Hello friends,

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about this newsletter, my website, and my future as a writer recently. This thinking has led me to one startling conclusion: I have been sucking the joy out of writing for myself by approaching it the way I have been—cold, utilitarian, something I have to do instead of get to do.

I have discovered that the most important thing for me, with that in mind, is to return to enjoying writing as I used to. I want to be an author, most preferably as a career. But I want to love it wholly; not resent any part of it. I actually, ironically, think this will make me more prolific, not less, in the long run as I get back in the proverbial saddle.

Let me cut to the chase: I have discovered that my path is as a traditionally published author. Indie and serialized publishing are not formats I can see myself operating within.

That being said, chapter updates for Extirpation will be going on hiatus. I will be building up a sizeable backlog (possibly the whole rest of the manuscript), and then restarting serialization just to have it there as a sample. Going forward, the website will focus much more on blog posts and short fiction, and my career as a writer will hinge on getting books published, not sticking them on my site or any other and hoping for the best.

Also, this newsletter’s cadence will drastically decrease—likely to bimonthly—until such a time as I have exciting things to share more often than that. Who knows how long until that day comes. Months? Years? Decades? But I will get there. And one day, I will make this rejuvenated passion into my career.

Thanks for reading as always, and take care! See you all in July!

- John