Today my plans were thrown in disarray because as the clocks struck midnight – or thereabouts – Amazon delivered the latest ebook by Aliette de Bodard, the novella Fireheart Tiger, that I had pre-ordered when it had been announced.
I tend to use preorders on Amazon sparingly, because my credit card is usually on a rollercoaster, and it’s unpleasant to receive the email saying “funds insufficient”. But it’s a good feature.
Of course, then I forget about the preorder, and the book turns into a surprise package.

I also had a brief discussion about miss De Bodard’s penchant for novella-length fiction – something some local readers find unpleasant, while I think it’s absolutely perfect. As I grow old, I find short stories and novellas to be a lot more to my taste than super-massive trilogies – and indeed, short stories, novelettes and novellas are also what I like writing, not just reading.

So, my planned day of writing was derailed by the new book – but I managed to write 2000 words of a new short story, a Gothic tale featuring a ghost (of course) and a monster, and a sinister finishing school for young women. Now I’ll let the story rest, and then I’ll revise it and send it to the prospect market for which I’ve written it.