Sunday Circle

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

What am I working on this week?

This week I’m revising the first 5,000 words of my thesis novella, do the paperwork for the American tax system that will allow me to get Brain Jar’s books into a bunch of the sales systems, setting up the options that will allow me to sell books here on the site, and putting together a plan for the first chapter of the theory side of my thesis.

What’s inspiring me this week?

I’m doing a lot of novella reading at the moment, nailing down the structure now that my brain seems to default to a 50,000 words narrative instead of 25,000. This week’s was Cassandra Khaw’s Hammers On Bone, which is a really nice blend of hardboiled detective tropes and the weirder end of Lovecraft’s cannon. The voice and the metaphors in this one are great, and I can see why a bunch of friends rave about Khaw’s work.

Incidentally, it’s currently available as part of an ebook four-pack with three over Lovecraftian themed novellas from Tor.com. I’ve read Agents of Dreamland already, ’cause Kiernan is one of my must-buy authors and the book is outstanding, and I’m halfway through The Ballad of Black Tom and enjoying it immensely.

What action do I need to take?

Man, so many things. I sat down yesterday morning and put together a list of 34 things that need to be done before the end of October just so I don’t miss something. The biggest task is going through all my bookshelves and sorting out books that can go into storage, books that are going into storage as “unread,” and books that are definitely staying in the apartment as I start making room for my significant other to move in. A lot of the choices are about figuring out what research/reference books I’ll need when, based on the projects planned over the next year or two.

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

What am I working on this week?

The final phase of Project Countdown hits its end this week, as I finally get Brain Jar Press officially started and prepare The Birdcage Heart and Other Strange Tales so I can open it up to pre-orders on November 1 and delivery by November 30. This means finalising the copy, setting up the files for the print edition, and running through a pre-launch checklist to make sure I’ve got everything ready to go. It’s a bit of a soft launch, as I’ll be working on the press in earnest in 2018, but I wanted to get all the publication processes down before I moved on to adding new work to the mix.

What’s inspiring me this week?

I’ve been reading volume one of the Shadow Unit project, which is a bunch of professional writers getting together to create fanfic for the best TV show that doesn’t actually exist. It’s one of those interesting not-quite-crowd-funded projects that would have made a lot more sense a decade later, with the existence of Patreon, and it’s interesting to look at how they’ve implemented the concept in light of my PhD project. 

The whole series has been online for a while, but I’ve been collecting them in ebook and reading everything that way.

What action do I need to take?

I’m due to show my supervisor progress on the thesis novella this Friday, and I’ve been distracted enough that I still need to do some final drafting and rewriting before it’s in a state where I can do that. I keep putting it off because I’ll also need to cut about six to eight thousand words out of the final draft, based on the wordcounts I’m meant to be hitting, and it’s frustrating to know that before the project is done.

The Sunday Circle is the weekly check-in where I ask the creative-types who follow this blog to weigh in about their goals, inspirations, and challenges for the coming week. The logic behind it can be found here. Want to be involved? It’s easy – just answer three questions in the comments or on your own blog (with a link in the comments here, so that everyone can find them).

After that, throw some thoughts around about other people’s projects, ask questions if you’re so inclined. Be supportive above all.

Then show up again next Sunday when the circle updates next, letting us know how you did on your weekly project and what you’ve got coming down the pipe in the coming week (if you’d like to part of the circle, without subscribing to the rest of the blog, you can sign-up for reminders via email here).

MY CHECK-IN

What am I working on this week?

With five weeks to go, my brain is largely focused on GenreCon logistics and planning out work for the post-GenreCon writing period so I can bounce back fast and get to work. My only writing focus this week is doing some rewrites on Project: Red ahead of meeting my supervisor.

What’s inspiring me this week?

Rewatching Game of Thrones with my partner, and I’m becoming increasingly appreciative of the way the series frames its conflicts. There is almost always a series of scenes early in the season that will be mirrored in the later parts, either playing out exactly the way someone predicted or serving as an inversion of the earlier situation. The set-up and reward is incredibly tight, and something I’m interested in stealing for my own work.

What action do I need to take?

I meant to do an October checkpoint earlier in the week, but time got away from me. I really need to sit down and map out all the important deadlines and commitments in the next month, then figure out what can be done around that. It’s particularly important now, because I get a little fuzzy-headed and distracted in the lead-up to the con and I’ve already jumped on the wrong train at least once and ended up an hour out of my way.