It’s been too long since my last post. I haven’t really been writing anything, or reading anything for that matter. It’s been quiet couple of months, for most of us I imagine. I had all but stopped writing, not having any motivation to do anything, then on Saturday the post arrived with Stephen King’s new book Later. I ordered it way back last year when it was first announced and kind of forgot about it. I haven’t read a single book this year so far, so hadn’t been keeping up to date with new releases. I had a few moments between work and dinner and thought it was worth reading the first couple of chapters. It felt as good as medicine to be back reading more Stephen King. It was therapeutic to be taken with ease into the story and I’ve read a little bit each day, finishing the book earlier today.

I really enjoyed it. It’s not the best thing he’s ever written, but it’s exactly what I needed right now. Something shortish, easy to read and something that got me back in the mindset of reading. The story is about and told from the perspective of Jamie Conklin, a child who can speak to dead people. The book is very aware of itself and gives a nod to The Sixth Sense right at the beginning. Not that this follows the same plot at all. Later is very much it’s own thing once it gets going, which doesn’t take long. As always Stephen King’s characters shine through and make this another book worth reading.

I started the book on Saturday and since then I’ve written 2500 words. 2000 on a new book and 500 on a short story. Both of which I’ll reveal more on soon. The longer piece is the most realist thing I’ve ever done, while the short story is something that I’ve been churning in my head for at least a year at this point, slowly piecing it together. Once I’m finished with the short story I’m going to finish up the last short story I was working on last year, in October. I nearly finished it and just need to give it an ending and then I’ll be able to post this on here as soon as possible.

So far this year I’ve only watched 3 films. All in January. I watched Casablanca, which had been on my list for a long time. There isn’t anything that I can say that hasn’t been said before. It’s a really good film that doesn’t feel like it’s aged at all. Highly recommended to anyone who hasn’t watched it. I also watched A Sunday Horse, which for the life I me I don’t know why. I have a dvd rental subscription that sends discs through the post (The latest of which have been sitting their since early February) I add anything that takes my fancy to the list and let it send them at random. I don’t remember why I added A Sunday Horse to the list. I must have added it but why, I couldn’t tell you. It has William Shatner in, that would be my best guess, but where I found out about it, your guess is as good as mine. It was awful and pointless. A true and unremarkable story. Not worth the time.

So what have I been spending my time, if not writing, reading or watching movies? Playing games partly. I finished the new Assassin’s Creed game and Cyberpunk. 100% on both. Really enjoyed both. The story in Cyberpunk would have been better as a 2 hour film, but the side missions and just roaming around Night City was fun while it lasted. I started Demon Souls and played for around an hour. I don’t have the patience for a game like that at the moment. I will come back at some point.

Mostly I’ve been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel with Tabby. One of my favourite shows from childhood and it stands up even better than I remember. As of writing this, we have 4 episodes of Buffy left and then 3 episodes of Angel season 4 and the whole of season 5. We started watching in January and are making quick work of it. I’m absolutely loving it and forgot how good the show is. Tabby had never seen and she is loving it too. Once we’ve finished it, I don’t know what we are going to do with the spare time we have. Probably get around to the movies that have piled up and catch up on some other shows that I’ve missed such as the new season of Star Trek Discovery.

I’ll be back again soon. Thanks for reading, and until next time,

Ashley