Let's get this newsletter started!
The Mad Hatter opened his eyes very wide[...]but all he said was:"Why is a raven like a writing desk?"
"Come, we shall have some fun now!" thought Alice. "I'm glad they've begun asking riddles--I believe I can answer that," she added aloud.
"Do you mean that you think you can find out the answer to it?" said the March Hare.
"Exactly so," said Alice.
Then you should say what you mean," the March Hare went on.
Well, I needed a title for this newsletter, and so here we are. The Hatter's answer is at the end. I'm knocking out the kinks this month.
These days, there are a thousand ways to connect with people, and yet, fewer people get connected all the time. Many years ago, I fell in love with blogging in Live Journal, long, sometimes lyrical, sometimes whiny personal essays that accumulated to reveal, well, more of myself than sometimes I wanted. It's where the writers all hung out, and we were able to reach the people who wanted to know what we were up to, what we were thinking and feeling, and who we were.
After LJ collapsed, I tried this and that and ended up moderately happy for a few years with a combination of Facebook, my personal website, and Patreon. But this made for a lot of overlap, and even then there was no single, easy way to keep track of my work and teaching.
It seems to me a monthly newsletter is probably going to be the best way for people to keep up with what I am doing, if they wish.
I expect to put out this newsletter every month. It's going to include some regular sections: upcoming appearances, sales and publications; updates on my workshops and projects in progress; Patreon numbers; and links to stories of mine you may not have seen. Also some musing, because I love thinking in prose.
I'll start here!
Appearances
On September 28, I'll be at the Kansas Book Festival in the Washburn University Library in Topeka. At 11:15, Andy Farkas, Izzy Wasserstein, and I will talk about experimental fiction. Check here for more information: https://www.kansasbookfestival.com/
Publications
Since the start of the year (in other words, since the Small Beer mess; details in the rapidly receding past) I really haven't written much fiction, so I don't have any publications to report. I'll be getting back to fiction after a few things happen, but for most of this year, I've focused on tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs), doing editing, writing, and now actual design!
Sales & contracts
The press release comes out tomorrow, but I'll scoop it here: Taiwanese publisher Sun Color will be releasing an illustrated translation of The River Bank. I've seen work from the proposed artist and it is adorable, though very different from the lovely ink illustrations Kathleen Jennings did for the American version. I hope release will be some time next year, but when art and a translation are involved, there's never any saying.
Patreon
Since I dropped to 25% phased retirement at my dayjob and then my royalties from Small Beer dropped to 10% what they were a few years back, Patreon has become a very important part of my life. Currently I have a perfect 100 followers. What are the odds? Join me if you like: https://www.patreon.com/kijjohnson.
Projects in progress
It's a big list!
Mystery Flesh Pit National Park: The RPG: I edited this over the winter; it's in the beta PDF stage now, due later this year or early 2025. It is very dark and funny, or perhaps very funny and dark. If you want to follow their Kickstarter page, it's here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ganzagaming/the-mystery-flesh-pit-national-park-rpg/posts
Dreamland: I've been involved with this for years now, and this was finally announced this summer. A few years ago I wrote about 60,000 words for the designer Jason Thompson, which are now turning into the core of a setting book for the game, The Six Kingdoms. This spring, I edited the core rulebook for Exalted Funeral, all due out in 2025. I am so happy to see this marching forward! You can follow them at https://www.dreamrpg.com/
Kobold Press TTRPG project: I'm editing a huge game project for Kobold right now, due in November for 2025 release. It's a bit like drinking from a firehose, exhilarating and a little scary! I don't know where the project is as far as announcements go, so I'll just vaguebook here, and no link for you!
Untitled TTRPG design: I'm designing a TTRPG from the ground up, which is so much fun that I have trouble not working even when I need to be doing other things, like the Kobold project or, you know, feeding the cat. I'll be in contract discussion on this in the next month, and I hope I'll have some news for you by next newsletter.
Workshops & classes
Chris McKitterick and I are just closing out the books for the 2024 summer workshops, and then we'll nail down the 2025 schedule. Expect the Novel Architects workshop to be the last two weeks of June, 2025.
"Have you guessed the riddle yet?" the Hatter said, turning to Alice again.
"No, I give it up," Alice replied. "What's the answer?"
I haven't the slightest idea," said the Hatter.
"Nor I," said the March Hare.
See you next month!