Hello fiends
I hope this finds you well. Or at least surviving. It’s a wild time out there, and most of us are just swimming along, trying to keep our heads above water. Every day is a new shitshow in the news, it seems, and here in Australia we’re heading into a general election, so it’s not going to get any better any time soon.
And honestly, things are not much different on the writing front just now. There’s a certain inertia that kicks in when nothing seems to be gaining traction. It makes the motivation to keep going hard to maintain. We’re in the middle of school holidays, so that certainly makes things tricky. I’m a creature of routine and I value time alone, both things that get blown out of the water during holidays. Of course, I make the most of that disruption and enjoy it for what it is, but it’s hell on the writing life.
I’ve also had a couple of projects collapse out from underneath me recently, which is always galling. It’s par for the course with his gig, but it still sucks when it happens. And other things that are out there are just… out there. Nothing happening right now. The waiting is the hardest part of a writer’s life, I think.
But, we persevere. Because that’s the job. There’s no point in expecting anything to come to you, no one owes you anything, you have to go out and get it. Sitting there waiting and not doing more work will just result in waiting forever, in my experience.
The above is not how to make things happen. Arse in chair, fingers on keyboard, do the fucking work. That’s how you get ahead. Despite times like this when it feels like there’s no more ahead to get, or that a peak has been reached and now it’s all diminishing returns. It’s important to acknowledge those feelings, which is why I’m writing about them now, but it’s more important to not give in to those feelings. Fuck that kind of evil brain worm. I’ve always said that if I fail at this gig it won’t ever be because I didn’t work hard enough. And the work is the literal only thing we control. Everything else is in the laps of the gods and those fuckers are capricious and mischievous.
But there is stuff happening. RECALL is out in the world now, so please do help me spread the word about that and grab your copy if you haven’t already. Signed copies available through my website now too.
There are still a few things out there on submission that I will hopefully hear about before too long, and with any luck the things I hear will be positive. In the meantime, I’m working on a new project. It wasn’t what I thought I’d be working on next, but it would appear its time has come. Watch this space for more news (or join my Patreon, where people always get advance notice of stuff like this, plus exclusive fiction and other stuff.)
Otherwise, this newsletter is simply to let you know I’m still beavering away in the word mines, as it’s been a while since my last missive.
What I’ve Been Enjoying
In terms of TV and movies, I got a boxed set Blu-Ray of all 5 seasons of Babylon 5 for Xmas. I watched the first season and a half when it aired in the mid-90s, then I went travelling around the world for two years, and subsequently moved to Australia. So I never got around to seeing the rest. I recently started watching those Blu-Rays from the beginning and now I’m into season 4 and really enjoying it. It’s great to finally catch up with it after all these decades. Although, it’s also a bit depressing how fucking relevant it is to the political climate today. Written off the back of Reagan, Thatcher and so on, here we are again.
My kid and I went to the the Minecraft movie and I enjoyed it a lot. So much fan service, so you’ll get a lot more if you know the game. And the hectic nature of the audience was something to behold. Like a modern Rocky Horror Picture Show only more teenage aggression. Very weird!
With reading, I’ve finally caught up on all the Charlie Parker thrillers by John Connolly. There’s 21 of them now and I finished the 21st last week. It’s a great series of books, but I hope he wraps it up soon, as there’s starting to be less payoff and the big arc he’s been hinting at all along is getting a little stale. A huge finale would be awesome sometime soon.
I also read and enjoyed recently Kosa by John Durgin and On A Clear Day You Can See Block Island by Gage Greenwood.
Okay, that’s all from me for now. Stay well, fiends, look after yourself and each other. Always happy to hear from folks, you know where to find me.
Al