Newsletter - March 7, 2023


Last week was crazy busy at work, and next week promises more of the same. At least the assiduity is all technical and scheduling topics, and not more layoffs or budget cuts. I did have a work treat too—someone brought me a wafer made up of microchips where I'd led the structural design. That was a first for me, and it felt good. Sadly, I'm not legally allowed to share a picture of it, so imagine something geeky.

We hosted a crawfish boil over the weekend. Also a first for me... not just hosting, but taking part. I'm wondering if folks will unsubscribe after seeing my video of Bobby pouring our dinner out on the table. 😜 We spent the day cleaning up our patio, which needed to happen anyway--it's very Spring in Texas--and then the evening talking with friends, and into the night burning our mouths on cajun spices. Great way to slow down after a hectic week.

Writing got shafted this week. All I managed was little bits and pieces while I waited in parking lots to pick kids up. Since I'm in a second draft mode, writing on my phone doesn't work great--I really need to be able to flip around between parts of the story more rapidly than I can on a tiny screen. That said, I also wanted to move the plot of the next book forward, and that I could still have done, but I didn't manage it. Too many demons to wrestle with this week.

I think I’m done with the contract work with the artist—just waiting on signatures and then we will get rolling. Terrible week for it on my side, so I might have to delay getting started. The week after is Spring Break, so hopefully we can get the ball rolling then.

o To-Do list for writing last week:

  • Email updates
  • Re-read MoT and make notes for corrections.
  • Keep poking ahead on the next book(s) to convince myself it will all come together.
  • Try to finalize contract with artist.

o To-Do list for writing this week:

  • Email updates
  • Re-read MoT and make notes for corrections.
  • Keep poking ahead on the next book(s) to convince myself it will all come together.

Previous Newsletters

​​May you get lost this week in another world.

facebooktwitterinstagramexternal-link

Follow me on Goodreads.

​Subscribe​

Steven J Morris

If you read fantasy for the magic, the world-building, and the occasional moment of dark humor—I write that. One urban fantasy series, one epic fantasy series, both set in the Fractured Arcana universe, with more coming. My newsletter takes you deeper into the worlds, the characters, and what's next.

Read more from Steven J Morris
RPG screenshot

I promise I’ve made progress on Father of Stones (FoS). Here's a screenshot to prove it: click the photo to get to the live data showing progress But... I have put a little time elsewhere. I want to invite you to try this web-game I’ve been building out. It was meant to be a role-playing game around Thaumatropic Fractures, but ended up being focused on Thaumatropic Roots. https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com https://tfrpg.sjmorriswrites.com The game will ask you to use your email to associate...

I built a tracking page for Father of Stones (FoS) this week. I did not, notably, write very much of said book this week. There's a joke in there about creative avoidance and I'm not going to pretend I don't see it. Anyway — here's what I made instead. Word Count Over Time A live chart of Father of Stones' progress since late June. I'm not smoothing over the slow weeks. There's a very flat stretch from June 'til August where I worked on the Eigenthrope story, then another flat stretch through...

Yesterday I needed to remember exactly how a character destroyed a dragon artifact three books ago. I didn't dig through my own novels to find it—I asked an AI I built to search them for me. It's called the Grimoire: a mini-AI system I put together with Pinecone that I can ask questions about my own books—hair color in a different epoch, a side character I want to bring back, a detail I'd otherwise lose momentum digging for. It keeps me writing instead of hunting. That's the quiet way AI has...