Let’s Do an Update

Blog No. 328

It’s March. Like, already. Every year things move ever faster towards the inevitable. But until then, let’s talk about what’s going on with my various projects. The obvious one is The Neon Heart, but there’s a novel in there, various events, Flags and High Fives, my progress towards ebooks, the day job, and probably something else. (I’m sure I’ll come up with more as I write this). We also seem to be in the middle of another cold snap (at least when the sun isn’t out). I’m not going to say that that has a huge impact on my writing and all those other things, but I’m not going to say it doesn’t. Enough delays (I suppose) time to get to the nitty-gritty.

As I said, the big thing looming over everything in my life right now is The Neon Heart, and it’s scheduled release in April. You may be thinking that April is still quite far away, and the book isn’t due on April first (which you’d be right on that last part, but I’ll get to the release date in a minute). Even with only a few edits still to come in, and the layout mostly done, I’m in a time crunch. The cover hasn’t been started, the layout is bound to have issues I won’t see until the content is in place, and printing is it’s own colossal mess that I will forever dread until it’s the responsibility of some entry-level employee at whatever publisher eventually (hopefully) will take me. It’s usually a good idea to get a sample copy of the book, and my experience with that so far has been author nightmare fuel. The Thinking Machine sample actually fell apart in my hands. Since my first book (No Light Tomorrow) I’ve tried to learn from each failure, but no matter how much time I leave for the printing process, it always seems to need more. The consistency and quality is just not reliable, and I’m just as likely to make a big mistake.

With all that hanging over the release, I’m obviously weary. I’d love to get the book to the printer before the end of the month (at least) but with my potential release date moving up, I should get it to them even sooner. It seems like Shock Stock is going to be too full for the dynamic duo of Christian and Ben. That’s great news for them, less than great for me. It’s scheduled for the last weekend of April, and that’s when I planned on having The Neon Heart finished (as in, in my hand). Since it’s unlikely I’ll be going, I’m going to try to get it out for the next closest event. That’s the Sarnia Pop Culture Show on April 14th. That cuts out a good week from my timeline. It may not seem like much, but it’s a lot for me. (Even just psychologically). Not only do I have to get the final edit finished (every time I get a beta read or edit back, I think, there can’t be more to fix, but there always is) and the cover, and the layout, but I have a bunch of little extras to do as well. The book has to be added to a bunch of databases (like Goodreads), I have to make some kind of wrap or case to package the books as a set for sales, and I have to change all the Adventure Worlds marketing material like the price sheets, website, etc. It may not seem like a lot, but it all adds up.

Still, I can’t deny that I’m excited. Coming to the end of a project, seeing all the work result in an actual, physical thing is pretty neat. Getting to start a new project is really exciting too. The novel is the next big thing, but I’m already thinking about what Novella number three will be. I’d like to knock out a few short stories too, if I ever find the time. Then there is Flags and High Fives. I’m a little regretful with how that has been going. Both Arvin and I had big plans and we both got swept up in other things. Admittedly, his family and new baby, but a book is kind of like a baby, right? (It is totally not). We are going to get back to the last project of Season Two in the next few months, and reevaluate the whole thing. We’re still planning on doing the podcast, but it’s going to have to change so we can keep it going more consistently. I have not idea what that will be, but he and I will work something out.

What else did I mention in the opening paragraph. Ebooks. Progress stopped when I started doing the fourth draft and layout for The Neon Heart, but I was in a pretty good place. I suspect I can get all the ebooks out in a reasonable time after the launch of Neon Heart. Obviously, we’ll see. I’ve made many proclamations before and thing haven’t worked out for various reasons. As for events. I’ve mentioned a couple of them, but there is a ChiSeries Windsor coming on March 27th, but there is also, most of the planning yet to do. The rest you can read on my Events Page. Lastly, the day job. All week, I’ve been doing 5:45 am starts to facilitate construction and repairs going on to the HVAC system. You know me and routine. This isn’t helping. Hopefully, I’ll end up with a couple extra hours out of it by the end of the week, and it has to be done, so I’m sucking it up. Since I’m mostly waiting for edits to come in (from wonderful people who have agreed to go over my book for nothing but a thanks and an acknowledgement) it’s not too disruptive. Boy, am I tired, though. Thanks to Christian and Elly, I have managed to get some work done, though. It’s only a week, but that’s one week closer to my rapidly approaching deadline. I hope I can make it.