...And On to 2025!
The Cat and the Comma Issue #22
The new year is always an interesting beat for me. After so much wind up with the holidays and my spouse’s birthday (which is today), it can be daunting for me to look out into the great abyss that is a new year and think about what that means for me.
Today, I work to look both forwards and backwards. One eye towards the yawning mouth of the future, one eye towards the ephemeral tide of the past. Or, at least, the past year.
This might get a little long.
Misc. Professional Update + Reflection
I’ve sure done a lot! My February newsletter is when I announced my plans to publish A Sharper, More Lasting Pain, which I then successfully did in October. It is also where I announced seeking other avenues than Substack due to some policy disagreements I have with this site. Alas, I am still here and, as of right now, it doesn’t look like I’m going anywhere.
Then, in May, I announced the release of a surprise short story collection in When the Stars Were Brighter. While it hasn’t done as well as its sibling and there are admittedly some things I would love to fix with it, I’m proud of it nonetheless.
In terms of the websites I’ve called home, I started this year on Gumroad and moved in May to itch.io thanks to Gumroad updating its policies—and I’ve stayed with itch.io ever since. I’ve even entered myself into a couple of collaborative sales events, which was tons of fun! And even more fun than this was getting to participate in a bunch of in-person events, including one at my local Barnes & Noble.
I was in a Barnes & Noble!
Which reminds me. By far, the coolest moment of my professional 2024 can be summed up in a single picture:
How unbelievably cool is that?
Aside from my self-publications, I also entered and was accepted into an anthology! Reverent: An Anthology of Divinity, a collection of poems, essays, and short stories from various authors discussing the Divine across multiple cultures, accepted me into their ranks. ARCs should be going out this month, and the book will be out for publication next month! Right around my birthday, in fact…
Also, I signed myself up for a couple of Stuff Your Kindle events and am planning a sale in February for my birthday, so keep an eye out for announcements of both of those!
I also went back to school, took part in a work strike, and spent the last month and a half overworking myself something fierce. That will… hopefully come to a head this month, as I get to find out whether I’m surviving the next wave of Boeing layoffs or not. Wish me luck! Hopefully this wave of overworking myself gets to end soon.
And now… what comes next? Well, there might be another book event at my local B&N next month, so I’ll start with that. I plan on participating as a vendor at more local pride events, if possible. I don’t currently plan to release a book in 2025, though that could always change! That said, I’ve teamed up with an incredibly cool artist and best friend of mine for cover art and maps for something…
More on that in the coming months.
Writing Update
This year held a lot of writing twists and turns for me. I started the year finishing up ASMLP for edits and working on a few shorts, including Following a Northern Star (included in WtSWB). Then, I transitioned to working on Across This Hollow Distance, my gothic fantasy novella inspired by the myth of Eros and Psyche. Due to… many reasons, this will no longer be releasing in April like I originally planned.
I waxed and waned on it for a while and, when I was no longer satisfied, stepped over to Those Who Emerge from Ashes, a dark fantasy novel about Gods in cults, sad lesbians, and time travel.
…At least, I was, until my spouse gave me the idea for a new story.
If you have seen me talking on Tumblr or Bluesky, you’ll know I have thrown myself full-force into The Distance Between Stars and Salt, my sapphic, Maltese-inspired seafaring fantasy novel. It is inspired by the likes of Maltese mythology, folklore, and history, Final Fantasy 10, I Am Setsuna, The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera, and The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker. I’m working through a sort of “zero draft” getting down the basic bones of the project.
It sucks that I’ve had to work so much lately, because I’m positively on fire for this project and I’m having so much fun. I’ve been able to send questions and receive information and pictures from my nanna, which has been invaluable in conjunction with all the research I’ve done and continue to do.
This project has been healing, in a way. Perhaps that sounds strange, but that’s how it is sometimes.
Here’s an excerpt from where I’m at, too.
As we approached, my gaze first latched to the cabins dotting the shore. Formed from whole logs, they were dark with what I assumed to be algae and stood in a crooked line on an outcrop of sand and weeds, too far away for the waves to touch. Figures drifted to and fro, hanging laundry or hauling in recent catches or merely conversating. All of them stilled as we yanked the sails down to slow our approach.
A smaller figure sprinted across the sand and towards the docks, a strange brown cape flowing behind them. I squinted. No, not a cape—wings. And there, cut off by their strange leggings, taloned feet. They raised a hand against the sun—and, likely, to observe us better—before shouting something that sounded like a command.
Then, as my shock subsided, they flapped their wings and took to the air towards us.
“Edera.” You shot me a look of steel. “Turn us around.”
Before I could stop you, you wedged yourself between me and the oncoming beast. Starlight rolled down your arms and concentrated into your palms.
“What are you doing?”
“Turn us around,” you said again, “before I get us into trouble.”
If you’re intrigued by this project and what comes out of it, you can currently read the first five chapters if you become a member of my Patreon!
Going into 2025, I’m somewhat changing how I work on things. If you haven’t noticed, I have a lot of projects in various states that I like to jump between, which often means I’ll work on something for a couple of months at a time before moving on. I still want to do the basic idea of this, because it does help me when my interests start to wane… but I think I want to increase the frequency. Right now, that means jumping between The Distance Between Stars and Salt, Across This Hollow Distance, and the sequel to ASMLP.
Speaking of, that has a title. It’s had one, but I’ve changed it. I’m hesitantly settling on A Stronger, More Lethal Monstrosity… Rings better than the original title that I had. Still not sure how I feel about it, but still.
Right now, I’m thinking of rotating on a weekly basis between the projects. They’re all in different enough states that they occupy slightly different parts of my mind, and I think the short bursts will help keep my enjoyment from dwindling—plus, absence makes the heart grow fonder and all of that, so having to stop and work on something else for a couple of weeks should also maintain my enjoyment.
But who knows?
I’m starting the year with some tandem work. Between The Distance Between Stars and Salt and taking another stab at Across This Hollow Distance, I’m hoping to have a productive first week. I have a lot of notes from my critique group, and I’m taking this week to do another read-through and make notes of my own. Not sure if I’ll do any actual writing yet for ATHD, but we shall see.
Media Update
Due to being quite busy, I haven’t had a whole lot of time for playing games or watching shows. When I see my girlfriend, we watch Yellowjackets and I’ve been enjoying that so far! I’m also rewatching House when I have the time, and I’m trying to shotgun The Magicians on Netflix before that goes away in a couple of weeks. I also got my hands on Blood Echoes, a collection of essays about Bloodborne from various people. I’ve been reading sections of that when I have the time.
That said, last night I finished one final book for 2024: Refuse to Be Done: How to Write and Rewrite a Novel in Three Drafts. It’s a book that came highly recommended by one of my writing groups, and I definitely did like it. Not a whole lot of the book is useful to me, but there’s some concepts and exercises I’m curious to try out.
Blog and Video Update
I barely have the energy to do livestreams right now. I want to go back to doing them, though, especially so I can talk about my current drafting and research process and how I’m going about it all.
Otherwise, I’m still planning a video going through all the research I’ve been doing for TDBSaS… Cause there’s a lot.
The Cat Recommends
I like to use this space to shout out other indie writers, cause I think we could all use a boost from time to time. This time, I’m using this space to shout out Andromeda Ruins, who last month released a holiday novella set in the Call Me Icarus world called Χεῖμα!
In a different life, a different world, Icarus is invited for a winter holiday to Achilles' family cabin.
What ensues is a cozy tale of mischief and shenanigans as Icarus and company get snowed in and learn to love despite the annoyances and grievances that surround them.
You can purchase Χεῖμα here, and check out Andi’s Itchio for the rest of his available works!
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Special thanks to Ceph, Hannah, and Larkspur. If you want to have your name here with theirs, subscribe to my Patreon!
And that’s a wrap. I wish you well on all of your endeavors and hope you stay safe.
Kindest regards,
Alex