Weekly Update - 11/22/23 (Patreon)

So it's Thanksgiving tomorrow, which means things are getting a little crazy around here. I'm not officially going to have a post on Friday, but I might have some anyway. I'm going to using the holiday to get caught up on commissioned work, which is why new chapters of A Pack of His Own, The Devil's Details and The Fertile Grove got new chapters posted, as I've either sent or am soon sending new chapters of those works to their commissioners. After that, I'll roll into working on this month's chapters of Brewster's Brood and Breakpoint. I'm also tossing up a poll that you have until Sunday to vote on for what I'm writing for Tuesday. I'm doing everything I can to get caught up from my cold that truly knocked me on my ass, and we're getting closer to that. But, of course, I also still have some DayJob stuff that needs to get done sooner rather than later as well, so I'll push on and try and make as much headway as I can before December. I do need to get two things done before the end of the month, so if it comes to it, I'm going to have to put those ahead of everything else. Sorry about that, but the amount of money that comes from those is orders of magnitude higher and allows me to keep doing this.

I also lost a good portion of the day today at the DMV, which is still generally as annoying as ever if you don't have an appointment, which I normally would've, but I've been trying to get signed up for the stupid Real ID thing, and some of the rules about what does and doesn't qualify as paperwork is a little silly. But it's done now, and I don't ever have to worry about it again.  ... Up until I need to go and apply for the TSA PreScreen stuff in the next week or two. 

I'm also going to be making an effort to get in an hour long walk a day five days a week moving forward, since a handful of my friends all think I've been spending too much time in the writing chair and not enough time moving. They're probably right - there's been a lot of time spent in the writing chair over the last year, and not enough time moving. We'll see if that breaks a couple of the weird blocks in a few other ways.

In terms of recommendations, if you're a fan of Scott Pilgrim (either the original comics or the movie), you should definitely watch all of Scott Pilgrim Takes Off on Netflix. It's... quite the departure from the original, yet in a way I had to absolutely admire. It sort of reminds me of the semi-self-reinvention that Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy goes through on the regular. It doesn't hurt that they got all of the actors from the movie to come back and voice their characters again (and let me tell you, I could watch Chris Evans' Lucas Lee all day long. Or Kieran Culkin's Wallace Wells) but some people who didn't get that much to do (including Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona Flowers) have a lot more to do in the new one. It's only 8 episodes long, and none of the episodes runs over 30 minutes, so you'll be through it quick and wishing there was more. At some point over the weekend, I intend to get into the new David Fincher movie, despite the fact that the soundtrack is full of the band I literally hate the most in this world (The Smiths). Don't come at me if you're a Smiths fan - you're entitled to like what you like, but Morrissey could fall off the planet and the only thing we'd have lost is a 250 lb. right-wing dirtbag.

I'll tell you what I am looking forward to in a week and change, though... John Woo's Silent Night. That's right, the Hong Kong master of action cinema is back making a US film for the first time in 20 years - since 2003's Paycheck, which is better than you remember it being. It's a Christmas action shoot-'em-up film with zero dialogue between characters. The screenwriter in me is fascinated to see someone tackle the filmic challenge of just not using dialogue. Plus, John Woo makes a hell of a great movie. If you've never seen it, track down the international version of Red Cliff (the US version runs 2h20m, the international version runs close to 5h) and be prepared to be amazed at just how good he can get without studio interference. 

Things will get a little wonky next month, what with Christmas/New Years' but we'll see what we can do about keeping as much writing going as I can.

Public release schedules are as follows: 11/25 - Morgana's Gift 6; 12/2 - The Fertile Grove 1; 12/9 - Quaranteam: Aisling's Antics 1; 12/16 - QT2:8, Devil's Details 8; 12/23 - BTS 7; 12/30 - Amor Ex Machina 1, QTAA 2.

I know the holiday seasons can be rough on some people, and I get that, but just hold fast, stay strong and we'll make it through together.