I have hit something of a wall in my editing. I keep reading this one particular note from my editor, and every time I do I go into an exhausted doom-spiral until I shut my laptop, only to run into the same problem the next day.
I think part of it is that May has been a pretty slow month for sales. Good start, but nothing really for the last two weeks. Which is depressing, and that is a tough headspace to edit in. Editing is soul-crushing even when it’s good and important (which it is!).
Ah well. Tomorrow my plan is to finish editing the book and send it back to my editor for a final pass, and then to release it in a few weeks.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
East Hacks West
For my cyberpunk course this week I watched two films: the original 1995 animated Ghost in the Shell, and then the 2017 live-action American version of Ghost in the Shell.
It was fascinating watching them back-to-back. So many of the story beats are similar (if not exactly the same), but so much of the underlying philosophy is radically different.
The original dives very deep into what it means to be human and is constantly questioning whether the protagonist, Major Kusanagi, is actually a human at all. What does it mean that people treat her like she’s human? Does that matter, or alternatively is that all that matters?
The second is focused instead on what defines us as humans, but sacrifices almost all the philosophical thought and pacing of the original to instead give us a more focused story on revenge and evil corporations. Which is a fascinating take on GitS, no argument, but it’s not nearly the same.
Anyway, it’s a very interesting study into the contrasts of the differences (at the time, at least) in Western vs Eastern cyberpunk. The original doesn’t “look” the way I usually think of cyberpunk, but the second doesn’t “feel” the way cyberpunk normally does.
Still. I was impressed with both in their own way (although the original is a stone-cold classic that is breathtaking both for its time and with a modern lens, and the second is just pretty good). A useful use of a few hours of my life.
I hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Price Changes
A couple more of my books have gone up a few dollars in price. It was not a decision I undertook lightly, but I can say with some confidence that my increase in price for my previous works hasn’t resulted in a precipitous fall in sales, and everything I do costs more money.
Things like… eating, for example. Way more expensive these days.
So while I don’t think that increasing my prices is going to have a big impact on sales (if any), even a humble increase in profits will have a big impact on my ability to keep writing and editing books.
And so it is done. I still have three books at the “old” price, and I suspect they’ll probably stay at that price for quite some time yet. Oooh, I might have four books at that price… either way, if you want to read something I have written but you only have a few dollars, you can still do it!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Thinking about Covers
The old adage “don’t judge a book by its cover” is good advice that nobody follows.
I mean, even I judge many of the books I read specifically by the cover art! A lot of the time it’s to try and figure out if I want cover art similar to it on my own works… Scalzi’s last sci-fi trilogy all featured starships and lots of green, for example.
Which is a tiny bit unusual, in that for whatever reason red seems to be the colour for most sci-fi books. My own most successful book is “Caitlyn Morcos” and it has both a starship and a red cover.
But the new book, “A Desperate Path Through the Stars” doesn’t have a starship on the cover… it has stars, and it has the protag pretty prominently, and I think it’s a good cover, but it’s not typical for the kind of covers I usually pick.
Oh, I’m so ready to get this novel out of my head and into all of your hands… soon!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
Almost Done the Edits!
I’m on the last few (critical) chapters of the novel and then I’m done with this wave of edits.
Then it’s off to the editor (again), and then uploaded to Amazon and off to all of you fine, incredibly patient people!
The last few months have been pretty consistently good (by my standards) for book sales, and I’m hoping that a new novel will give my overall work a boost. It doesn’t have to be big, just consistent… that’s really the goal. To do this long-term, I have to keep aiming for small, sustainable steps that I can make.
Still, it’s a process, and I’ll be happy to see the edits done and the book one big step closer to being done!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Picking up the Pace
I’m not a fan of hustle-culture.
I don’t like the idea that people think you have to work yourself to death to be an artist. That the only way to create art is to push and push and push every waking moment, and some sleeping moments, to spread yourself too thin and work too hard and all that.
But at the same time, I have deadlines. Soft deadlines, for now (if the novel I’m working on releases in June instead of May, the only person directly impacted by this is me), but deadlines nonetheless. And since I’m elbow-deep in edits right now, the temptation to keep pushing and working and pushing until I actually finish is pretty overwhelming.
But that won’t help! I don’t gain anything by burning out. I lose a lot, in fact. So I have to be measured and careful and steady… but I still have a billion things I want to do and no time to do any of it.
Gah.
Oh well. Edits are happening! The first few chapters are done, and they’re the toughest because they’re also the most important. With any luck, I’ll be done the edits by the end of the week… I think I can do that.
Unrelated sidenote: I’m finally watching the last season of The Expanse. Gosh it’s good. Two episodes remaining!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Something-Something Lions
Edits continue! May has appeared! What is time, anyway!
In the words of the wise Douglas Adams, “Time is an illusion. Lunch time doubly so.”
I am working my butt off trying to get everything done and ready and polished and edited, and there’s just not enough time to do everything.
But that’s okay! Really! I do this work because I love it, and being busy isn’t a bad thing (it would be really nice if I could make a living wage while doing it, but one step at a time!).
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Starting the Edits!
Okay, I’ve taken as long away from my novel as I can stand… time to dive into those fifth draft edits!
Still on course to be finished by mid-May… let’s see how the editing process goes!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
It's Been One Week Since You Looked At Me...
“Threw your arms in the air and said I’m crazy…”
Ah, Barenaked Ladies. Truly a Canadian cornerstone of rock. Anyway, it has been a full week since I’ve posted, but there hasn’t been a tonne of new and exciting to post about.
Got my novel back. Talked to Christine about it, received some very useful feedback (and it was nice to finally meet her! We’ve been working together for 8 years now… not quite since the very beginning, but very close). Plus she had a chance to show off her beautiful home in PEI. Really, win-win.
But since then I’ve been stuck on other artistic pursuits, rather than my writing, in an effort to pay for my writing! The story of my life, really. But I’ll get back to the novel… probably this weekend, actually. And then I’ll finish up that fourth draft, and then that goes back to Christine for a once-over, and then into all y’all hands! Woo!
So just because I’m not posting, doesn’t mean things aren’t happening!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Another Successful Circumnavigation of the Sun
Just going to spend all day playing video games and trying not to think too hard about my life and what I’ve “accomplished” so far.
That’s the plan, at least.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Talkin' With Christine
Tomorrow morning I have a nice, long talk scheduled with my editor. This will be the first time I’ll actually talk with her, so I’m looking forward to it!
Basically, there are a handful of issues in the novel that I’d like to get more insight into. While her notes are extensive and very useful, there’s always more to be learned.
After that, no working on the novel for a couple weeks… just to get some distance and objectivity on my work, and to optimize the final draft (well, probably the final two drafts, but that’s an aside).
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Editor Done
I’ve received Novel 8 back from my editor, and she had some really insightful things to say about it.
They won’t be quick and easy changes, but I do think they’ll make the novel a lot better… specifically a few plot threads that I wasn’t 100% on what to do with them.
Basically, I’m planting a few seeds in this book that I plan to pay off in future books, but I’m not sure how “central” those elements should be. I want them to be subtle, to suggest at a bigger tapestry of issues going on in the story, but I don’t want to risk anyone thinking that I abandoned or left some of the threads accidentally incomplete.
So we’re going to have a chat on Monday about the story issues, and then I’m going to dive into the last round of polish on the book. Current plan is a mid-May release! Exciting!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Have a Good Friday!
Looking forward to finishing up one of my major projects (a painting commission I’ve been working on for about 6 weeks) today. After that, I’m clear until my novel is returned by my editor (theoretically next week, but I’m not in a rush). Then I have a 6-week English course on Cyberpunk that I’m enrolled in as of May, I think, and then… well, and then other stuff, if history is anything to go by!
And that’s good! I enjoy being busy. I like doing this work!
I just wish I could make a living, however humble, from doing it.
Ah well. One day at a time, and all that.
Exciting stuff coming soon! Enjoy your Friday off, if you get one!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
On Brand
The trouble with social media is the nonstop-edness of it.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Instagram. I used to like Twitter before the name change and ownership insanity. But posting consistently has always been a challenge for me, and that’s kinda what social media rewards. It doesn’t want you to put down the phone and look away. You have to keep doing it. You have to keep posting, constantly, and hoping that something catches.
That’s not really my style? Although, admittedly, I don’t really know what my style is… or what my brand is. I write fun sci-fi. I paint models and shoot movies. But that’s not really “brand” so much as a sequence of facts about me.
Another fact about me is that I’m rather cold right now, so I’m going to go have a nice think while sitting in front of a heater. Maybe something will come to me about how to be more consistent with all this!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Art for Art's Sake
I love making the art I make. I love writing the most, but I also love my painting and films (and music, if we’re going deeper into the art I do purely for self-joy).
But not a lot of people read the novels I’ve written (yet). And the movie I’ve made has only been seen a few dozen times (and I’m going to have to give a serious think about leaving it up once I start doing more of them, since it has swearing and some… questionable… choices about shot composition and lighting). Do I do this art for myself, or for others?
Obviously the answer is “yes,” since I do it for both, but at this stage it’s probably true that it’s more personal than anything else. I would like for it to be more widely spread (specifically to the tune of about 10,000 copies per novel per year… piece of cake, right? That’s basically the equivalent of being a Canadian Best Seller for 5 weeks in a row, for each book).
For now, I have to enjoy the process, because there isn’t really a lot else going for me. But hopefully soon.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Filming Schedule
I’ve got to start thinking about a formal filming schedule for the stop motion animation I’m going to be doing.
I’ve already finished the storyboarding (gosh, I did that months ago), but next up is building the sets. I think I’m going to try and keep each set assembled between takes this time… hopefully I won’t need to reshoot anything, but it will make life easier if I do have to.
I’ve cleared off the space, I’ve got the script done… I really just have to get started, but there’s my commission (painting) work that I have to finish before I can fully dive in.
Which is too bad. I’d love to start sooner, but the editor I hired is going to cost a mint (she’s worth every penny), and that money needs to come from somewhere.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Off to the Editor
Well, Novel 8, which I’m still waffling on the title of, is in the hands of my editor.
She says she’ll have it back to me by early April, which gives me plenty of time to get it out by the end of April, which is the current goal.
Woo! Feels good to have that done!
But no rest for the weary. Big plans already in motion, folks! Big plans!
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
Second Draft Finished!
Wrote my two favourite words in the English language (“The End”) on that edit last night before bed. Felt good!
Next I send it off to my editor (who is primed and ready for it!), and then I get her edits back in early April. On the one hand, that’s a fair chunk of time (and money, gosh it’s a lot of money) between now and then.
On the other hand, I can work on other projects! Woo! And then my next novel will be available to purchase in mid-to-late April, and who knows, maybe I’ll have the next short movie shot by then too!
What a time to be alive and creating art. I just wish I had more time!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!
New Social Media (for me!)
So Instagram is by no means “new” in the social media scene. Well established, and not a usual choice for many authors, but I finally made myself an account.
The main reason is for the stop motion work I’m going to be doing. It’s very visual stuff, and I think showing some of my process there will be interesting to some people! As usual, I don’t need a big audience, just enough to make a little money at this (and by “little,” my expectations are humble).
Anyway, you can follow me @mhquestus, and I’ll put a link in the website page at some point. So far I haven’t posted anything except for a “family photo” of the protagonists for the next stop motion film.
Hope everyone out there is staying safe and healthy!
A Good Week of Sales
Last week was a surprisingly good week for book sales for me. Which isn’t saying a lot… it was only 7 books plus a bunch of Kindle Unlimited… but it was out of “nowhere,” of a sort? I did a bunch of free book giveaways in the two weeks before that, and I’m hoping there’s some crossover there (I gave away over 60 books, which again, not a huge number but still!).
It just… feels kinda hopeful? That maybe my efforts will, indeed, at some point pay off? At least a little?
Still spent way more on ads than I made in sales, of course. Wouldn’t want anyone to think things here had gone completely topsy-turvy. That would be crazy. But still, a significant step in the right direction.
Speaking of which, I got up at 6:30am today specifically so I could do more editing on the novel! So that’s what I’m gunna do!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!