My New Year’s Day starts with a great, eerily knowing review of The Love We Share Without Knowing by Elizabeth Hand.  Why so eerily knowing?  Well, in this review, Elizabeth Hand recognizes several books and films that were very influential during the making of this book.  They’re all Japanese books or films, and one would have to be at least somewhat a Japanophile to recognize their traces in my book.  It was amazing to see someone do that.  Also, I love the way she describes the structure of the book.  In her reading, it’s what I was hoping I had made.

An excerpt:

Christopher Barzak is another young writer who has avoided sophomore slump. One for Sorrow, his first book, was a lovely, lyrical ghost story, a melancholy ode to working-class adolescence that managed to be both affecting and humorous. His second novel, The Love We Share Without Knowing, is even better, one of the best books of the year.

You can read the whole thing here.

Aside from this, Happy New Year.  One of my goals for the year is to write something joyful instead of melancholy, extroverted instead of introverted, playful instead of serious.  I suspect I will have to change some of the ways I perceive things to do so.  But that could be a good thing.  Fingers crossed and intentions set.  Full steam ahead.