Hello everyone! I bet you thought I forgot about you! I didn’t; however, I feel an explanation is owed for my extremely long absence. Simply put, life got in the way.
Those of you who live in Los Angeles will already know that it is a very expensive city. When I first moved here I had a lovely chunk of change in my bank account that made the first year a delight. I had time and resources to explore the city, expand my horizons, and read/write. However, the longer I lived here, the smaller that lovely chunk of change became until, finally, it disappeared. At that point, I became reliant on my job to pay for all expenses. Suffice it to say, as a struggling artist type working in retail, that was a lot more difficult than it sounded. Eventually I found a better job that paid more, but the trade-off was that I was now working 10+ hour days six days a week. I lost time for everything except work. Progress on my first novel ground to a standstill (it’s still not finished), and, obviously, I was no longer able to write for this site.
I’m sorry for leaving you all hanging for years with no explanation. I could have at least warned you.
But circumstances have changed! In two months I will be moving back to North Carolina to be closer to my friends and family. I will finally have the time I need to resume non-work activities, so we’ll at last being seeing new content on this blog. I have made a few changes:
- The title of the blog has been changed from “My Weird Year” to “My Weird Life.” When the blog was conceived as a year-long experiment that name made sense, but now that I’m resuming writing two years after I started it, a change seemed necessary. As such, the URL of the site has been changed to weirdlifereviews.wordpress.com.
- When I first started the blog I planned to review every book I read. This included selections such as Herman Melville’s Moby-Dick, which in retrospect is an odd title to review for a blog that focuses on fantastic literature (though I would be fascinated to read about Melville’s influence on weird fiction…). So I’m narrowing my focus to fantasy, horror and science-fiction only, with ample reviews of classic weird tales to make sure the blog stays true to its roots.
I can’t promise that you’ll see much new content before the move, but I’ll try to post a review or two. As promised all those years ago I’ll post a review of Algernon Blackwood’s “The Willows,” but at the moment I’m reading through M. John Harrison’s Viriconium cycle, so that’s likely what will be posted first. Thank you all for your patience and understanding. It’s good to be back!
My Weird Life 