Crawling forward at a turtle's pace

Spring is barreling along at high speed, and it feels like I'm chasing after lost time without ever getting a grip on things. And yet. Things are getting done.

Behold, the Numbered List Of Awesomeness, beginning with the reason this update is in two places: my blog AND on my Patreon page.

1. Yes, that's right, I have a Patreon! (Patreon.com/kmherkes) It has tiers & everything. Why did I do it? Great question with a long answer worth a post to itself in due time. Short answer: I've had a patron account for years & I got tired of getting nudges from Patreon that I hadn't set up my own page.

(Medium answer: it's part of my strategy to reclaim my life from the void-shouty timesuck of social media without abandoning all online connections to people who like what I make.)

2. SFWA membership happened! The application process was an anxiety adventure, and my feelings about becoming a member are worth a post too, but for now getting accepted is accomplishment enough.

3. Convention & travel planning! (SO. MANY. SCARY FORMS.) I'm set to be a panelist at WisCon in Madison WI on Memorial Day Weekend, & I've applied to be a vendor & panelist at the WorldCon in Chicago over Labor Day.

4. A revamp of visuals for my online presence is underway, happening in a half-baked, scattershot, piecemeal fashion that is totally on-brand for me.

5. I took on a book design project for a charity anthology being edited by Tina L . Jens. Some 100-word stories of mine were accepted to the anthology, too. It's coming together slowly but steadily, and we're aiming at a June release. There are stories & poems & even short plays, and it's going to be adorable when it's done.

6. More Writing projects! Most recently I've laid down 1/3 of an LGBTQIA+ flash fiction piece that's due for submission by the end of the month. If I miss the deadline, I'll put it in the "I DID THIS" trunk next to the 6k word Restoration short story I finished 2 months too late to submit to the charity anthology. (It's so much fun. Serena & Parker. Cats & dogs. Minor mayhem)

7. Audiobooks. Progress on this one is glacially slow, but it's progress. I now have a (very short) list of female SAG-AFTRA narrators who would do the job as work-for-hire. The increasingly complicated accounting for royalty-share makes me nervous. I'd love to have at least one more audiobook by year end. It's a goal.

8. Lastly, Art Things. I have made a big decision about re-covering the 2 Rough Passages books & getting a 3rd book cover at the same time. They lack series branding, & the idea of writing cover art into a story makes me happy. I have funds & the original Rough Passages stock images. Finding a top-tier book designer who can rock the art part too...that's the next step.

That's all for this way-longer-than-usual update on things in my corner of the creative universe. Until later!