It's been a long time since I've done one of these, as most of my updates now go to Dot Club. A lot has happened since the last status update (from back in Sep 2020, I think?), which got retired when this blog switched from Wordpress to 11ty.

Well, what better way to start the new year with a fresh update on the cusp of the second month 🙃 Here we go...

Yet We Sleep, We Dream

The novel I spent last year sweating over has been drafted and revised. After going a round with a very capable international editor, I realised it would also be appropriate to find a sensitivity reader. That's where we're at right now.

I've not had luck with this in the past. Back in 2021, I reached out to a few sensitivity readers for O, swear not by the moon but heard back from nobody. Then the deadline hit and the story went out. I worry the same thing will happen again, even with more time in the schedule.

Crossing my fingers and toes that things go better this time around.

Redesigning my brain

It's been almost thirteen months since I stopped using Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. From a mental and emotional perspective, shit got weird over the first six months. Then it got weirder. I started seeing the world differently, felt less fried and more able to focus on what was in front of me. And when other triggers for distraction, compulsion and FOMO popped up, I found myself able to step away and not think about them anymore. And I could turn my attention to work that felt right for me to do.

I've been reflecting a lot on this, and can now confidently say I was not addicted to social media. Quitting felt good and wasn't too difficult, despite the visceral urges and mild physical jitters. I suspect I was highly conditioned to keep using it, the way someone might be conditioned to believe one way of life is the only way if they somehow un-learned other ways to live.

Certain influences and ways of being become ingrained, become habits that stop us from choosing otherwise. Over the past thirteen months, I've been un-learning, re-learning, and just learning. After a long stretch of feeling unsure and stressed out about my work, I'm finding joy in it again.

Other notes

Headspace digestives:

• Free Floating by Stefanie Simpson
• Schismatrix Plus by Bruce Sterling
• Sunburnt Country by Joelle Gergis
• Chokepoint Capitalism by Rebecca Giblin and Cory Doctorow
• This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.

WIP board:

• Yet We Sleep, We Dream, a chaotic Australian space-fantasy comedy romance where children of a changing climate meet the old gods of a long-dead world. Awaiting sensitivity review.
• "Lacewing", a time-travel sci-fi romance. In planning.
• The Satine Collection, a series of short sci-fi erotica set in a lunar correctional facility. Awaiting first draft.
• Sunset on a Distant World, a reverse age-gap adult-coming-of-age sci-fi bodyguard romance. Under revision.

Key dates:

• 24 JUL: Visiting Amber Daulton's blog
• 23 SEP: Yet We Sleep, We Dream release