Status Report for February, 2026
Mar. 1st, 2026 12:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tuftearsHello everyone, welcome to March!
1464 words of new words in the Rose's Crime Spree in Nova Paree... Plus a bunch of edits. I got some negative reviews from one attempted first reader, so I shared the first three chapters with friends in Downtown, and feel somewhat relieved about how readable the thing is. I think it may be a case of mismatched expectations, I'm trying for a fast-paced breezy style, and they seem to want something more Tolkeinesque, delving into the details and minutae of the world.
That said, it did make me realize that I'm used to trying to squeeze words down to fit an arbitrary word count... But if it's not a short story, where the limits are around 4k to 10k (at the top), it's only bytes, so I don't need to sweat it so much. So I'll try and keep that in mind.
I have also continued working on the cover for the Rose's Crime Spree. I reworked one of the characters' hands but I'm still not completely happy with my hand-anatomy.
I finished the outline for Shakedown Cruise, the sequel to Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School. It looks really good! I have it out to review by a friend for a second opinion on whether it works as a story. The only thing that gives me pause here is that it could be a chonker of a book, around 200-300k words, unless I'm drastically overestimating the number of chapters. Arguably I could divide it into two books, making Timecrossed Engineer a trilogy rather than a duology, but I feel that it works better as a single book.
I got a new UPS, since the old one had started beeping, and it'd been a while. I'd already replaced the battery in it once.
Finished playing the Invincible. (7 hours-ish) If it weren't for the game making me a little nauseous, it'd be perfect, but the motion/angle is such that I can't play it for more than 30-60 minutes at a time. Good thing it's not that long. I enjoyed it as a science fiction story.
Finished playing Inspector Waffles. (3 hours) Fun and short point-and-click adventure. While there's a hunt-the-hidden-objects game, I don't feel like trying to 100% it, my gaming time is scarce enough already.
Finished playing Battle Suit Aces. (16 hours) Very queer-positive, fun mech deck-based game with enough room for customization to tailor your deck to your tastes, but I still want a good mech game where you can actually design mechs, not just insert various weapons on an existing chassis.
Currently playing Spider-Man. This is one of those open-world games so it'll last a while. I enjoy Spider-Man's light-hearted style and that I can actually try and sneak a bit to cut down on initial enemies rather than being forced into brute force from the get-go.
What's next? Taxes, probably. I hope to get some feedback on my outline for Shakedown Cruise, so I can start writing. I'd like to finish up the cover for the Rose's Crime Spree and maybe see it published in the coming months. Though I have been considering whether I want to try flogging it on one of the web serial publishing sites like Royal Road.
I'm also considering further marketing for Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School. That is, I need to do something, but what? o.o
Darn it, what twisted universe is this where introverts have to market their own books?!
1464 words of new words in the Rose's Crime Spree in Nova Paree... Plus a bunch of edits. I got some negative reviews from one attempted first reader, so I shared the first three chapters with friends in Downtown, and feel somewhat relieved about how readable the thing is. I think it may be a case of mismatched expectations, I'm trying for a fast-paced breezy style, and they seem to want something more Tolkeinesque, delving into the details and minutae of the world.
That said, it did make me realize that I'm used to trying to squeeze words down to fit an arbitrary word count... But if it's not a short story, where the limits are around 4k to 10k (at the top), it's only bytes, so I don't need to sweat it so much. So I'll try and keep that in mind.
I have also continued working on the cover for the Rose's Crime Spree. I reworked one of the characters' hands but I'm still not completely happy with my hand-anatomy.
I finished the outline for Shakedown Cruise, the sequel to Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School. It looks really good! I have it out to review by a friend for a second opinion on whether it works as a story. The only thing that gives me pause here is that it could be a chonker of a book, around 200-300k words, unless I'm drastically overestimating the number of chapters. Arguably I could divide it into two books, making Timecrossed Engineer a trilogy rather than a duology, but I feel that it works better as a single book.
I got a new UPS, since the old one had started beeping, and it'd been a while. I'd already replaced the battery in it once.
Finished playing the Invincible. (7 hours-ish) If it weren't for the game making me a little nauseous, it'd be perfect, but the motion/angle is such that I can't play it for more than 30-60 minutes at a time. Good thing it's not that long. I enjoyed it as a science fiction story.
Finished playing Inspector Waffles. (3 hours) Fun and short point-and-click adventure. While there's a hunt-the-hidden-objects game, I don't feel like trying to 100% it, my gaming time is scarce enough already.
Finished playing Battle Suit Aces. (16 hours) Very queer-positive, fun mech deck-based game with enough room for customization to tailor your deck to your tastes, but I still want a good mech game where you can actually design mechs, not just insert various weapons on an existing chassis.
Currently playing Spider-Man. This is one of those open-world games so it'll last a while. I enjoy Spider-Man's light-hearted style and that I can actually try and sneak a bit to cut down on initial enemies rather than being forced into brute force from the get-go.
What's next? Taxes, probably. I hope to get some feedback on my outline for Shakedown Cruise, so I can start writing. I'd like to finish up the cover for the Rose's Crime Spree and maybe see it published in the coming months. Though I have been considering whether I want to try flogging it on one of the web serial publishing sites like Royal Road.
I'm also considering further marketing for Timecrossed Engineer: Back to School. That is, I need to do something, but what? o.o
Darn it, what twisted universe is this where introverts have to market their own books?!
