Marc Rivers, Author

It’s mid-February and I’d wanted to have “Wretched Us, All In Rime” ready to publish to this site … but I didn’t. I probably would’ve had a blog post much earlier in the month, except for the fact that I didn’t want to make a second consecutive update of “hey, that story I mentioned last time still isn’t done.” Oh, well. At least I’m not Martin or Rothfuss (yet).

That said, I have been fighting off some notable depression recently. It’s better as I write this, but it’s really, really tough to sit down and make art when you’re overwhelmed with a feeling that it’s all pointless. Some of that is external. It feels like too fine of a line (if there even is one) between staying up-to-date on current events and doomscrolling the news and social media like Denethor with the Palantír. (For those of you who’ve only seen the Lord of the Rings movies, ask your book friends about that plot point.)

I’m also a little bit worried that, even three posts in, I’m already at the point where I don’t really know what to say in these updates. I feel like this is a space for me to share more long-form thoughts, but I can only think of so many different ways to say, “Yep, I still have ADHD, I still hate generative AI, and I still haven’t finished that thing I started.” My hope was that having an audience (however small) would help me to stay accountable. I suppose it has, to some small degree. Maybe I just need to keep trending in this direction.

That said, I have been keeping track of my writing output for the last little while and I can happily report that as of February 1, I’m already about halfway to the word count that I managed for all of last year! Make whatever determinations you want to about last year’s productivity (you probably won’t be wrong), but it’s a win and I’m going to be happy about it, dammit!

I am feeling inspired to finish “Wretched Us, All In Rime” for two reasons. One, I told you I would. It’d be nice to fulfill that promise. Second, every time I think about the story, I think about the song that partly inspired it (or at least its title), and I’d frankly like to be free of it for a change. Don’t get me wrong, Týr is probably my favorite band these days, and “Far from the Worries of the World” is a banger (especially its guitar solos), but it’s just been stuck in my head for SO. LONG. I yearn for release! I need to be gripped by something else for a change.

Other than all that, I got sucked back into Skyrim. (How? Who the hell knows.) My wife and I are finally reading through “Dungeon Crawler Carl” and I’ve separately started “A Flame In the North” by Lilith Saintcrow. Maybe someday I’ll even get around to finishing “The Fifth Season” by N.K. Jemisin. Maybe. I keep telling myself I will, anyway.

Until next month, stay safe, keep reading, and don’t let fascism win!

-Marc