July writing wrap-up.

July come. July go.

Another month passes in a blur. Among the highlights? Getting to attend the first in-person Shore Leave convention in three years! It was great to see so many people I only (usually) see at this con, and after two summers of virtual panels and no time hanging in the hotel? I was more than ready to pick up where we’d left off.

There was a definite vibe of “figuring out how to do this again” throughout the weekend, but most folks seemed to snap back in without too much trouble. I had a handful of panels scattered across the con’s three days, and the regular “Meet the Pros” mass author signing event on Friday was also a lot of fun. I also managed to talk with a few people about possible new writing projects at some point own the road. We shall see!

Meanwhile, there are the projects currently on my plate. On that front, things continue apace on both the writing and consulting fronts. The latter brings with it an unpredictable series of ad hoc writing writing tasks, which are as fun as they are surreal. As I said in an email sent earlier this week in response to just such a tasking, “This job is weird.”

Weird, but so much fun.

Elsewhere, things are moving ahead on no fewer than three projects, two of which I’m undertaking with Kevin. Unfortunately, mum’s still the word so far as offering too many details, but rest assured things are moving forward. My goal for taking off a big chunk of summer pretty much dissolved, so now I’m hoping for said downtime in the fall. Not that I’m complaining, of course. Getting paid to do something you love is a privilege, after all.

With that in mind, let me hit the time-out button for a few minutes and update you about what down in July:

June writing wrap-up.

And just like that, 2022 is half over.

Summer shenanigans are in full swing here at stately Ward Manor. We’re halfway through the one kid’s summer swim team season, while the other kid is filling time with music and art lessons, and both offspring are of course spending plenty of time with their friends.

June was active on the writing and consulting front, in preparation for being more active in the months ahead. I’m still not at a point where much of my upcoming writing output can be discussed in the open, but I’m told announcements about a couple of these projects are inbound very soon. Long story short? So much for the leisurely summer I was hoping to enjoy. On the other hand, it’s nice to be loved and I’m grateful for the opportunities which have presented themselves.

:: cracks fingers ::

But before we get on with the next bout of writing, let’s see what went on in June:

May writing wrap-up.

Howdy, June.

The kids are out of school for the summer, although both kids voluntarily signed up for a summer school class so they could knock it out now rather than take it during the regular school year. Remember when “summer school” was for dumbasses like the writer of this blog?

Swim team practice has started for one kid…the same one who’s also playing summer volleyball. Meanwhile, the other kid continues with their music lessons as they play the viola, the piano, and the guitar. For comparison’s sake, I play the radio….and not even all that well.

Around the house, we just finished a major overhaul of our master bathroom. Gone is the tiny cubicle shower and Jacuzzi tub; and in their place is a much larger shower with dual heads and an open design that doesn’t make me feel like I’m standing in an upright coffin. There’s also a nice, big glassblock window to provide natural light. Michi took the opportunity to repaint the entire bathroom with a new color scheme, and it looks amazing.

Then there’s me, still doing the finger tappy key key thing.

May was actually….somewhat subdued on the writing front. It was mostly about moving pieces around the board in preparation for writing that will take place in the coming months….precious little of which I can actually discuss in detail at this point. In the early spring, I had this silly notion that I might take the summer to dial things back a bit and actually enjoy myself more….but the Writing Gods seem to have other plans. Read on….

April writing wrap-up.

Man. It’s been a minute since the last time I did one of these.

Let’s just say February and March were….busy. Then April came along and I got deep enough into the month that a wrap-up post for March might as well wait until May showed up, which it has! So, even though the post title says “April writing wrap-up,” I’ll do my best to update you on all the writerly happenings here at the manor over the course of the past couple of months….

January writing wrap-up.

Well, 2022 is off to a rapid start. I think that adage about time seeming to speed up as you get older is very true. I mean, it was just 2014 yesterday, right?

2022 picked up what 2021 threw down: Me, with my foot on the gas. Lots of things to read, review, comment on, meet about, talk about, wonder about, and so on and so forth. There was also some writing involved with that, but not the sort of writing you’re likely here to read about. Well, maybe you are but I can’t talk about any of that, so I’ll just focus on the things I can kinda sorta talk about.

Yeah, that’s not vague. I mean, at all.

Anyway, let’s look at what happened in January, writing-wise….

December writing wrap-up.

Our journey into the future continues as we welcome 2022! Let’s take a look at the future history calendar to see what milestones we might expect from this new year.

Oh.

Well, damn. I wonder if we taste like chicken.

(If you’re one of the few people left who doesn’t get the reference, go here.)

The last month of 2021 was…active? Yeah, that’s a word. There was writing, of course, along with a lot of reading, reviewing, commenting, and discussing all sorts of other things. Since this is my monthly writing wrap-up blog, I should probably just stick to talking about that here.

So, with that in mind, what went down in December? Let’s have a look-see….

November writing wrap-up.

And just like that, here we are: The final month of 2021.

Time keeps on slippin’ slippin’ slippin’…etc. Meanwhile….

November was “active” on multiple fronts. On the consulting side of things, there was the usual assortment of reading, reviewing, writing and meeting about various things. There’s a lot of Star Trek moving around out there, on numerous fronts and across multiple platforms. Overwhelming? I don’t know if that’s the right word, but I get to work on Star Trek stuff, so I ain’t complainin’.

On top of that, I’m still tending to various writing things of my own, along with home and family stuff. Both kids are active in afterschool/extracurricular activities, which is of course awesome because they both have found things they’re passionate about. But it does add a number of items to the family calendar. And I’m still volunteering a few times a month at the museum, which is a nice change of pace from my work routine.

Still got those deadlines, though. Speaking of writing, here’s the November rundown:

October writing wrap-up.

Yo, 2021. Wanna pump the brakes a bit?

If 2020 felt like time slowing to a crawl, 2021 has been like the deal in Interstellar where spending an hour on that one planet makes seven years pass out here on Earth. Where the hell has this year gone?

In addition to reading, reviewing, and writing about various things for the consulting gig, there’s still freelance writing on my plate. October was probably the last “quiet month” I’ll have for a while, with things now kicking into gear on a couple of fronts. Sleep is overrated, amirite?

With that in mind, here’s the October rundown:

September writing wrap-up.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand just like that, here we are: the last quarter mile of 2021.

I mean, I understand that time has had no real meaning for the better part of 18 months, dating all the way back to March 2020 when so very many of us were thrown into a form of suspended animation and forced to (largely) remain at or near our respective domeciles. I was already used to ignoring most of the world around me, hunkered as I was in my office while my fingers tap-tap-tapped away at the keyboard. The big difference last year when all of this started was that now, everyone else who lived with me was home all the time, too.

ANYway….

August writing wrap-up.

How about that August, huh?

Well, that month certainly cruised on by in a blur. Family-wise, the big thing was THE KIDS ARE BACK TO SCHOOL.

After spending last year in a “virtual learning environment” as we kept them home during the 2020/early 2021 stretch of the pandemic–during which they both made the Principal’s Honor Roll on all but the first quarter grading period…and really only missed that one by –> <– that much–they were excited to head back for in-person classes. Did I mention I have a kid in high school, now? And another who will join her next year? Yeah, that happened. When, I don’t know, but it totally happened.

In related news, Kevin and I attended Planet Comicon, our first in-person convention as guests in nearly two years. With shows moving online or being outright canceled throughout last year and into mid-2021, this also was a welcome change. Masks were the order of the day, of course, but that didn’t appear to deter a huge crowd from descending upon the con throughout the event’s three days. I haven’t yet heard an official or even unofficial tally so far as attendance, but the traffic seemed to be good all weekend. Hopefully this was just the first such show we’ll be attending in the months ahead.

“Pssst,” I hear someone whispering. “What about the writing, Dayton? Did you do any of that in August?”

Oh. There’s that.

It was a bit of an odd month, as I’m currently between major projects, but that didn’t stop me (or Kevin and me, as the case may be) from pushing a few words around last month. Here’s the August rundown:

And of course there was the consulting and the writing. What happened in August?