THE LONG WALK by Stephen King

The Long Walk by Richard Bachman

I've been meaning to read this book for years, and since the movie is coming out I thought it was time to get stuck into it.

Here's my synopsis: One hundred boys. Lots of shit talking. A very long walk. Lots of senseless killings. Inconsiderate assholes watching from the sidelines. A very, very long walk. More boring shit talking. More senseless killing. The End.

Seriously. I feel like I wasted my time reading this book because nothing but what I mentioned above happens. There might be an allegory for war embedded in the story. Or maybe it's set during a fascist dystopian rule. I really don't know because by the time I finished the book, I didn't learn anything new.

Also, don't even get me started on the characters because I didn't give a shit about any of them. No attachments here. 😒

The best thing about this experience is that after reaching the 48% mark and being so bored I almost fell asleep, I skimmed ahead to the last very disappointing chapter. Not a fan of that ending.

PS. No rating due to the skimming.


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Drafts & Sorting

Hey! How's it going?

I hope you all managed to have a good week. I know it's hard at the moment because this timeline is all sorts of shitty, and terrible things happen every single day, but like I said last week, we need to find joy in the things we love.

So, what did I get up to? I spent most of the week sorting through my stationery. Yep. That might not sound like a big deal, but I have too many notebooks, sticky notes, pens, etc. that desperately needed to be sorted.

We have a big trunk and it was full of stuff, so I set myself the goal to clear it out by the end of the month. Completely clear. And I surprised myself by getting it done by midweek.

It was a LOT of work, required putting things in different places, only to undo everything and start again. It's mentally and physically exhausting. Every morning I woke up feeling like I'd done a huge workout, LOL. But it was worth it because we donated a heap of stuff, and I intend to refine what I kept.

Spring cleaning is always a WiP.

But that's not all I did. I also revised my latest short story, and actually finished the final read-thru tonight. Yay!

I'm really happy with this one. Not just because I had fun with it, but also because it's the second story featuring one particular character. And not just that, but I do believe that I might be writing a spin-off.

Anyway, here's the total word count: 6,547.

The vampire world update is now: two novels, one novelette, and sixteen short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 61k.

Well, that's it for today. Hope you all have an awesome weekend!!

Spring is in the air...

How are you today? I hope you all managed to have a nice week.

I know it's hard to stay positive when the world feels so freaking upside down at the moment, but you really have to find your happy place because if you don't, everything can get too overwhelming. Taking care of yourself and your mental health has never been more important. This timeline is infuriating and I hope everything rights itself soon.🤞

Anyway, let's talk about the better stuff. This week, I finished another short story. Yay.

Total word count: 3,277.

I had a lot of fun writing this one last week and completing the final draft really made the story a lot stronger. And of course, I also started a new tale. It's crossed 3k so far and I'm probably halfway through. Hoping to finish the first draft tomorrow.

So, the vampire world update is now: two novels, one novelette, and fifteen short stories. The short story collection has now crossed 54k. And I've still got more ideas...

That's fine with me. I love this world. 🦇

Asides from the above, I've been doing more spring cleaning. I'm still sorting through my stationery. Still moving things around, donating several things, putting other things in the bin. I just want to have things in accessible places, instead of forgetting what I have. LOL.

Well, that's about it. Just enjoying a lovely weekend with my husband. Oh, and speaking of hubby, he found/picked up a bunch of very cool Halloween goodies for me. 😍

Have a great weekend!!

DRIVE YOUR PLOW OVER THE BONES OF THE DEAD by Olga Tokarczuk

Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was really looking forward to reading this book because it's sold as a mystery fairy tale featuring an older narrator that treads the line between sanity and madness.

Plus I like the title.

Janina lives in an isolated village in Poland. She enjoys studying astrology and translating William Blake. She's also a teacher and takes care of the empty houses near hers during the winter. But when one of her neighbours dies, and other residents start to die too, a mystery unfolds...

Although I was intrigued by the quirky main character at the beginning and even past the halfway point, I started to lose interest during the downhill trip. 🫤

The problem is that while I enjoyed much of the setup, and the commentary about human hypocrisy when it comes to animal welfare and hunting, I found the conclusion very disappointing. The mystery is revealed in a bland and lifeless way. Also, because I kept waiting for the promised fairy-tale angle, as well as the madness, the ending is anticlimactic. It made me feel like I suffered through a bunch of boring observations that left me feeling hollow.

It's a shame, really. I was convinced I'd love this book, but sadly didn't.


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September is Here!

Hey, how are you today? How was your week? Mine was a little wonky. Or at least, I felt a little wonky.

We've had a few changes in our schedule lately and it's kinda messing around with us. Not to mention that I seem to have forgotten that although I LOVE spring and everything feels different, I always get a little sickish when we slip from winter to spring. And it seems like this year is no different.

 
Hopefully it doesn't stick around for long because I want to enjoy the longer days, and the absence of chilly weather. Although that seems to be hanging around. Ugh.

So, even though I haven't felt 100% all week, I still managed to get more spring cleaning/organising done. This week I continued with my desk, and got stuck into the many notebooks I've collected. I'm willing to part with a bunch of toys and collectibles, but not my notebooks and pens and sticky notes.

The best thing about clearing up and organising my desk is that I can actually sit down and use it, while having access to all my notebooks, pens, etc. Very cool.

I even started doing this, which I found out about last week on Bluesky. It's a cool idea, and a great way to actually start using more of the notebooks I mentioned above! Some of the prompts have resulted in some pretty wild ideas. 😅

Well, I might not have finished a short story this week, but I came close. I completed the third draft tonight and will tackle the final read-thru on Monday. It's already waiting on my Paperwhite. The word count is currently 3,313. Not bad.

So... if you popped in this week, you probably saw the cover art reveal the other day. My cozy fantasy novel will be released in November, but you can already check it out at Netgalley, on Goodreads, and it's available for pre-order. Awesome stuff.

I can't wait to hear what readers think. I love occult detectives, and Destiny is one of mine. 

Well, that's about it. Hope you have an amazing weekend!