Write Every Day: Day 13

I did the last editing on my Yuletide fic and then POSTED it! \o/ How about you, are you getting any writing done?

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Day 12: china_shop, regshoe, yhlee, badly_knitted, sanguinity, sylvanwitch, the_siobhan, shadaras, cornerofmadness, chestnut_pod, yasaman, lferion,

Recent reading

The Interloper by Violet Jacob (1904)
This is by the author of the slashy Jacobite novel Flemington, but alas there is not a trace of slashiness in this one. Nevertheless I quite enjoyed this het romance set in 1801 in Lowland Scotland: the male protagonist Gilbert has lived most of his life in Spain and then returns when he inherits the estate of Whanland, of which there are some lovely descriptions--but there are Dark Secrets in his family's past. The romance is a little too much love-at-first-sight for me, but I did like that Gilbert falls for Cecilia in a moment when she is calmly and competently telling him what to do, at which he realizes that she is a woman and not a girl. But alas, the Dark Family Secrets keep them apart! There are some interesting female characters: an independent middle-aged woman who is Cecilia's guardian and who loves to ride, and an old tenant woman at Whanland who used to be a fish monger and speaks her mind to anyone (she also gets to have what is basically a car chase near the end, though with horse and carriage). The one thing I didn't like about the book is a plot-convenient death in the middle. The ending was actually suspenseful to me, because the two previous books of Jacob's that I've read have been tragedies. WILL Gilbert get back to Scotland in time? And if he does, WILL Cecilia jilt her rich fiancé whom she doesn't love at the altar? I do also appreciate that having made it clear in the beginning that Gilbert is a good swordsman, Jacob does not cheat us of a duel.

A Ship of the Line by C S Forester (1938)
Having tried it once perhaps ten years ago and noped out of it, I am skipping the very first-written Hornblower book, but I thought I'd try the second. And yeah, I can tell the difference compared to the later books, mostly in the first part when Hornblower is on land. The characterizations feel more simplistic to me and his interaction with his love interests more wince-inducing, and also I feel that it leans a little too heavily on Hornblower regretting the cruelties of the navy (I suppose as a way of getting the reader's sympathy). Yes, you're like a god on your ship, how awful for you that you're flogging your sailors and pressing men! So on the whole I like the later books better. But once it got into the actual naval adventure, it was tense and entertaining as always, and had some good Bush-Hornblower interaction. And wow, that was an intense ending, leading up to the next book! Whew.