Here we are again

Time for a wee update.

I’ve been writing, for one thing! Actually doing promotional things online, for another, (okay, only a little, and not enthusiastically, but I DID some, so, yay me) and doing more behind-the-scenes authoring and website work than I want, but less than I need to do.

Website work: my reminders-to-self posts now have their own separate stripped-down text only blog, so feeling guilty about boring the universe with my daily life lists stops being a roadblock to recording it. That’s the goal, anyhow. So far, so good.

The new “what I’m reading n watching” lists and my every-couple-of-days are tucked up under the Whimsies menu, my online home for all the things I publish only for my own comfort and entertainment.

Those things won’t get shared on Patreon because, well, multiple reasons. For one, I want to keep the quickpost writing process frictionless. No fussing with anything except the words. Not even copy/pasting. Just write, save, GO. And the lists—that’s a page on the site. So it doesn’t mirror easily. Or at all, as far as I can tell.

Another grumpy personal reason is that Patreon is going through one of its periodic “improvement” phases. Every time that happens, I like the platform a little less and have less interest in posting there. Its once wonderfully easy-to-use post editor is now a cluttered cloggy mess of “features” and option menus, and the page layout somehow gets clunkier and uglier every time.

Squarespace has its weird quirks (its theme system is wholly borked, and awful, and its plug n play layout design doesn’t always play well with my browser and OS) but it’s STILL tons better than what Wordpress was offering AND for less money, the support network is excellent, and when they do make changes, so far the interface changes have been ACTUAL improvements. (fingers crossed.) I think some of the blame for images-not-'porting issue is on Squarespace, but it was my choice to change the blog appearance, so that's my fault and 'm not changing it.

I am not a curmudgeon about change. I am a curmudgeon about BAD changes. ANYway, doing more on the site, less on Patreon. They want me to sell digital content there. I’d rather do it from my own site and not give them a cut, if I can figure out HOW.

That’s on my to-do list.

To end on a high note: I’m officially going to both my local cons again this year. Windy Con and Capricon (new hotel for Capricon! VERY EXCITING!)

I’m registered, have hotel rooms lined up, have filled out my Programming Survey for Windy and my Volunteering Interests Survey for Capricon. And I ordered books way back inteh spring, so I’m set for inventory for the year.

Oo! One more high note—I haven’t heard from the Indie Author Project, so I’m assuming the books I submitted (and/or resubmitted) to the contest this year didn’t get past the first round, but I DID get an alert that I now have TWO titles in the curated Indie Author Select module on Biblioboard. Controlled Descent’s been in the Select Module since the first year, 2016? 2018? and it gets a special seal, since it’s curated by Library Journal. Now Rough Passages qualifies for that sweet, sweet validation too.

And now the part everyone (including me) loves best: cat pics!

That’s all the news for now!