Red Light Bytes: 12-8-2023
Catching Up on the Latest with 365 Infantry
This one is going to be very different.
No story this week, no prepared itinerary of cultural hors d'oeuvres, just an honest update of where things are at with the series, myself, and the future.
As ominous as that all sounds, let’s get things straight right here and now:
No we’re not going anywhere
No we’re not delaying anything
No we’re not cancelling anything
The long and short of it is that we are hauling ass on getting Issue 7 together. Writing took longer than anticipated because of real-world problems happening in the background, which had a knock-on effect across production. We’re in a much better position now than several weeks back, but it has been a frustrating process of getting the ship righted after weeks of coming up emptyhanded.
This isn’t a time for passing blame, nor is it the time where I reveal a secret loathing for the project, because I don’t have one. What I am is burnt out. I haven’t had a chance to really read, watch, or listen to the things that get me jazzed and thinking about new stories, and being swamped with work here and on other gigs has led to ideas coming slow, and the mind easily wandering.
It’s a bit of a learning curve lesson, but a necessary one: I’m not bottomless in my abilities. There is a time when I simply have given everything I have and have nothing left in me. I won’t wax poetics about it either because it really is a most annoying place to be in; when you want to do more, but you can’t.
The dream of 365 Infantry is something colossal. A story built from sprawling narratives, a world so full and vibrant that there is room for every kind of story imaginable. A simple love story, an earth-shaking conspiracy, a ten-ton heap of chaotic adventure sat behind the wheel or on the seat of an incredible motoring machine. The hope is not just to tell short stories in the classic pulp and speculative fiction vein, but to explore the world through music, comics, audio series, games, animated shorts.
All that stops when I’m unable to muster up the gumption and the ideas.
So, with all that prattling out of my system, where does that leave us at the moment? Simple: show goes on.
Starting December 18th, 365 Infantry #7 rides into your inboxes and onto Substack and the week-long crusade doesn’t end until December 22nd. To make up for this week, I might slip a little something under the tree for Christmas on the 25th, but as I’ve said previously, no guarantees. Although…I do love me holiday specials.
After the release of the December behind-the-scenes article, I am going to go blackout mode as I did earlier this year in the run-up to the Spring 2023 issue. All normal weekly and monthly posting will be suspended. This will not only be time spent on hammering out the vision of the series going forward, but also how we go about posting here on Substack. But above all else, this will be time where I take a much needed break from the constant need for “content.”
I’m at a point where I know I need it, and I’d rather recharge to produce the best work I have in me, than keep running myself into the dirt at the risk of diminishing creative returns. I also want time to focus on other creative projects so I’m not just dumping all my ideas into the 365 mold. Heavens to Betsy, I don’t mind writing about humans, honest!
It won’t all be quiet on the Western front as there will be book releases during those intervening months, and you can bet your bottom dollar I’d like you all to know. Work has commenced on our 2023 Annual Collection cover, and we also have two other prospective books in the works: an Electric Anthology covering all the supplementary flash fiction and short story collections released under the Electric Extras banner this year, and the official novella of our paid-sub serial Steeled Spies, current working title “The Short-Circuit Revolution.”
So that’s the long and short of it. We’re hammering away on our Winter 2023 issue, and all normal posting on the Substack will be suspended after December and until the release of the Spring 2024 issue, with exceptions made for the announcement of new releases and promotions, of which there will be a few.
I’ll leave you with a taste of things to come, and as always, May God Bless You and this Force. Will talk soon.
