Perfect Timing

I swear I didn’t plan it this way.

I wouldn’t have if I could have; I’m put now in a somewhat difficult position of wrapping up both The Poems of Madam Albithurst and The Watch in the Sand in one post. I’d rather do it over two, but time and tide wait for no one; So…

The Poems of Madam Albithurst

Did my experiment work? It’s obviously not my place to say. There is a delight I’ve found in the bizarre and otherworldly tone of the Myriad Worlds, where the people and customs are as clear and distinct as our own, if decidedly unfamiliar. I am currently working on a guidebook to the entire Velvet, and that might not have happened without this experimental work.

At the same time, I think it’s safe to say there isn’t really a plot, at least, not in the traditional sense. This is part of the reason I call it a poem. My goal wasn’t to tell the story of how Madam Albithurst cleared her name and saved the Myriad Worlds like a thousand-times-told hero’s tale; I wanted to explore the Velvet like she had done.

I think I can confidently say that whether the story worked for readers or not, it certainly was fun to write.

The Watch in the Sand

I’m not embarrassed by this story, but as I’ve said, I’m very aware how dated it is.

If I was writing the story today, I would definitely focus more on the idea of AI and predictive analysis, to say nothing of the techno-fetishism that leads people to assuming a future built with technological complexity is more desirable than one that focuses on people.

At the same time, it really is a time-capsule, isn’t it? Worries about social media and becoming “too online” are quite passe, and while the idea of medical nano-tech is still quite a ways out, it’s hardly comprable to the modern fears of facism, evironmental collapse, and any number of social ills that could have been touched on.

But, as I also said before, this was the first story that I had written in decades. It got me writing again. It turned me into a writer.¹

I’ll always have a soft-spot in my heart for that.

What’s Next?

I’ve been updating this blog regularly since February of 2023. That’s over a year now, and I still have quite a few things to upload.

But, a lot of what’s coming is hardly “finished.” Beyond even the un-revised state of Madam Albithurst and the Raiselig Dossier, quite a few books and stories are coming that languish in a half-composed state. Add into this a series of life-events, my mental health issues, and my neglect at setting up the next things to be uploaded…

I am going to take a short hiatus.

At the moment, I am planning on only taking a month off of posting. I already have several projects planned for uploading, including:

• A substantial collection of early short stories; what I wrote while commuting on the train when I worked in the Chicago Loop.
• Noriama, my first attempt at Hard Sci-fi. It’s about what happens when the first human colony on another planet goes missing.
• The Stormcallers, a fantasy book that was set to be the start of a trilogy set in a world of floating islands above an ever-raging storm.
• A traveler’s guide devoted to charting the Velvet and the Myriad Worlds.
• RPG Errata, a few more posts discussing some more RPG concepts, and some clarifications/corrections.
• A series aiming to apply these RPG concepts as I design my own game!
• A redesigned website with menus to clean up the top bar!

Plus more, eventually. Until then, I will be working to improve both my craft and myself. Thank you, everyone, who has come along with me on this journey, and I hope to see you here again soon!