Started the new job yesterday and it looks pretty good. There are lots of detailed instructions on what to do and it’s more keeping on top of a bunch of minor details than anything really major, although there are a number of things I want to do with the department website and some internal network stuff. The walk is nice and, as intended, the hours will leave plenty of time for writing.

I’m taking down Jeff Ford’s book “The Fantasy Writer’s Assistant and Other Stories” one story at a time. I’m a fan. I really liked “Creation,” a story Jeff read while we were at Clarion. He taught weeks five and six with Kelly Link. I plan on reading his novels “The Physiognomy” and “The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque” next. But I never make it very far on my reading list before it changes.

I’ve still got some sagas to go through. I bought “Jomsviking Saga,” “The Schemers and Viga-Glum’s Saga” and “The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki” right before Clarion, and I still need to read “Laxdaela Saga” and “Grettir’s Saga.” And of course, I need to finish “The Kalevala” which I started, loved, and inexplicably did not finish. After that, I still want to re-read the first book of the “Arabian Nights” and continue through books two, three, and four. Which should take me the rest of my life.

I also need to work on rewrites. I think there are about a dozen stories I need to send out in the next month and most of them need just a bit of reworking. The most perplexing one is “Twenty Pound Hammers” which is a retelling of the John Henry myth. Can’t decide whether I should do a massive overhaul now or send it out as-is and see if I get a bite. I need to set a timeline and stick to it, though.