The Sunday Circle: What Are You Working On This Week?

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

I’m just back from a weekend in the mountains to celebrate my partner’s birthday, so this week will be fairly short one.

What am I working on this week?

I’ve been kicking around a short story under the working title The Black Glove Widow of Helios Ridge, which is just starting to arrange itself in my head after several months of lying fallow. The current draft is about 6,000 words and maybe a quarter of what I’m thinking, so it could well end up stretching out to something longer. 

What’s inspiring me this week?

American Hippo is the compiled edition of Sarah Gailey’s Tor.com novellas focused on an alternate history American where hippos are farmed as the primary food source. It’s a madcap idea – both in the initial set-up and some of the character arcs – but it gets away with an awful lot through careful pacing, endearing characterisation, and an utter fidelity to it’s world and the stakes set up within it. Strongly recommended, if only to see how Gailey puts together a heist storyline in the space of a novella length.

What action do I need to take?

Sleep. The weekend was long, the celebrations hard, and nature close enough that my allergies were invoked. I’m running on very little sleep at this stage and really need an early night 🙂