A few years ago, around this time in September I’d have to write some emails with subject lines like the one above this post. It was always a teeth-gnashing exercise in frustration that made me question the rightness of a universe where difficult engineering tasks needed to be broken up into easily-digestible, 3-month chunks, then further sub-divided and portioned into human-sized portions. But we did it anyway and we put on a stern face and we got through it. Yes we did.
It’s still somewhat useful to think in those terms, especially as we are tooling up for winter where Deb and I get to work on our projects in earnest. My todo lists have fewer things like, “DRIVE TRUCK” and “LIFT OBJECTS” on it and more things like “Bend timeline” and “Make this character do something amazing”. It’s way better this way.
The past 3 months we’ve been securing our place and getting everything setup. We’re largely finished with only a few bits of trim and paint to call the whole thing done. This is the first week I’ve had without any significant physical labor on it, and let me tell you, that feels solidly alright. I’d say we hit our goals for this quarter and came out a few weeks ahead. I still have a few boxes in the basement that I’m going to call carry-over for next Q.
sidebar
This weekend we got to watch Kill Bill vol 1 on Bluray. It’s been so long I’d forgotten what a bluray disc looks and sounds like. It was incredible.
Queue 4
The next few months are going to look a lot like me being plunked in front of a keyboard and churning out stuff. NaNoWriMo is coming up in November and that’s what started this whole mess a couple of years ago. I’m considering doing it again, but with a large chunk of Book 3 already written but in need of work, that might mean churning out a blob of Book 4. I have another novella-sized thing I want to finish, but it’s been simmering on the back burner for so long that it feels like a distraction at this point. I don’t necessarily want to delay The Real Work, though it is set in the same universe as the main books. And then there’s this other story I’d love to write… Maybe, maybe.
secret message
If you’ve been paying attention to my twitters, you might have seen me hinting at a short story that’ll be coming out soon. I’m excited about that because it was a lot of fun to write and I think the larger book is going to be neat and I got to meet some great writers. If you’d like a taste of what that might look like, check out:
There are some great stories in there.
They have a website too! Check out https://scifiexplorations.com and sign up for their newsletter if you’re into that kind of thing. There are free books and deals and news about upcoming projects (maybe even the one I keep hinting at, idk).
bonus materials
Did you know Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds have a new album out, just in time for winter? It’s true. In an hour, the people from Olympus are going to announce their new camera at Photokina that you won’t be able to buy for 6 months. They’ve been “leaking” teaser images all last week and that’s fun for a gear-obsessed guy like myself. Exciting times.