Monthly Archives: May 2023

Back to work, you

Karl Dandenell by Richard Man
Hey, wanna buy some fiction?

For those of you following my employment interregnum, the saga takes a new turn next week. Pending final paperwork, I’ll be jumping into a short-term contract at a large utility company. Technical writing! Documentation! Manuals! This should be a regular 40-hour gig (as opposed to the piecemeal stuff I’ve been doing since April).

May marks five (5) months of active searching and interviews. In fact, I had an interview the afternoon I returned from the Nebula Awards conference. (See teaser photo above.) While that role didn’t materialize, I received a firm (and better) offer from another company. Huzzah!

I’ll admit it’s been a while since I’ve taken on a serious project. Let’s just say that my last quarter at Previous Gig were not the most intellectually challenging. They didn’t really grok my skill set (and were struggling with their own internal processes, but that’s a much longer story).

The conference, BTW, was the first in-person SFWA event I’ve attended since the Before Times. It was held in Southern California, right across the Disneyland. Talk about cognitive dissonance. Attendance was about half as many (physical) attendees, although there the usual plethora of excellent panels. Perhaps I can watch the recordings for those I missed. As always, the time went by too quickly and just saying hi to folks proved to be a challenge.

The event did give me a chance to spend time with an old friend and give him a signed copy of The Science Fiction Tarot. I’m particularly pleased with my contribution, “The Schadenfreuders,” and will be joining other authors this weekend to read selections from the anthology. If you decide to buy a paper copy, ping me and I’ll send you a signed book plate.

Writing continues. Naps may have to be curtailed for a while. The cats will not be happy.

Getting around to it

Sadly, I am never going to catch up on book (or short fiction!) releases, and therefore resign myself to read things when I can get around to them. Having acknowledged that truth, here are the intentions:

Intention #1 – Read things I want to read, not what I should read.

Intention #2 – Post reviews and boost authors, especially folks I know and folks who could use the support.

Intention #3 – Find a way to retire so I have (fewer) excuses not to write.

Piece of cake.