Booktube Implodes, I Catch Colds... What A Dizzying February!
The Cat & the Comma Issue #24
February is always a weird month for me, between how short it is and how cold still. My birthday falls in this month, which is always nice, but this year a shadow has fallen over my enjoyment of the season. I was sick multiple times across February, dealt with tonsil stones, watched the plummet, rise, and secondary plummet of a Booktube figure I once looked up to, and have overall struggled with the ever-crushing weight of watching the country I live in spiral into insanity.
And then, rounding out the end of the month, I sold nearly 5,000 copies of my debut novel in just five days.
Let’s have a chat.
Misc. Professional Update
Another month of slower moves and building things for the future, with recaps this time. Let’s go down the list.
As of writing this, the Revenant anthology should be available to purchase and read! I’m so excited for people to get to read my short story, “The Comforts of Home”, as well as the other fabulous stories included. It was an arduous endeavor, one with a few unnecessary hiccups, but at long last has come together to be shared with the world. Hooray! You can purchase it here or here, and maybe even review it here?
As previously mentioned, I have been taking part in a handful of online events. February 26th brough us Sapphic Stuff Your Kindle event, February 28th brought us Stuff With Fantasy, and today starts the Itch.io Sapphic Speculative Fiction Bundle, and March 7th will kick off the Indie Author Spring Spectacular. Get 30 awesome sapphic books on itch.io for the next three days, or wait till next weekend to get a bunch of indie books across a ton of genres!
As I mentioned, both SYK events that have already passed netted me an incredible and nigh-unbelievable level of (personal) success. I moved nearly 5,000 copies of A Sharper, More Lasting Pain! How absolutely absurd. I jumped across like. 50 personal milestones in two swift jumps. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to surpass that—though I certainly hope so!
Aside from this, I am taking part in an in-person event as part of the Whatcom Writers and Publishers group. We’re gathering at the Bellis-Fair Mall in Bellingham, Washington to do a writer’s market for a day. How exciting!
Writing Update
If you couldn’t tell by the short preamble, it’s been a bit of a weird month.
That isn’t to say I haven’t made progress! I wrote a fair amount of my vampire short story, “Honey, Intravenous” and am excited about it still. Publishing didn’t go quite how I planned, as I fell ill no less than three times this entire month. It really put a wrench into my plans. That said, there was recently a call for sapphic monster shorts that I may try to be a part of. We shall see. Otherwise, I can refine this to release next year… or maybe even Halloween!
As for The Distance Between Stars and Salt, I’m still trucking away at it! I’ve officially crossed the 26k word mark in my zero draft, and am about halfway through the book itself, which is nuts to think about. Now to just… write the second half. I also have been pecking away at an actual first draft—just enough of one to send to my writing group—and have already made a couple of very exciting changes. Edera and Seren are getting a pet now! I also sent this wip in to my writing group for the first time this month—for my birthday, no less!—and they loved it. There were a couple of aspects of the work that I, having been in this group for a time, feared might give some members difficulty, but I’m pleasantly surprised to report that they all responded almost exactly how I hoped they would. That tells me I’m on the right track, at least!
Here’s a snippet of where I’m at right now:
With agonizing slowness, you trailed a hand down my chest—across the pouch of bone shards, across the modest peaks of my breasts—and to the muscled planes of my stomach. Your three fingers twitched as they worked at the tie of my trousers. Then, as the strings pulled free, you cocked your head and examined me with furrowed brows.
My mouth dried. “What?”
“The light.” You ghosted the back of one hand along my cheek. “So breath-taking. You’re glowing like the stars.”
For a single, heart-stuttering moment, I froze in confusion. How could I possibly compare? I wasn’t a Celestine. I was one of many elves of the sand on a tiny island in the middle of nowhere.
But… that wasn’t all I was. That wasn’t all my family was, all that my neighbors were. We were, all of us, so much more than that. We were the interwoven threads of a cultural net so much larger than we could ever hope to fathom. I didn’t have to compare to you when I was already valuable on my own. I had spent so long on our journey together, consciously or not, comparing the lengths of our usefulness. You, flooded with unfathomable power. Me, a hapless navigator. But that wasn’t the end of either of us. I could wield power on my own.
I too could be a star, in the right moments.
If you’re intrigued by this project and what comes out of it, you can currently read the first ten chapters if you become a member of my Patreon! I’ve also recently made a Carrd Page going over the basics of this project.
Last time, I mentioned I had started including a wordcount tracker in my writing process, which is still the case! I made slower progress this month compared to last, but I’m still pleased with how I’m moving along. Here’s what it currently looks like!
And now, stats:
For the month of February, I wrote a total of 6,994 words and an average of 699 words per session. And here’s an updated breakdown of what stage of writing I’ve spent what amount of words on, too:
I mentioned last time that Notion gets a little funky with the organization, but I’ve wrangled it well enough, I feel. In any case, I like numbers and seeing number go up is good for making me feel like I’m accomplishing something.
Media Update
With more free time available to me, I’m finally starting to get back into watching shows and reading books again. This month, I beat the Elite 4 in Pokemon Black 2 and am now looking forward to the post-game. I’m also playing through Pokemon Platinum again, a game near and dear to my heart. Which reminds me: At some point, I would like to play and stream a Nuzlocke of Pokemon games, naming different ‘mons after various characters of mine and getting to infodump about their lore while I play. I was originally going to start with Black and White… but generation 5 is very tough to Nuzlocke, so I might start with Platinum instead. Regardless, more announcements over it as I think it over some more.
Continuing on with gaming, I sated my Sonic Adventure 2/Chao Garden obsession. On my birthday, I collected the Tails Chao, a unique and rare chao that you have to play an entirely separate game just to get! But it was very much worth it. Look at his lil face!
Next up, to grind the stats of my other chaos to make S-rank chaos, selectively breed for different weird color combinations (Shiny Jewel Chao have… interesting graphical effects), and eventually produce a few Chaos chao as well.
I’m sure most of that did not make sense if you are not familiar with the Sonic Adventure games or chao. That’s okay.
In terms of television, I also finished season 1 of Yellowjackets with my girlfriend and I. Am. OBSESSED. I need to watch season 2 as soon as possible. The cliffhanger at the end of the first season absolutely killed me. I’ve also gone back to watching House MD. Nothing can keep me away from my favorite meow meow, it appears.
Finally, on the reading front, I picked up my own copy of Gideon the Ninth on New Years and am finally diving into it. I’m having a blast and these girls are sooooo deranged in the best way possible. Also trying to finish Godkiller by Hannah Kaner and resisting the urge to re-read Priory of the Orange Tree… barely.
Blog and Video Update
Rejoice, for livestreams have returned! Due to my health issues this month, I only managed one stream, which you can see the VOD for here, but as I’ve mentioned, I’m planning more sprints, more gaming streams, and maybe even a Pokemon Nuzlocke or two.
Otherwise, I’m still working on an essay about when it’s time to let a project go. It’s been cathartic to write.
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 Cal Black! A discount snaffu kept her from being a part of the Stuff With Fantasy event, but she’s hosting her own individual sale of No Land for Heroes and its sequel, No Port in a Storm, over on itch.io! Check her out!
Mildred Berry is down to her last four bullets…
In a wild west where the only things more dangerous than outlaws are dragons, Deputy Berry is struggling to protect her town and keep her family fed. As a last resort, she robs a train for ammunition only to find that the cargo she needs so badly was owned by war hero Frederic Rousseau.
The same Frederic Rousseau whom she served during the Amelior Civil War. The same Frederic Rousseau she’s been hiding from for the last five years.
Millie knows a secret that could ruin Rousseau’s life, and he’ll stop at nothing to keep her from telling the truth. With her violent past bearing down on the life she’s built for herself, Millie has to decide how far she’ll be willing to go to keep her town safe
You can read more about No Land here and purchase from Itch.io here!
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