Progress Report: October 2019
- Franklyn Thomas
- Oct 4, 2019
- 3 min read
Hey guys, I’m back!
The days are getting shorter, the leaves are changing colors, and the are has a chilly bite to it. That can only mean one thing: playoff baseball is here!
I’m always pumped for the MLB playoffs, and this year is no exception. Despite a season where a record number of players wound up on the injured list, my Yankees (103-59, AL East Champions) are as well-positioned as anyone for a spot in this year’s Fall classic. And while we’ve got a rough road to get there—the Twins are no pushovers, and then we’ll have to beat Houston or Tampa Bay—the Yankees are getting (mostly) healthy at the right time. It’s going to be one exciting October!
From there, we dovetail right into basketball season. The Knicks have been a beleaguered franchise for a generation, far removed from the glory days of Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Anthony Mason, and Charles Oakley. Our free agency period has been trumpeted as an unqualified failure. Being an optimist, I see a bunch of underrated and hungry guys who are looking forward to being underdogs. Are they a championship team this year? Several miracles would have to happen in rapid succession to make that happen. But there’s something about the mentality of this team that reminds me of a scrappy little underdog team from 1990. Free-agent pickup Marcus Morris says he wants a return to old-school Knicks basketball, where the team will fight every game. I know that’s what you’re supposed to say, but I’ve seen the workouts, and I’m a believer in the Knicks as a #8 seed. I’ll be watching this season, and there will be an ongoing discussion. Feel free to tell me how right (or crazy) I am in the comments.
Anyway, here’s a look at what else is going on in my corner of the universe:
I’m using October to prep for next month’s National Novel Writing Month challenge, and this year I’m going to… finish the NaNoWriMo project I started two years ago. I haven’t written very much in Urban Legend since 2017, and I had only gotten maybe a quarter of the way through. I’m willing to bet there are another 50,000 words in this story, so here we go.
I’m editing a new short story called Searching for Ms. Hero. I’ll be honest, it’s a bit of a mess right now; I embraced a “just get it down” mentality for writing a rough draft. It helped me get through the spots I got stuck in, but the result is a very rough draft. It’ll need significant improvement, akin to surgery in some places, but I think I can have it live by Christmas.
Edits on 4play are continuing, but slow going. I’m still optimistic that I’ll be done soon-ish. That said, I’m stepping away from it for November while I do NaNo. I need the focus on one project, and it will be good to step away from this for a while.
We’re heading to New York next week; it’s my grandmother’s 100th birthday, and my entire family is coming out for it! It combines two of my favorite things, my family and my hometown. This is gonna be awesome!
Also, I have a couple of book reviews coming down the pipe, so keep your eyes peeled for stuff to read in front of a fire (or your preferred fall heating source).
A little shameless self-promotion: as basketball season is upon us, I encourage you all to pick up my 2005 novel, The Fab 5, a coming-of-age basketball story that follows five standout ballplayers in their senior year of high school, then ten years later at the funeral of one of their own. It’s a perfect gift for the sports fan in your life!
And that’s about it! I hope you have a wonderful fall!
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