The Philosopher's Stone

MLK WEEKEND - DAY 2:

The weekend continues and I keep performing up to, and perhaps a bit beyond, my expectations.

• Finished reading Mammoth and wrote a review for FantasyBookSpot.com, only to discover that it had already been reviewed. Kind of disappointing, although the book itself was quite enjoyable. Silly me, I'll have to keep closer tabs next time. Unfortunately, when I realized the review had already been written, I closed the file without saving it. I could have tried to shop it around a bit. Alas, my absent-mindedness strikes again.
  
• Researched Alzheimer Disease and dementia for my next SF story, "Frozen in a Dream." This included reading two chapters of Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars. Very well written book, full of intriguing case studies. Some of it was familiar, in concept, from my college course in Abnormal Psychology. The chapter "The Last Hippie" pertains to a man who cannot create new long term memories and constantly lives in the late sixties. "The Landscape of His Dreams" deals with an artist who is obsessed with the Italian village of his youth, and can only come to terms with the obsession through his artwork. Both have profoundly impacted the direction I'm going in "Frozen in a Dream."
  
• Began writing on "Frozen in a Dream." Wrote the first two scenes, which come out to a bit over 4 pages - 1,970 words (Microsoft Word count 1,698 words).
  
• I decided to delay work on "Poor Richard's Fire" while I do more research. I have the concept, but not an actual plot yet. I will begin it in February, as I hope to submit it in April. Sometimes I start without a clear idea of the end, but the plot somehow works itself out of the characters and the setting. Still, with a short story, it's vastly preferable to know exactly what your target is if you're going to retain the necessary brevity.
  
• Began reading Tong Lashing: Sir Apropos of Nothing Book 3 by Peter David. The first one was hilarious; the second one entertaining. Hopefully this one will provide an upward trend. It contains a territory called the Wata' Waste and the Ho Clan, with their leader, Skang Kei Ho. How can you go wrong with elements like that?