I’m off on holiday this week, which means I’m a little short on time. As such, I’m handing it over to you. It’s been a while since I checked in on what you’re doing.
So, jump into the discussion and tell me about your current creative project. What is it, where can I find it, what’s the plan?
And don’t worry if you’re not a writer/artist - let us know about a cool hobby you’re into right now!
(I do have an ulterior motive: I’m in the early stages of planning a new podcast, and it’d be useful to know more about the great work being done around here so that I can plan future interviews….)
I'm running writing retreats in southern Italy! Writing setting and writing the gothic genre are still open. Participants will stay in a 900-year-old monastery, have a daily writing critique session and go some tours (to an ancient olive farm for example) https://www.writinggrove.com/workshops
New to the the Simon K Jones community but I'll jump in! I'm currently working on a plan to publish the first novel in the 'Flames of the Exiled' fantasy series. The manuscript is polished but the maps, cover art and publishing plan are not. While I draft maps and covers, I'm contemplating serialising here on Substack; launching through Kickstarter; publishing through KDP, Ingram Spark, etc. ... So many options these days!
Focusing on a short story I wrote called Dùil and posted recently on my Substack - considering expanding it at some point as I love the characters and the story.
Main writing focus has been rewriting my novel Frederick Street. Have tried to be more disciplined and write 1000 words a day on one project to try and finish more stories instead of jumping between. Working so far!
Love this, can’t wait to check out the podcast! My current project is a serialised novella called The Calibray Job. It’s a spooky little sci-fi story about a crew of misfits searching an abandoned underwater research facility. Think Fast and Furious meets The Thing.
Mostly I'm working on short stories for my Substack, alongside my fantasy serial, but I also have a couple novels in the works. I'll be announcing my next one, a literary fantasy, tomorrow, plus I have a couple in the early drafting stages. I write primarily SFF, but my short stories can range in genre.
Cheers Simon, and happy hols- am just back from mine in Crete, where I got more 'material' for the Greek comic-philosophical-geopolitical 'detective series' I have been working on for 2 years, It is a great lot of fun that brings together my combined background in Byzantine history, regional travell writing and contemporary events journalism. It wants only for a publisher. I am sanguine tho, as there are great moments of action, adventure, comedy, insight and hey- the cases take place against a pretty magnificent geographical backdrop, for the inevitable future cinematic version, when I am really taking in the winnings. We can dream and vacation is a great time for imaginings so again have a great one, and I hope that it leads to more inspiration for your own work in the Triverse and beyond.
So I have several in the works. Two I'm actively writing at the moment, plus others I'm outlining.
The two I'm writing are "The Evernow Canticles" (I published the first novel in the series last year, currently working on Book 2 out of 4) and "Through the Stars, Darkly" that I'm serializing on my Substack (Book 1 is done and available for free, Book 2 is currently being published at the rate of 4 chapters a week, and I'll soon start writing Book 3 out of 6).
The other project I'm outlining is an epic fantasy series in 10 volumes that I'm very excited about and can't wait to start writing, but I have to finish those two series above first, so I likely won't get to this before 2024. But I have tons of notes and a bunch of scenes written out already. I think this one's gonna be awesome ;)
Oh great question; I also have this type of Q scheduled on my new project to get to know the community :) I really enjoy following your writing journey.
So after doing a more generalized cultural studies / literature Substack for a year, I'm focusing on a project called Yoga Culture which is not just for yoga-people but also for those interested in cultural studies. I'm in development for a podcast where I aim to be the Louis Theroux of yoga ;)
I'm also finishing the first book in a thriller series that likewise has a lot to do with cultural studies. The first is a contemporary response to Graham Greene's The Third Man. But I'm planning to table the manuscript until I grow my audience a bit more, at least that's the strategy!
I'm trying to figure out what to make of the two novels (one is a historical fantasy tale involving space-time travelling spanning over about forty years in the life of the main character; the other is a mystery novel set in the opera world of 18th century Venice) I'm writing...
I'm just gearing up for my fifth self-published sci-fi title From Within, A Darkness (as Ray Adams) which will be available as an eBook from 31st July, and a paperback as soon as I can get the proof sorted. It's about a group of miners on an asteroid accidentally unleashing a mysterious evil, and I'm confident in saying it's a lot of fun - https://amzn.to/3xkW7vO
As I know you're well aware, running serialisation here has its inherent challenges, but I'm enjoying the ride and its doing great things in actually engaging me to write each day.
I'm teaching a series of continuing education classes at Universities around the country on Music, Media, and the Counterculture 1950-80 and continuing to build the website www.radicalradio.media as an archive of the Freeform radio era. I also have recently transitioned my newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack and am gradually getting a sense of how to best utilize this venue to distribute my writing. My thanks to you for your help in realizing that goal.
The short version is that I'm still figuring out what sort of fiction I want to write and I'm serializing a story that started out as a prompt about a woodsman who frees a fairy from a tree. Also working on the best way to market my writing that doesn't include spamming my IG and FB feed.
I’m working on a short story collection - creative non fiction I think is the category. I write a Substack called Ugly Shoes and Paper Planes and teach kids creative arts skills during the summer. Currently taking some classes and trying to unplug on vacation and failing.
I do have some fiction projects that are in various stages of completion. I did NaNoWriMo almost five years ago and roughed out a draft which is maybe 1/3 of a novel in a possible SF series but it feels like trying to climb a mountain without climbing equipment whenever I look at it. Yet I still feel the need to return to it and finish it... someday.
I'm publishing a non-fiction book, CHOICE: Personalized Learning, Personalized Technology, that looks at how to effectively use technology in K12 education. I'm publishing it on Substack a chapter at a time.
I'm working on my fantasy serial Requiem of the Moth: "political intrigue with a dash of romance in an underground city as a recently appointed clan intelligence official and a moth catcher commoner have to pair up to get what they want—unlimited power for the former, protection and patronage for the latter and his family". https://vanessaglau.substack.com/s/requiem-of-the-moth
Current project at the moment is revamping some of my writing and my profiles, and see if I can get back into the swing of Buy Me A Coffee. Annnddd figuring out how Substack works.
Now this is a fun coincidence--July 24th (the publication day of this post) was my last day at work before my 'creative sabbatical' started the day after :)
6 months later, after an initial recalibration period which felt very much needed, I have been on a roll for the past 2 months.
In the beginning, interactive ebooks have been a fun medium for me to pour my creativity into, and now I'm being teased with integrating voice and audio. I'm generally exploring how far into newness I can push the experience with known media. And I love integrating my digital art in all of my creations.
I'm just starting out and setting up my Substack. I have had an idea for a scifi story for a good few years but have been unsure on how to commence. Substack looks like the right way to go. I want to serialise the story before publishing it as a series of books on Amazon.
Late to the party! Not a writer other than journaling but short story reader and daily art journalist. Current quest is researching how creative self-expression and interacting with the art of others supports personal transformation particularly during large life transitions. I'm particularly interested in how works of fiction support us during these times as have rites of passage in traditional societies. I have a Substack where I wrote about this recently and would love your thoughts!
Sorry for jumping on this late, I'm primarily on Substack to serialize my novel, something I was two thirds done in 2013 but got depressed and deliberately wiped out my entire file. End of 2022, reviewing my other writings, I wondered if I emailed a backup copy of my unfinished work to myself. I did! And so, a few months later, here I am.
Simon, thanks for this invitation to share what we're up to! Like Lloyd, I host writing retreats, for women only though (sorry, guys). We aren't in a 900 yo monastery but on an island along the "Forgotten Coast" of Florida. Lots of amazing stories have been started and finished on that beach. As for my own writing, I'm trying to finish a novel set in the South in 1968 and will begin to serialize it on my personal author platform on Ream and then bring it to Substack, along with some of the fun research bits I want to share. I've got several novella series and short stories in the idea stages too (mostly historical fiction). Eventually, I hope to add some story-related merch to my membership, but that's down the line. I'm also admin for a FB group called Women Writing for Change, where I host weekly co-writing sessions on Zoom. And... we're in the second year of a podcast that I co-host called Around the Writer's Table.
I'm writing a Substack handbook to help people get clarity around their Substack projects - and learn how to use all the features. It's taking so much longer than I expected.... need to join a writing retreat like Lloyd's to get it finished I think (also: Italy❤️!). I also just launched a Substack mini-audit on Gumroad. (all while writing my $12K B2B newsletter each week.) I might be crazy.
I'm planning to serialize a new book project on Substack! I'll be dropping some little details about it in the following weeks. I've only a completed outline but haven't actually written the chapters yet 😅. And I'm also putting a book of short horror stories. It'll be my 2nd collection.
I am trying to finish my first comic script on my phone while I spend my spare time-in-front-of-the-computer writing book 3 in my urban fantasy series. And also write an unrelated short story for the next season of the Lunar Awards. The comic will be Kickstarted and I have been writing about comics weekly on Wednesdays to warm-up my readers, and book 3 chapters are coming out every Friday, along with other weekly musings.
Hi Simon, I am working on book two of my series. Book one, Champions of Light, came out June 6th. I've been working on learning the publishing gig and how to keep improving as a writer. Book 2's initial draft will be done in the next week or two. I hope to have it published first quarter of 2024. In the mean time I also am trying to figure out a fiction substack, Tales of Karnum and Beyond, and keeping up with the one under my name I dubbed An Abundant Life. Can't learn without doing. Can't gain feedback without putting the writing out there. I even have what I call my science project on Kindle Vella called Cataclysm like too many other things there unfortunately. If I want to do another serial, I'll probably put it as part of a paid sub on the Tales of Karnum and Beyond Substack rather than Vella.
I've started my horror serial anthology, Marredbury. Prologue/intro story is live now. Episode 1 is launching tomorrow. It's a mix of Fear Street and Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I'm working on my pitch to agents for a speculative/alternate history novel I've been working on for five years. I sent out my first round of pitches a few months back, was surprised to get some usable feedback (though no takers yet) I've just finetuned my pitch and am about to send out to my second batch of agents.
Here on Substack, I'm tracking my real time progress in attempting to get published as a debut novelist, on alternating weeks I post a brand new short story.
I'm attempting serialised fiction "The Donegal Gold" a novel length work for subscribers (with two more titles coming) and running a support group for writers with the other substack.
Thanks Simon. I've got a novel in final edits before release next Spring called Lose Yourself. It's a novel with six separate but interwoven stories told in real time during a baseball game.
Also started reimagining a project about a curmudgeon newspaper columnist who finds redemption by having to write about gratitude. I'm writing this novel as a fictional memoir, which opens up several possibilities for creativity.
Tomorrow is the start of my very first serialized novel! It's a noblebright fantasy story about an immortal who's only one bounty away from a full pardon. Unfortunately for him, the last name is his missing best friend. I'm hoping to release chapters as I'm writing/editing to gather feedback and support while I figure out my self-publishing journey. 😊
It's always fun to see what people are working on.
Currently I'm trying to figure out the ending of a short story I'm currently calling "The Seer", but that has been named and renamed several times. It's an oddly tricky story to write, but I really love it.
I'm also starting the research for a new short story that's set in the Roman Republic.
And of course, there's my Soviet ghost story novel, which I will finish one day.
Just sent off the final master of my boss Rick Ray's newest album (his 37th, since 1999), "The Gremlins Are Listening". They certainly have been; and have dogged our pursuit of this record from beginning to end (a 5-month process). Rick's a psychedelic prog- rock guitar player of the old school; been at it since 1974. Also does his own album artwork, with a pen and infinite patience. This is my 7th year and 4th album working for him (I play bass and sing a few songs now), and can tell you that nothing out there today sounds like the Rick Ray Band.
I am working on a variety of poems, an essay on Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and his views on the "Divine Project" also known as Creation, and an extended history of my family that covers the 1900s to the present. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, anti-war protests, Ronald Reagan and Pope St. John Paul II, various assassinations and wars, feminism, the technological revolution....have a wonderful vacation.
I’m thinking about turning a screenplay into a novel and I’m trying to build a team and raise finances for a low budget horror film based on a screenplay that I have written. I will produce and direct. I have a DP, a production manager and two horror celebrities interested in the project.
I'm a little past middle-age and am looking at that "coming of age" period in my life because it was a fascinating if tumultuous time in our history and one I believe that may require the contribution of our personal narratives to fully understand, given the growing bias of the media and their agendas. Thanks for your interest!
Putting together my first virtual tour - it's the commercial property in Ballycroy we might be buying and the building plans we have aren't quite accurate. They relate to proposed changes the former owners never made and the place is a bit of a maze. Self-reference, but also education as I've been debating offering virtual tour services if/when I relaunch my photo/video business once we're settled.
As an interesting side note, this particular property required about a hundred images to cover correctly (I did say a maze) - compared to the 24 images the estate agent needed to cover the house we're buying. Now, my regular photo programs aren't quite right for 360° equirectangular images. On1 PhotoRaw can't wrap them, Affinity is about editing single images, Fastone and Ifranview don't wrap them, and the camera's editor is actually quite slow to load them. Other 360° viewing software is all about loading one at a time. What do do when I need to make notes on how to shuffle/rename things, what do delete, what to merge (some images were doubled with me in two locations to mask myself out), and what to color correct? HITFILM! I used On1 to batch rename all my pics, brought the folder into a Hitfilm Comp as an image sequence, slapped the "Environment Map Viewer" (ok, "360° Viewer," now) onto a grade layer and dropped a camera in. Set my ruler to display frames, not time code, used the hokeys to step through the frames, and the Viewer widgets to rotate my view around. Hitfilm's 360° Video Transform tool is also faster than the tool which came with the camera, so it looks like future workflow will be to use the camera's tool to stitch the panos, On1 to batch rename, then loading the image sequence into Hitfilm for sort, color correct and horizon correction, exporting as another image sequence to do the tour assembly. Yup, once again Hitfilm proves itself more useful to a photo project than my actual photo software. Despite its impending demise, it's going to remain one of my "secret weapons" until either a future machine can't run it, or Artlist shuts off the registration servers.
Who did I learn how to use that 360° Viewer function from? Some dude named Simon Jones.
Speaking of plans and education, I'm also trying to decide between FreeCad and LibreCad. I need to learn one of those so I can transfer the existing PDF plans we have to a more editable format to continue our future plans.
Oh, and I took photos at a friend's wedding last month - not as their official photographer, just for fun - but I do need to finish those up. I hadn't checked my camera settings before I'd started shooting and I wasn't optimal for the lighting conditions for the first half of what I shot, so I made my life harder in the edit. I shoot RAW, so it's all repairable. Just more time consuming.
Then I'm still finishing out the replotting of years of Cutlass narratives from three campaigns into a coherent throughline. Lotta figuring out what DOESN'T need to be there while preserving the thematically important stuff.
I just got off a zoom call with Sarah Fay, (@sarahfay @writersatwork) Substack coach extraordinaire. I'm thrilled about the changes I'll be making to my stack. She knows her sh-t. Also, working on my first novel and helping favorite daughter plan her wedding in Tuscany. Busy, happy mama here.
I'm currently doing worldbuilding and plot organizing for two big trilogy projects. One is near-future multiverse western science fiction fantasy, looking at the mind control technology I first talked about in the Martiniere Legacy, only with the same characters in a multiverse setting. It's somewhat of a kitchen sink story with the legend of Melusine of Lusignan, MK-Ultra, corporate soap opera, digital thought clones, family dysfunction, and a closely-held family cult organization all wrapped up together. I decided to just plain go to the wall on this one.
The other is a fantasy trilogy focusing on what happens when the Chosen One ends up in charge of the Empire--and she realizes that not only is the Empire a fetid, corrupt mess but that she doesn't really *want* to rule over the Empire as it stands--and, meanwhile, the entire world, including her homeland, faces the threat from a couple of angry, exiled deities who want to destroy the current pantheon of Seven Crowned Gods.
I'm running writing retreats in southern Italy! Writing setting and writing the gothic genre are still open. Participants will stay in a 900-year-old monastery, have a daily writing critique session and go some tours (to an ancient olive farm for example) https://www.writinggrove.com/workshops
New to the the Simon K Jones community but I'll jump in! I'm currently working on a plan to publish the first novel in the 'Flames of the Exiled' fantasy series. The manuscript is polished but the maps, cover art and publishing plan are not. While I draft maps and covers, I'm contemplating serialising here on Substack; launching through Kickstarter; publishing through KDP, Ingram Spark, etc. ... So many options these days!
Focusing on a short story I wrote called Dùil and posted recently on my Substack - considering expanding it at some point as I love the characters and the story.
Main writing focus has been rewriting my novel Frederick Street. Have tried to be more disciplined and write 1000 words a day on one project to try and finish more stories instead of jumping between. Working so far!
Love this, can’t wait to check out the podcast! My current project is a serialised novella called The Calibray Job. It’s a spooky little sci-fi story about a crew of misfits searching an abandoned underwater research facility. Think Fast and Furious meets The Thing.
https://mtrask.substack.com/p/the-calibray-job-reading-guide-index
Mostly I'm working on short stories for my Substack, alongside my fantasy serial, but I also have a couple novels in the works. I'll be announcing my next one, a literary fantasy, tomorrow, plus I have a couple in the early drafting stages. I write primarily SFF, but my short stories can range in genre.
Cheers Simon, and happy hols- am just back from mine in Crete, where I got more 'material' for the Greek comic-philosophical-geopolitical 'detective series' I have been working on for 2 years, It is a great lot of fun that brings together my combined background in Byzantine history, regional travell writing and contemporary events journalism. It wants only for a publisher. I am sanguine tho, as there are great moments of action, adventure, comedy, insight and hey- the cases take place against a pretty magnificent geographical backdrop, for the inevitable future cinematic version, when I am really taking in the winnings. We can dream and vacation is a great time for imaginings so again have a great one, and I hope that it leads to more inspiration for your own work in the Triverse and beyond.
So I have several in the works. Two I'm actively writing at the moment, plus others I'm outlining.
The two I'm writing are "The Evernow Canticles" (I published the first novel in the series last year, currently working on Book 2 out of 4) and "Through the Stars, Darkly" that I'm serializing on my Substack (Book 1 is done and available for free, Book 2 is currently being published at the rate of 4 chapters a week, and I'll soon start writing Book 3 out of 6).
The other project I'm outlining is an epic fantasy series in 10 volumes that I'm very excited about and can't wait to start writing, but I have to finish those two series above first, so I likely won't get to this before 2024. But I have tons of notes and a bunch of scenes written out already. I think this one's gonna be awesome ;)
Oh great question; I also have this type of Q scheduled on my new project to get to know the community :) I really enjoy following your writing journey.
So after doing a more generalized cultural studies / literature Substack for a year, I'm focusing on a project called Yoga Culture which is not just for yoga-people but also for those interested in cultural studies. I'm in development for a podcast where I aim to be the Louis Theroux of yoga ;)
I'm also finishing the first book in a thriller series that likewise has a lot to do with cultural studies. The first is a contemporary response to Graham Greene's The Third Man. But I'm planning to table the manuscript until I grow my audience a bit more, at least that's the strategy!
I'm trying to figure out what to make of the two novels (one is a historical fantasy tale involving space-time travelling spanning over about forty years in the life of the main character; the other is a mystery novel set in the opera world of 18th century Venice) I'm writing...
Hi Simon,
I'm just gearing up for my fifth self-published sci-fi title From Within, A Darkness (as Ray Adams) which will be available as an eBook from 31st July, and a paperback as soon as I can get the proof sorted. It's about a group of miners on an asteroid accidentally unleashing a mysterious evil, and I'm confident in saying it's a lot of fun - https://amzn.to/3xkW7vO
Enjoy the hols, Simon. Where you off to? Hopefully somewhere without any heatwaves!
A great idea to ask others. Look forward to checking back in on the responses.
Two main projects underway, peppered with randomness for when I feel there needs to be such.
My ongoing novella, which currently has six entries: https://slake.substack.com/s/braes-meteorite
My fragments of a SciFi tale, which has various posts: https://slake.substack.com/s/precipice/archive?sort=new
As I know you're well aware, running serialisation here has its inherent challenges, but I'm enjoying the ride and its doing great things in actually engaging me to write each day.
Have a great trip!
I'm teaching a series of continuing education classes at Universities around the country on Music, Media, and the Counterculture 1950-80 and continuing to build the website www.radicalradio.media as an archive of the Freeform radio era. I also have recently transitioned my newsletter from Mailchimp to Substack and am gradually getting a sense of how to best utilize this venue to distribute my writing. My thanks to you for your help in realizing that goal.
I just posted a newsletter yesterday.
https://kimhayes.substack.com/p/directions
The short version is that I'm still figuring out what sort of fiction I want to write and I'm serializing a story that started out as a prompt about a woodsman who frees a fairy from a tree. Also working on the best way to market my writing that doesn't include spamming my IG and FB feed.
I’m working on a short story collection - creative non fiction I think is the category. I write a Substack called Ugly Shoes and Paper Planes and teach kids creative arts skills during the summer. Currently taking some classes and trying to unplug on vacation and failing.
I've just created a Substack and am trying to learn how it works. Excited to be a part of the community and share some of my short story fiction!
I'm working on a cursed mermaid urban fantasy and knitting mini grim reapers.
Hello! I’ve settled into a weekly writing cadence here at Substack and am looking into serializing my novel. Thanks!
Middle of a few things. Got some art and a novel I’m working on. Right now I’m focusing on an analog horror I’m making though! :’)
How About This, my newsletter, remains my main focus. There's not much of a fiction focus but books and reading are always a part of it, including this public library appreciation post: https://howaboutthis.substack.com/p/public-libraries-awesome-things
I do have some fiction projects that are in various stages of completion. I did NaNoWriMo almost five years ago and roughed out a draft which is maybe 1/3 of a novel in a possible SF series but it feels like trying to climb a mountain without climbing equipment whenever I look at it. Yet I still feel the need to return to it and finish it... someday.
I'm publishing a non-fiction book, CHOICE: Personalized Learning, Personalized Technology, that looks at how to effectively use technology in K12 education. I'm publishing it on Substack a chapter at a time.
It's something different from my past work, but I'm very much enjoying it. https://www.technologyshouldbesimple.com
I'm revising my first novel, "The Great War of the Worlds," which is about a post-Martian invasion world.
I'm also trying to build an audience for it over at my Substack and am considering serializing a prequel series.
Happy holidays & a podcast sounds fun!
I'm working on my fantasy serial Requiem of the Moth: "political intrigue with a dash of romance in an underground city as a recently appointed clan intelligence official and a moth catcher commoner have to pair up to get what they want—unlimited power for the former, protection and patronage for the latter and his family". https://vanessaglau.substack.com/s/requiem-of-the-moth
Am working on two creative writing projects at the moment:
1. My first NFT poetry-art collection.
2. My first crime-fantasy novel (working on the outline and research).
Contemporary novel, no fantasy or sci-fi.
Current project at the moment is revamping some of my writing and my profiles, and see if I can get back into the swing of Buy Me A Coffee. Annnddd figuring out how Substack works.
Now this is a fun coincidence--July 24th (the publication day of this post) was my last day at work before my 'creative sabbatical' started the day after :)
6 months later, after an initial recalibration period which felt very much needed, I have been on a roll for the past 2 months.
In the beginning, interactive ebooks have been a fun medium for me to pour my creativity into, and now I'm being teased with integrating voice and audio. I'm generally exploring how far into newness I can push the experience with known media. And I love integrating my digital art in all of my creations.
I'm just starting out and setting up my Substack. I have had an idea for a scifi story for a good few years but have been unsure on how to commence. Substack looks like the right way to go. I want to serialise the story before publishing it as a series of books on Amazon.
My main project is healing my legs, so I can get back to doing more of what love.
Fiction: I'm currently working on a new crime/thriller story.
Knee deep doing research and now plotting chapters.
Late to the party! Not a writer other than journaling but short story reader and daily art journalist. Current quest is researching how creative self-expression and interacting with the art of others supports personal transformation particularly during large life transitions. I'm particularly interested in how works of fiction support us during these times as have rites of passage in traditional societies. I have a Substack where I wrote about this recently and would love your thoughts!
Sorry for jumping on this late, I'm primarily on Substack to serialize my novel, something I was two thirds done in 2013 but got depressed and deliberately wiped out my entire file. End of 2022, reviewing my other writings, I wondered if I emailed a backup copy of my unfinished work to myself. I did! And so, a few months later, here I am.
Simon, thanks for this invitation to share what we're up to! Like Lloyd, I host writing retreats, for women only though (sorry, guys). We aren't in a 900 yo monastery but on an island along the "Forgotten Coast" of Florida. Lots of amazing stories have been started and finished on that beach. As for my own writing, I'm trying to finish a novel set in the South in 1968 and will begin to serialize it on my personal author platform on Ream and then bring it to Substack, along with some of the fun research bits I want to share. I've got several novella series and short stories in the idea stages too (mostly historical fiction). Eventually, I hope to add some story-related merch to my membership, but that's down the line. I'm also admin for a FB group called Women Writing for Change, where I host weekly co-writing sessions on Zoom. And... we're in the second year of a podcast that I co-host called Around the Writer's Table.
I'm writing a Substack handbook to help people get clarity around their Substack projects - and learn how to use all the features. It's taking so much longer than I expected.... need to join a writing retreat like Lloyd's to get it finished I think (also: Italy❤️!). I also just launched a Substack mini-audit on Gumroad. (all while writing my $12K B2B newsletter each week.) I might be crazy.
I'm planning to serialize a new book project on Substack! I'll be dropping some little details about it in the following weeks. I've only a completed outline but haven't actually written the chapters yet 😅. And I'm also putting a book of short horror stories. It'll be my 2nd collection.
I am trying to finish my first comic script on my phone while I spend my spare time-in-front-of-the-computer writing book 3 in my urban fantasy series. And also write an unrelated short story for the next season of the Lunar Awards. The comic will be Kickstarted and I have been writing about comics weekly on Wednesdays to warm-up my readers, and book 3 chapters are coming out every Friday, along with other weekly musings.
I am wrapping up the first round of edits on my novella... novel that I plan on serializing soon. Like the coming week soon.
Hi Simon, I am working on book two of my series. Book one, Champions of Light, came out June 6th. I've been working on learning the publishing gig and how to keep improving as a writer. Book 2's initial draft will be done in the next week or two. I hope to have it published first quarter of 2024. In the mean time I also am trying to figure out a fiction substack, Tales of Karnum and Beyond, and keeping up with the one under my name I dubbed An Abundant Life. Can't learn without doing. Can't gain feedback without putting the writing out there. I even have what I call my science project on Kindle Vella called Cataclysm like too many other things there unfortunately. If I want to do another serial, I'll probably put it as part of a paid sub on the Tales of Karnum and Beyond Substack rather than Vella.
I've started my horror serial anthology, Marredbury. Prologue/intro story is live now. Episode 1 is launching tomorrow. It's a mix of Fear Street and Silvia Moreno-Garcia
https://open.substack.com/pub/reinacruzwrites/p/marredbury?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=y7t5u
I'm working on my pitch to agents for a speculative/alternate history novel I've been working on for five years. I sent out my first round of pitches a few months back, was surprised to get some usable feedback (though no takers yet) I've just finetuned my pitch and am about to send out to my second batch of agents.
Here on Substack, I'm tracking my real time progress in attempting to get published as a debut novelist, on alternating weeks I post a brand new short story.
I'm attempting serialised fiction "The Donegal Gold" a novel length work for subscribers (with two more titles coming) and running a support group for writers with the other substack.
Thanks Simon. I've got a novel in final edits before release next Spring called Lose Yourself. It's a novel with six separate but interwoven stories told in real time during a baseball game.
Also started reimagining a project about a curmudgeon newspaper columnist who finds redemption by having to write about gratitude. I'm writing this novel as a fictional memoir, which opens up several possibilities for creativity.
Have a great holiday!
Tomorrow is the start of my very first serialized novel! It's a noblebright fantasy story about an immortal who's only one bounty away from a full pardon. Unfortunately for him, the last name is his missing best friend. I'm hoping to release chapters as I'm writing/editing to gather feedback and support while I figure out my self-publishing journey. 😊
It's always fun to see what people are working on.
Currently I'm trying to figure out the ending of a short story I'm currently calling "The Seer", but that has been named and renamed several times. It's an oddly tricky story to write, but I really love it.
I'm also starting the research for a new short story that's set in the Roman Republic.
And of course, there's my Soviet ghost story novel, which I will finish one day.
Just sent off the final master of my boss Rick Ray's newest album (his 37th, since 1999), "The Gremlins Are Listening". They certainly have been; and have dogged our pursuit of this record from beginning to end (a 5-month process). Rick's a psychedelic prog- rock guitar player of the old school; been at it since 1974. Also does his own album artwork, with a pen and infinite patience. This is my 7th year and 4th album working for him (I play bass and sing a few songs now), and can tell you that nothing out there today sounds like the Rick Ray Band.
I am working on a variety of poems, an essay on Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger and his views on the "Divine Project" also known as Creation, and an extended history of my family that covers the 1900s to the present. I remember the Cuban Missile Crisis, anti-war protests, Ronald Reagan and Pope St. John Paul II, various assassinations and wars, feminism, the technological revolution....have a wonderful vacation.
Well, currently I am undergoing prep for a colonoscopy. It isn’t a fun project but so far isn’t as bad as I thought it would be. 😆
But seriously, I am still adding chapters to my digital novel when I have time. https://link.talescreator.com/i8sDiacedAb
I’m thinking about turning a screenplay into a novel and I’m trying to build a team and raise finances for a low budget horror film based on a screenplay that I have written. I will produce and direct. I have a DP, a production manager and two horror celebrities interested in the project.
Asked ‘What is the best opening line of a book you’ve ever read’ on the Books That Made Us Discussion thread this week.
What would your answer be, Simon?
https://open.substack.com/pub/booksthatmadeus/p/which-book-has-the-best-opening-line?r=1nabyn&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
I'm a little past middle-age and am looking at that "coming of age" period in my life because it was a fascinating if tumultuous time in our history and one I believe that may require the contribution of our personal narratives to fully understand, given the growing bias of the media and their agendas. Thanks for your interest!
Putting together my first virtual tour - it's the commercial property in Ballycroy we might be buying and the building plans we have aren't quite accurate. They relate to proposed changes the former owners never made and the place is a bit of a maze. Self-reference, but also education as I've been debating offering virtual tour services if/when I relaunch my photo/video business once we're settled.
As an interesting side note, this particular property required about a hundred images to cover correctly (I did say a maze) - compared to the 24 images the estate agent needed to cover the house we're buying. Now, my regular photo programs aren't quite right for 360° equirectangular images. On1 PhotoRaw can't wrap them, Affinity is about editing single images, Fastone and Ifranview don't wrap them, and the camera's editor is actually quite slow to load them. Other 360° viewing software is all about loading one at a time. What do do when I need to make notes on how to shuffle/rename things, what do delete, what to merge (some images were doubled with me in two locations to mask myself out), and what to color correct? HITFILM! I used On1 to batch rename all my pics, brought the folder into a Hitfilm Comp as an image sequence, slapped the "Environment Map Viewer" (ok, "360° Viewer," now) onto a grade layer and dropped a camera in. Set my ruler to display frames, not time code, used the hokeys to step through the frames, and the Viewer widgets to rotate my view around. Hitfilm's 360° Video Transform tool is also faster than the tool which came with the camera, so it looks like future workflow will be to use the camera's tool to stitch the panos, On1 to batch rename, then loading the image sequence into Hitfilm for sort, color correct and horizon correction, exporting as another image sequence to do the tour assembly. Yup, once again Hitfilm proves itself more useful to a photo project than my actual photo software. Despite its impending demise, it's going to remain one of my "secret weapons" until either a future machine can't run it, or Artlist shuts off the registration servers.
Who did I learn how to use that 360° Viewer function from? Some dude named Simon Jones.
Speaking of plans and education, I'm also trying to decide between FreeCad and LibreCad. I need to learn one of those so I can transfer the existing PDF plans we have to a more editable format to continue our future plans.
Oh, and I took photos at a friend's wedding last month - not as their official photographer, just for fun - but I do need to finish those up. I hadn't checked my camera settings before I'd started shooting and I wasn't optimal for the lighting conditions for the first half of what I shot, so I made my life harder in the edit. I shoot RAW, so it's all repairable. Just more time consuming.
Then I'm still finishing out the replotting of years of Cutlass narratives from three campaigns into a coherent throughline. Lotta figuring out what DOESN'T need to be there while preserving the thematically important stuff.
I just got off a zoom call with Sarah Fay, (@sarahfay @writersatwork) Substack coach extraordinaire. I'm thrilled about the changes I'll be making to my stack. She knows her sh-t. Also, working on my first novel and helping favorite daughter plan her wedding in Tuscany. Busy, happy mama here.
I'm currently doing worldbuilding and plot organizing for two big trilogy projects. One is near-future multiverse western science fiction fantasy, looking at the mind control technology I first talked about in the Martiniere Legacy, only with the same characters in a multiverse setting. It's somewhat of a kitchen sink story with the legend of Melusine of Lusignan, MK-Ultra, corporate soap opera, digital thought clones, family dysfunction, and a closely-held family cult organization all wrapped up together. I decided to just plain go to the wall on this one.
The other is a fantasy trilogy focusing on what happens when the Chosen One ends up in charge of the Empire--and she realizes that not only is the Empire a fetid, corrupt mess but that she doesn't really *want* to rule over the Empire as it stands--and, meanwhile, the entire world, including her homeland, faces the threat from a couple of angry, exiled deities who want to destroy the current pantheon of Seven Crowned Gods.
You know. Just a couple of small projects.