Real News of Fictional Worlds, March 2019

Beware the Ideas of March!
Hey everyone, and welcome new readers! I hope that you’re all enjoying your March, wherever you are.

For those who may not know, the Ides of March are famously proclaimed to forecast doom in Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”.

I came across an idea from this view of March, and enjoyed it so much I had to share it:

(If you don’t see a picture above then select “Display images below” or similar in your email viewer.)

…I wish the above image was from a real knife holder. It is instead a photoshopped work, based on the characterization of Julius Caesar in the classic comic series Asterix.

In any case, like the end of Julius Caesar, this past month of February was short and intense. Fortunately that was the only similarity.

2 months into my Master Plan
My 2019 plan for world domination was to complete and release 11 new books 2019, from 11 different manuscripts that I have in various stages of completion.

January was ahead of target – I managed to redraft 2 novels! I had hoped for a similar good run in February, to give me a total of 4 works that might only need some minor sanding before releasing. But reality intervened and I “only” managed to finish redrafting most of one. It needed more work than I thought, and I had less time than I thought.

I could be down about this – but why? The goal was nuts in the first place. I’ve gotten a lot more done than I might have otherwise–and the year isn’t over yet. : )

I’ve also decided to concentrate on completing and releasing series of novels. This is both for my creative and professional growth. So I still plan to finish 11 books this year – but now 2 of those 11 will be entirely new stories. This will take more time, and could push me behind this almost absurd schedule. 

We’ll see. I’m going to keep chugging at it, all the way up to December 31st! 

Which is why I decided to bring one of my other partial manuscripts to the front of the queue:

Creating with a Day Job

It’s hard to get creative work done while we work on other things. It’s also doable, and improvable. I’ve accumulated a lot of different methods that work for me, and I continue to refine them. A lot of them are tailored towards writing, as you may be able to tell from the fact that you’re reading this in a newsletter. But I’ve also pursued photography and music while paying the bills with other skills.

What’s most important is balancing the doing with compassion, kindness and self-care throughout.

So I’ll keep all of that in mind in a meta sense, and abide by it I strive to complete it. I’ve set a release day for May 1st. as “International Workers Day”.

Workers of the World, create! You have nothing to loose but your brains. (Spelling of loose intentional.)

Upcoming Conferences

As I mentioned last month, I’m heading to check out this year’s Nebula convention in May. I enjoyed last year’s Worldcon so much that I’m giving this one a shot too. 

I’m also happy to be on a couple of panels at the upcoming FogCon. Which I just realized in writing this newsletter, is next week! One is a full panel I proposed on the topic of creating with a day job. I’m already psyched for that. The other panel is on AI in modern science fiction. I have a particular interest in this topic, having not only dedicated my novella Underclass to an exploration of this but also in my day job seeing the continual expansion of machine learning to things we don’t fully understand.

Fogcon is a fun conference that I heartily recommend. It is small and strong, but not intense in the way that Julius Caesar and Asterix are. Maybe more like Kristen Bell or Peregrin “Pippin” Took.

On another note, Dragons vs. Sky Pirates!
I am very happy and proud to feature a new book in a new series by fine writer Daniel Potter.  The book is “Dragon’s Price”, and it’s the first in his new series “Scales and Sky”.

I also can heartily recommend his previous series “Freelance Familiars” – a  fun modern urban fantasy romp that puts these magical animal sidekicks front and center.

The gift of darkness

In other promotional news, you can give and receive the gift of darkness. : ) My series “Ghost Magnet” and many other books by other fine authors in the Adult Urban, Epic and Dark Giveway.

My first and perhaps still most controversial novel “Two-Fisted Jesus Tales” is also available as part of the Fantasy Book Binge.

Go ahead and get some ebooks. You’ve earned it. The price is hard to beat, and they’re even throwing in the photons free of charge.

If you enjoy one of my tales from the above offerings, please do leave a review on Amazon via the handy links in their titles. You can also check out their other books on their Amazon author page, such as mine.

Bookbub for Books, Bub
I’m on Bookbub, and in addition to listing my own books I’ve started writing reviews of some of my favorite others’ works. If you’d like to follow me there, click below.

What’s next?
I get more writing done, I enjoy Fogcon and I have more to report back. I may even have a rough draft of “Creating With a Day Job” to send to interested beta readers. We shall see.

Wherever you are, keep on imagining, ~ j : )