Hi Friends,
I hope you’re doing well. It’s been a wild week for sure. My post-Covid week+ was exhausting and inspiring. Earlier this month I spent a week in Nashville installing, babysitting, and removing an event I designed for the release of Carrie Underwood’s latest album for my client. While a big success for the wonderful folks at UMG-Nashville, my parting gift was direct contact with the pandemic. I spent a few days in bed and a few more on the couch. The aftereffects of the virus left me easily fatigued and battling a real fog in the brain. Last week I stared, mid-sentence, searching for a word—it’s been frustrating. But things have improved.
I took a three-day break from the Clarion West Write-a-Thon 2022—thank you to those who have donated—to attend HeroesCon in Charlotte in support of my podcast. (the above picture) The comic book convention was a large boost to my spirit. I scoured the aisles of Artist’s Alley and walked away with 48 new guests for the show! What I didn’t expect was reconnecting with friends from my years in the industry who I hadn’t seen in over 25 years. Many great memories were shared and new ones made. The long hours and constant talking took its toll on my recovering body, but the joy outweighed the discomfort.
If you care to check out the Big Story Podcast, you can find all the episodes here.
Also, I spotted a few copies of my recent comic, Crossover #1 on a few tables for sale. Also, a guy who hired me to illustrate the cover for his debut comic in 1996 asked me if I would be willing to sell him the original artwork. Small miracles. Now I need to locate the art.
The three days away from the keyboard did not help my Write-a-Thon word-count, but I’m sure to pick up the pace and regain the lost ground. Now that Covid is in the rearview mirror, I’ve returned to the Flatiron Writer’s Room, a writing coworking space here in Asheville. I go there most every morning to work on my book. The limited distractions and comeradre is a great boon to productivity.
To further support the Clarion West fundraiser, I accepted their gracious offer to host a weekly writing session on Zoom. It’s an hour-long Drafting Sprint session for those needing the added encouragement to just get the story down on the page and not worry about the quality. It’s good to shut the internal editor off from time-to-time and just write. Writers from India, the Philippines, South America, and across the US attended the session. I hope even more people join-in next week.
Now the obligatory pitch. Please consider a donation to Clarion West in my name. I wouldn't spend these six weeks awkwardly promoting myself if I didn’t believe in the organization. Also, I would do this if I didn’t think I could do better than last year—but I’ll need your help on that end.
Quick side-note; I’m trying out Substack in lieu of Mailchimp this Write-a-Thon. So far it’s an easier interface. If you ended up on this list and you’re one of my advertising clients, I apologize. Please unsubscribe, unless you love to support speculative fiction and comic books, then stick around.
Alright, I’ve rambled plenty, back to writing.
All my best to you,
-Alex