2019 Weekly Writing Log, Part Nine

This week has been a week, let me tell you. I actually had to cancel one of my classes on Thursday because I was too distraught by someone's bullshit to get my act together on time. Why are people like this, honestly. And then, on top of that... Actually, you know what, it doesn't matter. The important thing is that, despite everything, the work gets done. Here is what got done this week:

- I finally responded to all the gorgeous comments my stories have gotten on AO3. Hooray! This doesn’t count any of the comments on my collection of Legend of Zelda meta, which… I will respond to one day, maybe. A lot of the people who’ve left comments seem to be Angry About Something. I genuinely respect their opinions, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day for debating the finer points of Zelda lore to be anything remotely like a priority.

- I was energized by good time spent with good friends last weekend, and I was also able to post comments on a few other people’s stories on AO3. For the first time in a very long time! It felt wonderful!!

- I sent out a few more batches of sticker orders with ink doodles. This has been really fun, and I’m really enjoying myself. I’m surprised and honored that my silly and amateurish artwork has received any attention at all on Etsy. I’m considering doing limited reprints of three of my zines, but we’ll see.

- I finished editing and formatting the text of the Hiromi Kawakami zine I’m putting together. I’m still not 100% satisfied with my translation, but the original story continues to amaze me. I’ve been getting along really well on Twitter with the editor-in-chief of a small British press (that’s actually an imprint of a larger conglomerate, but aren’t they all) that has published some of the author’s other work, so I think I might send a copy of the zine to him when it’s finished. Probably nothing will happen, but who knows?

- I finished putting together the syllabus for a brand-new class about Japanese science fiction and fantasy! I’m really excited about teaching this in the spring. The enrollment maxed out in the first hour of the first day of pre-registration, and it looks like the class is going to be full of MA students, MFA students, and senior undergrads. This is the best possible class dynamic I could ask for, and I think we’re going to have a fun semester.

- I finished the rough drafts of Chapter 18 and Chapter 19 of Malice. Chapters 22 and 23 are already written; so, if I can finish Chapter 20 and Chapter 21 this month, that means I will have written half of a full-length novel this year. Good work team!! Biceps emoji fire emoji champagne emoji heart heart heart.

- I also finished the final story in A Hero’s Inventory. It nicely ties up all the themes that were introduced and developed in the previous stories – at least I think so. I’ve been editing it as I go along to keep it at around 1,000 words, but I’m going to take another week to add a bit more polish before posting it.

- I’ve started to think about how I can develop the story I wrote for the Ganondorf zine into something that’s a bit longer and (hopefully) more interesting. I want to keep it more or less canon compliant, as well as short and accessible, but I can’t stop fanatisizing about how cool it would be to walk through a ruined castle under the sea. I wish I had stronger artistic skills, because I can visualize it perfectly to the tune of Austin, Atlantis.

- Yes I like Homestuck, don’t judge me.

I hope everyone reading this has had a wonderful week filled with powerful creative energy and no mean people, and that everyone doing Nanowrimo this year is in a good and happy place surrounded by supporters. Let's do this thing! Let's make these stories happen!!