Hopping into April
The Cat and the Comma Issue #8
March has come and gone, unbelievably. I enrolled in insurance school, got my own office, am constantly developing story ideas… It was kind of a slow month for writing, though. But let’s talk about it.
Misc. Professional Update
There were no real moves on this front last month. As mentioned, I’ve been enrolled in insurance school, and that’s taking up a good chunk of my time right now. Plus the books I’m reading and all that. Instead, I’ll just quickly recap the things I announced last month:
The World of Mesiphrae is a server mostly dedicated to discussing my fantasy works—updates when I post chapters, brainstorming different stuff, the works—but there is also a dedicated section for other writers to talk about their works! It’s free for everyone, unless you happen to support my financially in which case you get the Patron role.
Subscribing to Patreon grants you access to chapters before they’re posted online as well as other benefits.
I originally was going to do the same thing on Ko-Fi, but I think that’s too much hassle to deal with. Instead, it will remain my storefront of sorts for if people want to buy my works.
I changed up my website last month and updated the domain. You can see it in all its glory here!
I started doing writer interviews over on tumblr! I decided to do it for my latest follower milestone and have been having a lot of fun with it. If you follow me but missed that announcement, this is the post that explains how the event works, here is the form you can fill out (if you have a writing blog on tumblr), and here is the link to the page on my website archiving all the interviews I currently have posted. As of writing this, the form is closed, but I should have it open again soon.
Writing Update
I’ve slowed down a bit on the writing front—see above—but I’m still actively working on ASMLP. I finished chapter 12 since the last update, and am trying to finish up chapters 14 and 16. Then, I have chapters 17-20 and the epilogue to complete and…. wow. Then this project’s first draft is done! It’s a surreal thing to think about, honestly. Regardless, here’s a bit of what I’m working on.
When she looks up, Chantal’s face is scrunched in a thoughtful way, gaze far-off. She’s seen that look before, the deep-in-thought, lost-to-the-world expression. Simone wears it sometimes when they read a challenging book or try to solve a Ximuchian number puzzle. “You’re making the face again,” she will often point out. Now, the words spill out before she can stop them.
“What is on your mind?”
Chantal doesn’t respond right away, instead marching for her bedroom and slamming the door. Nadia jumps in place at the sound. Heavy thudding sounds from the other room, accompanied by the groan of wood on wood. She has half a mind to offer her help, but the itching under her skin makes her reconsider.
Minutes later, Chantal emerges, hair untucking itself from her carefully-constructed puff. Wiping beads of sweat from her forehead, she comes to Nadia’s side and sets down a small stack of books.
Did you know you can read this novel online? I’m posting it once a week (on Wednesdays) on three different websites in the interest of being wide-spread and getting as much feedback as possible before I pull back and show the revised draft only to beta readers. But, until then, if you would like to read my sapphic fantasy dark academia novel about monsters and sigil magic and mind-melding drugs, you can check out the links below!
Recently, I’ve also taken another look at a novella I wrote in 2019, Before the Moon Sets, which is about a necromancer daylighting as an apothecary owner who is hired by a vampire countess to revive one of her wives. I’ve prioritized finishing ASMLP over it, but regardless, I’ve thus far made the decision to put the POV in present tense (I’ve become a big fan of present tense, to be honest). I also have a list of the scenes and what to move around and whatnot. It’s all a work in progress.
Finally, I have been entertaining the idea of a collection of short stories I write based on Greek Mythology. You can see my evolving thought process about it over here. Of course, the Eros and Psyche idea would be part of that. I’m still just… slowly pecking at that. If you peeked at the list, you would see an idea about a kitchen witch who worships Hestia and finds importance in being alone… I did, in fact, start developing that one. Both shorts will get looked at first by patrons, then the collection will be made available at… some point.
Media Update
Last weekend, my fiance and I attended a Final Fantasy orchestra concert and it was… everything I wanted it to be, honestly. At one point, they played The Promise from XIII and the conductor actually sang the lyrics to it and I cried. A lot. It was so much fun, honestly. And now I have a lot of CDs in my car.
Otherwise, I’ve been playing Pokemon SoulSilver and Final Fantasy XV. I’ve played SoulSilver before, but I have that Gen 4 nostalgia right now. And I’ve never finished XV before. Having fun with it so far!
As for television, I’m still watching House MD. Last night, I also started watching Black Swan, cause I’ve never seen it before. An interesting movie so far.
Meanwhile, in book land, I got my hands on Out by Natsuo Kirino and I’m so excited to read it. I’m also reading through Notes From the Burning Age by Claire North, as well as A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab and The Maltese Beastiary by Stephan D Mifsud. The beastiary is giving me a lot of story ideas, honestly.
“Alex, you’ve consumed a lot of media this month. Aren’t you busy?” Yes, I am. How astute of you. That said, I needed to take some time off to kinda… give myself some reset time. I think that’s worthwhile in of itself.
Blog Update
No new updates on the blog front since last time, aside from the fact I’m working on a couple of essays. One is a thinkpiece about being a trans writer when a lot of my audience for so long has been cisgender. Another is a thinkpiece on why traditional publishing will probably… never be for me. I hope to post both of them later this month.
Which reminds me: patrons get an option to vote on future blog topics, just so you know!
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. So, this month, I would like to shout out my friend Lina! She’s been working on Shadow’s Prey for a longtime and recently finished a novella prequel as well. This is her website which goes over the premise and links to read. You can also find them on tumblr.
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Your name can also be here if you sub on Patreon!
Special thanks to Ceph the Ghost Writer, my first-ever patron!
And that’s a wrap! I hope this message finds you well.
Kind regards,
Alex