Blog Post No. 405
The virtual launch is over and while I did very little to facilitate it (or likely because) it was a success. Though I’m not sure how to quantify a success of such a thing. At a physical event you can count of number of people who showed up and how many books you sold. I suppose I could go by views, but with so many different elements spread out over multiple digital spaces, that’s not so easy. I could go by engagement and I did get some good feedback on the silly video I made for the event, but again, I’d have to go around and calculate the comments on all the posts and I don’t want to. The easiest and most kind to my ego is to look at the things Christian, Brittni, and I did for the event. Continue reading “The Oddity of a Virtual Launch”
As you probably know, I’ve been home from the Day Job since early March. There are a lot of people in similar situations, and to be honest, it hasn’t been too bad for me. With Employment Insurance and the Emergency Benefits, I’m not really losing much money. (Some months may have even been better than what I sometimes get since the Day Job fluctuates so much). With the various stages of opening (for better or worse) across the province where I live, some folks have been going back to work, and many more are scheduled to when my area hits the third stage and schools open. As for me, I’ve been officially informed that my Day Job won’t be reopening until 2021. 
Success can be measured in different ways and often comes with it’s own shadows of failure. At the most basic sense, the first draft of the Invasion Novel is finished and that’s one bit of success. How long it took me, how overly long it is, how much work there it to make it readable, are all realities that come along with it, but I did it. It’s done (for now) and that’s an accomplishment. As I said last week, my plan (as it stands in the instant that I’m writing this) is to let the draft sit for August and September while I write and edit the next novella. 
It’s a new month and more than halfway through this very strange year. The first draft of the Invasion Novel is done. It has been my working project off and on since the end of 2018 (before 
Seven and a half years of writing weekly and a couple of years prior of ten spotty posts. Add them all together and you get 400 posts on this blog. Hurray for me. Looking back on the post for number 
I have no idea where the memory for this post came from. The break in the heat and a nice couple of days probably helped, but really, it’s a pretty specific memory. Maybe it was a dream or just a stray particle bumped the right neuron. Either way. I was in grade school. Maybe grade seven. The house I lived in at the time backed onto St. Clair when there was mostly empty fields and not the rapid construction going on now. From my bedroom, I had a great view of our back yard, the fence, the wide field, a row of trees, and bits of old Huron Line through the gaps in the tree line. I was bad for doing homework (sorry mom and dad) and didn’t spend a lot of time at my desk working, but I would spend a lot of time goofing off. I’d listen to tapes on my little stereo and do all kinds of random things at that desk, overlooking the fields. 
I’m going to do another Stories that Stay with me this week because nothing else is really going on other than adding more words to the Invasion Novel but still not finishing it. More words isn’t bad, but I have to finish it eventually. Besides, it’s never going to be any good until I start fixing it in the next few drafts. For now, I wanted to talk about a movie, a theatre, and a friendship. Its a nice memory that I think will make for an interesting enough story. In 1999, a movie came out that changed how action and science fiction movies would be made from then on. I’m not talking about The Thirteenth Floor. It was, The Matrix. 
A few days ago I was struggling with my daily writing and hit a wall. (It may have been some time last week, time has stopped having much meaning in March). I’ve since gotten back on track with the Invasion Novel (for the most part). Instead of doing nothing that day (something that had been happening more than I’d like) I opened up a blank document and wrote my daily word count towards a new project. I’m not sure when I’ll get to spend much time with it, or how far I’ll go, but it was better to work on something rather than nothing, right? 
This year the stars have aligned and this post is coming out on my birthday. Like today. It’s my birthday. Right now (as long as you are reading this on the day it was released). Not that birthdays are all that big a deal. I suppose I’m at the age where only the milestone years are really celebrated (and my first big milestone is next year). I can’t remember when the switch happened, but birthdays haven’t really meant that much to me for many years. For a while I was content to just think of them as a normal day, but my mom pointed out how it’s as much her day as it is mine, and that makes a lot of sense, so I got a little more into celebrating them again. I suppose it’s nice to have a day a year that’s all about you. Where being selfish is okay (to a point). I’m lucky enough to have a close core family and some fantastic friends, so I get my moments to feel special throughout the year when they are thoughtful, kind, and supportive. Not to say celebrating isn’t nice too.
I’ve recently finished reading the first four books of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. There are two more books in the series, one out now and the other announced, but they are both novels. The ones I’ve finished are novellas, and seeing as the new ones are novels, they seemed to be the end of an arc. I was quite taken with the first book when I read it. I got it as an ebook since it was on sale (and may still be). I read it quickly and generally had a good time with it. I was eager to get to the next book (it was already out, and I think the other two were either forthcoming or just newly released at the time). I didn’t, though, because it was so expensive. I have an issue with the current price of ebooks ever since the publishers managed to take control of the pricing. I only buy ebooks on sale now, since the prices can be way too high. (When I can get a paperback for ten dollars, I’m not spending the same or more for a digital copy). 
Ben Van Dongen 