Hitting the Road with Jack!
Welcome back, Jack! It’s been… a couple of weeks now, I think, since the last time I sent one of these out! Way less updates and new things since last time but that doesn’t mean things haven’t been any less exciting in K. Tam HQ.
KEEPING TIME AND FEELING PRODUCTIVE-ISH
Over the last couple of weeks I’ve begun the practice of time tracking both for my writing and also for my day job. To do this I’ve been using an app called Toggl Track alongside TickTick for task management and a physical Hobonichi Techo planner to jot down my calendar and do accountability journalling. My time in Seoul was very skewed because while I front loaded a lot of actual work for meetings I was also spending a lot of time just… enjoying Seoul and wonderful company? Visiting Olive Young, walking around Itaewon and Gangnam, having drinks and a generally good time.
More interesting is the time in the week or so since coming back. When you know you’re on a timer and can see the time when you’re idle and resting, you do feel pushed to DO more. Grindset hustle mind vibe and all I guess… My goal for each week now is 16 hours for day job work (initially 20 hours but lunch is an hour and I walk 10 minutes on the hour). For writing, just writing, it’s 10 hours and then non-writing clerical things (social media, messaging/coordinating with team mates, writing this newsletter) it’s at 5. Last week I hit 19 hours productive time in day job work, 8 and a half hours of writing and almost 4 hours for clericals, which tells you a lot about how my week went. I may scale these numbers back just so I can be kind to myself and more pleasantly surprised at what I’m able to accomplish rather than hurting myself reaching productivity numbers that require me to be always working all of the time.
CROWDFUNDING NOW
As you’ve probably guessed from the title or my Bluesky or various other postings that I know I’ve been irritating about, my game Hit the Road, Jack is crowdfunding RIGHT now. Hit the Road, Jack is a solo or duet game where you play one of two Jacks - the one chasing or the one being chased. You’ll be racing along a given track, moving backwards and forwards depending on the prompts that you draw. Each prompt is governed by a tarot card and you get a prompt depending on if it’s upright or reverse. There are four possible endings, including one where you just crash and die!
The vibe here is very much descended from the short story Throttle by Joe Hill and Stephen King, but it also takes a lot of inspiration from other chase media like Mad Max: Fury Road, Drive Angry, and Akira. The game is being released as part of the Pocketopia initiative on Backerkit which has 66 games that I reckon you should have a look at too! Currently we’re at just over halfway funded but I’m trying not to panic too hard because nothing is impossible frankly!
I’m also a supplementary writer in Celestial Bodies from Binary Star Games which is ALSO crowdfunding now! You’ll be playing Lamplighters, mecha pilots who traverse the universe fighting over the remnants of dead gods called Titans. I’m writing a supplemental zine for it which will include three new factions and a brand-spanking new adventure. Plus, if the campaign reaches 50K, every collaborator gets paid more which I think we all deserve quite frankly.
NEW RELEASES
Murder Games for Unwinnable Exploits - About urban legends, true crime, and our desire to
The Burden of Sin in Tom Bloom’s CAIN for Rascal News - About religious themes, sin, and the place of the displaced in today’s society
One Bad Apple for See You, Space Cowboy’s Adventure Anthology - A man on the run, a food scam gone sour, co written with JM Madamba, one of my favourite collaborators!
Various Performers for NPC Core by Paizo - NPCs and supplemental material for Pathfinder who enjoy putting on a show
WORKING ON
Currently I’m in the mines with getting We Wander Beneath Radiant Lights, my Beyond A Bad Moon jam game, actually in a text playable state. This thing is over 6,600 words so far and is going to be at least 8K if not the full 10K by the end. But hey, you’ll be playing Five People You Meet in Hell, so get ready for the downward descent into darkness!
I’ve also been working on the Pirouette x Primadonna crossover! Pirouette won’t be coming out for a bit but expect even more prompts and ways to play a performance before a quite terrifying audience.
Short story wise I’m often bouncing around a number of different things but the two which I think are closest to being done are A Week At Mick’s Diner detailing the ongoings at an angel’s diner in a nondescript part of America and Get Fucking in the Robot, Shinji which is about sex, mecha, and stunted youth. I’m also planning to whip up some short fiction pieces to accompany the Chorogaiden Jam and Radioactive Jam. Quick and dirty fiction pieces that are bubbling deep in my brain.
I’m also working on a couple of writing projects that are NDA right now but I am absolutely craving the chance to talk about them with you once I can rip the bandaid off and just SAY something! But there’s some sick sick stuff brewing in the mines, folks, and I can’t wait for you to see it some time this or next year.
COOL SHIT I’VE BEEN INTO RECENTLY
Movies: Companion (Sophie Turner is getting really good at fighting back against overly talkative “nice guys”), Under the Red Hood (I am WAY too late to the train but Jensen Ackles does a fantastic Jason Todd)
TV Shows: Trauma Code (It’s like House but he’s really handsome and also it’s the Trauma Center)
Books: Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain (It’s adorable, what can I say? It’s so fucking cute), Club Contango (not far in but Elaine’s prose has set my brain abuzzing), Infinite Dendrogram (It’s the 22nd volume and I am the biggest advocate for this series on the planet GO READ IT THE WORLDBUILDING IS SICK)
Video Games: Monster Hunter Wilds (It’s fun to slay monsters with friends!), Seekers Notes (A very good turn your brain off but not too much game)
TTRPGs: Trophy Gold (I’m returning to Trophy Gold for [REDACTED] and I forgot how evocative the adventure design here is), Pirouette (to be fair, this is because I’m working on Primadonna x Pirouette things, WATCH THIS SPACE)
Bonus: Orchestra and opera (I’ve watched a number of symphonic and orchestral performances recently. What I have discovered is Liszt goes HARD and Tottentanz sounds like an anxiety attack)