Recent Reads #36 | Sci-fi, good poetry, & a lot of mixed feelings

THE BOOKS:
0:00 - Intro

MY SHORT STORIES:

FAQS
→How old are you? - 24
→How long have you been writing? - Since I was 8
→Where do you live? - I keep that private for safety reasons, but I grew up in Vancouver.
→Where did you go to university and what did you study? - I keep my university information private, but I majored in writing with a concentration in fiction.
→What are your pronouns? - They/them or she/her
→Where can I read your books? - None of my books are published yet, but you can read my published short fiction in my linktree (linked above!)
→So when will your book be published? - I don’t know! I’m in the revision process right now, but I can’t predict exactly when I’ll have a book published. But I’m working on it!
→Do you plan to traditionally publish or self publish? - Traditionally publish
→Will you read my book/story/chapter/mentor me? - Unfortunately I cannot accommodate these requests because editing/critiquing is a labour intensive task that I can’t afford to do for free alongside my job, my own writing, and running this platform. If you would like to hire me for paid editing work, contact me privately on twitter or instagram.

OUTRO MUSIC: "l u v t e a [acoustic]" by Autumn Keys

SOCIAL

[trinity]

I'm currently rereading tiny beautiful things and it's one of the most beautiful books ever, so fast and impactful

[erikaroth]

Your pre-review speech about predetermined literary value was super refreshing to me!!!!

[maya-gur]

Adding the short stories collection and the anthology to my tbr, I've been looking for some good short stories to read.

[florajamii]

my favorite books were 'the housekeeper and the professor' by Yoko Ogawa and 'Keep saying their names' by Simon Stranger. In the first one, I loved the narrative and how the author incorporates math and numbers into the story without it feeling forced and teacher-like. The second one I loved because of the structur, the amazing research done and the brutality and rawness of descriptions.

[NagisaNiki]

HOW DID I FORGET YOU DID THESE I NEED NEW BOOKS

[alisonbounds]

I love getting new book recs from videos like these, and now I wanna buy Magma 😂

[claramajdahlke]

Just added Magma to my to-read list, as I have never read a book set in Iceland, so thank you for talking about it! My favorite books of 2021 were Notes of a Crocodile by Qiu Miaojin, Herkunft by Saša Stanišić (title of the English translation is Where You Come From) and also Winter in Sokcho❄

[vanessaglau]

Ooh Tower goes on the list!
Some of my favorite 2021 reads were Vita Nostra by Marina & Sergey Dyachenko (kind of fantastic but hard to describe, now one of my favorite books of all time), Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (Chinese feminist mecha sci-fi) & The Count of Monte Cristo. It was definitely a good reading year!

[scottash]

I'm new to your channel and getting a lot of good tips from it. I just watched your "As I Write #24: What's Going On With "The Dragon Tear"?" and it was endearing. I could really sympathize with you. Not that I've ever been in that place but I am completing a novel and have imagined what it would be like to fall out of love with the book. Thanks for all your great content!

[deadeaded]

Favourite book I read in 2021 was "Pastoralia" by George Saunders. Fantastic short story collection.

[nxn]

The last ten books I've read have been dystopias. I need to broaden my horizons more.
My favourite book of 2021 was Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. It's now my favourite book ever and it's just amazing in almost every single way imo.

[w.c.]

Always get so excited to hear you talk about poetry -- please let us know what progress you've made in writing poems (if that's still something you're actively into/comfortable enough to share!) From 2021, I really enjoyed torrin a. greathouse's poetry collection "Wound From The Mouth Of A Wound" and the novel "Breath, Eyes, Memory" by Edwidge Danticat.

[pickledsushiesticks]

I had one of those nice gap reads last year that I actually really enjoyed. Our was called "Deep and Dark and Dangerous" by Mary Downing Hahn. It was recommended to me by my older sister who remember reading it a few years back and liked it. I tried it out and it was quite out of muy normal genre (an eerie paranormal book), but in a sort of refreshing way. Full of characters and experiences I wasn't used to reading.

[SpringboardThought]

Oh excellent I have Love After the End and that sounds like what I expected, except for YA, so good looking out on that front.
Also have White Teeth and Red Pill.
Great chat about these titles as always. Hope you’re well~

[eduardoo]

white teeth actually sounds really interesting. i might pick it up in the near future...

[mikerand]

Shaelin - I read parts of your answers and I can respect your privacy. I have mixed feelings about you. I am currently writing a very DARK FANTASY retelling of Merlin based on almost all the popular works of Mary Stewart, TH White, Sir Thomas Mallory, Geoffrey of Monmouth (yes, in Latin) and even Lloyd Alexander and the Mabinogion... So yes my academic knowledge behind this is sound. I have found some of your advice very sound and correct. I definitely need an editor with a BFA / MFA such as yours (I hold a graduate degree in science, not the arts).

I hope you read this, I'm just still writing at this point. That said, once I have a rough draft I would love someone to go over this. I don't know what you would charge, but you definitely seem knowledgeable. I just don't want my baby to go to self-publishing and then die there. I'm sure you understand.

[tharo]

Funny how what you didn't like about Magma is the same thing I didn't like about Winter in Sokcho, one of your favourite books!

[mohamedkoudia]

Banger video! I'm here to remind you to read Kafka On The Shore!! please?

[davidmauchly]

@ShaelinWrites
Hey I have a question and I don’t know where to ask it. I love the concept of artful incongruity it feels very natural however I have been working on my main character and I have several psychological details which I feel are each individually true about him yet I feel like the combination of them lacks a sense of cohesion. Any recommendations about how to solve this? How do you make the contradictions and incongruities have a sense of unity instead of a character who is wildly different scene to scene (bit of an exaggeration but still)

To give a sense of what I’m talking about. My MC is kind hearted, caring and empathetic but he also participates in criminal activity which leads to the death of innocent people.
He is lonely and deeply desires a sense of family but his loneliness is also self imposed.

[gcwishbone]

Is there a video where you talk about how you got started/who you first tried publishing with, and progressed upward? My professors say I could publish some of my stuff, been trying to figure it out but I don't know where to start--is it best to just submit to any 'low tier' magazine to start?