Weekly Update 02/23/24

 Weekly writing progress: 

- Finished edits on the second short story. I'm happy with the additions; my betas didn't fail me with their suggestions. I still have to do proofreading (I've got a checklist), but I'll do that after the final editing pass on book 2.

- Started my final editing pass on the second novel. There's a lot to consider and my betas had some really neat insights. I'll be adding a decent chunk of words (probably 2-3k) in different sections to make sure certain moments land right. One thing I've learned about my writing is that I tend to write very lean, and just because something doesn't serve the plot doesn't mean readers won't want it in there. Of course, because these words are going to come at different points in the story that means 2-3k won't be 1-2 days of work, it'll be significantly longer, considering I'll be reading through the novel again to get a "feel" for where the additions I want to make will have the best impact. I'll probably be editing until my vacation (yes, another one) in mid-March.

- Received my proof copy from Amazon of the first novel and it is gorgeous. I'll have to upload a corrected manuscript to Ingram, Bookfunnel, and Amazon because I, somehow, forgot to make sure one of my own fantasy words was correctly hyphenated throughout. 

- While not immediately productive, I've also been kicking around adjusting certain aspects of book 3. I'm very fond of what I did in the rough draft, and obviously the bulk of events were planned during the process of writing book 1, but there are certain threads I could/should add and others that may need to be tied off more cleanly. I've always planned the series to leave the door open for more books, but THIS story I want to be completed in three books. This may mean adding 12-20k more words which would make it significantly longer than the first two.

- ARCs for the first novel are out. If anyone happens across this blog and would like to ARC read feel free to sign up here.

What I've been up to:

TV

I'm almost done with Pluto, and I have a feeling where the story is going and it's not exactly my favorite direction. I was hoping for a more inventive exploration of the AI/humanity/personhood theme, but the plot is real focused on its central mystery which isn't actually that interesting. The detective character is just going around searching for clues, but the audience has known who the bad guys are for a while now. Dramatic irony can be used to great effect. In this instance, I don't think it has been though. I find myself frustrated that the plot has stalled and we're just playing "and then there were none" with a bunch of side characters who should know better than to take on the villain alone. For all the pontificating about robots being more logical, which in-turn makes them less human, they are all acting foolishly in a way that even a human never would. If they are all being hunted it would make sense for them to team up, but they won't. They're all acting solo for unfathomable, poorly thought out reasons. I think the idea is that they are close enough to human to all have their own motivations for doing what they do, but in practice it's coming off as contrived to make sure they all die in order to maximize tragedy. It's still a solid show, but it definitely won't be a strong recommendation from me.

We started the second season of Tokyo Vice and I love it. Ken Watanabe and Rinko Kikuchi are amazing in it. The camera work, dialogue, weaving stories, and dedication to setting is just *chef's kiss*. 

We started the most recent season of Abbott Elementary and it's good. Not great, but good. I tend to get really bored of will they/won't they plots, and Abbott seems very content to keep milking that cow for everything its worth, and I'm becoming exhausted. The more tension that is built the bigger the pay off must be, but a point can be reached where the tension becomes either too intense or goes on too long where I completely stop caring and just want it to be over. That's where I'm at right now. I'll still watch every episode because I'm very attached to these characters, but this one aspect of the show is dragging it down for me.

Books

I'm still working on The Sentence by Louise Erdrich. It continues to be wonderful.

Games

I'm coming to the end game with Prince of Persia. I'll make sure I get the special ending, but after I get that I'll be done. The game is a solid 9/10 for me. Excellent in all the ways it needs to be, but there are other releases I'm looking forward to.

I started playing Helldivers 2 and it's extraordinarily fun. I love co-op multiplayer and the game excels in that aspect. 

See ya next week!

Want to chat? Comment here or email me at mjlindemann@mjlindemann.com. I try to respond to everyone :)

Weekly Update 02/16/24

Weekly writing progress: 

I've congregated all of the beta feedback for my second short story into one file, and I've begun doing edits. I expect I'll be done with edits early to mid next week, and then I'll do the same thing for the second book. I expect that'll take me about 2-3 weeks to complete all of my "final" edits on book 2, and then I'll be able to get back into the third short story and third book.

I didn't get a lot done in this last week with writing/editing, but I've been productive with other book related endeavors:

- My book is now listed for pre-order on Amazon. The full release will be on April 2nd. You can find it here.

- I've completed the prep and am awaiting print covers so I can complete setup for the paperback on both Amazon and Ingram Spark.

- My email list is up and working. Anyone that signs up should get a copy of the short story and be able to push it to their devices without issue.

- I signed up for a 30 day Netgalley promotion through Inkfluence to start at the beginning of March to try and grab some ARC readers. I'll be posting in some ARC groups once the website is completely done (it's very, very close).

What I've been up to:

TV

I continue to watch Pluto. Halfway through episode four now, and it's still really good. Not as action packed as the anime I'm used to watching, but that's fine. 

We watched all of Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and both of us quite enjoyed it. Donald Glover and Maya Erskine are both excellent in it, and the sheer number of cameos from big stars is enjoyable to see. The dialogue is well done and the on screen chemistry between the two leads was just great. 

We continue to watch Letterkenny and it continues to give me a chuckle on a consistent basis.

Books

I finished Howl's Moving Castle and thought the ending felt SLIGHTLY rushed, but other than that it is an A+ book in my opinion. An easy five stars if I ever saw one. It's so, so charming. I can't recommend it enough.

I've started The Sentence by Louise Erdrich and my first impression is that it's beautifully written and the chaos the main character exists in is extraordinarily gripping. 

Games

I continue to work on Prince of Persia (which I'm enjoying) and play Overwatch 2. Not much to report here. 

See ya next week!

Want to chat? Comment here or email me at mjlindemann@mjlindemann.com. I try to respond to everyone :)

Weekly Update 02/09/24

Weekly writing progress: 

None. I have zero writing progress. Zilch. Nada. Last week I was on vacation and this week I've been sick enough that I couldn't really get much done. I'm also not going to get anything done today because I've spent most of my time catching up at my real job due to how sick I've been all week, and I need a break... dammit.

HOWEVER

The cover for my first book is done and finalized, and so is the cover for my short story. They are amazing and I am so so SO pleased with them. I'll have the novel cover up on my socials soonish for a cover "reveal" for the few people that follow me. Hoping that by the 15th the website will be up and running. I also have all the beta feedback for the second book in and the feedback has been glowing.

What does this mean?

This means I no longer have any bottlenecks delaying the release other than my own efficiency and ability to sink hours into setting things up. What things do I have to set up, you ask? Thank you for asking!

- Create a book funnel account and set up my ARC deliveries as well as my short story deliveries.

- Polish up my mailing list and make a real workflow for sending those out monthly.

- Upload my ebook and paperback to KDP (it's my first time so this is gonna take some research to make sure I get my book in the right categories and have good keywords).

- Set up an ARC questionnaire and FIND ARC readers.

- Marketing - I'll be starting slow with marketing efforts. Low bid amazon ads is all I'll probably start with before I fold in facebook ads. I am not someone who particularly enjoys being a salesman even if it's for my own Thing, so you won't see me pushing for book signings or shouting from the rooftops unless people poke and prod me enough.

Those are the big ones. I'll delay doing my final passes on the second book until I have book one ready to rock. I'm expecting the release to be sometime in early April, but I'll know more once I start lining up ARCs. Book two shouldn't be too long of a wait after that. I don't want to say any dates because I've done nothing but blow past any dates I set for myself. I think I just have to take the stance of "things will be done when they are done", and stop trying to set hard deadlines for myself. I've proven I'm disciplined enough to make progress without a date looming, and all I do by setting dates is stress myself out. 

I would like to have a map made, but it probably won't be included in any first editions of these novels. Most likely, I'll have it drawn and posted on my website and sent out to the mailing list. The map I've made personally is incredibly unfit for viewing by anyone, and on top of it there are far too many things out of place, missing, and modified that it would be an undertaking just for me to get it ready for an actual artist to make it pretty. An undertaking that is going to take a back seat to everything else. For now, if someone reads the book they'll just have use their *rainbows* imagination *unicorns*.

What I've been up to:

TV

I finished Love Death + Robots on the plane ride back from Mexico and it was excellent. Can't recommend it enough to anyone who likes animation. 

I started Pluto. It's good, really good, but I haven't been able to get to the second episode yet.

The husband and I binged the rest of Hazbin Hotel earlier this week and it was some of the most delightful television I've watched in a long, long while. Everyone brought their A game on that show. 

We finished the first season of Percy Jackson and I'm realizing this is the first time I'm mentioning it here. That should tell you all you need to know about my feelings on it.

We're back into Letterkenny. We're into season four now, and it's exactly as I remembered it. The show waffles between laugh out loud stupidity and sequences that I find personally very obnoxious. I'll be having a good time watching them make jokes about the word moist and talking about ants riding sea doos, and then it'll take a hard left into extremely loud music followed by, what I find to be, very boring fight scenes. If I could cut out all the sequences of blaring music and terribly choreographed fights I would do it in a heartbeat. It's a testament to the concept and the writing that I'm willing to stomach them just to watch the rest of the show.

Books

I finished A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness and it was absolutely phenomenal. I laughed and cried and then cried and then cried some more. It was a beautiful little book.

I'm really far into Howl's Moving Castle by Dianna Wynne Jones. It's delightful and whimsical and so different from the movie in such interesting ways. I love it. 

Games

I haven't played a lot since returning from Mexico. I'm a decent way into the new Prince of Persia game and I'm really enjoying it. Other than that, it's just been Overwatch 2 baybeeeeeee.

That's it, see ya next week!

Want to chat? Comment here or email me at mjlindemann@mjlindemann.com. I try to respond to everyone :)