2020 in Literature (Half-Milwordy!)
Some spent their pandemic making sourdough bread… I spent mine writing. I didn’t set out with intentions to write a half-milwordy. It kinda just happened.
(This doesn’t count the tens of thousands of words I poured out during intensely cathartic free-writing sessions…)
This is the year I started Lookout—plus 6 other novels. I finished 5 of them.
It’s the year I discovered that I’m transgender. It’s through the writing of these stories it came to me. I kept writing stories from the perspectives of gay men. As I was writing Lookout, especially, I noticed unintentional and interesting parallels between a pair of male/female twin characters and… myself.
But it hadn’t clicked yet.
It clicked when I was trying to decide what pen name I’d use. Except I wasn’t looking for a pen name.
Here’s my 2020 through the books I read, and the books I wrote.
In Reading
In summary…
Reading goal: 20
Books read: 22 — 110% of goal reached!
A Clockwork Orange — Anthony Burgess
There are a lot of classics I’ve slept on, and I’m glad to be finally working through them. I enjoyed this one, as difficult as it was to read at times—partially the invented slang, partially the awful violence.
3.5/5
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel — Jessica Brody
Not much to say about this one, other than a great resource for novelists!
4/5
The Hilarious World of Depression — John Moe
A wonderful essay on the different ways depression can manifest, and helped me come to terms with some pretty major revelations about myself.
4.7/5
The Death of Ivan Ilyich — Leo Tolstoy
Classic.
4.5/5
The Picture of Dorian Gray — Oscar Wilde
What’s there to say? A classic tale, beautifully written. The prose is dripping with beauty, poetry, homoeroticism. Love. Love. Love.
4.7/5
The Hike — Drew Magary
I kept expecting more, but this book continued to underwhelm me.
2/5
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda — Becky Albertalli
It’s alright. YA isn’t really for me. I just really wanted some gay shit to read.
3/5
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe — Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Ditto.
3/5
Will Grayson, Will Grayson — John Green
Ditto.
3/5
I’ll Give You the Sun — Jandy Nelson
Ditto, although this one surprised me. The writing is beautiful.
3.8/5
Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
There’s a lot to say about this book, the entire subculture it has manifested… but Lolita on its own stands out in my mind as one of the finest masterpieces I’ve ever read. The writing is masterful, beautiful, gut-punching. It is a magnificent story.
5/5
Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout — Philip Connors
Among the top 5 books I’ve ever read. Philip Connors writes beautiful prose and elucidating descriptions. This book transported me to his lookout with him, and I often find myself re-reading it to return to that placid place. I wish I could live in this book.
5/5
Into the Wild — Jon Krakauer
A highly influential piece of literature, for better or worse. Supertramp certainly gets a bad rap—the naïve misanthrope who winds up dead as he wanders out into the wilderness, unprepared. Krakauer touches on this often, though, and provides a relatively objective account of the kind of boy McCandless was, and lets you take what you will from this book.
4.5/5
The Call of the Wild — Jack London
A classic for a reason. What’s there not to love?
5/5
USFS 1919: Ranger, the Cook, and a Hole in the Sky — Norman Maclean
A charming story, beautifully written. I got to the end of this rather short story, wanting more.
3.9/5
A River Runs Through It — Norman Maclean
Another I’d like to re-read. A nostalgic, timeless, familiar piece. Even upon my first read, it felt like home. If I could position myself in the world of authors, Norman Maclean is one I’d love to stand among.
4.9/5
American Gods — Neil Gaiman
Neil Gaiman is without a doubt one of the finest writers of the modern era. This electrifying book held me from start to finish.
4.5/5
Anansi Boys — Neil Gaiman
So much so, that I had to keep reading.
4/5
The Song of Achilles — Madeline Miller
Like I said I don’t usually go for YA, but this one is just so good.
4/5
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values — Robert M. Pirsig
One of my all-time favorites. Strange, sometimes difficult to follow. I loved every word up until the end, which I did find to be a bit anticlimactic. Still worth every page leading up to it.
4.99/5
Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah — Richard Bach
While reading it, I was enthralled. I think I read it in a day. When I think back to it, for some reason it isn’t as memorable. I think I have to re-read to figure out how I really feel.
3.14?/5 (sure, that’s a good a number as any)
The Lookout — Jack Hunt
The last book I read in 2020, and by far the worst. I picked this book up after a near-panic attack after reading the title and synopsis, sounding far too similar to my own WIP novel entitled Lookout, coincidentally also about a writer who goes to spend some time in a lookout tower, until an EMP (supposedly) wipes out the power grid. But I was quickly reassured…
This book sucks. It’s a continuation in a long line of pulp thrillers, rife with misogynistic undertones, poorly written one-dimensional female characters, and banal hack-and-slash plot twists I could see from a mile away.
0.5/5, for the laugh it gave me reading the back blurb
In Writing
In summary…
Total attempted projects: 7
Total completed drafts: 5
Total words written: 565,054 — half-milwordy accomplished!
Road to Joy
Camp NaNoWriMo, April 2020
What it’s about: heartbroken “ex-opera-singer” about to end his life, BFF kidnaps him for a transformative road trip to try and find his joy.
Genres: LGBTQ+, YA, contemporary, literary fiction, coming-of-age
Word count: 143,857 / 50,000 (51,763 written during camp)
Highest word count day: 5,169
Draft status: first draft complete
Will I do anything with it? Maybe! It’s way more YA-aligned than my usual voice, but I am rather proud of this story.
Petite Suite
Unsanctioned NaNoWriMo project, May 2020
What it’s about: prequel to RtJ, a queer love story borne in a music conservatory.
Genres: LGBTQ+, YA, romance, literary fiction
Word count: 80,681 / 80,000
Draft status: first draft complete
Will I do anything with it? Most likely not, YA is not my first choice. Though if ever I publish RtJ, I’d consider it.
If We Shadows Have Offended
Unsanctioned NaNoWriMo project, June 2020
What it’s about: another prequel to RtJ, another queer love story with a little Shakespearean flair.
Genres: LGBTQ+, YA, romance, literary fiction
Word count: 47,829 / no set goal
Highest word count day: 8,856
Draft status: incomplete
Will I do anything with it? Most likely not, YA is not my first choice. Though if ever I publish RtJ, I’d consider finishing it and publishing.
Little Great One
Camp NaNoWriMo, July 2020
What it’s about: Another prequel to RtJ but more of a standalone—this follows a world-renowned child prodigy conductor and his descent into villain
Genres: LGBTQ+, erotica, romance, literary fiction
Word count: 101,285 / 100,000
Highest word count day: 10,884
Draft status: first draft complete
Will I do anything with it? YES. This is one of my favorite things I’ve ever written.
Lookout
Unsanctioned NaNoWriMo project, August-October 2020
Genres: speculative fiction, wilderness adventure, urban fantasy, horror/supernatural
Word count: 93,3404 / 70,000
Highest word count day: 6,184
Draft status: first draft complete
Will I do anything with it? YES. Currently trying to get this one published.
Threads (Lookout, Part II)
NaNoWriMo, November 2020
Genres: speculative fiction, wilderness adventure, urban fantasy, horror/supernatural
Word count: 86,215 / 50,000
Highest word count day: 5,363
Draft status: first draft complete
Will I do anything with it? No, but kind of—I scrapped this second book and rewrote some elements and characters into Lookout as a single book.
Riley the Dipshit and his Desperately Misguided Attempts at Running Away, Vol. I
Unsanctioned NaNoWriMo project, December 2020
Genres: bullshit
Word count: 11,883 / no set goal
Highest word count day: 3222
Draft status: incomplete
Will I do anything with it? Definitely not, just a silly way for me to flesh out some of Riley’s backstory.
