd longer writing session this week to get it over the line. Plus a day in town for work, visiting family and a bit of gaming at the weekend with friends.

August is nearly done, which is pretty wild.

Onward!