Author: foozzzball

No news. Still getting my shit together. Still having revelations that will result in better books – including discovering a resource tracking organized crime with a ton of interesting reports on the subject. ( I started here: https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/russia-drug-trade-organized-crime/ )I am more convinced that I am suffering from, and recovering from Burnout, and am working my way… Continue reading November Nibbles

Lanterns are both a light at the end of the tunnel, and, y’know. A thing that burns.And I think I’ve pushed myself into burnout, albeit, not quite so severely as I might have if I wasn’t paying attention to myself.I think I’ve caught it early, and I already show signs of recovery – lots of… Continue reading October Lanterns

As my quirky three-seasons-a-year writing season kicks off, Quicker than Blood is back in motion.I am managing to stick to drafting more days than not, though it is an uphill struggle at the moment. I will admit, though, it looks like I’m doing great if we count the material I’m recycling back in from previous… Continue reading Driving in September

So this is going to be a relatively short Patreon update.Last month, to continue last month’s metaphor about ‘driving the car’ being like writing, and ‘wrenching under the hood’ being getting things ready for writing, was all wrenches, no drive.But that does mean this month could, should, might, be driving again after a very long… Continue reading An August Vehicle (Maybe)

I would like to quote, in full, a message left by the musician and artist T-Pain in response to a query on reddit, linked to here, https://www.reddit.com/r/musicians/comments/1dcvyu4/comment/l86v3xd/ ‘I’ve seen multiple people mention the life as an artist as miserable/draining, whereas it is the dream for many people. What is it really like?’ T-Pain responds: ‘It’s like getting your… Continue reading Juliability and writing Euphoria.

So, my pre-writing process looks roughly like the following.Step 1: I gather up a bunch of loose notes about small stuff – ‘Character falls alseep on a bus’, say.Step 2: I turn those loose gathered notes into a rough outline, which will generally have a ton of notes attached, formatted as if I was trying… Continue reading June so Jejune

I have needed to spend a ridiculous amount of time on mental health stuff this past month, although – let me make this clear – not in a, like... bad, I am suffering, sort of way.Circumstances have meant I’ve needed to dig into some personally tricky stuff, but as I disassemble the puzzle pieces of… Continue reading It May be time to slow down.

As mentioned last month, I’ve been looking into ways of re-organizing the novel in progress, Quicker than Blood. That has borne some frit, but I am still noodling around with it in the midst of a mix of occasional setbacks and successes.Right now, the most successful looking version of what I want to do involves… Continue reading Reengineering April

Yes, yes, I know, to clear up the confusion caused by jests and japes, March came to its conclusion over the weekend, April is now in session.So, last month I mentioned mental conditioning and pacing yourself for big creative tasks.Right now I’m implementing those thoughts, somewhat successfully, by reminding myself that focus is a little… Continue reading It’s actually March. (April Fool’s!)

Hmm. That February we just got past felt fractionally longer than most Februaries. How mysterious.Japes aside, this past month I’ve definitely been running into a few tricky little things around keeping myself working at a reasonable pace.See, in my head, I think I can crank out 3000 words or so a day – this is… Continue reading February of Focus

No actual jetlag, but my January has certainly felt jetlagged – like my year only actually got started last week, or something. But it has, indeed, gotten started.Quicker than Blood’s momentum has slowed down, but is still in motion – we are now looking like it’ll be completed between April and May, and wordcount should… Continue reading January Jetlag

There is just a thing around me and coughs. I managed to develop one just after getting back home after family holiday gatherings. I’m keeping an eye on it and will seek out extra medical assistance if it continues to be tricky, but I think I’m on the mend – even if I’ve been flat… Continue reading Delayed December

Hello, and welcome to that time of the year when weather patterns (in the northern hemisphere) turn colder, society (more or less everywhere) becomes holiday focussed, and I get very tempted to go to places with an actual fire in the vicinity.On a personal level, I am thankfully a little less disrupted than I’ve been,… Continue reading November Natterings