Category: writing

In case you ever wondered what my stack looks like when I do edits on paper.

This is Lost and Found, double spaced, 12-point font (aside from chapter headers), 1 inch margins.

The draft is about 91500 words and in this format is 330 pages.

We have made it to the sixth month already and wow, has this year gone by both fast and slow at once.  The big news is that I’m not going to grad school in the fall despite efforts to secure a spot in a Ph.D program.  So what does that mean here?  Beyond me looking for a new job to pay the bills at least for the time being, it means that throughout the next year I should have more time to dedicate to writing projects and the podcasts I want to get started, among other things.

Folks in my discord server are already aware of this, but I’ve had a research project that’s been nibbling at my brain for well over a year now, and that’s a broader comparison of responses to the 1918 Flu and the COVID-19 pandemics.  I have some thoughts and some research questions that are floating around, so stay tuned for that both here and on my blog (I’ll be cross-posting, likely with early access to patrons here).  So that will be coming down the pipes.

I have some podcast ideas that are still floating around as well as a TikTok idea that I may or may not roll with sometime in the future (mostly because old newspaper headlines can be WILD).

I’ll be diving back into UNSETIC projects and currently I’m planning on July’s Camp NaNoWriMo project to be writing 50,000 words in that universe, though not limited to any particular project.  Edits are still in the works on Lost and Found and I’m debating whether I’m going to make my own cover (which is what I typically do) or if I’m going to think about hiring someone to design it for me.  Either way, time will tell with regard to what I’m going to do.

Also, it’s Pride, so happy Pride today, this month, and don’t forget that love is love.

So this marks the “official” end of the first week of no more undergraduate classes–ordinarily, my last day of classes in a week came on a Thursday, and today is the first Thursday after final exams (though admittedly my last paper wasn’t due until this past Friday).  Grades are in, my name appeared on all the graduation lists, so it is officially done.

Bachelor of Arts, History and Anthropology (2005), Master of Arts, History (2011), Bachelor of Science, Political Science (2021).

It is weird and surreal and at the same time very lowkey and normal, considering I am still working full time at the same place I have been since I started this last degree program and will be at least for the time being (will update on that if something changes).  After the stress of the last few weeks of the semester, I’ve been spending my off time largely trying to get my head back on straight and decompress.  Once I’ve managed that is when I’ll be able to really plan for what comes next, at least in the near term.

A few things are probably in the works based on some things that I’d like to get done and some musings out loud to friends.

• Podcast or stream based around worldbuilding–possibly both in theory and modeling worldbuilding practices for both fiction and gaming purposes.
• Return to the edits on Lost and Found, since that’s what it needs.  I’ll tweak cover art and the like once the edits are done–or if I find I need a break from said edits.
• Planning a TikTok that will possibly be related to a future podcast.  This will involve reading STRANGE HEADLINES (probably historical ones).
• Get podcasts planned and scripted–I’ve got Wait That Was News? and Fictionalize This! as two that I want to get off the ground
• Get my writestream schedule back in order
• Revisit some old projects, assess what I’m going to tackle, get organized

This is just a sampling of the stuff that I’ve got coming down the pipes, but first I’ve got to strike that new balance.  The last time I finished an academic program, Awakenings happened.  I don’t think we’re going to see something quite like that in the near term, but you never know.

Sometimes, things just happen.

Would you be interested in getting a monthly postcard of some kind?  Probably nothing special, just a fun postcard with a note.

Today is the tenth anniversary of my webserial, Awakenings.  Ten years ago today, the first post went up.  Back then, it was a twice a week update, one that changed a few months in to three days a week.  Other than a couple of breaks and a few missed posts, it’s been at least 900 words (often more) a week unleashed upon the world in the form of what’s basically an open draft of seven full books–with an eighth currently in progress.

777,000+ words so far and counting.

It was one of those projects that pops into your head out of nowhere, something that lived in my brain for years before I actually started writing what would become Awakenings.  In truth, the first seven books are almost a prequel to what’s being written now–backstory for the post-apocalyptic Arthur story I’d always wanted to write.

Now that story’s happening and five books need editing, polishing, additions and cleanup, even rewriting in some instances, to get the flow right.

It was something I started posting on the suggestion of a friend after I’d finished writing my master’s thesis.  It wasn’t something I’d expected to still be doing now, but I’m not sorry that I am.

Ten years has been a ride.  But it’s not over yet.

Stay tuned, world.  Stay tuned.