Fall is officially here. I woke up this morning to find a chill in the air and the windows with the start of condensation that wasn't quite frost. I'm really looking forward to the change in season this year, despite how the shortening days tends to also bring on the seasonal depression.
Today was also the day I wrapped up Kickstarter campaign fulfillment for Devouring Fortune. Yesterday, I received the last of my books from the printer and today I sent those off, before sending out an update and changing the campaign status update to all rewards made.
I started planning this Kickstarter in December 2025, and now it's done. I am somewhat relieved, since the energy involved was enormous, but also I had such a great time. I've already decided that I'm going to do another, and am in the middle of planning what this will look like.
FOCUS: I'm continuing to work on Mageruins Chapters 1 (tentatively continuing with this name, unless I find something better, at which point I shall promptly vacate Mageruins for a newer better home like a hermit crab). At any rate, I was somewhat disrupted by the fact that I had physical therapy early this morning at 7:30am, and then I wanted to make sure I got the shipping and Kickstarter campaign stuff squared away, so I only got one sprint in this morning for my focus went out the window.
But Chapter 1 is coming along! The second scene is almost done. I wrote 588 words today and the chapter is about 2200 words long at this point. I'm hoping I'll have it fully wrapped up by tomorrow.
PROCESS & SUCH: Sprinto sprints and Scrivener, my two trusty tools of the writing trade. I schedule sprints in 30 minute chunks, with a varying amount of time between. I only wrote for about 2 hours today and then tapped out, but that's okay. I wanted more time to read today, anyway.
WATCHING: Watched the latest episode of Game Changer last night on Dropout TV. Realized this was the season finale. Very good, died at the improv song near the end set to the Little Mermaid.
LISTENING: Take Control by the Old Gods of Asgard. In celebration of Control 2 coming out this week (!!) I've been listening to songs by Poets of the Fall, the band behind the in-game band Old Gods of Asgard.
READING: I am continuing to read more of Night's Master, by Tanith Lee (Bookshop, Kobo, Amazon). Still loving how the short stories are interconnected, and frankly find it so fascinating. I was also reflecting to a friend about this book that it would be challenging to get it published in today's publishing climate. The content warnings would get some outraged.
But this just tells me I need to keep speaking up for weird, challenging books.
LINK: I subscribe to The Flytrap, a worker-owned, intersectional feminist media group. s.e. smith recently wrote an article 'Striking Out the Stigma of Self-Publishing' that I really enjoyed reading, about how self-publishing is becoming more accepted in publishing, and more people are turning to this method as it becomes easier to do so with the rise of print on demand services.
UP NEXT: Finishing this chapter!! Tomorrow! For REAL this time. And the way I know I will, is because Control 2 comes out tomorrow and I've already told myself I can't buy or play it until these two chapters are finished and a synopsis is off to my agent. I really want to get this done before the end of September and if I start playing Control 2, I will...absolutely not get anything done for quite some time.