August Newsletter
I was going to write I am exhausted but then I realized: I say that a lot, and I therefore probably should not. Good writing habits are knowing what your weasel words are and eradicating them after all. Apparently among my non-fiction habits are whining about being tired.
That said, yes, the feeling of running a marathon at a sprinting pace does continue.
Life in General
Things are very much chaos right now—weeks full of Mondays, with Fridays only telling me that the kind of chaos will change. I work in academia, and the students are returning, so the day job is definitely chaos. Summer continues, and with it both camp weekends and trips, so days off are also chaos. It can be good chaos, but it doesn’t offer a lot of rest time. The house, after all, still needs to be cleaned eventually, right?
August started off feeling more organized. I was getting some things done. I avoided writing fiction sometimes by drafting blog posts instead, but hey, that is still being productive! And yes, I have made some (small) progress on both Bound By Denial and Run Together so I will take that.
In recent days, getting my brain to wind down enough to listen to the voices is hard. Stress makes the fictional lives retreat from my conscious, falling into the depths of subconscious instead. They are still there, but they don’t want to come out to play. If I try, my words are wooden. Heavy. Almost leaden. That makes me feel bad, so I have learned not to go there. Most of the time. I mean, after all, there is fixing in edit, too, and yes, I have done that this month as well.
Anyway, point being, there has been a lot of emotional/mental/physical upheaval in the last month, and thus, the point of being exhausted. I suppose that is life. I’m mulling over dragging a short story out of the time-out bin to see if working on it lets me push my feelings into words somehow, and excise them from the parts of my brain that are working overtime.
Things Published…
As you know, I finished and sent out my free short story for being a subscriber! Again, thank you. <3 If you are seeing this on Patreon and wondering why you didn’t see a story, that’s because it was sent to newsletter readers and Patreon members at paid levels. Please feel free to join the newsletter and if I’ve set everything up correctly, you should receive the link.
I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but the second edition of Add Magic to Taste has been produced by Duck Prints Press. If you want a hardcopy of this lovely fluffy anthology with queer magical coffee shop stories, you can now get it! Of course, the anthology includes my short story “Dreaming of Pines” and two minis as well. You can either order directly from the Duck Prints site, or it is pushed out through distribution so you should be able to purchase from your favorite location.
By the way, on a throwback note—if you order the physical copy of Finding Their Roots from Amazon (yes, yes, I have to get off my arse and get the physical version up elsewhere, too)—drop me an email (replying to this newsletter should work!) to let me know, and I’ll send you a signed bookplate.
Actually, if you want a signed bookplate for any book I’ve written or am in, let me know. Happy to oblige!
In August I posted three public blog posts (there’s some whining in a private/mutual locked post on Pillowfort and Dreamwidth, if y’all happen to be connected with me on one of those platforms, but I’m not linking it here).
On being demisexual and reading insta-attraction love triangles… (Pillowfort | Tumblr | Dreamwidth | Blog)
Tumblr: Question on Dialogue (Pillowfort | Tumblr | Dreamwidth)
Nate vs the Edits (Pillowfort | Tumblr | Dreamwidth | Blog)
Current Progress/Goals/Etc.
As I mentioned earlier, I’ve started to make progress on the two new books! Nate’s book still feels rough to me (hence why there is an entire blog post about it). The new 7Lakes feels more approachable—I suspect because I’m not as deep into the world yet, so it isn’t as daunting. Yes, I have a lot of thoughts about my own psychology!
My goal is to get a few chapters in on each book—preferably more on Nate than on Adam. I also have a short story I want to rework and start marketing. And probably more blog posts (I have several half written) as well.
Other than that, I have editing. I need to get moving on the edits of MF for Dock Prints. I have a short story that was accepted and I’ll be receiving edits for that, soon, too. Those short story edits will take priority over everything, due to the timeline of the anthology.
Acceptances/Things to Publish
Wait, did i say a short story was accepted? Yes!
I submitted my short story “A Bright & Clouded Future” to the anthology “Yay! all queer” from Inkd Publishing and am delighted to say that it has been accepted into the anthology. Please keep an eye out here for more information on the upcoming Kickstarter for the anthology, and how to get the book.
I am incredibly excited about this. Like much of my work, this story has its own story about how it came to life, and I have severe fondness for it. This is the last of the pieces which have a link to Barry—an old friend from the Anticipation world con writing workshop, who sadly passed several years back. I had a day where I wanted to write but had no idea what to write. He gave me a three card tarot draw and said “go” so I did. I can’t wait to share this story with the world. I will be using a part of it as my reading at Albacon in a couple of weeks.
Upcoming Appearances…
As mentioned above, I will be at Albacon in Clifton Park, NY the weekend of September 13-15. I will be on panels, doing a reading, and I will be vending with Duck Prints Press. If you’re in the area, come on out and see us! If you can’t get there in person, check out the online memberships. Albacon is a fully hybrid convention, and panelists come from all over, and all panels are presented both in person and online. We are small, but mighty!
After that, I get a bit of a break until Boskone in February. I may be helping out at future Big Gay Markets in the Capital District, but I don’t have a schedule yet.
And that’s it…!
If you’re curious to see snippets as I work, all levels of my Patreon are treated to early chapters of PHU when it is posting, as well as behind-the-scenes looks at works in progress.
And please come find me on social media if you want to chit-chat or just hear me natter on about life, writing, and fandom. I’m tryslora everywhere!
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