Whoopsiedoodles

So, I am supposed to blog at least once a month. It has been brought to my attention* that I did not blog in November, which as I understand is a month in the calendar. My bad.
_{*Nobody actually brought it to my attention, I just happened to notice.}

What’s the latest over here? Well, it’s not been a ton of writing, le sigh. It’s tough around this time of year when you’ve got a family and all to find the time. It seems like every week I’ve got two to three commitments, and while I do love it, I also find myself often worn thin and wishing that these two months didn’t fly so quickly by.

When I do squeeze in the time, my work has been focused on Psychlone, the oft-mentioned sequel in the Z.Z. Adams His Storm Blows Out the Light series. I’m elbow deep** into a serious re-drafting . Upon a deeper review between myself and the brain-meld that runs Z.Z. Adams, there was an agreement: it can be better, and we should strive for that.
_{**I’m halfway through Chapter 4, so I think the more honest way to say it would be “two knuckle-digits-deep”.}

I’m incredibly appreciative of the fact that the team over at Z.Z. Adams wants the story to be the best it can. When it comes to self-publishing, some work off the idea of banging out as many passably-readable books as they can, rake up the clicks and reads, and just keep the whole thing churning. To be blunt, I hate that shit: both the process, and the results.

Now before I go on, let me be clear. No, not everyone who self-publishes does this. (Don’t spam troll me on Twitter.) That would be stupid to say. But for me the trend is noticeable. We can debate how prevalent it is, and mind you, I haven’t any real form of statistics on hand, so consider my stance to be anecdotal, and ergo absolutely something that can and should be scrutinized. Maybe its not as frequent as it seems to me. And due to that, this is an argument I’m absolutely willing to yield on, if presented with hard facts and figures that show reality is actually the opposite of what I’m seeing.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love the craft of writing. Even the less enjoyable parts like a deep re-write (soooo difficult for someone who’s brain is riddled with ADHD to take something already written and break parts of it down and start from scratch) give me a sense of fulfilment. When I write, I write with the goal of creating something that is the best result possible, with my admittedly questionable skills at least having been used to the fullest–damn the effort and time necessary.

The brain-meld at Z.Z. Adams is thankfully in agreement. There is the financial need behind it all; it better make some money, or else it’s a loss. Other hard-working people’s money will be wasted on my efforts. Not great, Bob. But the idea of ‘fire it away, keep going, get the clicks and reads and damn the actual value’ doesn’t work either. The fine line must be walked, and they–and I–are choosing to err on the side of quality.

So with that said, yes, it will be a bit longer before Psychlone is released (and it should go without saying that the planned sequel, and the short stories in the series, are similarly delayed). Hopefully the turn of the sundial from 2022 to 2023 will give me some more time to really get into this, and the delay won’t be too bad. I make no promises save this: I promise to give it my best effort.

That’s all for now, y’all be safe out there. Til next time my friends.