April had many good, even great, things about it. One convention (Minicon) and one book fair (Rewind Bookfair). More progress on all my projects with the suggestion schedule. Drawings and educational videos. Lots of research.

But at the same time, while the suggestion schedule keeps me doing work on projects each day, I feel I need to make an effort to ensure that my major projects get major effort in a day. Every day, I need to spend time on the big projects and get big work done on them, and spend little time on the smaller projects. Especially on the days when I don’t have a lot of time to spare.

Projects

I’m at the point with The Colonel Lieutenant where I need to stop outlining and picking at it and get to writing. I’ve worked out the big and medium details, but I can’t fix the minor stuff until I start writing and the details get brought to the surface. So, I need to just buckle down and write, write, trip, fall over, stand up, and write some more.

The new draft of Orcfyre has a much fresher feel to it. The outline is tighter, and I’ve got some better world building behind it. What I’ve written so far is better focused and feels more like an adventure novel.

My first run at the 1st Minnesota project showed a number of issues I have to deal with. This is a much different monster than anything I’ve ever dealt with before; historical fiction needs so much more research behind it. And trying to get into the first scenes I had so many questions pop up I had to stop to research. So, I’m writing and researching and progressing. That, and I need to work on the character some; his first draft iteration was far too passive.

Other projects are going well; the suggestion schedule has me working on everything at least once a week. This means I’m actually working on each project, which leads to some unexpected progress in both directions. Several projects have raised in my estimation: I’ve worked out world details or plot points that mean I’m more likely to focus on them as viable projects for publication. Others, I’ve come to the conclusion they’re more difficult or less likely to bring out, at least right now, without a significant amount of work.

April Goals

Books

• War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
• Seven Basic Plots (Research)
• Mr. Lincoln’s Army (Non-Fiction)
• The Measure of Magic (Fiction)
• The First Volunteers (Research)
• Second to None (Research)

I did some reading in April, but not enough to finish any of my books. It happens, especially when I’ve got so many research books at one time, and my audiobook is 6.3 million words.

I’ve had some success with reading before turning off my lights to sleep, and with the weather turning warm, I’ll have a chance to read on the deck. And, with some library books and ‘please read this we need to talk about it’, I’m going to have to read more anyway.

April Goals

• Finish one research book
• Finish one non-fiction book
• Finish two fiction books

Movies and Shows

• Stargate SG1 Season 1
• Starfleet Academy Season 1

I didn’t watch a whole lot this month (or at least a whole lot of new stuff). This is frustrating for two reasons. First, (and my common complaint) I have a long list of things to watch, and if I want to knock things off my list, I have to watch stuff. And two, Stargate is my gym show, so the fact I haven’t finished the first season means I haven’t been going to the gym.

April Goals

• Finish three seasons of TV shows
• Watch three movies

Games

• Humankind
• Mechwarrior 5
• Horizon Forbidden West

I tried a few new games this month. One was Humankind, a Civilization-style game that I found very enjoyable. I’m already on my second playthrough, trying a conquest run this time. It has the feel and base rules of a Civ game, adding its own unique twists on how civilizations are chosen and advance, and how cities and territories work. I believe I will enjoy playing this game for a while.

I also started playing Mechwarrior 5, but I haven’t gotten far enough into it to really have a response other than it looks cool so far.

April Goals

• Finish one game

What’s Next

I will be at QuantumCon in May, but I’m not sure in what capacity. I haven’t confirmed if I’ll have a table there, or if I’ll be visiting and enjoying the con as a guest.

September was weird. I did a lot of work, but didn’t get a lot done. I’m not sure how that happened, but after several months of not getting a lot done, I’m pretty frustrated with myself.

So, I’m trying something new for October: I’ve made a schedule. Every day, I’ve laid out five goals: one for my Inktober challenge, one writing goal, one world building goal, one video goal, and one book/blog goal. Maybe I won’t hit every day, but at least I won’t sit down and think ‘what should I work on’. I’ve already done that.

Projects

My work on the Colonel Lieutenant in September was not for nothing. I’ve worked out some spots that were a mess, and I’m developing my plan for the middle and later sections of the book. I’ve got some thoughts about maps and cover art I need to start considering. But I do need to focus more on writing chapters. Even if they’re not perfect, I need to write.

Same with other projects. I did some good world building for several projects, but there’s something about getting words down that I do miss. If I manage to keep to my schedule for October and get two blog posts, the second one will be about the importance of writing while building the story.

October Goals

• Complete Inktober Challenge
• Advance the Colonel Lieutenant to Chapter 20
• Write one Chapter in Each Project
• Outline for Each Project
• One World Building Item Complete for Each Project
• Two Blog Posts

Books

• Seven Basic Plots (Research)
• The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
• Bearers of the Black Staff (Fiction)
• The Hunt for Red October (Fiction; Re-read)
• The Cardinal of the Kremlin (Fiction; Re-read)
• War and Peace (Audiobook)

I focused on finishing two books and moving onto the next ones in their series. Red October finished about as I remembered. The Gypsy Morph was an odd book. It went through periods of being really exciting and then periods of being really dull. I mean, real highs and real lows. But I’m done, and onto book 7 of the Shanarra series. I think there are three more until I get to one I’ve read before.

October Goals

• Finish One Fiction Book
• Finish One Non-Fiction Book
• Finish On Research Book

Movies / Shows

• Alien Earth (Season 1)
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 3)
• Alien: Romulus

Alien: Earth was a fun show, one that added greatly to the universe of the Alien franchise without changing the xenomorph (which is nigh-on perfect). Overall I liked it, and it surprised me with where it went on a number of levels. There were a few things I’m a bit undecided on, but I’d recommend the show.

I’d rate it a few steps higher than Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3. Now, I didn’t hate SNW; the lowest I’d rate any episode is a mid to low C. But so many episodes could have been better, except they were hampered by some stupid story-telling decision. And they were all so stupid I just couldn’t understand how it made it past editing. So frustrating. I liked the season, but it seemed like it chose not to be great.

And in the theme of Alien, I watched Alien: Romulus, which I had heard not great things about. I would say: it’s a movie. I didn’t think it was as bad as I’d heard, but it wasn’t great. I’d watch it again, but I’m not in a hurry to.

October Goals

• Finish ‘The Bad Batch’ Season 1
• Finish ‘Foundation’ Season 1
• Watch Two Movies

Games

• Anno 1800
• World of Warships
• This War of Mine
• Last of Us 2 (Replay)
• Madden 26

I continued to play through Last of Us 2 and Madden 26. Didn’t spend too much time playing either, but Madden’s superstar mode allows me to play quickly. And I’m still having fun with both. I didn’t add anything to Forbidden West this month, but that happens.

I decided to step back from Anno 1800; I was getting too focused, and it was not so much about having fun anymore. I’ll come back to it sometime, maybe after my new computer comes in and I can play at a higher capacity. In the meantime, I’ll figure out what I’m doing wrong.

I did start a new PC story game: This War of Mine, which is a simple game with several campaigns I could play through. It’s an intense game about surviving in a war-torn city, and if I only play it for a little bit, it’s because the setting and story might get too much.

What’s Next

I’m on the waitlist for several events this year, and I’m signing up for events next year. When I get confirmations and dates, I’ll start posting them.

Work took up a huge chunk of my energy in August; my company changed ownership, and that required me to spend a lot of extra time each week getting caught up and processing my switch from one company to another. I was, simply put, exhausted for much of the month, without the energy to work on projects. I spent most of my time recovering or relaxing.

Projects

When I got to work on my projects, I got stuff done. I worked out some stellar cartography for one project, and continued to refine the outlines for several others. I processed some chapters for The Colonel Lieutenant, wrote out character backgrounds, and organized a number of institutions. It wasn’t the list I hoped to get done, but it was work.

I’m hoping, now that the sale is done and my job has returned to a normal routine, that I can refocus my creative efforts. I still have almost a hundred ISBNs, which means I can publish dozens of more titles. But I cannot keep allowing myself to have lulls like I’ve suffered twice this summer. If I want to publish more, I need to write more consistently.

September Goals

• Get The Colonel Lieutenant completed up to the big campaign
• Finish Re-Writing Orcfyre Act 1
• Publish two blog posts
• Complete 10 other Project Items

Books

• Red Rabbit (Fiction, Re-Read)
• Hunt for Red October (Fiction, Re-Read)
• The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
• The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
• War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)

I finished Red Rabbit and moved into Hunt for Red October. I’m making good progress through it, and I’m having the same, improved enjoyment of the story that I had with the previous novels. But what I hadn’t realized from my previous readings was how little of the middle book takes place on the submarine or with Jack Ryan. Probably influenced by my memories of the movie, I had forgotten how many scenes revolve around naval, aviation or political action in support of the story.

I’ve continued through the other books, slowly chipping away at them chapter by chapter. It doesn’t help that I don’t have a good reading chair in my basement; I think I want to do something about that.

September Goals

• Finish Red October
• Get past Chapter 20 in Seven Basic Plots
• Finish Gypsy Morph
• Finish One other Book

Movies and Shows

• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Season 3)
• Foundation (Season 1)
• Alien: Earth (Season 1)

My roommate and I started watching Alien: Earth this month. This show is fantastic. The characters are enjoyable (even the ones I don’t like). The action is limited, but when it happens it matters. The world we see makes sense and has rules it follows. We’re four episodes in, and I’m very excited to see what else we’ve got coming before the end of the series.

Star Trek Strange New Worlds Season 3 is a mixed bag. On the one hand, I haven’t hated any of the episodes, and they’ve all had at least a basic story that I could get behind. But most of them don’t reach the A-level I’ve been hoping for. There’s either some misstep in the pacing, or some payoff that wasn’t built up properly, or just something that made the whole story stall out. I still have a few episodes to watch before I can give a rating to the whole season.

September Goals

• Finish Three Seasons of TV (Any Kind)
• Watch Three Movies (Any Kind)

Games

• Madden 26
• Horizon Forbidden West
• Anno 1800
• World of Warships
• Last of Us (Replay)
• Last of Us Part 2 (Replay)

Since August was a big stress month, I found myself destressing with a lot of video games.

I finished my replay of Last of Us at a higher difficulty, only to discover there wasn’t any achievement for doing so. Alas. At least now I can go back and play pick up what I missed in easier modes, and play around with some of the options the game offers.

With that, I moved on to Last of Us Part 2. This replay is different because I’m playing in an entirely different structure. If you weren’t aware, Last of Us Part 2 is a non-linear story. You play as one character for three days, then another for three days, and each experiences flashbacks going back years. This game has the option to play in chronological mode, where you play all those events in sequence. It’s a lot of fun. I’m experiencing the game in a new way. It’s the same story, but much more direct.

I’ve been playing a lot of World of Warships, an online game where you play early 20^th century warships against each other. I’ve been having fun, trying to play daily and monthly challenges within the game to advance for certain rewards. It’s a nice way to burn off some steam and let my inner historian out.

I’m still playing through the sandbox of Anno 1800, the city-building and resource management game. I’m enjoying the challenges, but this game does strain my computer’s system. It takes almost fifteen minutes to load, and it slows down sometimes as it tries to process. I’m not sure my computer can handle it; I’m looking into building/buying a new computer, and this is one of the games I want to experience on the newer machine.

And finally, Madden 26. My roommate and I are playing each other, which is fun, but I’m also playing the Superstar mode. In this mode, I play a single player, and I play only when that player is on the field. It’s a good way to play a story game within Madden without needing a ridiculous amount of time and effort.

September Goals

• Finish Anno game
• Finish Last of Us Part 2
• Advance Horizon Forbidden West Storyline
• Start PC Storyline Game

What’s Next

I don’t have anything planned at the moment, but I have my eyes on a few things. I very much want to get another event on the books for the autumn or winter. If and when that happens, I will post about it.

July was very productive…but unfocused. Most of what I accomplished was on my tertiary and quaternary projects: world building or writing test scenes. It felt good to stretch my mind and get words on the page, but I didn’t get a lot of things off my primary or secondary projects done, or my blog posts. So overall, I’m kind of disappointed with myself.  Not in a ‘beat myself up’ about it way, more of a ‘if you want to be serious about this, do better’ sort of way.

Projects

The good news about Book 3 is that the printed copy works wonders for revising and development. It’s great to have that copy available, and to have the space to spread out pages of tracking notes, character bios, and whatnot. The first half-dozen chapters are well streamlined, and I’ve got a good view on several fixes for future errors and plot points. Now to sit down an do it.

As for all those other projects, I’m not kidding when I said I got a lot of work done. I puzzled out the pantheon for the human cultures of Orcfyre and the geography and politics of Genevieve’s spin-off from Champion Bold. I started structuring another Light Star novel and I’m ready to start putting words on the page for a historical fiction story. All good work. Just…not my primary goals.

August Goals

• Advance The Colonel Lieutenant
• Figure out The Colonel Lieutenant maps
• Complete Orcfyre Act 1
• Finish ten items off to-do list
• Finish Last of Us Pt2 and Writing Process 8 Blog Posts
• Come up with a better ‘Weekly Work’ process

Books

• War and Peace (Fiction, Audiobook)
• Patriot Games (Fiction, Re-Read)
• Red Rabbit (Fiction, Re-Read)
• The Seven Basic Plots (Research)
• The Elves of Cintra (Fiction)
• The Gypsy Morph (Fiction)
• Ashen Light (Fiction)

Continuing through the books. War and Peace is a glorious monstrosity of a piece. The audio book file is a public domain free project which clocks in at 365 files; I expect it’ll take well into 2026 before I’m done with it, but who knows. Maybe I’ll make finishing it by new year’s a goal.

In my Tom Clancy re-read, I finished Patriot Games and moved onto Red Rabbit. If you don’t know, Red Rabbit is a book Tom Clancy wrote well into his series, but set back earlier in the narrative. I read it once in college, and I remember not being too impressed. This time around, though, I’m enjoying it a lot more. Not sure why yet; I’ll have to reflect.

I also moved from Elves of Cintra onto Gypsy Morph, and I’m not really enjoying the story. I’m hoping it picks up soon. Once I’m done, I’ve got two more books before I hit the series I first read in Middle School. So…slog on. Not what you necessarily want to hear from a book series, but here we are.

August Goals

• Finish Gypsy Morph
• Finish One Research Book
• Finish One Other Fiction Book

Movies and Shows

• Bad Batch
• Foundation
• Thunderbolts
• Fantastic Four
• Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3

Got to see two moves last month, including my first movie theater outing in a good amount of time.

First, Thunderbolts*. This is an ensemble MCU movie that I wasn’t too excited for, as it’s cast is a bunch of secondary characters from other movies that are assembled for whatever reason (probably covert or illicit). Which was right. But the movie turned out to be a lot more exciting and enjoyable than I expected. I really liked it.

Then, Fantastic Four. I made a point to go see this in the theater, and man it was worth it. It avoided the problems of the other two Fantastic Four attempts. And it told a great story. I’m excited to see where these characters go, and after two successful MCU movies in a row, I’m kind of excited for the MCU again.

And finally I started Foundation, a TV series based off the Isaac Asimov book series. Now this isn’t a direct translation from page to screen; it’s adding a lot of characters and storylines that don’t exist in the book. I’m not far enough along to know if its better or worse, yet. It is a beautiful series, though.

August Goals

• Finish One TV Show
• Finish One Started TV Show
• Watch One Best Picture Winner
• Watch One Other Movie
• Start One Longer TV Show

Games

• Horizon Forbidden West
• Last of Us (Replay)
• Anno 1800

Continuing through Forbidden West and Last of Us Replay. I don’t really sit down to just play for hours on end. With Forbidden West I try to finish one or two quests; with Last of Us I set myself a narrative point and play until I get there. It keeps me from spending too much time as a couch potato.

Anno 1800 has made a reappearance; a RTS resource game. I beat the campaign some time ago, but now I want to try to build to the end of the tech tree and see if I can really get the city going.

On a similar note, a friend and I wrapped up a game of War in the Pacific: Admiral’s Edition that we started in 2019. This iteration of the Pacific War of World War 2 ended in May of 1946 with a draw. Alas, what a fun game. We’re already looking for our next one.

August Goals

• Finish Anno 1800
• Start new narrative PC Game

What’s Next

Nothing right now. I’m looking for some fall and winter events to partake in. Some things on my radar, but nothing on the books.