October Update

What I've been working on

I’ve had a nice mix of genres and manuscript lengths this month. I started with a proofread of a fantastical short story – the concept was really intriguing so I’m still turning it over in my head and trying to untwist it! I’ve also proofread a nonfiction book, and copy edited a lovely progressive children’s book. It’s really great to see norms being challenged, and to see stories and books being used to help move things forward.

I’ve spent a lot of this month working in US English and have been relieved to find that this didn’t fry my brain quite as much as I’d feared it would! It’s certainly given me a lot of confidence to do more work in US English in the future.
​
I’ve also been working through the CIEP’s course on editing fiction. I’m enjoying this a lot and really looking forward to doing more fiction editing.

What I've been reading

It’s been a brilliant month for reading. I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advanced copy of Julia Armfield’s Our Wives Under the Sea, which was just outstanding and easily the best fiction I’ve read for a few months. It’s a creepy, haunting, twisting story about the sea and love and grief, and Julia’s writing is consistently lyrical and mesmerising; I absolutely loved every word of it.

I also liked Sally Rooney’s Beautiful World, Where Are You, although I wasn’t quite as wowed by this as I expected to be given the massive marketing push for its release. I did, however, really enjoy discussing the book with a group of women afterwards. I’m always keen to hear what other people think about books I’ve read, so it was great to talk about the parts of the story that did or didn’t work for each of us.

In terms of outdoors literature, The Vanishing Ice by Iain Cameron was a really fascinating look into the history and importance of snow patches in the UK. I found Alex Roddie’s The Farthest Shore to be a really enjoyable, thought-provoking read and thought he navigated some tricky and complex topics well. I’ve just started Imaginary Peaks by Katie Ives which I’ve been so excited for, so I’m looking forward to getting stuck into that. 

What I've been doing

Autumn and the change of weather always seems to mean a (slightly reluctant) return to regular running after spending most of the summer climbing. It’s nice to feel some fitness coming back, and I do really love running in October when it’s so easy to catch the sunset from high up in the hills after work.

The last few weeks have also involved a lot of rain-dodging. I’ve only lived in Snowdonia for a few months and still feel like I’m getting to know the local crags and the best places to head when the forecast looks damp or unpredictable. Quite often we’ve ended up legging it back to the car feeling very soggy, but occasionally we’ve got it right and been rewarded with some unexpected dry rock and sunshine.