Hey! Been a minute, because it’s always been a minute when I write these. Can you believe it’s almost 2025? I guess I can. Merry late Christmas and happy New Year.
I have to say I’m doing alright, despite the fact that the sun sets by 4 pm. As always, I had set a vague goal and then didn’t reach it and instead did something else. Wisp hasn’t been published yet, fwd 2.0’s still missing some content, I totally said I’d post that novella and then I didn’t.
I’m not too bugged about it, though. I’d like to think I took an unexpected turn and am going down a different street, and I’ll get back to whatever I was doing later.
coming to an amazon print-on-demand near you (eventually)
The main headline is that I took that 20k-word novella and turned it into a 117k-word (so far) fantasy novel. I still plan on posting at least one novella, Shipping to Pascua, on my site for folks to read, plus a mini serialized version in the Somnolzine.
In the meantime, though, I’ll be working at getting Desertbound self-published. I’m in revisions now, then will see if I can find some beta readers, before getting it in front of an editor. The self-publishing route is so loosey goosey that I could fart out my book tomorrow, but I’m a believer in polishing and reworking and polishing and reworking.
But, yeah, Desertbound: set in the untamed, animal-populated world of Pinede, a hedonistic bard agrees to bring a blind countess across the continent and back before winter. While he plans to woo her to take advantage of her money, he’s tripped up at every turn by an accordion-playing, six-year-old stowaway.
If you’re a fan of backpack fantasy and animal people in tunics, this could be your bag! On the small chance any non-Somnolians are reading this: hit me up if you want to beta read this thing.
It’s going to take time to get it to a state where I can officially say it’s ready and put my government name on it, but I already wrote a full novel, so why not? I’ll post more about it as it gets closer to publishing.
and all the other stuff
Though I’m probably the only person who cares about Wisp, I might as well mention the thing I’ve been rambling about for over half a decade. Turns out you learn about writing when you write, and I’ve learned much more about story structure and what makes a story satisfying.
So while it’s on the back burner for now, I do intend on publishing Wisp… after some rewrites, because the revisions are never ending. This version of the story will be higher quality and easier to execute, so the extra work is worth it in the end. Eventually, I’ll say it’s good enough and get it out there.
And the rest of my life is chugging right along. I have kind of an underlying condition of being a bit down and nervous all the time, but beyond that, I’m feeling alright. I have rewired the “I should kill myself” button to be the “I should move to Scotland” button so I’m basically cured, or something. I’m taking chewable, strawberry-flavoured vitamin D tablets meant for children and this is probably how most people should live.
Like plenty of folks who were into reading as a kid, I fell off the hobby, so a lot of my writing has been taking cues from either stuff I read 10+ years ago (including fanfic, I bet) or TV and movies. That shouldn’t be the case, considering visual media is vastly different from novels and novels should be vastly different from fanfiction. I’m getting back into it and have been breezing through LOTR, and will look at some contemporary fantasy so I know what the market’s like. I am reading again because I wrote a book and want it to be better, and maybe that’s the “wrong” way to go about things, but at least I’m reading. And it’s fun! Any time I find myself scrolling mindlessly, I put my phone down and grab my book instead. Good way to unwind.
Anyway, I haven’t been posting my art anywhere but plan to start picking my socials back up as Desertbound gets closer to publishing. Here’s my most recent piece because I haven’t been sharing this stuff anywhere, but I will get them on fwd.somnol eventually:
right around the corner
The ending of this year’s feeling a little funny, but I suppose it tends to. Canada Post had been on strike so parcels are all delayed, and I didn’t do my usual Christmas boxes (which wouldn’t have gotten to folks until January, if that, due to backlogs, and they contain food), instead settling for cards which I’ll send out soon. I’ve written the bulk of Desertbound and have done some revisions, which is an ongoing process as I read more and find new ways to polish it. Wisp’s in the same boat, though will take longer to get ready, as I brainstorm ways to tighten up events and character arcs to make it all hit harder.
Does this read like a list of excuses from somebody who’s never done anything? Maybe so. At this phase in my life, I’m in a series of holding patterns with progress contingent on some other thing. Once Desertbound is perfect, it can be published; once I know everything about writing, I’ll rewrite Wisp again; once I have enough vacation time, I’ll take a big fancy break; once I have the car paid off, I can start to save for a house (as if that’s reachable); once I know my life is the best possible life it can be, I can start to enjoy it.
I think lots of folks our age are the same way. I’ve seen it in other Somnolians before, where we’re just building for a future that seems difficult and far away. As we get older, some of it draws closer, we graduate from uni or land a decent job, but as is the nature of adulthood there’s rarely a definitive arrival to anything. As a very destination-focused, very perfectionist person, I find it distressing to feel like I’m not getting anywhere.
But we are, right? Building for the future is just frustrating. The only solution for it is to make life now more enjoyable (you know, like eating strawberry-flavoured vitamin D tablets). I’ve been trying to enjoy the ride more, which is part of why I wrote so much this year when that’s not something I was planning to do. Even the revision process is fun sometimes, although difficult. And if I need a hit of dopamine, I go and write the first drafts of sequels and shape out a whole series. Self-indulgent, maybe, and perhaps unpublishable as I don’t know if anybody would actually care about these characters and stories, but that destination matters little to me as I write.
All that to say, 2024 was a strange year. There were, for all of us, twists thrown in, and I was taken in a direction that I didn’t anticipate and greatly enjoy going down for however far this road will bring me. More than anything, I’m happy to have friends with me. Here’s to 2025; I bet it’ll be another weird one.
