Fri. Jan. 12, 2024: Weighing Options to Make Decisions
image courtesy of Arek Socha via pixabay.comFriday, January 12, 2024
Waxing Moon
Uranus Retrograde
Partly sunny, partly cloudy, chilly
The sun actually peeked out for a few hours yesterday. Imagine that. Gave a little boost to the storm prep for the upcoming weekend.
Today’s serial episode is from ANGEL HUNT:
Episode 102: Gaston’s Apology
Gaston apologizes, and strategizes with Lianna the next steps for demon removal.
Tomorrow’s serial episode is from DEADLY DRAMATICS:
Episode 52: Fired
Jules Carstairs believes Nina is a fulcrum for chaos, and fires her.
I started the big nonfiction project yesterday, as planned. I’m only letting myself write a little bit on it each day, savoring it as I go.
After that, I drafted two episodes of LIGHTHOUSE LADY. I was interrupted between episodes because I had to sort something out with PayPal. I also completed an order for a fun thing that Spill The Tea Sis Apothecary over in Northampton is doing. I look forward to visiting them in person when the weather improves, and I hike out that way for the Shakespeare exhibit, a Trader Joe’s run, and all the rest. It’ll be an all-day event out in that direction.
Revised, polished, uploaded, and scheduled two Legerdemain episodes, getting me into the start of February. I’m not quite as far behind as I thought I was. But still not where I want to be. Did all the paperwork around the episodes and the loglines.
Once that was done, I did the final proof of “Severance” and had to manually take out all the Track Changes, because they kept showing up in the digital version of the book. But I finally got it formatted. This is a re-release of a science fiction/horror/western type novelette, just under 15K. It will re-release on January 23 for 99 cents. I put the blurb and new cover up on the Delectable Digital Delights Page (it’s the last one on the page, you have to scroll down), I’ll add buy links as I get them. I put a content warning on it, because some of it is disturbing (I mean, it is in the horror genre).
Then, it was over to some script coverage. I have to finish one of the medium-sized ones today, because I wanted to do some research before I gave some of the notes. I read the second book for review. I will write up both reviews this morning, send them off, and invoice. Spent some time looking at corner cabinets – there are three corners I want to put cabinets into, one in the living room, two in my office, with shelves on top and shelves with closing doors at the bottom.
Platformer finally decided to leave Substack and move to Ghost. There was a very long post about it (on Substack), detailing the meetings and this and that. It basically sounded wishy-washy, and I still stand by my original instinct that the “meeting” was theatre to see if both could get away with it. Platformer got enough blowback that they realized it was a poor business decision to stay on Substack. They didn’t need focus groups and “discussions with readers.” They needed to show leadership. Instead, they waffled until their bottom line was threatened, which says a lot about them. And now they’ve got their publicity machine going, because they want praise. They would have earned praise by moving the day (or at least the week) that the original coddling statement came out on December 21. Hidden in all the wishy-washy plethora of words was the fact that they were one of the organizations paid BY SUBSTACK and supported by Substack, so it’s understandable they might feel some loyalty. Substack did help them grow the platform, in a mutually beneficial way. One of the red flags (for me) about Substack, however, was their reluctance to be open about which writers/organizations were on their payroll. When I joined, I didn’t know ANY of the writers were being subsidized; when I found out, a few months ago, I found it disturbing (especially since I suspected the person who suggested I create for the platform was one of those subsidized and neglected to mention that. I also suspect this individual has been receiving ambassador/referral fees without letting the people they brought in know). And yes, that would have factored in to whether or not I joined the platform. Along with the other red flags that kept coming up over the months.
Am I glad Platformer is in the process of leaving? Yes, although I won’t fully believe it until the migration is complete. Am I putting my money toward any of their work? No, because while I believe “better late than never” I still don’t trust them.
Got things sorted out with the Mastodon instance. The moderator doesn’t feel it’s an issue, and there haven’t been any other complaints. However, it means that a fellow writer on the instance (probably a film bro or a gamer bro) complained. Wandering.shop, another instance, posted yesterday that they do not consider authors promoting their own work in their own posts spam and are not going to penalize authors and artists for DOING THEIR JOB in marketing. Since it’s mostly writers there, I’m considering jumping instances anyway. But it’s a lot of work, and even the thought of it makes me tired. Might be worth it, though. I will weigh the pros and cons over the weekend.
Slept decently, although I did not want to get up this morning, because I was comfortable.
But, up I am. Tessa smelled the coffee and wanted her breakfast. Did the journal prompt (“beginner’s mind”), did the grocery list. On today’s agenda: the two reviews and invoice; working on the non-fiction book; drafting two episodes of LIGHTHOUSE LADY, finish the script coverages, grocery store, library, next week’s serial episode videos, storm prep. I might work on some contest entries. I also have to put in my research requests to the Clark Library for next Wednesday. It’s supposed to be nasty tomorrow, with high winds and lots of rain.
I forgot to mention that I got a lovely email from a local theatre I’d contacted about the possibility of working together, and we will have a meeting in the coming months.
Over the weekend, I hope to putter around the house and get some things rearranged. Work on the nonfiction book. Draft 4 episodes of Legerdemain. I’ve carved out a chunk of hours on Sunday to just work on poetry. I might even get some crocheting done.
Some of this will be dependent on whether or not the power holds. I rolled my eyes when a few people whined they “wanted” to write, but “couldn’t” because the power was out. Got paper? A pen? Get the damn words down.
Onward. Have a great weekend, and I’ll catch you on the other side.
