Last week I wrote almost 16k (with an extra day off day job) and since it was so busy in the mornings (sarcasm), I even got to start on the new strip. Now I have to color the waves before putting them on Instagram, but meanwhile here’s a “scoop” – the cover and credits! 🙂

I started the coloring and lettering of the panels I have already done, but there’s still quite a lot of work to do. This week I hope to tackle a couple of shorter works for upcoming anthologies or to add words to some books. Like, a couple of additions to FEC11, which I completed last week. Then next week I’ll have very little writing and lots of editing, LOL!

Many writers say they can actually hear the voices of our characters – including yours truly. Now you have the scientific explanation. I’m definitely more of a “internal dialog” person, definitely not a “monologue”, hence why I thought writing screenplays would be a piece of cake. Or radio plays. They’re all dialog, right? Wrong. Lesson learned, back to prose.

A Kickstarter I backed because there are plenty of writers I know (including the one Planet Bob guy, whom I met at the Anthology Workshop in 2017) and I was curious. I’ll get only the ebook, but if you’re in the US there’s plenty more rewards! 🙂 And don’t you like the title? SPACE:1975 – A Blast of 1970s Style Space Opera Fiction. I loved Space 1999 and could probably write something for them as well. Maybe. One day.

How should artists deal with the pandemic? Like Dolly Parton! 🙂 Check how she steers her empire through the pandemic!

She has always known what the pandemic has forced many in the industry to realize: that diversifying your income streams is one of the smartest things an artist can do.

And for us indies it means don’t put all your eggs in one basket – and then licensing, of course. I still have to get to that, possibly next year. Like I mentioned in other posts, now is not a good time to take risks. But if I manage an early retirement, I’ll definitely look into it!

I happen to be a Generation X person – although in Italy it’s slightly different. My peers are still steady-job oriented and wouldn’t consider entrepreneurship, unlike Millennials. So if I get rid of the steady job, I might start exploring entrepreneurship, although laws in Italy are the most complicated in the world – which is one more reason why I want to move to another country to start a business.

Whenever I get to start working on my writing business, I’ll definitely consider Kickstarters and licensing. Meanwhile I’m just writing, so I’ll have a decent catalog by the time I’m ready to relaunch. Although I don’t see myself stopping writing to do something else.

Some writers drop everything writing to make licensing deals work. They lose writing time to business time. I could actually spend the rest of my adult life writing nothing, and making a boatload of money from licensing what I’ve already written.

I like writing too much to do that.

Like Kris, I’ll probably never be one of those writers. But I do hope eventually I’ll find the energy to concentrate on the business part of my writing, even though, like I said, it’s not easy in this country, and it adds to the stress I already feel. Like the biological clock saying “it’s been ten years, and you’re still at this stage? Gee, get moving!” – except I can’t, not really. Because I am mentally and emotionally exhausted.

So, we now know why we’re feeling like this! 😉 I’m currently low on #3 (although it was a bigger problem in the past), but the rest is more or less spot on.

I shall try not to take big decisions while in this state, just in case. This too shall pass. And when I’ll be Dolly’s age (approximately two decades from now), I hope to be able to be like her (extract from the article linked above again):

This is perhaps one secret to Parton’s widespread appeal: Just because she wants to be for everyone doesn’t mean she doesn’t stand for anything. Offending as few potential customers as possible is just good business. But when Parton explains the philosophies that drive her life and career, her answers are hardly corporate. “First of all, I’m not a judgmental person. I do believe we all have a right to be exactly who we are, and it is not my place to judge,” she says. “All these good Christian people that are supposed to be such good Christian people, the last thing we’re supposed to do is to judge one another. God is the judge, not us. I just try to be myself. I try to let everybody else be themselves.”

And here’s to hoping musicians can stop politicians from (ab)using their songs. Can Neil Young Block Trump From Using His Songs? It’s Complicated.

“Their best recourse is probably one that they have been using for many years,” he said, “which is to complain publicly and engage in shaming sessions, which very often have won.”

Wishing you all a wonderful week! 🙂