Finally, an Update!
News and recommendations
I apologize for the long hiatus, and I appreciate your patience. Three months ago I started a new job, one that is truly the answer to many prayers. Because of work, I have had less time to write. But I have not been completely idle with this substack.
For several months I have been looking over everything on my site, and I do mean everything. It started with fixing typos and changing links and formatting, so that everything worked and read well on a phone as well as a computer. But the more I read, the more I was led to make deeper edits and changes.
I read through all the chapters I have published of my cyberpunk novel, and I eventually realized there was one POV character that just didn’t fit and had to go. That meant that a handful of chapters also had to be axed. It was a difficult decision to make, but you have to kill your darlings.
I do have a brand new chapter ready to publish, and it will go live some time later this week. For a small and loyal segment of my readership, this will come as very exciting news. But I have many new subscribers, and I know most of you have not yet started the book, so I encourage you and your friends to check it out:
The next big change was harder to make, but even more necessary. I reviewed every bit of writing and audio I had published related to the “Mercs on Mars” storyline, and I decided that most of it was desperately in need of work. There are several chapters/episodes I want to change entirely, so I have taken most of the articles off the site. I am still satisfied with how the story starts (and with the latest piece I made), so I have kept a handful of Logan’s Logs up.
My site review/overhaul also led me to make significant revisions to certain poems. Some of these poems got a lot of attention when they were first published, and others have not had many eyeballs on them. I know my poetry is my most popular writing, so I wanted to share these newly rewritten works:
1.
The World of Work is a rant against modern technology and its consequences, and more specifically how much hold the smart phone has over me and everybody else.
2.
Your Smiles is a romantic poem I have worked on for years and years — since 2018, in fact. At last, I can finally say it’s done. This is one of my proudest pieces of writing.
3.
Hamlet Refuses the Dagger is a poetic exhortation against suicide and cosmic ungratefulness.
4.
The Wings is one of the earliest poems I wrote as an adult. It’s not my best romantic poem, but I have endeavored to make it better.
Odds and Ends:
I did a little bit of touch-up on the first chapter of a fantasy story that I will get around to writing some day. I really do need to write more of it, because I am so happy with this start:
Thank y’all so much for reading and subscribing. I promise to publish more frequently in the future. Please share this site with your friends and family and anyone else who might have an interest in my work.