Weightless, he floats through the hallway of his childhood home toward the dining room. There he looks at the table settings, admiring the precision with which each setting is measured not only from the edge of the table but from the salad fork to the teaspoon. The pattern was simple but very colorful, almost Fiesta-style. It had never been set that way ever before. He moves on.

In the kitchen he grabs hold of the oven rail, jerking gently to a stop. The window. Outside the window there are stars. Not trees or a sidewalk or a street, no other homes. Nothing but stars. He briefly wonders how this is possible since he was sure he was awake though unaware of how he’d been transported or when. Now he wonders for what purpose he’s been transported. Why he’s been made to feel comfortable.

Then it dawns on him. A blue screen appears out of thin air with the word EAT in big yellow letters and an arrow pointing back to the dining room. Grimly, he decides his first obligation is to escape.

Hi. I’m Jason. I write stories you might like to read. Thanks for stopping by. 

This post was made by a human for other humans to take in.

Creator unknown to me.Good Clear Syncopation

If you think you’d like to get these updates delivered to your inbox, type your email address in the box below to sign up. If you want to read more before you decide, there’s another opportunity at the end. Whatever you choose, I’m glad you’re reading.

Subscribe

Don’t You Hesitate At All

Most writers have jobs and create their worlds in what everyone refers to as Spare Time. This time comes at the expense of other things like hanging out with friends, watching a favorite show, or – sometimes – eschewing family time or sleep. The lucky ones who can write as their main job should be envied, but the rest of us should understand that they did the work to get to that point, often beginning with their Spare Time. They earned the ability to write full-time the same as any of the rest of us can.

Now that we’ve established that anyone can be a full-time writer if they put in the time and their work is well received, let’s talk about how to approach finding the balance between paying the bills and working toward the future.

My Spare Time has been limited in the extreme so far this year. It demands fifty-plus hours a week and has for the last nine months, give or take. I have dreams about work sometimes, waking up in the middle of the night to wonder if I booked a room for a meeting later that afternoon. I’ve taken on other responsibilities related to where I work, too, and those take up more time and headspace. It’s good work and the effects of what I’ve been involved in are visible. There’s satisfaction in what I do.

But I’ve had almost zero energy for writing once I do the things I need to do for work at home. It’s worried me a couple of times, to be honest. But when I’ve been able to open my notes or even rework the plot, I get the feeling that everything I was doing prior to the promotion that’s taking up my time is still inside just waiting for things to even out again. 

In the meantime, I’m writing in my journals and breaking the plot for MASQUE again. These things are enabling me to utilize what Spare Time I have effectively by keeping the gears turning and feeling like I’m making some kind of progress. Every day I can work on the book, I have more than I did the day before and – for now – that’s enough.

Treat it Good, Treat it Rightly

Several years ago I was almost done with my morning commute to the day job when the Check Engine light came on, began to flash, and my car slowed on the highway to 35 mph. I freaked OUT. 

I’m not at all mechanical and there were any number of things that could be wrong according to the car’s manual in my glove box. I limped the car to a mechanic a block away from my job and waited to see what was wrong.

That was the day I learned about OBD (On Board Diagnostics) codes. On my way home that day (the car was easily fixed while I worked) I stopped at an automotive store and purchased an OBD-II scanner for about $40 US. On several occasions, it’s served to keep me from losing my mind when the check engine light popped on as late as a couple of weeks ago. 

I plugged in the OBD scanner and a code lit up the screen. I went to the website for the scanner manufacturer, put in the make and model of my car, entered the code and learned that there might have been a problem with the catalytic converter. I called my mechanic and he said the car would run okay as long the engine light wasn’t blinking. Relieved, I took the car in a day later and was told it was, indeed the catalytic converter and it would cost about $4,000 to replace it. 

I chose not to get the repair and a day later, the light went out and has never come back on. 

Anyway, the scanner has been something valuable and I wanted to pass that on here. This article from Car and Driver goes into some depth about various devices if you’re interested.

Sunshine Shine on You

I think I’ve mentioned this here before, but one of the monthly books I get at my Local Comic Shop is DC’s Poison Ivy by writer G. Willow Wilson and artist Marcio Takara. Following Pamela Isley through her past as she navigates the Green lately has been a true joy. Well, for me at least. Her and her crew are currently stuck in a remnant of the past that gets more dangerous the longer they stay. It’s fun and often thought-provoking.

I’ve always believed that Ivy was a truly important antagonist for Batman. She has larger views that are aligned with things we regular humans don’t give two seconds of thought to. Ivy recognizes this and knows that, because we don’t care about the place we live the way we should, we never will and that’s damning for everyone. 

Wilson writes and Takara draws this series in a way that recalls Terry Moore’s brilliant Strangers in Paradise but is its own thing completely. There’s a lot of human emotion here, perhaps because of Ivy’s desire to save the planet over the people. Her relationships with Harley (who figures only peripherally in this series) and sidekick Janet-from-HR feel real which heightens the fantasy elements when she dives into the Green. 

There are four volumes of the series collected for you if you want to hunt them down at your local library or your nearby local comic shop.

As You Happen to See…

Below is another chance for you to get these very infrequent updates sent directly to your inbox. I’m thinking you’ll hear from me about eight times a year, maybe a little more around releases. Thanks for reading.

Subscribe

AT CAPACITY: Drown in Stylistic Audacity

The last couple of months I haven’t spent the same amount of time on social media as I used to. I’m a bit disconnected from the memes and the politics of my country at the moment as a result, but it’s something that’s been brewing for quite a while.

I was going to write about extreme opposites like love and hate and how it makes social media even more tedious than usual but that’s ground that’s already well covered by others.

Instead, I’m going to say that my lack of spare time to write has ridden me to the edge of being burned out. The demands of the day job have been significant this year and I need some down time. Like – NOW. So instead of taking my already planned time off this week to attend Planet Comicon, I’m going to stay home, do some work around the house, reconnect with some family, and nap. I wish I was going to be there but honestly it would only further exhaust me and I need to get back up and running pretty quickly. No rest for the wicked and all that. I may have one appearance later in the year. Stay tuned.

For real.

All the headings in this post come from lyrics on Yes’ most listener-friendly album, 90125, which was released in 1984. It’s a happy album, or at least joyful, and easy to sing along with which wasn’t always true of their earlier, more progressive efforts. This video over on YouTube is impressive as one of the all-time great drummers, Kenny Aronoff, attempts to decode the original percussion parts of one of the album’s better known songs, Changes, without knowing what the original drum tracks held. Many thanks to Ande Parks for pointing me to it.

And with that, I’m out for this time. Be good to yourself so you can be good to others, friends. We are all in this together.

See you when I see you.