Heat, laziness, mildly exciting activity
This week has felt like summer, specifically a hot summer, one which I imagine occurs on a regular basis in the South but thankfully not here. It's been (for a few hours) too hot to drink tea, which is frankly unacceptable. On Tuesday the temperature reached 84 degrees (Fahrenheit, obviously. In Celsius I think that's 'very hot') and on Wednesday I went to bed much later than intended as I couldn't tear myself away from the quiet storm raging over the valley. Like being under a giant faulty striplight.
Picturesque and interesting as it's been, it's also been (for me at least) uncomfortable, oppressive, and absolutely not conducive to getting any writing done. The energy required to hold a pen hasn't really been there. The idea of being in close proximity to a laptop generating heat has not been an attractive one. I went to the library one lunchbreak during the week and sat idly in a patch of sunlight from a high window, revelling in the feeling of bare yet warm arms resting on the wooden table. I didn't do much writing though.
In theory, I'm hard at work on my piece for the Ilkley Writers fringe performance in October, but what's actually happening is I'm writing down disjointed ideas and pretending they're fermenting and producing something useful. The looming deadline for a draft will no doubt galvanise me into action. I have been writing some book reviews - there's a new one due at Luna Station Quarterly in a couple of weeks, and I may be reviewing elsewhere soon (details here as soon as it's certain), and partly related to that I've been to the library twice in the last 2 days and now have a stack of books so high I seriously doubt I can read it all in 3 weeks (even without the inconvenience of the day job cutting down my reading and writing time).
That said, I'll take my leave now and get some proper writing done. Or I might return to the slightly silly but highly entertaining interactive fiction (like those Choose Your Own Adventure books which may or may not still exist) detective story I've been writing with OneMonkey this weekend. As I go, I tip my battered straw hat to all of you who live in warmer climes and yet somehow manage to function on a daily basis, and even write stuff.