Status Update
I realize I do a thousand things these days, but I don't post about them on the site here because I am myopically obsessed with Twitter. That, and I'm lazy. But anyway... here's a list of fun things going on these days:
RollBots: You may have noticed RollBots is in re-runs these days. Apparently, it will continue to be that way until September, when episodes 14-26 will air. I assume this is because 14-26 are much more interconnected and series arc-heavy, so they want to make sure nobody goes on vacation and misses something vital. We've also sold the series in Australia, Italy, Mexico and a bunch of other places, and more on the way. I will hopefully have more exciting news on this front soon. Weather permitting.
Fission Chips: We're at chapter 7 now, and things are starting to move faster. Gare is trying to recover his stolen wallet, and ventures into a biker bar. The current voting indicates he's going to run for his life, but there's an ever-improving chance he'll use bundt cake to beat someone to death. Play along and tell your friends (via the Mystery Card contest).
Book Releases: Things are slowing down for many reasons. Percy's Perch should be out by the end of the month, but I'm not sure if it'll be in print. The book after that is definitely going to be late, but The Vector will still make its date at the end of July. The last four books of the year (Unscary Monsters, Cookies for Christmas, Typhoon and Denby Taft) are in various stages of development, but it looks like at least one of them will not survive. It's a question of timing and conflicting responsibilities. I can only guarantee 6 of the 12 books for 2009 will get out, which is kind of a stinker. I'm going to push hard to reach 10 at least, but I think 12 is getting less and less likely.
The Problem With Big Projects: TorrentBoy is still one of my favourite projects, and I spend probably 2 hours a night on it, but it's definitely not getting the attention it deserves. Fission Chips is the same way... I throw resources at it every week for a few hours, but then it's on its own. And Percy's Perch (with its accompanying Very Big Release) is going to complicate things further. Another downside to all this is that I can't afford nearly as much time as I need to on marketing (word of mouth... yakking on message boards, finding new readers, networking). So I will say this: spreading oneself too thin can be very bad. I need to re-think the structure, moving forward.
Without a Net: Neil Gaiman and John Scalzi both pointed to the story of Cat Valente, who is a really great writer currently in a very bad place. I point this out because I will be in a similar spot in about 45 days, and I appreciate the stress of it all. [note: creating a TV series does not make you irreparably wealthy. especially when there are unexpected production delays. plan accordingly]. This sudden change in circumstance means I have to cut back on my plans. Print runs are already on the chopping block, but full titles may disappear as well. I have considered everything I can do to keep things going, but (despite a bunch of very generous pirates buying TorrentBoy) I don't think I have a big enough audience to sustain my family for the rest of the year. I'll update everyone as I work things out.
Happy Ending: That was a bit of a stinker. Let's end with something happy... read "Overqualified" at fiftywordstories.com. It will make you smile again.
