Catalyst
The boy screamed at the ocean.
The water was dark navy blue, the clouds gray and heavy, the sand a mutinous ombre darkest at the water’s edge and almost tan near the grass that gave way to tangled forest. The gulls seemed to echo his defiance with their loud caws, the unseasonal wind sweeping them into a tizzy. One of them had a camera for an eye, though the boy didn’t notice.
As the boy continued screaming and the colors slowly leached from everything nearby - the navy dimming, the sand reaching a sepia equilibrium, even the clouds turning pale and muted - the camera tracked every shift in tone as the landscape merged towards grayscale.
Welcome to the Catalyst Hijinks in Progress Newsletter (Chip’n).
Hijinks
I’m so excited to be querying RED AND WOLF while revising based on suggestions from initial beta readers! Thank you to my first wave of beta readers for your incredibly valuable feedback.
Stay tuned for more writing updates as I continue my publishing adventure!
In Progress
Writing
“Do not hoard what seems good for a later place in the book, or for another book; give it, give it all, give it now. The impulse to save something good for a better place later is the signal to spend it now.” - Annie Dillard, The Writing Life
Another fantastic quote from Dillard that defines my current writing process!
Reading, Watching, Listening
Reading 📚
Books Finished:
Ursula K. Le Guin’s Book of Cats by Ursula K. Le Guin, poetry and art collection
Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi, fantasy
Spook Street by Mick Herron (#4, mystery/thriller)
Coming up next:
Reaper’s Gale by Steven Erikson (#7!!)
Arcanum Unbounded by Brandon Sanderson
Watching 🎆 The Pitt is amazing! I haven’t been so inspired by a tv show in ages!
Listening 🎶 Forthrunner (thank you for the recommendation Lucy!), and a ton of Dead Can Dance and Florence and the Machine’s creepiest tracks to help me write a ghost story.
I’m wishing you an inspiring and motivating March!
M. R. Rhiannon Dixon
She/Her
Fantasy Writer | Cybersecurity Consultant | Provider of Cat Treats | Blount Scholar
Woah!! Your writing is electric, Rhi! What F&TM songs have you been listening to?! Some of my fave creepy ones are from Ceremonials (Leave My Body & What the Water Gave Me come to mind) but I feel like there are a couple core creepy ones in each album, which is epic.