No beating around the bush: I’m pushing 365 INFANTRY: Fall 2024 back by a week. Stories will start dropping Monday the 23rd thru Friday the 27th. Goal is to have the Quarterly and Alan Firedale live on Monday, and the consolation eBooks & MP3s sent to our Kickstarter backers by then as well. I won’t push our return (October 14th) back any further however. That date is set in stone.
In a moment of clarity from my usual grind-set work ethic, I asked myself this: would I rather be on-time, but publish a product I know isn’t to the standard myself or my readers hold me to? Or would I rather take the extra week, not have a realistic panic attack (if you know, you know) and make the best damn issue myself and my team have in us? And I’m choosing the latter.
In my rush to make this project monetizable, I’ve almost made the mistake that befell everything from Star Trek: The Motion Picture to Blood II: The Chosen—sending shit out before it’s done, or just barely done. And the difference between past premature births and my work is obvious: I don’t have a studio breathing down my neck. I have ME breathing down my neck, and as useful as the “rapacious businessman” (to quote Harlan Ellison) is, sometimes he needs to take a hike so the artist can make sure the work is actually done.
Kevin and I are putting finishing touches on art, I’ll finish editing from test drivers K. Paul and Daniel Watts’ notes, and I’ll be doing final assembly on Episode 7 of Alan Firedale (whose core mix by Brendan is done and sounds fantastic!) and the Quarterly.
That said…now that I have this extra week, I will be sharing teasers on Twitter/X and Notes, and I’ll be cooking up a few flash stories to tide you all over. We’ll have another on Friday as usual, but don’t be surprised if you find something in your evening inboxes during the week and the weekend.
For now, let’s check in on a panel from the latest from The Speedfreak Files. Back I go into the writer dungeon. I can’t thank you all enough for your patience. Keep hanging tight, the good stuff is on the way!