New month, new possibilities… or something like that.

Hi, it’s Vincent once again. I hope you had a good weekend and a great Halloween. Mine was about par for the course. Now the workday begins anew, with all the headaches and stress that brings, but hopefully also the opportunities, too.

(Anyone else scared to death about the USA elections tomorrow? Just me? Didn’t think so.)

So I said I’d send two newsletters last week, I think. That didn’t happen… Yeah, Dad came to town and I’ve had other stuff on my mind because of it. Our relationship is… fine, but he always gets me out of the house when he’s in town. I don’t mind. I got a haircut, and got to vote early, so that’s that off my mind. Halloween was quiet, I stayed home, tried and failed to light some candles, ate candy corn and those little pumpkins made of honey…

It was fine. Peaceful. (Calm before the storm?)

Anyway.

This week’s goals are on the easy side. Partly that’s because of the election. Partially that’s because I’m trying something new with my editor buddy and we haven’t set it up yet as of writing. I’ll report back on how things go.

This week:

• Finish plotting arc 1 of PSI by working on it at least an hour every day. This includes developing new characters, researching the period as needed, building a timeline, etc

• Create concept and rough outline for new Runner Owen short story by working on it 45 minutes to an hour every day. Note this is a different story than the one I worked on before. I’ll go back to that one next week.

• Research Hollywood and the 1950s for semi-secret project at least an hour every day.

• Develop winter sword and sorcery story for alt pen name for at least an hour a day. This involves character creation, plot development, a little worldbuilding, and research as needed.

I’ve got a few systems for keeping track of what I’ve done now, and an accountability system I won’t loathe doing. Let’s see how it works out for me.

Three Fun Links

MALEBOX: Based on and named after Lou Sullivan’s magazine started in the 80s, this is by and for FTM folks, with poetry, essays, news, and more. It’s a quarterly release, like the original, so the next issue will be out in January. Give ‘em some love!

The Feminine Horror of Haunted Houses: A video essay by girly soup. Heavy on the gothic, summarizing a few different movies and giving her thoughts on it. I’m not sure there’s anything in it I haven’t heard before but I enjoyed it nonetheless. Check it out!

A timeline of the Cthulhu Mythos: From the Wayback machine, an old-school website. It contains all the dates mentioned in Lovecraft’s stories, as well as others that used his work around the time. I’m using it for research, but you might enjoy it as inspiration for your Neocities site. Just saying. Look it over!

Shout out

Shout out to Spilled Ink and Coffee, a little store run by two sapphics I follow on Bluesky. They’re going through some rough times right now, so I wanted to give them a boost. I’m not paid by them. Actually, I paid them for some candles on Etsy some time ago. They’re very nice!

Reminder!

My short stories on Itchio are currently priced at $2 so I can participate in a sale happening later on in the month. If you want any of my stories and can’t buy them for whatever reason, come to me. Message me on Bluesky or anywhere else you know I’m active. I will happily send you a copy.

I guess that’s it for this week, folks. Light your candles and say some prayers for the fate of my country, please. And if you live here, can vote, and haven’t, please do tomorrow.

Stay safe out there, and don’t let the bastards grind you down.