On boxing day, kaiju and success
I promise they're related or at least not total non sequiturs - except Boxing Day
Happy Boxing Day! No, it’s not the day when you finally snap and get into fisticuffs with that family member. In the former Commonwealth countries, it’s the day after Christmas. The etymology is debated but no dukes involved.
This year has been a tough one for me, including loss, distraction and dissatisfaction. However there have been successes along the way.
Celebrating success
I know I don’t do this often enough. Funnily enough, the one place I regularly do this is when I go for a run — I might tell myself it was hard, but I also say I did it.
I published A Broken Fighter on Bloody Sands, book 3 in the Lyra Cycle (and even came up with a long title for it — I curse you past self). It was a tough slog at times with aforementioned loss, distraction and dissatisfaction. But I did it!
Jeannette Bedard, my Armchair Alien co-conspirator and I finally had our 2020 Comic Con. Not only was it a success in terms of book sales but it was loads of fun.
I wrote the card story (aka an Echo Eris tale), and I still like it! I count that as a success.
On a personal note, I figured out what I wanted for day job and I grew more beans in my garden — yes, that is a success! And I finally made the pair of pyjama pants I’ve had the pattern for since early days of the pandemic. And I love them.
I could go on now that I’m on a roll, but I want to get to the Kaiju (and don’t want to bore you).
But what about you, any successes that you kind of forget about but should really be celebrated more?
Kaiju and logic puzzles
I swear these are sort of related. I guess another success this year is I finally figured out how to write logic puzzles. As I puzzler, I’d solved them for years but couldn’t get my head around how to write them. However, Jeannette Bedard (aforementioned Armchair Alien co-conspirator) has written them and she inspired me — I was determined.
But what does that have to do with kaiju?
I just finished The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi — it was so much fun! But also touching, but also full of adventure. And it was so much fun. Can recommend. I’ve never really paid attention to kaiju stories, except for the occasional movie, but I think I know enough to say this a bit of a different take on the kaiju story.
And it inspired me to create a logic puzzle. I can’t use the names of well-known kaiju, because they’re trademarked. However, apparently ‘kaiju’ is just Japanese for ‘Strange Beast’. I also can’t use anything from Scalzi’s book because of copyright but hopefully it’s strange beast enough.
Writing update
I’ve finished Grim’s tale about how said cat ended up on the Lyra (though it’s not so much Grim’s story, but he does play a role). I guess this could have gone in the successes, though I’m pretty sure future self is going to be cursing present self for this story.
It’ll be coming to Armchair Alien in January, so keep an eye out there.
I have one more piece of non-Lyra, non-Bloodborne Pathogens writing to finish up then it’ll be back to the main worlds.
Books for your TBR shelf
Obviously, I recommend The Kaiju Preservation Society. But, you can also still get this huge boxset of urban fantasy books — including A Scarlet Fever — for free!
Where to find my books
If you’d like to read any of my scifi or urban fantasy books, you can find them at your favourite online retailers. Or you can buy them direct from me on the Armchair Alien store.
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