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Zachary Dillon

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Hey, everybody!

I'm Zac. I've been writing all my life, and plan to continue for however long I've got left.

I struggled to finish the first draft of a novel for nine years before realizing last October that I was no longer the same person as when I started it, and the work itself had become way too precious. The day after that realization, I started a brand-new novel from scratch, wrote 1,000 almost every day for four months, and finally finished the first draft in January. It's "general" or "literary" fiction, which says nothing about it, but it's got moments of suspense, lots of paranoia, and some funny parts. That's all just my opinion, and I haven't looked at it since January, so I could be wrong about all of that. I'm trying to wait another week or two before rereading it to actually see what I've got.

I've joined the forum because I've been doing this on my own for a long time, and it would be nice to talk shop with other writers. I'll also eventually be looking for potential beta readers for the book, as well as future stuff, and this seems like a good place to do that. I'd also be happy to return the favor.

About my reading taste, I really like lots of different things. Kurt Vonnegut is like an old friend. George Saunders scratches a similar but different itch. I love Miranda July's alien familiarity. Shirley Jackson is a hero. Amos Tutuola is a mind-blowing discovery I made last year. Looking forward to more from Samantha Schweblin. And I'll bet the Strugatsky brothers are a blast to hang out with.

I'm a sucker for the sublime, in basically any context.

I'd never really read any fantasy before, but coming off writing that first novel, which was mostly grounded in reality, I craved something unreal. I just read Moorcock's Elric of Melniborné, which was full of fantastic ideas and beautiful writing. I could've used deeper characters, but it looks like Stormbringer might prove to be a bit of a "character builder," so I'm excited to continue that. And I'm now in the middle of the first book in Allan Batchelder's Immortal Treachery series, Steel, Blood & Fire, and I'm having a great time with it. It's super dark, super funny, and the characters are deep and alive.

This reading inspired me to start writing a fantasy novel. We'll see how I do, writing that alongside revising the first. But I'm just happy to have promising lumps of clay on the table after all this time.

So, nice to meet you all!

Thanks for reading.

-Zac
 

Chase

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:welcome:, Zac.

Glad you're staying in the writing game. I admire your reading list.
 

regdog

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:welcome:



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Maryn

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Nice to meet you, Zac.

Maryn, all polite
 

Zachary Dillon

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Thanks for the warm welcome!

Chase, what parts of the reading list inspire your admiration in particular?

Thank you, Enlightened! It's been a long time coming, and I'm still kind of baffled by it. The beginning of the rest of it all!

regdog, thank you, I've already done a bit of poking around; there's lots of great stuff happening here.

Nice to meet you, Maryn!

-Zac