20221031

[If you aren’t reading this on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/blazeward), obviously, there is a two week lag. If you’d like your news fresh, and the monthly Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, all I ask is a buck to help keep the lights on around here.]

Happy halloween, to all the folks getting fake blood and candy all over themselves!

Woke up this morning to news that my gaming group were all COVID positive. One guy went home Wednesday night after the game feeling a little yuck. More yuck by Thursday. Rest of us came down Friday or Saturday.

Best part? I’d scheduled my Covid booster for last Friday, plus a flu shot. Did both without knowing that I was probably positive. At least this morning I can taste and smell things just fine. So back onto the couch after I write this and probably miss a third day of writing. A bit grumpy on that part. (Okay, way past a bit, but shit happens.)

Been talking to a couple of you about stories I’d sent out monthly, because my list got corrupted and I don’t know what you saw over the summer. Then, late last night, I remembered a short story I wrote a while back and buried. You’ll be getting that next month.

I set up a warlock character for a dnd5 game that never happened. GM wanted some depth beyond Murderhobo First Class, so I took the time to write a backstory, figuring that I could extend it later depending on the campaign. Campaign never happened (see above) so I forgot about it. Going to look it up today or tomorrow, but it should be good.

Last week, I finished Last Stand #8 and rolled right over to #9. Kind fun, because I already know what #11 and #12 will be, so I only need to come up with one more story for “Season One/2023.” And I have a long list of options. Like 30 or something silly.

Going forward, I had planned to get #9 close to done today, then finish it tomorrow (15700 of an expected 22000 right now). From there, I am going to write the next Harper story, but with a twist. Like the previous two stories you folks have read, it will be a grift that goes terribly wrong, but in a good way.

Eventually, they’re going to start calling her Lucky, because she always lands on her feet. This story will set her up for a series, finally, but a fun one. It will be in the issue of Boundary Shock Quarterly called “Tramp Freighter Captains” and will build on all the research I’ve been doing around comedy, because it will push the edges of farcical silliness.

(Still trying to figure out how to break the fourth wall in the written word without being too obvious. Every single show or movie I have watched so far does that. Some character will give the camera a look. Maybe a roll of the eyes. Maybe a put-upon sigh. Something. Sharing the joke with the audience. Will figure it out.)

If my math is right, that story is due to myself April 1, so it will come out in July, with the first two cleaned up and as a “Harper Starter Pack.”

After that, writer brain announced that it wanted to write another Gunderson story. Okay, sure. Why not? This one will extend the story beyond Blackmailers (Gunderson Case Files, Volume 1) and I think puts us at #10. I’d have to count, but it might be enough for a Vol 2 by word count, with a couple you’ve never read.

Or I might need to write 1-2 more. Or make this one kinda long. It is an category that I’m not sure what to call, because it has elements of paranormal and fantasy and science fiction in a private detective sub. If any of you are experts on fiction genre categorizations, I’d love your thoughts.

I’ve been standing long enough, so I’m going to load this, schedule it, and go back to bed.

Cheers.

Shade and sweet water,

b

West of the rainy Mountains, WA

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Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

[Obviously, two weeks lag if you aren’t reading this from Patreon. See details at the bottom.]

Having a good Monday so far. Went to breakfast. Went to the archery range. Even shot pretty well. Did some Tai Chi Chuan and some cane form. Let’s call it something approximating normal. I’d like that, after all the craziness of the last several months. A flow.

Met with Sifu and seniormost student for class on Saturday. Hadn’t seen Eldest Brother in a while, so it was good to catch up on his life.

We three were alone at the end after everyone else departed, so I mentioned the possibility of creating a new open hand/closed fist form (Can you call it Tai Chi Chuan if it’s not Chinese Lineage? I doubt it.) for a set of aliens in the coming Corsac Fox series. They both thought that was pretty cool. I might make a serious effort because the CPL 99 for puts a lot of stress on my left knee, which I’d rather not do after nearly tearing it several years ago (might have microtears, dunno).

The goal of Tai Chi is to still be limber and flexible (intellectually and emotionally as well as physically) when I’m ninety. Thirty-seven years. Open mind, open body, open heart, because I read a study the other day about how the mind starts to shut down and prune after about you hit forty if you aren’t actively working it. Television really does rot your brain, and you turn into that old fart yelling at the kids to get off your lawn.

Then I asked Eldest Brother if he felt like creating a new sword form for me to practice. I studied English Longsword as well as English Quarterstaff, back in the day, which are both radically different than equivalent Chinese or Japanese weapons. Takes me a bit to adjust to using the cane like a sword, when my hands want to grip it like a quarterstaff. Especially with one double block in the second section that leads into a horizontal chop, when I would step forward and punch someone in the face with the far end of the cane.

Again, moving uphill instead of downhill. Looking forward to two new martial arts in the world, because there is simply not enough art in the world today. You should do something about that. (Yes, you!)

Let’s see: Last week, I finished the third Derlyth novel. All are dropping in June, 2023 as part of a set. Not a trilogy, because I already have notes for #4 and #5 already, but I want to shift back to some SF for a while.

Always writing different things to feed the muse.

Derlyth is Occult Detective by genre. London, 1924. Magic. Demons. Shenanigans. And Augustus Dexter Derlyth is a thief and a bit of a necromancer by trade. Not a nice guy. Still a hero, but that’s circumstances and blackmail more than anything. Tremendous amounts of voice. Rich characters.

Better, I hung out with some friends on Saturday and one of them recently got hired to create an rpg game engine and setting for someone. He’s going to look into the contract itself, but he thinks that he retains the Intellectual Property rights to the engine, so I might hire him to create a 20^th Century Urban Fantasy rpg for Derlyth and friends. Probably worth a kickstarter project in 2023, if the books do well.

And I wouldn’t mind if they exploded.

Every time you hit the publish button, there is a one in a million chance that you capture the cultural zeitgeist and become JK Rowling or Suzanne Collins. With that in mind, I often counsel writers to make sure that they enjoy some sub-genre before diving into it. In this case, what would happen to my SF if suddenly I was expected to kick out several Occult Detective novels every year to feed a USA Today bestselling series? (Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.)

I’d write them. And spin things off. And on. And explore the 1920s with magic. And maybe do prequels for Derlyth as a young man (he was born in 1877), plus explore the world when he’s an older gentleman, in the vein of Henry Jones, Sr. against the Nazis.

Because it would be a tremendous amount of fun. When we get there, remind me to ask everyone who they would cast as Derlyth, Captain Digby, and Lady Claudette to make movies. I have images in my head, but not names that I would hire if I suddenly were making movies based on these books.

But it would be awesome. And I still have the greatest job in the world, when you get down to it. I’m paid to make shit up and entertain people.

Does it get any better than that? Dunno. Stupid amounts of money would probably help, so you should tell your book club about me. Or go form a book club so you can read my books and analyze them. At my current writing speed, I’ll stay ahead of a one book/month club for several decades. (I just finished novel #84, and that doesn’t count 30 or so novellas worth exploring.)

Heh. Just heh.

Anybody else ever have moments where they break out in maniacal laughter, because things are going well? I highly recommend it sometime.

Hmmm, past that, I started the fourth Thriller story yesterday. NOT a Fatima story, because there was no easy way to shim in a story to the theme required, without a lot of unnecessary twisting. Instead I started someone else. Hoping he’ll be fun, because he’s an a-typical hero. No guns. Tall, skinny Englishman who’s a wheelman by trade. Oh, and a thief. The story is the aftermath of a caper, when the guy who put the job together decides to kill everyone else so nobody can talk later.

Whoops.

Beyond that, I have the fourth Stephanie Machesky (EROTICA, you’ve been warned) novella done and ideas for the fifth, which I’ll write soon. I have a list of “Done by Dec 31” writing projects to get to, in no particular order. More Last Stand. More Punk Rock Opera. More Space Adventure and Opera in existing series.

I have also been thinking deep thoughts about comedy. As noted elsewhen. Written comedy loses a lot of the visual elements of vaudeville, including the fourth wall breaks where the main character turns to the camera and shrugs.

But I also have some silly fun planned with a series intended to be humorous, without being comedic in nature. (First rule of comedy: never punch down.) Working on a bizarrely silly setting and a main character who will likely be my “straight” person captain in the middle of things, with a wacky cast of misfits chewing the scenery around them.

Went back after talking to the Ambassador last week for an hour and realized that I have written a lot of things that were light and funny, so I have it in me. Just gotta pull out a setting that can be funny all by itself. Also been watching comedy tv, but avoiding family sitcoms. Got season one of WKRP in Cincinnati and been watching old episodes. Get Smart and McHale’s Navy are both on reserve at the library. Might see if I can check out Futurama at some point.

What else should I be watching or reading as I expand my horizons?

As with the open hand forms, the goal is to stretch the mind. Become a better person and a better writer.

And have a lot of fun.

Check y’all next week.

b

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Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

[As usual, you’re watching this two weeks later than folks on my Patreon feed. See below for details.]

(Editor’s Note: There is a lag here, obviously)

I’m writing this from Lincoln City, Oregon, on a Sunday morning instead of the usual Monday. Will post it tomorrow while I’m driving home. Been meeting with some folks down here to talk about stuff.

Nothing formal. Mostly getting together with some folks I haven’t seen since before the world ended and catching up. They just all happen to be writers.
And, as happens, we talked business and other things. Mostly sharing what worked recently and what didn’t. What they’d tried and how that had worked out for them.
One of the things I heard about was how one friend was writing an essay on Patreon that they immediately shared on Substack, then launched out on their main blog two weeks later. They write more essays and less about the “peek behind the curtain” than I do but the idea resonated with me and I intend to implement it going forward. This will post on 9/19. Then it will show up over on the bw blog on 10/3. With that in mind, I plan to “adjust” my focus on the Patreon blog a bit.
In the past, I talked about the nuts and bolts. I also have too many newsletters that I keep up with. Publishing news. Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef. Cole Braddock for those folks. Milestone Indie Publishing for a different group. Boundary Shock Quarterly every three months.
The main BW blog has suffered, and I needed to do something about that. So more interaction on both, and less separation.
That was the other part of usefulness from spending a couple of days hanging out with old friends. Rejuvenation of the creative side of things. As writers, we often work without people around. Stay home and write, a bit oblivious to the outside world.
Then a pandemic hit and not a lot changed for most of us, even though everybody else had their lives upended. Everyone was at home. We need to get out and see folks more. Talk. Something.
Something that someone else mentioned was how much the next generations are less about having to jump onto media trends because of an artificial scarcity model. In the old days, you saw the book on the shelf and had to immediately buy it, because you might never see it again unless it was a mega-seller. It went onto the TBR pile, and you’d get to it.
Same thing happened with television for us oldsters. It was on and you watched it, or you missed it and hoped to get it on reruns or syndication. VCRs were okay, but remembering to program them was the issue. DVRs kind of helped, but then the world changed and people got into primitive streaming (Netflix dvds in the mail) or actual streaming (all the services you pay for each month, in order to watch your various shows).
For a time, folks would binge, because all of a whole season would drop at once, and folks would consume it. The problem was that the show disappeared from the public dialogue about three weeks later.
Nowadays, the media conglomerates drop 1-3 episodes at once, then feed the rest through on a weekly basis to create that artificial scarcity that you have to think about it and wait for it, instead of consuming when you want it.
But that won’t work.
Another friend ignores those shows until they complete a season run dropped, then binges them, but she’s off-schedule with folks that are tracking it weekly.
Others might wait until a show is complete (because most only run 1-2 seasons anyway these days) then catch all of it, but only if the cultural decision is good. (If you didn’t watch Game of Thrones when it was on, would you really start it from scratch today, knowing how badly they ended it?)
Fans do not have to consume something now. They can time-shift it how they want. Artists (us) have to take that into account. For writers, we put things up on all the major distributors (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Kobo, D2D, etc.).
Some folks will read it immediately. Captain Daring #3 has been out for 9 days and has 30 ratings on Amazon at this moment when I checked. I’m seeing a surge in sails of book one (of a trilogy) now that all three are done, because folks wanted to binge on them, instead of reading them once per month.
Friday, somebody bought all seven Lazarus books in paper at the same time. The complete set. It’s been out for a while. I don’t know if they sampled and said “YES!” or read them in ebook format originally then decided that they wanted them on their shelf. Something
Doesn’t matter. Fan get to decide when they want to consume media. And as creatives, it is our responsibility to serve that need. That means Catalog instead of Back-list. It means interacting whenever we can, regardless of how introverted some of us are. There are fan expectations to be met.
For now, that means trying new things to see if A) I like doing it, and B) it might move the needle in terms of new fans.
So I have a question for you folks, as I’m driving home.
I’ve thought about doing basic videos of me reading short stories and samples of longer pieces. Put them up on YouTube or Tiktok. (Or wherever.) And I’m not talking audio books with a lot of professional editing and polish. I’m talking about me, turning on the camera, sitting in my blue chair, and reading something, so all the errors, all the profanities (I tend to swear like a sailor) and all the everything you’d get from me doing a live, public reading.
Short stuff is probably a five minute video. Or a good chunk of some fun chapter, like the one I just did this week as part of Corsac Fox #2. I was giggling as I reread it, because a fairly minor character got his moment to shine and was complaining about how Tuesday his week had gone.
It was great.
Dunno your general ages, those of you reading this, so I don’t know if you are a representative sample. But is that something you might enjoy? No offense, but I don’t my fan base to grow old and die on me, like happens to some writers. I want to bring in a lot of younger folks who will enjoy my take on things and keep me in kittie kibble for a long time.
So you, yes you, hit reply and say yay or nay to watching me commit audios of some of the short fiction I have that even you haven’t read (or heard). And then go ask your kids or grandkids who are into SF what they think.
At the end of the day, the phrase I heard that best sums all this up is “Fan-funded-fiction” and I want to make sure that you’re happy. And happy to keep funding me to create new things.
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And thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!
If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

Did a Publisher Meeting this morning for breakfast. That’s where I get to take Fabulous Publisher Babe™ out and we talk business. Because that what we do. Talk business.

We started the weird part of the conversation talking about how one might handle passports and mail in an interstellar/galactic setting. Either you end up sending database updates of a passport system to every planet in the nation (with all the weakest-link risks to your data chain), or you end up reverting to mere paper credentials and trying to maintain local/planetary passports. Not sure.

But that inspired another Last Stand story while we were chatting. I have seven of those done right now, all novellas, with the longest (origin) running 31,000 words and the shortest at 17,000. The rest all come in around 22,000+/-, because that’s my target length for story and I’m generally pretty good at hitting length now that I have the groove.

AND THEN: as we were driving home she asked if we would be in a position to publish twelve Last Stand novellas next year. Jan-Dec. Then, as a secondary step, dropping something else every month.

I have not looked yet, but I am reasonably certain that I could, just with what’s in the can right now. (You will see me think on paper shortly.)

After all, in 2019, I intentionally wrote twenty novels. And then sixteen in 2020 and fifteen in 2021. I’ll actually come in under twelve (novels) in 2022, unless I push towards the end of the year, but that’s me writing a BUNCH of novellas (Last Stand, the Commander Machesky erotica novels under Cole Braddock, etc. Somewhere around a dozen already, and still going.) I’m pretty much on pace for the year, though I did take half of August off (and needed it).

Corsac Fox #1 will be part of my first-ever kickstart in December. I just started #2 this week. I have a pair of Marrakesh (military space adventure/opera) novels done, with plans for what the third will look like. The second monster in Kincaid’s war (160,000 words again) is done. On the Action/Adventure side, I have two Pacific Force novels done, plus an unrelated novella. On the “urban” fantasy side, I have two Derlyth novels done, plus Dan & Stewie.

That’s eleven, without even digging. If asked, that twelfth will be another Science Officer, because I know what the next one will be. And I might write two of those for next year. And maybe pull some more of the SF out of the trunk and focus the rest of this year on extending/finishing some of my current series.

(For example, most of you have never read Scour, because I only sent that novel out to my patreon backers and it might be for sale in the shop. I’d have to look to be sure and haven’t. Similarly, I have the first two of the five Giles/Taft Station novels done, and need to circle back. Plus a handful of short story collections that each form their own Novel One in a different series: Peter Najjar, Ollie, Yasmin, and Flight Officer Brannon. Seriously.)

So in 2023, y’all can expect me to drop TWO major projects every month, if all goes well. A wide selection of things. A lot of fun. I’ve been threatening it for a while, but the boss is the one that decides these things, and she has decided to move ahead on this as a project.

And mind you, I’m not even talking about five collections of short fiction I’ve put together, each about 60-70,000 words and assembling all the stuff I’ve been writing for my patreon or other projects over the last several years. Unless you are on my patreon, you haven’t read three-quarters of them. Don’t call yourself a completist without. 😉

And, today is September 4. I’ll write a second 80k Corsac Fox novel this month, plus two more shorts for side projects. That leaves me three more months to do stuff before January 1. I am not worried.

Instead, I plan to sit down with the boss this week and plot out an actual publishing schedule. Then write five more Last Stand books (I have seven in the can now, plus notes in twenty more) to make up a Season One Omnibus (1-12) for 2023. And map out what projects she wants to publish of the twenty things I could drop in to fill twelve slots behind Last Stand.

Y’all get in and hang on. 2023 is going to be a wild ride.

Okay, that was a ball. And a really busy con (see image below). (#CVG2022)

If I count it right, I had 17 panels over 4 days, out of 22 possible slots. (Didn’t let them schedule me past my 830-930pm slots. I needed my beauty sleep.) That’s amazingly busy, but it worked. I didn’t have any time slots where I had the space to wind down for very long, so I just stayed on for the four days.

It worked better for me that way, because I could plan to stay on.

There is a place on 14^th street, a couple of blocks from the con hotel, called Eggy’s. Diner in a gentrified neighborhood, so a mix of classics with some hipster touches. We ate there twice.

First meal, I had the poutine breakfast, because she assured me that I was close enough to Canada that they would get it right. (They did.) Second time, I had an omelet with cheese, spinach, and chorizo. However, it being Minneapolis, it wasn’t very chorizo. Still good, though.

Other breakfast was Nicollet Diner, attached to a drag cabaret. I ordered the Seriously French Toast (croissants) but got the Fabulous French Toast (see image). Confused the guy by ordering blueberries with it, I think, but it was good and not worth sending back when it arrived.

Not as good as Eggy’s. Still good food. Eggy’s was constantly having people show up for take-out or delivery. I mean constantly while we ate. And they were full up on tables both times, with a half-dozen folks running around madly to serve everyone.

That’s usually a good sign of the food. It was worth it.

Had my first “real” signing as a pro at the con. One person showed up with books for me. Others had no idea who I was, but got suckered into taking pictures of my covers with signatures on them when I wasn’t charging anything. I am not a Big Name Author, so I wasn’t concerned that I was invisible. The staff were great and the fans were friendly.

Also had my first ever reading. Gave them the first three printed pages of Captain Daring. In the radio voice. Fans later asked why I didn’t do audio books. Don’t got time. Hell of a compliment, though.

Went well, and I think they will have the video on their website at some point, with me #2 of 4 guys reading on Sunday. Think I did pretty well. Folks showed up and nobody threw anything rotten at me.

Panels were awesome. Had one small one (4 fans, three panelists) but several were standing room only. (Topic, not me, but nice to be up there.) And one panelist sent me a note on Monday thanking me for how I moderated things, which was extra good. I always say that I give good panel. Nice to be recognized for it.

Only a handful of COVID positives notified, and each of those folks were able to be traced. One was at one of my panels, but I never took my mask off inside the building for four days, and only rarely outside. Still feeling well.

Plus, you had to show proof up up-to-date vaccinations to get your ticket in, and only one asshole walked around without his mask on half the time, but he was exactly the sort of putz you would expect, if I told you obnoxiously privileged old white libertarian guy.

Best part of the con for me was how young it was. Sure, old farts, but LOTS of youngsters. Not a lot of little ones, but teenagers and young adults, frequently in rotating cosplay outfits with style. Good questions, sharp on things.

Engaged.

Totally hoping they invite me back next year. Not a lot of writers on the track, so folks who are writers and want to make the trek to Minneapolis in early July 2023 ought to be able to get on panels. The Con-Comm are sharp, professional, and friendly as hell.

Everyone was friendly. Hands down the best group I’ve ever gotten to work with, as a working pro in attendance somewhere. Would like to make this my home con in the future. That’s how good it was.

Still recovering from the crazy, so a little light on details, but connected with some old friends, made some new ones, and had a ball.

See you next year!

b

I’m in Minnesota, counting down to CONvergence, which promises to be an utterly charming and awesome event. And I will not open myself up to so much work next year, assuming that they invite me back. (Seventeen things over four days, when I had honestly been expecting 6. That’s normal for a con, at least for me historically.)

I am an introvert. (Big surprise there, for anyone who knows me.)

At the same time, I am a player on a stage, and I have a lot of experience with that sort of thing, going back a long time of needing to assume masks for a variety of reasons. Most of them were unpleasant reasons, at that, but this is a con, and I simply need to be charming and massively extroverted for a few days.

Last time I did this was at Rose City Comic Con in 2018 (I think). Several of us had a single booth, with a lot of books for sale, organized by genre. The others with me did not have the ability to activate extrovert mode, so I took it on as a persona I call Carnival Barker.

Literally, standing at the corner and making eye contact with folks, then adding banter and charm to get them to step into the booth and look around. Exactly what a Carnival Barker does, without the freak show behind him. (No comments on my books, thank you. Heh.)

I did that for several days. To do it, I had to turn off the writer for that same period. Different mask. Different person.

Guess what, I’m back. We came into Minnesota a week early, which would have allowed us to see a lot of Fabulous Publisher Babe™’s family, except that COVID rippled through those families, so they isolated and we’ve stayed away.

I have managed to meet up with a few folks, having lunch with a fellow writer local I’ve never met IRL on Monday, and dinner with an old co-worker from Seattle last night. One of my online GMs lives not far away, and we’ll be doing lunch today.

With any luck, the guy who was the inspiration behind Pizzafarmer will be available later today for a beer. (Story #1 was in Nuns with Guns. Story #4 will be in Boundary Shock Quarterly 021 in the winter. I’ll publish 1-3 at the same time.) He lives around here somewhere (I don’t know MN geography all that well) and we’ve been emailing back and forth.

But I woke up this morning bouncy. That’s the extrovert coming to life. Getting ready to be ON for several days. Did manage to write some more on the second Marrakesh novel (Military Space Adventure along the lines of TOS or TNG, without the Epic Space Opera elements. More Mission-on-the-week sort of thing here) and hopefully will have words over the next day or so, before we move from the suburbs to downtown for the Con hotel.

Then I will be fully subsumed by the Barker, and off to the races.

I’ve warned everyone who would listen. And the Babe™ was at RCCC, so she saw it happen and understands me well enough to not be concerned that she’ll be sleeping with something of a stranger for a few days.

It happens. I am a creature of identity. Identities, plural, honestly.

I went into August understanding that I would be writing less. WAY less. Instead of my usual upper bound of 120,000 words, I have set it to 80,000 this month. And will stop cold if I actually manage to get there, what with a full week gap in the month.

That is the streak-breaking number, where I’m not even to Pulp Speed One, which I have managed since May 2018. Intentionally.

I won’t call it a vacation, but I’m taking time away from words. And doing odd projects instead. Lyrics for the rock opera. Planning for the Corsac Fox kickstarter in the winter. Being someone else.

I’m bouncy this morning, and it’s not the (yucky) coffee kicking in. Less than I usually drink back home, as a matter of fact.

Hopefully, some of you will be at the con. I have a signing on Friday around lunch, so bring something that needs a signature. Then I have panels pretty much beginning to end, so I will have almost no free time to just hang out.

Next year, with luck and they bring me back, folks will understand that my schedule is not under my control. And hopefully I’ll be doing less.

This year, I need to make them look good. And me.

And have fun.

But I gotta extrovert pretty damned hard for a week to do it.

Y’all ready for the ride?