In an attempt to actually profit from my writings, in the present but also in the future, I’m preparing a portfolio to write for publication. I have been reluctant in the past to do anything with my (short) stories, because I feared complete humiliation, but considering I have done enough lately to humiliate myself without the reason even coming near a story of mine, I have nothing to lose!

And besides, public humiliation, outrages criticism and total disappointment are part of the job description when you’re a writer. In the past week I have written two full short stories (meaning I have finished their storylines), and started translating/rewriting an older Dutch story I wrote about four years ago.

The first one is about the deceiving love-hate relationship of a boy with his city, written in a first-person narrative. Still nameless, but with the projectname “La Cité.” Today I have written the second one, “The Twain Holdsworth Sisters,” about two quaint sisters and their maid. Because this one is written in third-person narrative and the story has a lot more (autobiographical) meaning, the second one is much more a favorite than the first. Both need a grammatical rewrite, but are mostly finished.

My other project of the week is a bit more difficult. Four years after I started developing the idea, I still don’t know how to grasp the story. It’s a bit apocalyptic, with political and environmental commentary. I’m not even sure if I am still going to write that one — I would like to understand it first!