I'm Tired of This, Grandpa.
The Cat & the Comma Issue #26
A terrible glitch occured when trying to add a button, and now it can no longer be removed on my end because I can’t even see it to delete it! Re-issuing this newsletter with the proper amount of buttons. My sincerest apologies.
Between JK Rowling directly funding the UK government erasing trans people from their constitution to RFK Jr wanting to put autistic people on some kind of registry, it’s… been a month. We continue to live in such interesting times, wouldn’t you say?
There’s not much to say for preamble this time. Let’s talk about April.
Misc. Professional Update
The biggest professional event I did this month was reveal my book cover! Cover reveals are a big step in publishing, whether you’re indie or in with the big leagues, and I’m quite pleased with the reception that mine got! I had a great collective of people who were willing to help me out with the reveal, and I even was reached out to by Queer Books Weekly to talk about why I chose Malta as a source of worldbuilding inspiration! Isn’t that neat?
If you missed the cover reveal, that’s fine. Here it is in all of its celestial glory!
I also was asked last minute to take part of a book signing event at my local bookstore. While I only sold one book, it was still nice to get out and do something productive! I also had a lovely chat with the other author there that day. It was all worth it.
Obviously, the cover reveal was a massive success, but I’ve also had some other exciting book things going on in the background! I am waiting on the final iterations of a star chart and world map from the same brilliant mind that produced my book cover (Eva I, one of my dearest friends!) and commissioned a different artist for a couple of character pieces. One will be used in stickers and the like. The other one is mostly just for fun. I’ve also potentially been in talks with a company to make candles and/or stickers for my books… more on that to come as I have it.
Lastly, I was extended an invitation to Just Another Bookish Ball next year in Pennsylvania! I think I’ve mostly decided to attend… so maybe you’ll see me there! I’ll be bringing copies of A Sharper, More Lasting Pain with me, as well as The Distance Between Stars and Salt. Most likely. Provided I stick to a deadline for once in my life.
Writing Update
Surprise! I wrote a new short story. Entitled Gestalt, it follows married couple Adam and Eve as they enter an unorthodox program in an attempt to solve their marital issues. In the process, Adam discovers she’s trans. This has been a ton of fun to write and kind of came out of nowhere, but I’m not gonna complain about it. I still need to clean it up, but you can see the first draft on my Patreon if you sub!
Gestalt was also the bulk of what I worked on this month. The world news continues to wear on me, which has made it difficult to get myself into the headspace required to write. Though it’s slow-going, though, I am crawling forward through The Distance Between Stars and Salt. I’m so excited with where this book is going! And I even hit 30k!
As for the necromancy sisters short, I have it all roughly outlined, but have not made much progress with it yet. See the previous excuse for why.
Here’s a snippet of where I’m at right now in TDBSaS:
My suspicions were confirmed the instant I laid eyes upon you.
You were curled in on yourself, a richtus of anguish, arm thrown over your pale face as you whimpered into the sheets. Your hooves twitched as you tossed to and fro. Over and over, you repeated a phrase under your breath, so quiet I couldn’t catch it until I was upon you and shaking you awake.
“I don’t want to lose her. I don’t want to lose her. I don’t—”
I shook you with such conviction that you too sprang awake, chest heaving and trio of eyes glittering with fever. The dazed look that eclipsed your features vanished in an instant, but I clung to it for millenia after. What had possibly disturbed you so?
An army of questions formed on my tongue, but they all fell and died when you threw your arms around me.
“S–Seren, I—”
You burrowed into my chest with a low keen. “You were gone,” you said. “I saw your body. You were… You were…” Before you could finish the thought, you reduced to sobs in my embrace.
If you’re intrigued by this project and what comes out of it, you can currently read the first five chapters of the first draft if you become a member of my Patreon! I’ve also recently made a Carrd Page going over the basics of this project. Soon enough, I’ll have up to chapter 15 of a very rough draft available to read, should you be so curious.
Finally, let’s bring out the word tracker. My progress this month, as I said, was a lot less impressive, but still. Here’s what it currently looks like!
And now, stats:
For the month of April, I wrote a total of 11,593 words and an average of 1,288 words per session. And here’s an updated breakdown of what stage of writing I’ve spent what amount of words on, too:
Which leads me to…
Media Update
I’m normally one who is super late to new games and new trends and whatnot, but the Oblivion Remaster dropped this month and I dropped everything for a chance to explore Cyrodil in a higher resolution. I loved Oblivion in concept, but I was never able to play it when the original first released, and by the time I was able to play it, the potato-esque graphics made it a little difficult to dig deeper into. This is the best of both worlds for me! I’ve been roleplaying as a new OC I made thanks to some worldbuilding thoughts I had related to TDBSaS; in that world, she’d be a dragon sorcerer. Unsure what her dragon will look like, though. I’ve kind of had a dragon renaissance in my heart.
Final Fantasy XIV is still a love of mine and I’m playing that in the periphery, but I haven’t as much in the last couple of weeks. I really need to get back to it.
In terms of books, I’ve been reading Mistress of Lies by K. M. Enright and This Too Shall Burn by Cat Rector, and both I’ve been digging so far! I’ve also, as of yesterday, picked up a nonfiction book: A Taste of Maltese Folklore: Tradition and Heritage by Joseph C. Camilleri, which is the start of yet another research spiral on Malta I’m likely about to have.
Blog and Video Update
I meant to do more streams this month, but I’ve been working a lot of mandatory overtime at work. That said, I did do a stream on the day of my cover reveal to talk about some of the details on the cover and gush about how things are going!
I would really like to do some streams this month to do sprints so I can finish the zero draft, and also so I can play Oblivion on stream! We will see what my schedule allows.
As I continue to say, I am working on an essay of sorts about letting projects die, etc. No major updates, otherwise!
The Cat Recommends
I’m doing things a little differently this month for this. As of a couple of hours ago today, May 1st, I was informed that a colleague and friend of mine, Joanne Kwan, passed away on April 3rd. Today would have been her birthday. I am in the midst of processing my feelings on this loss, but I wanted to honor their memory in some way.
Jo started as a comic artist on Tapas, and you can still read her works on Tapas here. While she’s continued to do comics, they also transitioned to writing as well. You can read their works on Itchio, most major retailers, and see their index of works here. This is her website. Lastly, here is their obituary page, where you can plant trees in her name or send their family flowers. And if you happened to know them on a more personal level, you can even leave a message.
Perhaps an unorthodox recommendation, but it only felt right to mention them.
Happy birthday, Jo. I am devastated beyond words at your loss.
The Cat Thanks
One of the perks for higher-tier patrons is shout-outs at the end of newsletters. Special thanks to Ceph, Hannah, and Larkspur. If you want to have your name here with theirs, subscribe to my Patreon!
And that’s a wrap. I wish you well on all of your endeavors and hope you stay safe. Reach out to friends you haven’t heard from in a while.
Kindest regards,
Alex