Good morning, Readers!

How can it be Thursday already?

Things are going relatively well, all told.  I'm very far behind in many things, but writing isn't one of them.  I manged to write two thousand words yesterday, and it didn't take all that much to get the ball rolling.  I will be finishing chapter 18 and possibly 19 today.  18 is a new chapter that I inserted between two others.  There are three such chapters that I placed to fill in some serious gaps that I noticed the last time I read through the manuscript.  It's added some nice depth to a few characters that were lacking.

I'm really looking forward to these later sections in the book.  There are some fights coming up that are going to be fun, not least of all because the first of them is going to bring one character into the know, as it were.  It's going to be quite a shock for the poor bugger.  Heh heh heh.

Something that makes me extremely happy about this write is that even though I'm not writing at the speed I'd like to be, I'm still having fun with the story.  Normally at this stage, I'd be really flagging.  It would be a slog to get through this part of the story.

Part of it is that I'm having fun with Celtic myth, which is an area of intense personal interest.  Letting my imagination run riot in that world has been the most fun my brain has had in a long, long time.

Still in the writing scene, my search for an agent continues.  I've queried a tonne and have received, thus far, three rejections.  Some agencies don't send rejections, I've noticed, and their silence is indication that I was rejected.  That's a rough take for me.  I've come to expect that of publishing houses, but not really an agency.  Still, everyone is trying to get published, it seems, and they must be insanely busy.

I'm really hoping that an agent likes my stuff, and they'll pick me up.  I've hoped that before now, though, so I'm not holding my breath.  Still, I've been dreaming about it an awful lot of late.  Knock on wood and wish me luck.

Now I'm off to go play a bit more in Celtic mythology.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I'm over at Black Gate again, waxing lyrical about the price of publishing with a small press.

I’m sure many of you by now have heard of the sudden controversy that erupted around Canadian horror/speculative fiction publisher, ChiZine. The story has been picked up by Victoria Strauss of Writer Beware. You always know it’s bad when Writer Beware gets involved. For those of you who are blissfully unaware of the situation, good for you. Stay that way if you can. If you insist on knowing it all, I can recommend a great round-up by High Fever Books (here). Start at the bottom and work your way up through the updates.

It’s bad.

For the most part, there has been an outpouring of support for those affected; the authors who were not paid, and the former staff who were so atrociously abused. As with all controversies, however, there have been a number of bad takes. The worst has come from an editor by the name of Stephen Jones, who had this to say:

Good morning, Readers!

The only reason I'm at work today is because that is where the food is.

I'm very tired, and I have no right to be this tired.  I haven't done anything all that tiring of late.  Still, I'm exhausted.  I mean, I didn't sleep all that well last night, and was woken a couple of hours before my alarm.  Oh well, that is life, I suppose.

Anyway, I've made a decision about things that have been on my mind for a while.  It's already begun, really, but I thought I might share it all with you both to see what you think and to arrange my thoughts on the matter.  Before anyone panics, no, I am absolutely not quitting writing.  That's such an integral part of my being I don't think I could ever give it up.

What I am doing, however, is getting out of the publishing business.  Self-publishing specifically.  I can't do it any more.  I just can't.  I don't have the time to be able to hunt down the opportunities as you must when you self-publish.  I don't have time to chase after reviews, or to hit up all the local bookshops to ask if they'll take my books, or to hunt down other opportunities.  With everything else going on, and with all that I want to devote my time to, I simply don't have the time, or the energy.

When I first started writing and self-publishing, I thought I'd be able to throw my everything at it.  Turns out, I am not especially good at being a publicist and marketer for myself.  I don't have the funds to pay editors their worth, and the same goes for cover designers and interior formatters.  I do not have the capacity to act as my own publisher.

To that end, I'll be looking to find a home for my entire back list so I no longer have to worry about keeping stock and distributing them, having to find the time in my schedule to fulfill orders and so forth.  I won't have to fuss over format or covers or editing anymore.  I'll be free to write and pursue other interests without the stress of everything else about publishing that have to occupy my mind.

Renaissance Press has already acquired Sky Road Walker, and it's my hope that they'll accept the rest in due course.

I intend to spend the space and time I'll get back to work on the art side of my interests.  I have plans to work on a number of things in the art realm, and have already taken steps to get there.  Yesterday, for example, I ordered some white and black polymer oven-bake clay, some clay-shaping tools and some bake and bond.  I plan on a series of sculptures, and have ideas for paintings and drawings, as well as chainmaille items and a few pieces in leather that I intend to get to.  First on my plate, however, is the sculpture.

The clay will not arrive until near the middle of December, so it'll be a Christmas present to myself, and in the meantime, I will be planning a new website for the art side of my stuff.  That will be going live as soon as I can get my portfolio in order.  Perhaps it'll require an entirely new website.

One thing for certain, is that it will require learning a whole new skill set (selling art, creating prints or casts etc would all be relatively new to me, and I will have a little bit of research to do), and a few new display items for my works when I head out to conventions.

I'm quite excited by this new thing I want to try my hand at, and I'm eager to share with you.  2020 will be, I think, the year I settle it all in, build up my portfolio and stock, and then launch my art thing properly in 2021.  The problem will be reigning in my impatience and launching everything too soon.  Doing that before its ready will likely not help me much at all.

Right, I've waffled on enough.  I'm off to learn French a bit and then write.

Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Last week was my birthday.

Don't feel badly if you didn't know or forgot.  I really don't like people making a fuss over it, and am happier if it's ignored by most.  I didn't really celebrate, either on the day or on the weekend following.  There wasn't time.  On the day, I worked, then had martial arts training, and then I went home to bed.  On the weekend, I had to teach most of Saturday, and had the second part of my full Life Saving Society CPR/First Aid recertification all day Sunday.

I will be having a small celebration with my dad next weekend, so it's not like I'm not celebrating at all... before any of you rouse at me.  And I plan to treat myself to something, when I figure out what that something is.

My brother, who is my constant supply of really awesome video games, sent me this for my birthday:

So, that is what I will be playing next for my live streams on Wednesday evenings, when I'm done with Far Cry Primal.  I should be finishing up that... maybe in a few more weeks?  I mean, I've killed one of the big bads (who was actually quite sympathetic), and will be working my way towards killing the other big bad.  She's less sympathetic.

I'm excited to be playing Death Stranding.  It looks like a really interesting game, with a really twisted story, and that's kinda my bag.

Writing has also been going relatively well.  It's been rather slow, as I've only managed a thousand words a day (which, to be fair is my goal, but I'm used to being able to write double that).  I've read through the manuscript and noticed a few scenes that needed to be inserted, which I've since done.  Next up is a big reveal for one character, and a vindication for the other.  I'm still loving the story, and the characters I've built in them.  Celtic myth is full of really creepy iconography, if you think about it, and it's so much fun to play in this creepy space.

Today, however, I will not be writing.  Today is query agents day.  I'm really hoping that I'll be able to get this narrative I'm having so much fun with into the hands of someone who has equal amounts of fun with it.  A girl can dream

So I'm off to do that.  Wish me luck!

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

Can*Con and the people involved with it have once again earned my love this week when, yesterday, they made an announcement about the whole ChiZine horror show.  Instead of waxing lyrical about it, I've instead copied the whole thing below.  Here, have a read:

Instead of empty words, they've decided to enact something tangible to help the authors who are going through hell right now, offering something constructive to help them out.

Reading this yesterday made me so happy.  It's nice to see the community stand up and do something good.

I'm proud of you Can*Con.

Now I have work to do, so, I'm off to do it.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have returned to my usual routine this week, which means that I am sore and tired.  For the record, my usual routine is lifting weights every Monday Wednesday and Friday at lunch,  (I say every Friday, but a lot of the time, I'm too tired to do it Fridays, so I often can be found snoozing in the sauna instead.  Naps are great), running and martial arts training every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday.  Sunday I do nothing physical.  That's my recovery day.

It has been a couple of weeks since I've abandoned my schedule.  I was unwell and otherwise occupied, so as usual my fitness routine was the first to be sacrificed.  I regret this, as I always feel so much better when I'm active.  It's a vital part of my mental health care strategy (it's not foolproof.  I still spiral, but it does help).  I was supposed to return to my schedule last week in the middle of the week.  I did not, because I was a lazy bum.

But I'm back now, and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up for a little while.  It is so easy to break a routine, and so damned difficult to regain it.  Normally, it takes me about two weeks to settle into the routine.  If I can stick with it for a fortnight, I should be golden.  Happily, I think I'll be able to keep up with my run training, as I've now got a running partner in my friend Tom.  It's a lot harder for me to make excuses for not going to train when someone is waiting for me.  So in my running, at least, I should be keeping up.

For the record, Tom couldn't run yesterday, but I still went.  I did not run outside.  I don't have the running equipment necessary to run in the cold and snow, so I have taken my runs inside to the Y and the treadmills once more.  I used to like running on treadmills, but after spending so much time running outside, particularly in the cooler months, I find running on treadmills to be dull and weird.  I get a little dizzy when I step off to find the ground beneath me no longer moving.  It's weird, and I don't like it.  I'll put up with it, though, until I can run outside again.

Hopefully, I can keep this up.  Wish me luck!

Now, I have a book to write.  I had hoped to have it finished already, but, well... that's a topic for another day.

​Ciao!

Good morning, Readers!

I have news!  Good news!  The lovely folks at Renaissance Press have acquired Sky Road Walker, and will be getting a second edition through them.  YAY!

There is no release date as of yet, so the first edition is still available.  I doubt very much that the second edition will be all that changed, maybe the cover a little bit (but probably not.  Who knows?), from the first so that's not going to be much of an issue.

The book is also still going to be raising money for charity.  Except this time, instead of $5.00 from physical book sales and the royalties from eBook sales, all royalties will be going to charity in perpetuity.  I will not be seeing any money from this sale to Renaissance, and I'm thrilled!

I'm thrilled for many reasons, the most obvious one being that I no longer have to fuss with lugging the books around, keeping stock, and sorting out the finances for donation.  Now Renaissance will be handling all of that, thank heavens.

I'm most happy, however, about the fact that Renaissance has a greater reach than I do.  They will sell more copies than I possibly could - they're at conventions I can't get to, or have folks who sell one their behalf at conventions that I can't get to - and that means that more copies will sell, helping charity.

The charity, incidentally, has not changed.  This book will still be raising funds for The Caring and Sharing Exchange, a charity that helps families in need by offering school supplies for disadvantaged children, and Christmas hampers for families who haven't the resources to offer much by way of Christmas celebrations.  Everyone deserves to go to school with all that they need, and to have a good Christmas.  The Caring and Sharing Exchange helps these things to happen.  You can read more about their work here.

I'm so happy that Renaissance Press decided to say yet when I asked them if they wanted the book.  I will keep you informed about release dates and whatnot for the second edition of Sky Road Walker.  I'm really excited that it's find a better home than I could give it.

Anyway, I'm really excited and happy about this.  I will be having a short celebration for myself, and then I'll be getting back to work.  I have the second book in the Avalon series to get written.

​Ciao!