This year, Can-Con moved to a new venue, the Brookstreet Hotel. It was a beautiful event space and the hotel had all the amenities and then some.
But I’m getting ahead of myself.
I booked both Friday the 17th and Monday the 20th off work. In hindsight, I should have booked the Thursday as well and given myself some extra time to drive out, settle in, relax, and prepare. I’ll have to remember to do that, next year. And yes, I’ve already registered for next year’s convention.
Friday morning, my intention was to take off at 10 am, arrive around 4 pm, check in, and then attend the opening session at 5.
Unfortunately, my body decided to delay my departure until 11 am. I also had to top up the gas tank and grab a caramel toffee cold brew from Tim Horton’s before I could zoom.
One thing I finally figured out on my September trip to London was how to properly use Google Maps (!) Fun fact: I am weirdly selective about learning how to use technology.
The journey was uneventful. And beautiful!
There’s this point on Highway 17 between Mattawa and Deux Rivières where the road crests a hill and you get your first site of the Laurentians. It was particularly breathtaking on the 17th. Most of the surface was covered in pine and spruce, but there were vibrant patches of gold (birch and poplar) edged in orange and red (oak and maple). The cloud was low and scudded over the worn tops of the mountains.
I couldn’t stop to take a photo, but I wrote a poem about it afterward.
Because of my delayed start, I didn’t arrive until after 5 pm. I checked into the Brookstreet, parked, resolved an issue with my key card, dropped everything off at my room, and headed down to catch one of the panels before mine.
The Art of Rest panel was a lot of fun. I discovered that one of the other panelists is also from Sudbury (!) Many thanks to moderator Kaitlin (KT) Caul for organizing a great panel experience and to Nina Nesseth for being a great co-panelist. It was among the last panels on Friday night.
After, the lot of us migrated to Options, the hotel’s jazz lounge, and I enjoyed a late supper and their signature cocktail, the paper plane. Lovely. Again, much fun was had.
After a morning swim and breakfast, I attended panels all day on Saturday, as well as an unsuccessful pitch session (the publisher and I were hopelessly mismatched), and the launch of Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction, Volume 3, in which my poem “Vasilisa” was reprinted.
While I was moving between panels, I met several SF Canada members and other friends, including Andy Taylor, who shared some fabulous news. The anthology my next piece of short fiction will be published in, Super Canucks, had a cover! It won’t be published until March 2026, but it’s up on the Latitude 46 site! Pre-orders are open!
After a long day of panels, I treated myself to a solitary supper at the Perspectives restaurant. Compressed melon salad, summer vegetable and truffle risotto, and a limoncello tartufo. Heaven!
On Sunday, I treated myself to another morning swim before breakfast. I attended even more panels, and the launch of Cait Gordon’s Speculative Shorts: Stories That Fell Out of My Brain.
My second panel, “The Taste of Sadness: Writing Emotional Dysregulation” was in the last time slot of the convention and was another great experience. I may have babbled a bit, but everyone else on the panel stepped in and we all made each other look good. Gratitude to moderator Gregory A. Wilson and panelists Deanna Valdez and Sienna Tristen for making my second panel a memorable one.
Highlights from Sunday:
After, I walked the convention space as the panelists and exhibitors packed up and departed.
Then, in a different mood from the night before, I opted for a burger and fries with a caramel apple crisp for dessert at Perspectives. The apple crisp is to die for, folks.
I opted to stay over Sunday night and drive back in the morning after one final swim and a full breakfast.
I’ve attended several Can-Cons over the years, but this was my first as a panellist. It was a fabulous experience and, as I said off the top, I’ve already registered for next year. I hope to get on another panel (or two) and maybe organize an SF Canada meet and greet/networking event/membership drive.
Getting back into creative life with an in-person event!
Life in general
I overdid it, to be honest. Though I’d known about the reading since the end of July and had all the arrangements made for over a month, though I took the two days off so I would have time to drive down and back, though I tried to conserve spoons in the days leading up to my trip to London, I was still wiped afterward. And during, to be honest.
I was frazzled about missing a turn that would have allowed me to bypass Toronto altogether (Google Maps announced that it had lost GPS after Parry Sound). I was distressed about being late for the reading. I was frustrated by the traffic on the 401 that was consistently heavy all the way to London. I was further distressed because I was stuck waiting for a train to pass through London, mere blocks from the hotel because I wanted to check in before heading to Mykonos.
But once I arrived, the Apposite Poetry Series organiser, Roméo, was wonderful and calming and had a cigarette with me before we went in (yes, I’m still smoking). The intimate group was welcoming and supportive and did much to reassure me that my being late was not the disaster I’d convinced myself it was. I listened to some fabulous poetry and fiction excerpts. I found the mic’s sweet spot and rocked my reading. I read from The Art of Floating and shared some of my autistic series. I sold two books and traded two more.
I had a nice, light supper of Greek salad and tzatziki with pita and went back to the hotel to relax. But my brain was in overdrive, and it was a long time before I could get to sleep.
Took an easy morning, had a swim and hot tub, showered, packed, and checked out early so I could meet with a friend before I was on the road again.
The journey home was uneventful, but a burrito I nabbed on the way home may have resulted in food poisoning. I was up vomiting Thursday night and took a sick day Friday.
Though I rested all weekend, I was still dysregulated come Sunday. It was a big week. I should have planned better, but I didn’t have enough leave to take more days off.
I unpacked the trip with my therapist (see below).
The following week at work was rough, complicated by a disappointing visit to the optometrist—the only way to fix the problem with my lenses was to get new ones—and someone sideswiping me and then disappearing on my way home.
Good things came out of the week too, though. I submitted my report, funding request form, and travel claim to the League of Canadian Poets and gratefully received my funding the following week. I responded to an expression of interest to join a new team. And I had an interesting discussion with my team lead about diverting to another project leading up to my next leave with income averaging.
Things were very much changing in a positive direction.
The new project was interesting, though I think that it may be more than I can do between now and the end of October. We’ll see how things play out.
Thing that made me happy: A lovely garter snake serpentined its way across my path on a dog walk. Torvi didn’t notice, which is weird. Normally she leaps after every bird, chipmunk, squirrel, rabbit … etc. she sees. Guess she (the snake) was a gift just for me.
Random thing: A pileated woodpecker crashed into my mom’s picture window while I was visiting her. He was stunned and I was concerned, even called a local wildlife rescue, but after a few minutes, he lifted his head, though he was still sprawled on the driveway. After another ten minutes, he tucked in his wings and got his feet under him. Another ten and he flew away. A good ending to what could have been a sad story.
More things that brought me joy:
The month in writing
I started my second cutting pass of Reality Bomb. Just another 8,000 words …
On the 3rd, I was advised of the programming for this year’s Can-Con. I’ll be in two panels! The first will be “The Art of Rest” at 8 pm on Friday, October 17, and the second is “The Taste of Sadness: Writing Emotional Dysregulation” at 2:30 pm on Sunday, October 19. Whee! Much excite!
My big event of the month was the Apposite Poetry Series open mic on September 10th. I took the 10th and 11th off work, travelled down on the 10th, checked into my hotel, and made my way to the venue only a little late.
Enjoyed a light supper while I listened to some lovely poems and novel excerpts. Then, I read from The Art of Floating and shared a few poems from my autistic series. After a second round of the open mic, I was happy to sell a couple and trade a couple more copies of my collection.
London has a fabulous literary community, and I was pleased to be among them!
After the reading, I returned to the hotel for a relaxing evening. In the morning, I went for a swim and met a friend for a croffle (croissant waffle with Nutella and bananas) breakfast at a lovely Filipino café called Happiness, before taking my time driving home, returning the rental car, and, again, relaxing.
I have discovered the caramel toffee cold brew with espresso foam from Tim Hortons, and my life has changed forever (!)
Last month’s bit of vague-booking can now be revealed! My poem “Vasilisa,” originally published in Polar Borealis 30, will be included in Year’s Best Canadian Fantasy and Science Fiction Volume 3! The first two volumes were Aurora Award winners, and the rest of the TOC is indeed the best of the best. So, so honoured to be in such illustrious company!
The author reached out to me on Instagram and said I really “got” what he was trying to do with the novel. It’s so gratifying to know that my review made a difference. I sincerely hope it helps bring more readers to the book.
The Wordstock AGM was on the 29th at the Main Branch of the Greater Sudbury Public Library. The lineup was announced and I’m so sad I’ll miss it (it’s the same weekend as my writing retreat).
Also on the 29th was our regular, quarterly board meeting for SF Canada, where we, once again, made decisions and got shit done. It was a big day for writerly business.
Filling the well
The full changing colours moon in Pisces was on the 7th. It was also a lunar eclipse, but not visible in the Americas. Caught the Time and Date replay and did a guided breathwork plus visualization meditation.
The new hazel moon in Virgo was on the 21st. And there was a partial solar eclipse, again not visible in North America. Time and Date to the rescue. I celebrated with a grounding guided meditation.
And fall arrived on the 22nd. Rainy day here in Sudbury. Did the altar thing, switched over to fall scents, and brought out the fall door décor.
I’ve started signing up for some online coworking sessions through a couple of groups I’m a part of. It’s nice to have someone, or a group of someones, to body double. It’s motivating and gentle. Demand-free.
On the 9th, I attended “The future belongs to indie authors: How to stand out in the era of AI” with Kern Carter. Though I know myself well enough that I will probably not be self-publishing anything, it was an interesting session and fed my learning mutt’s appetite.
I signed up for the “Waning Moon Writing Workshop” with Catherine LaSota on the 15th. It was a lovely, witchy session.
The CAA and SF Canada webinar series on the 17th was presented by Dr. Melissa Yuan-Innes. “Medical Errors 101” was wonderful! A lot of great insights from a real doctor. Verra cool.
I inadvertently double-booked the 18th. Fortunately, the webinars followed one another. The first was “Introduction to Structural Editing” presented by Editors Canada. Molly was excellent!
The second workshop on the 18th was the first session of “Beyond Worldbuilding” with Kate Maruyama, a 2-part Clarion West workshop. The second session was on the 25th. Maruyama’s approach is a little different from some others I’ve encountered. Everything starts with the characters and spirals outward from there. Very good!
I had an orthotics checkup on the 2nd. All was well, but my running shoes are starting to wear unevenly. I’ll be getting a new pair for winter and learned that I can donate my “gently used” shoes to my pedorthist to pass along to people who don’t have shoes. I was getting distressed by having to throw out my old shoes. I go through about a pair (or more) a year (!) This is a great solution.
On the 3rd, I had a phone appointment with my doctor to get a note in support of my accommodation request to continue to work from home. And now that has been settled until the end of fiscal (Mach 31, 2026). It’s a relief.
My next therapy session was on the 15th. I processed my crazy week, and we talked about the effective deployment of spoons.
My support group resumed after summer break on the 24th. The topic was life transitions and major changes.
What I’m watching and reading
My first watch of the month was a movie: The Thursday Murder Club (Netflix). Great performances from a fabulous cast and a clever dual mystery. Red herrings abound, and the solve is a satisfying surprise. Very recommend (and no, that’s not a typo).
Then, Phil and I finished watching season 2 of Wednesday (Netflix). I think I liked it better than the first season. Wednesday loses her precognitive abilities and gets a new spirit guide. Aadams family secrets are revealed (and make sense of seemingly senseless events). Wednesday and Enid have friendship growing pains (mostly because Wednesday’s keeping secrets of her own) and Wednesday gets a(nother) stalker. There’s a breakout from the asylum Tyler (the hyde) is being treated. And there are more (moar!) hydes in the world. Grandmama makes a grand entrance. The new principal is evil! Wednesday almost dies twice (to her immense joy). And the new (and some returning) guest stars and cameos are, well, stellar. It was a lot of fun.
Next, I watch The Old Guard 2 (Netflix). In the first film, Andy (Andromache) lost her immortality after finding Nile, the first new immortal to be found in a long time but decided to continue her mercenary missions with the other immortals in her crew. The sequel starts with the recovery of an iron maiden from the depths of the ocean in which Quỳnh, another immortal, has been trapped for centuries. Discord, the first immortal uses Quỳnh to lure Andy, and more importantly Nile, into her clutches. Nile is the last immortal and can stop the healing abilities of other immortals if she wounds them, and Discord wants to use Nile to regain her lost immortality. The movie ends with all the immortals but Andy and Quỳnh abducted by Discord, Andy regaining her immortality and Quỳnh losing hers, and the two of them heading off to rescue the rest of the immortals from Discord. Great fight scenes. An entertaining sequel.
I finished watching the third season of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (CTV Scifi). It was fun. The final two episodes were heart wrenching. I may have shed a tear at the finale. There was a lot of nostalgic fan service, but there was something bothering me about this third season.
Allow me to elucidate.
In the second season, Una was put on trial for being a member of a genetically engineered species and hiding it from Starfleet. It was an interesting episode that explored Starfleet’s unjust discrimination and Una’s personhood and right to remain in Starfleet. In contrast, this season engaged in a lot of biological essentialism (the idea that biology is destiny), pigeonholing the Gorn as monsters (until the penultimate episode), the Vezda as pure evil, Vulcans as purely logical and unable to lie (even though this is shown to be culturally, but not genetically, true in canon), and Battel, due to becoming a hybrid human/Gorn/Illyrian as the perfect warrior to defeat the Vezda. There is also a lot of juvenile relationship drama, all of it heteronormative. Like I said off the top, I enjoyed the season (and I’m still in love with the modulated theme—so hopeful!), but it has problems, particularly when you think of what Star Trek as a whole has represented over the years. Diversity! Acceptance! A fictional space to wrestle with current issues! Yes, ST: SNW is a prequel series, and Starfleet may not be as utopian/enlightened as it is in other, chronologically later series, but there’s room to be relevant to the times we live in. Even TOS did that.
The recent merge with Skydance may have an influence, but much of season three would have been written/shot/produced before that happened. Unless internal rumours heralded the change.
Then, I finished watching The Hardy Boys, seasons 2 and 3 (Disney +). I had watched season 1 years ago on Netflix, but then it disappeared. When it showed up on Disney +, I decided to catch up. It’s a bit wild.
In the first season, Frank and Joe are embroiled in a series of mysteries that all eventually lead back to their own family and a secret society called the Circle. They find an artefact called the Eye and the resolution to the main mystery lands their grandmother in prison.
Over the course of season two, Frank, having absorbed the power of the Eye, has a series of visions of the past and his great-grandfather, which lead him and Joe to discovering a crystal, another artefact related to the Eye. This complicates the group’s search for a missing classmate, whose recovery reveals a sinister plot called Project Midnight involving a machine that can send people’s consciousnesses into the crystal. Frank is kidnapped by Adrian Munder, who intends to rescue his brother, who is trapped in the crystal, and transfer his consciousness into Frank’s body, trapping Frank in the crystal. Though Joe and the gang rush to the rescue, they are unaware that the Hardy boys’ great-grandfather George was also trapped in the crystal and now inhabits Frank’s body.
Season three involves a hunt for yet another artefact called the Core, tied to the crystal and the Eye. Before long, Joe realizes that Frank is not himself and recruits the gang to break into Project Midnight and get Frank’s consciousness back in his body. The plot then pulls a 180, introducing a new villain with a plot to use the crystal, Eye, and the Core to plunge the world into VR, ostensibly to save it from climate change and other manmade disasters (whaa?!). Eventually, Frank and Joe share the power of the Eye with the world to stop the simulation.
Like I said, it was wild.
Phil and I watched season three of Foundation (Apple TV +), which keeps getting better and better. Gael has used cryosleep to extend her life and is hurtling toward the next crisis for the Foundation—the Mule, a powerful psychic who has the power to destroy both the Foundation and Empire. The Second Foundation is thriving, but no one outside of the community knows of its existence. The current Dusk basically destroys Empire, including Damerzel, their illicit robot, and decides to rule alone as Darkness. There’s a lot more, but this is a series that I’ll encourage you to watch. It’s fabulous!
Then, I joined a Zoom watch party for Superman (2025). The conflict between Jarhanpur and Boravia seems to be a direct commentary on various current atrocities, most notably Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Israel’s genocide in Gaza. Krypto is an adorable doggo thug. Guy Gardner/Green Lantern is an unrepentant asshole. I wish they’d given Hawkgirl more to do. Mr. Terrific is just that. And Superman himself? Human to the core and so compassionate he tries to save everyone, even dogs and squirrels, even the kaiju Lex Luthor unleashes on Metropolis. As for Lex, he’s SO over the top. Despite the intellectual differences, he seems to be an analog for a certain despot-in-office. And the supporting cast is awesome too. Loved it!
I’ve seen a bunch of great commentary about the new Superman online, but I’ll direct you to Princess Weekes’ video on the topic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qS2k5ah8WNg It’s full of thinky thoughts.
My first listen of the month was The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown. Our wild robot, Roz is refurbished and sent to work on a farm. As she is wont to do, Roz loves her human family and the dairy cows she tends, but she misses Brightbill and all her animal friends on the island. She doesn’t belong in the human world and when Brightbill and his flock of geese come to visit, the children see her talking to them. They realize all the stories Roz has been telling them are true and decide to help her escape. Another lovely, lovely book.
Then, I read Charlie Jane Anders’ Lessons in Magic and Disaster. Jamie, a trans academic and witch, is trying to finish her PhD, but her mother Serena has never recovered from the death of her partner years ago. In an attempt to bring her mother out of her depression and isolation, Jamie teaches her about magic, but Serena misuses it, to disastrous results (hence the title). It’s a story about love and redemption. Every character is complex and layered. No one is completely innocent, and no one is completely horrible, either. And the ending is equally complex. So sad and yet satisfying! I loved this book SO HARD!
Many of the 18th Century authors Anders cites as part of Jamie’s research are, in fact, actual authors (though the book, Emily, and the annotated manuscript that becomes the key to Jamie’s dissertation are invented). She’s written about her influences for the novel on her newsletter Happy Dancing. I’ll invite you to subscribe and peruse her archives.
Next, I finally read Audrey Niffenegger’s The Time Traveler’s Wife. I’ve seen both the movie adaptation and the one season of the cancelled series. The book is so much better and so much more devastating than either. And that’s all I’ll say about this book. LOVED!
Then, I finished Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. Grace was attacked by wolves when she was 11. Now 17, she watches the woods, not in fear, but in longing. There has always been one wolf Grace thinks of as her wolf. But when a boy from her school, Jack, disappears and is suspected to have been killed by wolves, it results in a frenzied hunt by the men of Mercy Falls. Grace’s wolf is shot and turns into a human boy in her arms. Sam is the werewolf who saved Grace when she was 11 and the two share a deep connection that defies the fear and hatred of both humans and wolves.
I finished reading R. F. Kuang’s Katabasis. In classical mythology, katabasis is a descent into the underworld, like Orpheus and Euridice, Persephone, or Dante’s Inferno. In fact, these works are references to the magickal scholars in Katabasis. Alice Law believes she made a mistake that caused the death of her doctoral advisor Jacob Grimes and decides to make the journey to hell to recover his soul for the sake of her academic career. As she is preparing, Peter Murdoch, a fellow Grimes advisee and Alice’s academic rival, discovers what she’s doing and offers to go with her. Like Inanna’s journey into the underworld, Alice and Peter slowly have everything stripped away from them as they traverse the courts of hell. When all their secrets are laid bare, Alice must come to terms with what she really came to hell to do, and whether she really wants to do it anymore. Another amazing read!
And that was the month in this writer’s life.
Until next month, be well and stay safe; be kind and stay strong. The world needs your stories!
I acknowledge with respect that I am in Robinson-Huron Treaty territory, that the land from which I write is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe and home of Atikameksheng Anishnawbek and Wahnapitae First Nation.
Here we are at the beginning of a new year and a new decade. The possibilities seem endless. I hope you’ve all set reasonable goals and are diving into your work with passion and compassion.
The month in writing
In December, my focus was on continuing to rewrite Reality Bomb. I set my goal at 500 words per day or 15,500 words for the month. I wrote 12,131 words, or 78% of my goal.
The only other thing on my writing plate was this blog. I wrote 4,789 words of my 4,250-word goal, or 113%.
And that’s it.
2019 in review
I started off the year ambitiously, as I always do (more on that in a bit). In addition to finishing drafting book five of my epic fantasy series, Tamisashki, roughly revising RB for presentation to my critique group, blogging, and my bi-monthly Speculations column for DIY MFA, I’d decided to write, revise, and submit one short story per month, revise a poetry collection and two collections of my previously published short fiction.
Add to that my involvement in the critique group, which meant—surprise—critiquing some of my partners’ work, attending Ad Astra, Can-Con, and Wordstock Sudbury, and I had a fuller-than-usual plate. Yes, I was finally over my burnout, but I suspected, even as I set these ambitious goals, that I wasn’t up to accomplishing all of them.
Yeah. While I did revise my poetry collection (and wrote a new poem—yay, me), I only managed to write and revise one short story and start on one more before I realized that the one-story-per-month goal was untenable. I never got to either of the short story collections aside from putting them on my 2019 Writing and Revision Tracker.
I did write one side project, a guest post about writers’ grief for WarpWorld, but that was the only unplanned writing I did.
So, I adjusted my goals. Several times. But what I have on this summary page is what I ended up with.
On the writing side of things, I did rather well. Of my collective 114,150-word goal, I wrote 138,875 words, or 122%.
I revised (or rewrote) 123, 155 words of my 157,110-word goal, or only 78%.
Interestingly, the average of my writing and revision percentages is 100%.
Still, between writing and revising, I produced 262,030 words in 2019. That’s over a quarter of a million words. I’m damned pleased with that.
Filling the well
I relaxed in December. I’m fairly certain that I, like many people in northern Ontario, suffer from some degree of seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Self-care is important for me at this time of year. Accordingly, I spent a quiet holiday with family.
Consider me a bear. Winter is my time to hibernate 🙂
What I’m watching and reading
With regard to series, Phil and I watched the new Watchmen series and His Dark Materials in December.
We liked Watchmen because it was consistent with the feeling of the graphic novels and, to some extent, the movie. It was a slow burn to start with, which we don’t mind, particularly in this case, as everything came together in a truly surprising twist. The denouement was satisfying, and the cliffhanger was something that, while I’d be happy to see what happens next, if a second season isn’t in the cards, I would be satisfied with the possibilities it presents without needing a definitive answer.
His Dark Materials was well done, better than the movie, in any case. As in many adaptations, changes were made that would better serve the medium, and I appreciated many of the decisions made for this iteration of Phil Pullman’s novels. I liked the actors and the incorporation of Will’s plotline into this season. A solid season and I hope BBC’s collaboration with HBO will continue.
We started watching Witcher, but it was more of a gap-filler and Phil gave up after the third episode. We didn’t even get through the first episode of the second season of Lost in Space before Phil walked away. I’ll probably pick up both when I’ve made some room on my personal Netflix viewing.
Reading-wise, I grabbed Erin Morgenstern’s The Starless Sea right after Call Down the Hawk. I enjoyed it right up to the ending, which was confusing and unsatisfying for that reason.
Then, I picked up Diana Gabaldon’s collection of novellas, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall. It was a bit of a cheat because I’d read all but two in their individual novella forms. I’m a big Gabaldon fan, though, and I like the way she writes into the gaps in her larger series of books.
Next, I read Tomi Adeyemi’s Children of Virtue and Vengeance. It was okay but suffered from many of the same problems as the first book in the series. The characters are all moving between love and hate for themselves and one another so quickly that I got whiplash. I understand that this is YA and the characters are all teenagers, but there were several points at which I felt that the drama was just too much.
Six of Crows was much stronger than Shadow and Bone. Maybe Leigh Bardugo is better at ensemble casts, or heist plots? The characters were stronger and had more agency. They felt more grounded and complex. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed it.
To finish off the year, I returned to a couple of classics. Charles Dickens’ The Chimes, and A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh. Dickens has a fondness for ghosts and time travel lessons. Winnie was just charming.
I’d set myself a reading goal for the year of 50 books and ended up reading 71 (!) or 142% of my goal.
What’s up in 2020
I think I’ve finally learned my lesson, writing-wise. I’ve focused in on what I need to do and let my ambitions amuse themselves.
Given my reduced—but still good—production, I’m giving myself until the end of April to finish the rewrite of RB. The core story remains the same, but the content is different enough that it is like writing a new novel. Accordingly, while I counted the work I did in November and December as revision, I’m counting everything in 2020 as writing.
Then, I’m going to begin work on revision/rewriting Marushka. I’d put it up for critique in early 2019 but didn’t feel as strongly about getting back to it as I did about RB. I have to make some decisions about this novel which could entail a significant rewrite … or not. I’ll make those decisions when I review the novel and the critique feedback.
Throughout the year, I’m going to be steadily working on the Ascension series. I should finish my initial reread by the end of January. Then, I’m going to work on the series bible and revision notes on all five novels. By November, I should be ready to tackle revision/rewrites on book one.
I’ll blog, as usual and keep up with my Speculations column. If I can fit it in, I’ll work on some short fiction. I haven’t made any hard and fast goals with respect to the short fiction, though. If it has to go by the wayside, so be it.
The one last thing I’m going to do is shop the poetry collection around, as well as some of my unpublished poems, to see if I can’t do something with them.
I’ll likely attend Ad Astra, Can-Con, and Wordstock again.
So, my plans are much more modest this year. I’m hoping I won’t have to sacrifice much more than the short fiction.
I’ve set my reading goal for 60 books this year, but I’m not sure I’ll achieve it. I put off reading several monster books that I’ll probably tackle in 2020.
By the way, if you like the Writing and Revision Tracker in the screen shots, Jamie Raintree created it. Please do yourself a favour and visit her website to find out more.
That’s it for this update. I generally do them on the first weekend of every month.
Until next time, be well, be kind, and stay strong. The world needs your stories.
This weekend, I’m going to talk about the anime series Phil and I have been watching. Next weekend, I’m going to finally put forward my fall series review, even though some of them won’t have premiered yet (Supergirl) or returned (Grimm) yet.
The reason for this is that over the Hallowe’en weekend, Phil and I will be travelling to Ottawa for Can-con, so I won’t be blogging that weekend, and then, for the month of November, weekend blogging will be deferred in favour of NaNoWriMo (!)
Since I will be once more be working, and travelling for work, during the month of November, I don’t anticipate “winning,” but I certainly hope to improve upon last year’s word count.
So the next two weekends are a countdown to November’s reduced posting schedule. I’ll keep up with curation, but that’s it.
Onto the anime!
Last time, I’d mentioned that Phil and I were enjoying Log Horizon. We were, and then the show suddenly stopped production. With in a week, we learned the reason. The creator of the show was charged with tax evasion.
LH was, at the time, the most popular anime in Japan. Fans were demanding that the show’s creator be allowed to continue producing the show while he waited for his trial date. The creator announced publicly that if there was a way to continue to do so, that he would.
We haven’t seen an episode since.
It was getting to a crisis point in the current story arc. We are disappointed.
We watched the full run of Deadman Wonderland.
Interesting premise. In a society that incarcerates its citizens for the smallest infraction, a young boy finds himself in prison. Before long, he learns that by entering a deadly competition (televised for an elite, high-paying clientele), he can earn a pardon.
Very Hunger Games.
Then, joy of joys, Netflix picked up the licence for Inu Yasha. Just the first two seasons, but we watched it all. Yum.
Phil continues to watch Gintama, and started watching the live action version of Death Note. The live action DN diverged a bit from the anime storyline, but it was popular enough that the second season is in production.
We watched another new show, RWBY. It’s American, and animated a little differently, cell style, but done by computer. RWBY stands for both the colours red, white, blue, and yellow, and for the characters’ names: Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
They’re huntresses in an academy and they are training to hunt the Creatures of Grimm, with which the human race is fighting a pitched battle. Huntresses use dust to fuel their magic and fight the Grimm.
There’s a bit of a story around this series, as well. Marty Oum, the creator, died, but someone on the project committed to seeing the work through and the next season will be released next week. After that, who knows?
We’ve continued watching Fairy Tail, which continues to be entertaining. I find it a bit frustrating that we have to wait a whole week for the next episode, though.
We also started watching World Trigger. A world receives extra-dimensional visitors, called Neighbors, who seem bent on conquest. To defend themselves, they adapt the Neighbors’ weapons, called triggers, which can only be used by people who have large stores of a substance called trion, and create an agency called Border. Border agents train to defeat the Neighbors.
The anime focuses on Osamu and his team. Osamu does not have a lot of trion, but he is an amazing strategist. His friend, Yuma, is a Neighbor (if you want the back story, watch the series) and has a lot of combat experience. Chika’s brother (also Osamu’s friend) and best friend were abducted by the Neighbors. She has a lot of trion.
Trion and trigger use also endow some users with side effects. Yuma can tall when someone is lying. Chika can sense the presence of Neighbors. Osamu doesn’t have enough trion to have a side effect.
The threesome is a team and currently in a competition to see who will be chosen to go on away missions into the Neighbor dimensions to rescue their friends and family.
This show is also still in production, but is on hiatus now.
We tried watching Fate Zero, but weren’t keen.
And that’s all I have for you with regard to anime. See, I told you we’d dialled back 😉
Have a great week, and I’ll be back to review the fall season of TV for you. The stuff I watch, anyway 🙂
Janus has two heads so he can look back and ahead. Plus, you really can’t make meaningful progress unless you take some time to reflect on your accomplishments and understand where your journey has brought you to this point.
Let’s start with December, shall we?
In the wake of NaNoWriMo, I needed a wee respite from the purely creative writing. I kept up with my regular blog posts and caught up on a few things that happened in November that I had set aside posting about because of the aforementioned NaNo.
I returned to Marushka after a few days, though, because the force is strong in this one 😉 Also, I have to finish my shit (Wendigism).
Toward the end of the month, though, I wanted to get another short fiction submission revised and sent.
So at the end of the month, I’d written a total of 15,167 words, 8,812 of them on the blog, 6,234 on Marushka, and 121 on the short story.
What about 2014?
It was a good year, I think.
Since it was the first year I tracked my writerly output, I really have nothing to compare it to, but I know I’ve written more words in this year than I did in 2013 or any year before that.
The highlights:
“The Broken Places” was published in Bastion Science Fiction Magazine in its June issue.
“On the Ferry” won second place in the In Places Between contest.
“Downtime” will be in the fall 2014 issue of On Spec Magazine. The issue hasn’t come out yet (long story short—please subscribe or support them on their Patreon page), but I’m still pleased as punch.
I have writerly income to report on my tax return for the second year in a row!
I’ve put “The Broken Places” and “Downtime” in the short story category in the Auroras. It’s my first year doing this kind of thing, so we’ll see how it goes.
Overall, I submitted six short stories for publication. This is fewer than in past years, but given my greater focus on my larger projects, I’m happy with this.
I attended Ad Astra, CanWrite!, and When Words Collide conferences, and workshops by Brian Henry and The Humber School for Writers.
In 2014, I have written:
110,361 words on this blog
34,589 words on Marushka
21,464 words on Gerod and the Lions
3,521 words of short fiction
3,161 words on Apprentice of Wind
2,384 words on Figments
Total: 175,480
That’s a fuckload of words. Sorry. I felt the profanity appropriate.
Plus, I mapped out and reverse engineered both IoS and Figments, and revised some of IoS.
I am still eternally grateful to Jamie Raintree for her wonderful Excel spreadsheet. This year’s has enough project slots that I don’t have to modify it 🙂 Also, it appears to have a way to track drafting and revisions. I’m excited to see how it works out.
For the second year in a row, the most popular posts on my blog have been those I wrote back in 2012. Dress for Success has been consistently popular. I didn’t think a post about writing in my pyjamas would have been so compelling. Go figure.
Eight Metaphors for Persistence . . . is also a heavily viewed post. I appreciate that a bit more because it was the first post on this iteration of the blog and spoke to how I picked up the pieces after being hacked.
Still, I would like to see some of my book reviews, or conference reportage posts, rank higher.
My overall views on the blog went down from last year. In 2013 I filled the Sydney Opera House five times. In 2014 I only filled it four times.
I take all this with a grain of salt, however, as the number of my followers through WordPress has only grown and at 373, I’m closing in on 400 followers. That’s not bad for three years of blogging when I don’t have a book to sell.
Those who receive my posts via email, or who can read them through WordPress may not be counted because they haven’t actually visited the site.
Personally, as long as you’re enjoying what you read, I’m good. I’m a fan of the slow build.
What’s ahead for 2015?
I’ve you’ve read me for any length of time, you’ll know I don’t go in for resolutions. I set goals and manage my projects on an ongoing basis, sometimes re-evaluating and adjusting my goals to account for the dreaded scope creep 🙂
That’s all stuff I learned from the project management I have to do for work. It’s also similar to the dreaded underwear creep (damnit, not another wedgie).
In all seriousness, I intend to revise and submit several more short stories throughout the year. I also intend to write a few new ones.
I intend to finish my first drafts of Marushka (goal length approximately 76,000 words) and GatL (goal length approximately 50,000 words). I can manage this at a pace of about 5,000 words a month. I’ll finish Marushka first, because it’s where my head is at the moment, and then return to work on GatL afterward.
I will revise IoS and finally (FINALLY) start querying. This is so long overdue, I can’t even. Can’t. Even.
I will move onto revisions of Figments once I start querying IoS.
I will map and reverse engineer AoW and probably Marushka.
I don’t think I’ll be able to manage much more than that for the bulk of the year.
I will again engage in the NaNoWriMo Challenge, even though I will be working through the month of November. I was very pleased with the 2014 results, even though it wasn’t a “win,” per se.
For financial reasons, I’m going to stay close to home this year with conferences and conventions. Most likely Ad Astra and Can-Con.
My big expense, professional development-wise, will be a writing retreat in the summer (if I can swing the leave from work—summer’s a peak time and it’s always a big deal), also local.
I’m facilitating my first writing workshop in years in February. You know I’ll be blogging that one 🙂
And the rest will be based on opportunities as they come my way.
I like preparing my Tipsday and Thoughty Thursday curation posts on the weekend for easier distribution (and more writing time) through the week.
Aside from that, the bloggage will come out of my writerly life, as it usually does.
I have one more post to go before the night is over.
Always Looking Up 