Forgive me, but I must begin by complaining about our digital masters, of the email sub-type. The latest word from the people trying to turn email into a "closed garden"1, namely Google and Microsoft, is that the best way to ensure "deliverability" is to make sure you post to your subscribers regularly, preferably at least monthly. For those not into the finer points of email, poor deliverability means that Google might route a message into the Spam or Promotions folder, and Microsoft might...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
It's probably fairly common knowledge that the vast majority of software development projects take much more time, more effort, and more money than planned. There was a time where the majority of development projects got cancelled before they delivered a working product. Software project managers had a standing joke: The project is 90% complete, now it's time to get started on the remaining 90%! That line captures my feelings for working on this novel. Just as it seems like I'm in the home...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Creating each newsletter is a weird beast. There are two things that make getting one out the door difficult. The first is not making any progress. When there’s nothing to report on, I draft something that’s just another writer complaining about being stuck. I don't think many want to read that. On the other hand when I’m making great progress, I’m too busy making progress for the distraction of a newsletter. These dispatches get written when I’m somewhere in between, either when I’m...
6 months ago • 3 min read
Can*Con is a science fiction and fantasy convention in Ottawa put on by The Rocket Words Society. I’m planning to be up there on Saturday the 18th, hoping to meet many new people and quite a few folks I’ve connected with online but never met in person. The convention is at the Brookfield hotel in Kanata. My original “I’m going to write a novel!” plan had me targeting Can*Con 2023 for the release of my book, but it’s a much longer, more frustrating, and more rewarding journey than I’d...
8 months ago • 1 min read
New Look, Who Dis? First a little housekeeping. This email is coming to you via Kit, a new email provider. I've made this change because MailerLite just halved the number of subscribers on its free plan. Not that I'm anywhere close to that limit, but this change signals the start of a process that Cory Doctorow so aptly named enshittification, and I've seen that process elsewhere, like at MailChimp, which has become borderline useless over time. I know I'm complaining about a service I get...
9 months ago • 4 min read