A Monday Update

Hello all and welcome to another month at Peat's Academy for the Blithely Eccentric.

Or not, as the case may be.

This will be a quiet month on me for the blog for a few reasons. One of them is NaNo, which I'm going to be using as a good excuse to up my fiction writing habit. Another major one is I want to switch this blog to Wordpress, as that seems a far better platform than Blogger, which makes me a little reluctant to add to the archive I'll have to transfer over. This post will make 252 - that's quite a lot. I'll probably do a few updates here and there due to habit, but nothing like what I've been doing.

"Peat," you might say, "It doesn't take that long to switch platforms."

It does when you're not trying very hard and it's not a priority. But it will happen!

I do have plans for when I re-open on a new platform. Probably non-sustainable plans, but we'll see. Here's the planned schedule for the new site:

Mondays: This is when I'll post my worst ideas since you need something to make you laugh on Mondays, and these posts will be slightly less annoying than your co-workers. Books as alcoholic drinks. Books as band names. Dubious things to do with bones. I think my next one planned is reviews in limerick form, but I'm always willing to listen to new bad ideas.

Tuesdays-Wednesdays: Reviews, interviews, top 10 lists (unless v silly), and so on.

Thursdays: Writing chat, which could also include interviews

Fridays: Fantasy chat - Fantasy Five catch-ups, general state of the genre things (I could also possibly include anthology reviews and roundtable chats here)

Saturdays: Nothing

Sundays: Fiction. Hopefully a serial, but other forms of fiction may appear.

I think that's it. Obviously this is all subject to change, and I'm not above double posting on days when I've got lots of content and can't be arsed with waiting to post it. Which might result in missing days. I apologise for the way I am there.

So that's it really. If there's anything in particular people think would be cool to see, hit me up in comments on one of the many other forms of communication available.

And as a nod to there being some sort of content today, here's a general update

Reading: I'm sort of between books at the moment. I'm dipping into Fallen Queen by Y.R. Shin and Nasomi's Quest by Enock Simbaya, but neither is super grabbing me so progress promises to be slow there. I do, between ARCs and a super-sekrit project, have a TBR list that's longer than a Leonard Cohen song so I should dig into that, but right now I want some fairly easy re-reads or to dig into non-fiction.

Listening: Most of my days are dedicated to a mix of Depeche Mode, Fields of the Nephilim, and generally laidback and dark music, but I am also trying to go through the entire Enslaved discography, one a day. I was also recommended this album of Stoner Metal Nirvana covers by Blessings of the Highest Order which is pretty good.

Drinking: I had a hot chocolate spiked with Kahlua and Phantom Spirits' rum aged in stout barrels, which is a good way to make the world feel a little better. Expect alcoholic hot drinks experiments to continue.

Eating: I had some great fusion results last week combining various blends of soy/hoisin/rice wine with allspice and a Chipotle-Mango-Lime spice blend I got from TK Maxx, but didn't write down any recipes. I also made a very tasty faux-SE Asian soup, but I didn't write that recipe either. I do have some teriyaki eel from a takeaway to eat as leftovers today but I'll be honest, it wasn't very good.

Watching: I have let my wife have the TV remote for Halloween (and most of eternity to be honest) so it's been a lot of Hocus Pocus, the new Are You Afraid Of The Dark and so on. Left to myself, it's been rewatching Avatar: The Last Airbender and Guy's Grocery Games. I did also see most of the Steelers-Ravens game on Sunday, which had one hell of an ending. And speaking of endings, if my Fantasy Football team keeps staging nigh-miraculous comebacks to beat my wife's team, it will probably end my marriage.

Writing: This blog post.

Not sorry. Uhm. I'm doing a lot of WIP hopping, but I am trying to get the main one (embittered knight is forced to turn detective to try and save a sharp-tongued thief from a murderous gang after she's accused of a crime she didn't actually commit (she does a better job of the saving)) ready to submit by the end of the year. The other main project features an unlikely and bickering crew of misfits trying to put a king back on his throne - assuming he still wants it. Also got back into doing some poetry for some godawful reason.

And that's it. Happy trails.