I’ve neglected my blog.  Strangely enough, people appear to still be checking in from time to time.

A while back, I wrote a rather rambly post about the publishing industry and proposed an alternate idea, publishing communities. Since then, I’ve self-published (oh, sometimes I like to call it ‘indie publishing’, but really, that’s just semantics and pride) my collection of short stories, The Sentiments, which is selling like, uh, let’s see… what’s it selling like? Picture something that’s not selling. That’s what it’s selling like.

This kind of bothers me, because I consider myself a decent writer with something to say. I feel like, because of the politics underlying my writing, my chances of being picked up by a traditional publisher are slim enough that I haven’t bothered to submit. This isn’t just laziness; years of submitting poetry, short stories, and essays, and getting nothing but polite rejections, led me to re-evaluate the process of publishing. I like being an independent writer because I have complete control. Unfortunately, I also have control over distribution and publicity, and I lack the large networks and tools to really make those two key elements work. At this point my distribution is online and at a local artsy consignment shop.

Until I figure out how to distribute and market my books without giving them away or shoving them on my friends and relatives, I seem to have decided (without much conscious thought) to put my efforts elsewhere. I’m still writing, but have left the traditional fiction narrative for the interactive fiction of role-playing game material. Currently, I’m running a game for five friends in a setting that I am continuing to develop, called Dampbricks, or more broadly Semnavoldt, or more broadly still, Yardre. I also have joined forces with the upstart RPG publisher Nevermet Press. My first content there, the malachrome guard dog for the Loaerth setting, was posted April 2nd. I plan to continue as a contracted content developer with them for the Loaerth setting, investing my imagination and passion for these types of games in this young company that I think holds much promise and innovation.

Because I still have issues with the way that Americans approach “work” (or because my perception of “work” was perverted and skewed by an unimaginative and toilsome schooling that seemed to push a generally toxic version of success), I continue to scramble down a financial landslide while clinging to my unprofitable ideals. Since we need money to live, and since Leftunder Books, the bookshop and idealist publishing house, needs much more time and tender care and watering for it to grow up to be a vibrant entity, I’ve had to go back to the world of wage work in order for my wife and I to survive. Fortunately, as far as wage work goes, my current position as a barista at a regional coffee shop and roastery, is badass. I get deep discounts; get fed free coffee, tea, and Italian sodas while working; get tips on top of an almost living wage