vivdunstan

Returning to an academic journal paper in development (getting nearer submission, honest!) and untangling some of the ordering muddle caused by a previous round of restructuring. Generally happy with it though. Just have to finish off a few bits. And send it in to the journal for peer review.

It's frustrating how long it can take me to finish and submit academic journal papers. Due in a very large part due to my severely disabling progressive neurological disease. But it's also reassuring how I've had several very long in gestation papers accepted and published. So I get there!

Though with a progressive neurological disease there does feel like there's a limit to how long I can keep doing things like this. But still managing 31 years after the disease first struck. Hoping for more productive time yet! It can give a very personal version of imposter syndrome though.

Lovely is waking to proofs of the next "Miscellany" volume from the Scottish History Society, including my own piece - full annotated transcript plus accompanying essay - about a historical poem about events at the Melrose court in 1682. Very much looking forward to seeing the finished volume in print.

I studied the Melrose local court records for the dissertation portion of my taught MPhil history degree at Dundee, 2001-3. I only discovered this poem lurking hidden in the depths of the Edinburgh national archives afterwards. And was rather stunned, because it correlates closely with the history as recorded conventionally, while providing a totally fresh take on it. All including a vitriolic character assassination of the newly appointed judge! It took me ages to transcribe the 17th century handwriting - definitely at my limits. But got there, and then ended up sending in a proposal for an edited transcript + essay for the Scottish History Society. Which was accepted. That was 6+ years ago. It's taken a long time to get to print. But nearly there now!

Catching up with this, and another 6 titles finished since my last post:

( earlier titles )
1. Colostle Complete Edition by Nich Angell
2. Wild Card: Let the Tarot Tell Your Story by Jen Cownie and Fiona Lensvelt
3. Insomniacs After School volume 5 (manga) by Makoto Ojiro
4. Doctor Who: The Ruby's Curse by Alex Kingston and Jacqueline Rayner
5. Notebook by Tom Cox
6. Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

Of the new ones the Colostle solo RPG/journalling game was fun, but not something I decided I'd want to play. An original fantasy setting, with solo gaming mechanics, based on random tables.

The Tarot book was fantastic, and really got me feeling more confident about doing self readings.

I continue to *adore* the Insomniacs After School manga series, which is being slowly but steadily published in English translation.

The Doctor Who book was somewhat fun, and a new tale about River Song. But it ultimately felt a slog to read through, and was overly muddled. I'm guessing Jacqueline Rayner wrote most of it, though Alex Kingston had some input too, and got top billing.

Tom Cox's Notebook is a varied hodge podge of often amusing rambling thoughts. I loved it! I had backed the digital edition, but not read it yet. I ordered a signed paperback from Tom a few weeks ago. He has lots of his books after the collapse of Unbound (who owe him thousands of pounds) and is selling them on.

And we read Kiki's Delivery Service - the original novel the Studio Ghibli film is based on - for my book club. I've not seen the film yet. A very young read, but still charming.

After submitting another academic journal paper (wish me luck!) briefly pausing to take stock of others in progress. 4 more in development; all Scottish history; 16th, 17th, 18th & 19th centuries; genealogy & court history, legal history, black history, music history & popular culture. Lots to do!

Researching, writing and submitting these - including dealing with all the *fun* of peer review - as a sole author is *interesting*. But something I enjoy, and will keep doing for as long as I can.

Heard from a favourite author today that Unbound or their new incarnation Boundless will *not* be refunding backers of his outstanding unpublished book. I have £48.50 worth of unpublished books still owed from them - books by other authors, but probably the same applies. I guess that's vanished then. Furious doesn't even come close.

Oh and this is the same Unbound who owe lots of money from royalties to many authors. And has done for a long time. The author I mentioned above has just recovered his remaining print books from Unbound, and is selling them directly, signed. I ordered one tonight, sending him the cash payment. Bonus for me is it's a book of his I don't own, and had thought I should have bought in print.

These have been on hold since Christmas, as I've just slept so much, and have been phenomenally wiped out as my neurological illness flares again. Then I had to focus my extremely limited awake time and energy on a time critical academic journal paper revise and resubmit. But I think I can restart these fun things next week. I enjoy doing them a lot. Initially I plan to alternate the two weekly, so a Benny audio listen and review one week, a Sherlock Holmes short story reread and review the next week, and repeat. With luck I may be able to switch both to a weekly rate again, but this initial alternating plan looks more sustainable for now. I will be resuming with the "The Adventure of the Stockbroker's Clerk" story from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, and Bernice Summerfield Big Finish season 6 story number 3 The Lost Museum.

As usual the Urban Crow deck, and my loose 3-card past/present/future spread.

Scavenge / Freedom / Battle. Again some new to me cards this week.

This random draw does feel close to what I've been going through lately, and will be going through in the coming weeks and months. I very recently had my 10th Covid vaccine, which I expected to cause my 10th post Covid vaccine neurological auto immune illness flare. Which is really tough, and happens a week after each vaccine, and lasts for 3 long months. I'd spent the last few weeks before the vaccine trying desperately to sort things out that needed doing, including finishing (or nearly finishing) a couple of academic journal papers before I got too sick to work on them. At the same time I knew I was in as good a position as I was going to be for a long time, and wanted to grab the opportunities. Then when I had my vaccine it was a very strange feeling of limbo for the next week, feeling good - apart from flu like vaccine side effects (I had both flu and Covid vaccines together) - but knowing it was just a brief period. It almost felt psychologically like floating on air. And then this last weekend things crashed back down, with clear signs of my latest flare starting. Which is still currently relatively mild, but should get much more scary and difficult to deal with over the coming weeks.

So yes, a bit of desperate scrabbling around, and then a strange feeling of limbo, and tough times looming. I will cope though. At least I was forewarned, and have been able to prepare for it. That almost sounds like a Doctor Who quote!

Pleased to be sitting up, working on an academic journal paper. Filling in more remaining footnotes as I get closer to finished. Latest ones added about Presbyterian minister Archibald Simpson's time in South Carolina, General Staats Long Morris in Aberdeenshire, and Edinburgh Lord Provost Sir James Hunter Blair. All of the above were employers of black servants in late eighteenth century Scotland. I get incredibly frustrated by how little I know about these servants, often not even their names. While the employers are written up at length, often with fancy paintings. Though in the above examples I do know a little about Cloy Simpson, Wattie and Jack Blair Hunter. Yes I have thoughts ...

More journal paper writing done. I've never written before in an academic journal paper about how angry some historical research that I've done has made me. But it happened time and again here. And I think is worth mentioning. It's also partly why - as I say in the paper - I decided to include one particular extended section, redressing the apparent historical balance as much as I could there. But yup, this has been a first.

I finished Yellowface by Rebecca F Kuang a while ago and have been trying to process my thoughts about it. What I say will be slightly spoilery, so if you want to go into the book totally fresh turn away now. But I won't reveal big spoilers.

The book is one of the most gobsmacking I have ever read, with an unreliable narrator, and multiple reveals leading me to think things like OMG or WTF repeatedly. I almost didn't want to keep reading early on, it was so shocking, but it was a real page turner, and I had to know what happened.

At its heart the book is about a case of plagiarism, or just downright literary theft to be blunt. And fundamental to it is the issue of race and racism, including cultural appropriation. However it's also a blistering critique of numerous aspects of the publishing industry, reflections on the writing experience, and a critique of our modern social media driven world.

In many ways reading it is like watching a slow-motion car crash. It's not an easy read. But what it says is so important, and done so very well. It's also a thriller, with unexpected elements. And I would recommend it without question.

I could say more, but that way lies spoilers. And I think going in without knowing too much detail about the plot is best for the reader. It's a fairly short read, but a real rollercoaster ride. So yes, a very uncomfortable book in many ways, but such an important one, and absolutely well worth reading.