Less Than Pulp, Issue 32

Reading Updates, White Lotus, and Hobbies

Jan 9, 2023

Sorry about the short post last week. I was still recovering from New Year’s shenanigans. That’s not as exciting as it sounds. I’m not the partier I used to be. This year it was family functions that wore me out.

This week, though, I’m back in the swing of things. Lots of new subscribers last week. Shoutout to all of you. I really appreciate the support.

I’ve ramped up my reading the past few weeks. This was mostly kicked off by Clare Castleberry’s Azalea House, which got me excited about reading again, after a year where it was hard for me to focus. It’s a Gothic, set in 1990s New Orleans, and has all the motifs that make books like it great. Dense atmosphere. Sexual perversion. A mystery. And a big old spooky house. I’m a big fan of the Gothic and would love to write one myself someday.

To cut back on screentime, I’ve mostly been consuming physical books and audiobooks. While finishing up Writing the Breakout Novel, I began listening to Ronald Malfi’s The Night Parade. Though I didn’t plan this, it turns out Malfi is repped by Donald Maass who authored Breakout. Interesting sync.

Anyway, The Night Parade is about a father and daughter on the run while a pandemic devastates the country. The daughter may have the gift necessary to bring the plague to an end. While that sounds like a mashup between Firestarter and the video game The Last of Us, Malfi’s approach to character development and pace is all his own. He’s a great storyteller, as I’ve been hearing for years, and now I want to read more of his work. Black Mouth and Bone White both look like interesting follow-ups. Also, yes, it’s set during a pandemic and even has references to N95 masks (which I didn’t even know by name until 2020), but this book was released in 2016. At times, this makes it feel unnervingly prophetic.

After finishing The Night Parade, I started listening to The Haunted by Bentley Little. It’s pretty straightforward so far—its story consists of a family who moves into a haunted house—but I know a twist is coming. Anyone familiar with Little’s work probably knows that too. His books are batshit crazy. If you haven’t checked him out, definitely fix that. You’ll be glad you did.

I’m also reading Ordinary People by Judith Guest. I picked it up because there was an excerpt of it in Maas’s book that intrigued me. I’ve got about 70 pages left to go. Reading the book has been a bit of an obsession. It concerns a teenaged boy who returns home from the psych ward and attempts to put his life together while his dad faces down an imminent midlife crisis. Something to know about me: I love books from the 1970s and I love books with mentally ill protagonists. Ordinary People checks both boxes.

Jean and I are watching White Lotus after several friends recommended it. We finished the first season and are about halfway through the second. I still don’t know what to make of it. It’s essentially bourgeois bizarro—by that, I mean it’s weird but not too weird for your average suburban mom. The dialogue is basically cribbed from online discourse, almost to the point that HBO might want to consider sending a check to everyone who ever espoused a political or social opinion on Twitter. Still, there is a can’t-look-away quality to it, and of course, it’s nice spending time with Jean.

Speaking of, she’s taken up painting. She’s working with watercolor and doing all these cool tutorials. I genuinely enjoy seeing her throw herself into something creative. Hobbies are good for the soul, especially if they involve a discipline such as painting or playing a musical instrument or putting together a puzzle.

(I started doing puzzles! I’m almost halfway through the one pictured below. It’s a thousand pieces and I definitely underestimated how long it would take, but I find working on it deeply satisfying. Plus, I can listen to audiobooks.)

Our oldest went back to school on Wednesday. Our youngest goes back to daycare today. While I’m looking forward to getting my writing time back, I’m going to miss having them around the house during the day.

On this week’s episode of Make Your Own Damn Podcast, Jeff and I ran down our top 10 movies of the previous year. I didn’t see a whole lot in 2022, but I think you’ll find some of my choices surprising. You can listen to the full episode here or by watching the video below.

Before I go, I want to remind you that I’ve got a couple new books out. First, there’s Earth vs the Star Mummy, a ‘50s SF horror throwback. I’ve also got The Beak Season, a collection of wintry ghost stories.

Thanks again to all my subscribers. Please don’t forget to ‘like’ and share if you enjoy these newsletters, and I’ll write to you again soon.