Hello! I'm back! And newly turned 45!
My wife Valerie is very good at catching me in candid photos, and I really like this one. It's at Drift, one of our favourite cafes in East Lothian, and I'm looking out at the Bass Rock being thrashed by post-storm waves. Please forgive my bouffant hair, not had it cut for a while and it was a very windy morning.
ON DECK: I'm in town (hence the shot of Edinburgh's Old Town above) for day job and lunch with a friend, so I'm camped in a cafe with the proofs for A TRAITOR'S CALL, which went live on NetGalley while I was away. I'm hoping I don't find too many lingering typos, since reviewers are reading it already, but so far so good. And the reviewers seem to be liking it too, which is a relief.
I have until next Thursday to re-read the whole thing in detail, looking for issues or errors we missed in previous passes. Which is comfortable, although I've got a busy Friday coming up with non-writing admin work (related to my writing) and meetings, so I'll have to mostly get it done in my usual morning writing time and possibly this coming weekend, a bit. We'll see how I do.
TOOLS AND PROCESS: When I'm reviewing work just for myself in PDF form, I usually use my Supernote Manta, because of all the neat features it has like Digest and annotation review. But when I'm working with a publisher, it (unfortunately) really has to be Adobe Reader. Which is a terrible piece of software. I used to have an iPad for this kind of thing, though I passed it on when I got the Supernote. It's usually fine to do proof reviews on a laptop though, but I quite like the idea of kicking back with a tablet to do it. Maybe next year.
LISTENING: Got through a heap of podcasts this last few days as we unpacked and worked through our holiday laundry backlog. I really enjoyed this interview with Martha Wells (MURDERBOT, WITCH KING) on Eating The Fantastic. And I am very intrigued by the trailer for Reactor's new podcast by Christina Orlando, Read Receipts.
WATCHING: Mostly since we got back we've been catching up on BAKE OFF and CELEBRITY TRAITORS. So we haven't really watched anything drama-wise. But we're nearly caught up.
READING: I finished PLANETFALL by Emma Newman (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon) while I was away and enjoyed it - though I did feel like it relied a little too much on the POV character simply not thinking about things to hide information from the reader. Heck of an ending though.
After that I dived into THE TRIALS OF EMPIRE by Richard Swan (Bookshop, Waterstones, Amazon), the third book in the first trilogy (of three trilogies, keeping up?). Richard is a friend (we have the same agent) but I also just really enjoy his books, although he's prolific enough that I'm not quite keeping up. Only a few pages into this one but already looking forward to it.
KIT: Newly emboldened by wandering around Italy, I got myself a little pouch thing for events and days when I'm doing signings, which is just big enough to carry signing pens, some water, wallet and keys. It's great. I got it on Vinted and it's an Eagle Creek thing (it was listed as a 'festival pouch') but this appears to be the closest thing they do now. Eagle Creek make great stuff but they're really bad for constantly changing their product line.
LINK: As I do every time I go on a trip, I started obsessing about all the stuff I can carry and how I can make it smaller/lighter/easier for next time. And I discovered that Jeremy Maluf (who's been travelling with a single impossibly tiny bag for years) had all his stuff stolen, so he's done a big update post of all his gear. Some insanely pricy stuff on there, but also some real nugget recommendations.
UP NEXT: Finishing up in this cafe for the morning with another 30 minutes on the proofs, then a lunch I'm really looking forward to, then more proofs tomorrow, and the day after, and probably the day after that. This kind of close-reading can be a little tough, since it's the sixth or seventh time I've read the book all the way through. It's very easy to skim and this is the one time you really can't skim. So, coffee and focus.
Onward!