Surprise, Surprise

Blog Post No. 438

Surprisingly, the sample copies of my new novella, Break/Interrupt, came in earlier than expected. Not surprisingly, there was a mistake and I had to pay to upload a new file in order to fix it. The books came in last week, but I spent the weekend searching for coupon codes online in hopes of avoiding the steep cost of making the fix. It was just a little thing. The text on the back cover was off centre. Some of the issue is from the wildly varying printing and cutting tolerances that comes from print-on-demand books. Also, I was relying on the previous book’s cover as reference and since this book is significantly larger, the spacing was off.

On Order

Blog post No. 437

I’m once again in a holding pattern while I wait for the sample copies of Break/Interrupt to ship. It’s never fun to get to a point when you feel like you’ve finished a project to have it come to a screeching halt because of something out of your control. I’m so close, but still at the mercy of the printer and shipping company. The process is always a bit wonky, too. Like with most things, you get a tracking code when the books are finished but with every book I’ve ordered the status never seems to change until the books have actually been delivered, then it all updates at once. It’s a little frustrating, but what are you going to do?

Cover Reveal – Break/Interrupt

Blog Post No. 436

I have a sample copy of the new book on order right now (to make sure there are no printing issues). Since I’m so close to making it available to the public and ordering some copies to sell, I’m happy to share the amazing cover by Glen Hawkes.

Glen was nice enough to do the cover of the last book, Broadcast Wasteland, and I think he outdid himself this time. It goes to show, when you hamper an artist and graphic designer with an idea, they will make something good with it. When you let them take your idea and run with it, you end up with something amazing. For more of his art, comics, and kids books, check out his website.

I hope to have copies of the Break/Interrupt at local stores within the next couple of weeks. It all comes down to shipping. I may do some limited deliveries if I can make sure to avoid people (though it would really be nice to have a chat with folks).

I think that’s all for this week. Just excited about that cover and the imminent release of the fourth book in the Synthetic Albatross Novella Series, Break/Interrupt!

Searching for a Topic

Blog Post No. 435

With all hands on deck working to finish Break/Interrupt by next week, there it’s anything else going on for me to talk about. Since I’m still hiding at home, I don’t even have the day job to complain about or regular excursions around the city on which to muse. I’m always excited to get to the end of a project, but I seem extra eager for this one. Since time in the pandemic is so weird, it’s felt like I’ve been writing and editing this thing for a year and not the eight months it’s really been. Wow, it’s only been eight months. Also strange to think about.

On Schedule – Break/Interrupt

Blog Post No. 434

I think it would be fair to call this an update, but the title came before content so I’m leaving it. As I write this, there are 14 days left in the month and left to get the coveted discount on the sett-up fee at the printer. I just finished the last review/edit of Break/Interrupt and there is one step left before I do the layout and put the cover together. I’m, as always, thankful for all the people who took the time to read the book over for me, look for mistakes, and give their opinions. It’s one thing to read the book, it’s another to do it in the middle of edits while it’s being iteratively improved. I hope the story was good enough to make up for any shortcomings in those early drafts. I really don’t know how I could put out a book without all that help.

The Near Future

Blog Post No. 433

It’s getting to be crunch time for Break/Interrupt. With the usual deadline of getting the novella to the printer by the end of March in hopes of using a discount code for the setup cost, I’ve got less than three weeks to wrap it all up. Right now I’m still waiting on the last edits to come back, but (hopefully) since it’s in the final stages of the editing process, there won’t be too much to change. Fixing typos is easy enough, but rewriting sections due to plot holes or other mistakes this late in the game is a tough nut to crack. I’ve done it before, though. I should be able to do it again. If not, I just bite the bullet and pay full price. Besides, I’m the one who set the April release date. Not only does that leave the whole month open for me to actually get the book published, but I can always change it. It’s not like I need the books for an upcoming event or anything.

Focusing Ideas

Blog Post No. 432

This week’s post may meander a bit. I have an idea in my head and I’ve been turning it over in my head for the last few days—trying to find the right way to express it so that it makes sense to other people. Like, I’m sure if you were inside my head (and not horrified by the stuff going on in the background) it would make total sense. I’m going to try to use words to explain it, though, as the technology to see into another person’s head (thankfully) doesn’t exist. The basic thesis statement is that when you set your brain to focus on one type of thing, the ideas that you create from the things you absorb around you will mostly fit that format. See. It’s not easy to put into words. Let me try to elaborate and clear up what I mean.

What I Mean When I Take a Day

Blog Post No. 431

I’ve noticed that over that last few months, I’ve mentioned taking a day or the weekend (off) more than I usually would. Not so much that I feel that I’m falling behind (or any more behind than I always do) but enough that I felt like a post was warranted. Part of the reason why I’m commenting on it more is that, since I have so much less going on in my life right now, I have less to write about. It’s been a real struggle to keep coming up with interesting topics and based on the views over the last few weeks, it’s been hit and miss on that front. I’ve been at home only going out for grocery trips spread out as much as possible and a weekly drive to make sure the car battery doesn’t go dead from lack of use.

Virtual Writing Retreat

Blog Post No. 430

2017 AWP Retreat

If you missed last week’s post, I wouldn’t be surprised because it wasn’t terribly popular. They can’t all be winners. Either way, in that post I mentioned that over the weekend I would be attempting a Virtual Writing Retreat with the Wrecking Writing crew. Starting on the Friday, we had a group chat for about an hour before logging off and getting to work on whatever projects we each had planned for the weekend. We had set a rough goal for 10am to 2pm in the day and 7 to 10pm at night. The general idea was to keep in touch over messenger and be free to take breaks or call the sessions for ourselves when we saw fit. It was as close to a real writers retreat as we could get without being together at a cottage over a weekend.

The Year it really Lands

Blog Post No. 429

Last year was a strange one for a lot of reasons. It’s about this time each year that the event train leaves the station and starts building steam for the spring and summer rush. There may be a comicon or and book fair and (if we have our act together) a retreat. From there, the plans reach full swing and I’ll be booked at least one weekend (potentially two or more) a month for the rest of the year. Everything ground to a halt last year because of the pandemic, but after eight years of working on this writing thing, it felt like an anomaly. We did manage to get the retreat in before things were shut down, but the scheduled events after that were all cancelled.