It’s National Novel Writing Month again, and I’m once again tasking myself with the challenge of writing 50,000 words before November is out. The challenge starts on November 1st, of course.  I have an idea in mind that’s a quasi-fantasy political drama (“quasi”,  because swords, horses, and castles are more interesting than machine guns and cars), so I’m looking forward to the starting pistol being fired off.

Last week I was plodding through Wolf Hall, but the narrative structure was so slippery and the chief characters without interest that I’ve more or less given up. So far it consists of people saying things that have nothing to do with Henry VIII, and Thomas Cromwell being depressed or anxious about his wife dying, his boss falling from grace and dying, and the general danger of being tasked by a king who will soon prove he has no compunction against serial executions How a book on Henry VIII manages to be anything less than exciting is a puzzle to me,  and after looking on Goodreads and Amazon I can’t help but note that the book is polarizing: either people think it’s the cat’s meow, or they’re utterly put off by it. I suppose I’m in the latter camp. I’ve abandoned it for season two of The Tudors, which isn’t making me like Cromwell any better.

Some historical fiction is coming up, as I just received Master of Rome in the post and have another book somewhere in transit. I also checked out a stack of nonfiction yesterday, mostly fiction — the Great War, the Byzantines, a little economics, and a short work on Judaism. I’m probably overambitious considering NaNo and such, but who knows?

Happy reading — and writing.