April 2023 News

Happy April! I've got no April fool's nonsense for this post. Already got that out of my system.

We had some funs in March.

Wife and I saw Steel Panther! That's a bucket lister for me...  which is good because I don't think sweet wife wants to see them again. 😃

Went to the Georgia Aquarium with all the chirren and then some. I took a ton of pics, but this is my favorite.

We went to a ... drive-in laser show? Wifel and her friend organized this. All I did was drive. It was awesome. If we do it again, I'm bringing some sorta enhancements.

Let's get into the meat n taters.

Writing

My copy editor returned my book on the 27th and I've been blazing through it. This was his second read-through and while he isolated considerably less concerns than on his first, it took some time. Surely because the book is ~850 pages. I've crushed most of the small quick changes and am left with, at the time of writing this, 150 comments left to address. 

Some of these late-stage comments are merely observations, like these:

Elaga's poor shins.

Vyker is conflicted.

The majority of the comments are more like this:

This one's a quick fix. Most late-stage edits are.

I think I'll release the book in late July or early August. That gives time to finalize the manuscript and rouse up some hype.

I've assembled a list of ARC readers. These are folks who will get an early copy of the book in exchange for an honest review when it launches, or before if the site where they'll review it will let them. 

Once ARCs are sent out I'm opening this puppy up for preorders, and I'm going to commit shameless acts to pursuade you to buy yours. 

I'm tossing around the idea of having an in-person launch party. Unsure how much attention such a thing would garner, but it's a possibility. And I've been thinking of it happening in a bar-type scenario. Or a brewery...

Paludarium

It's impossible to get a flattering picture.

The Kingdom of Zeal thrives. We've added some life. 

The pond was becoming overgrown with algae, so I deemed it time to add a goldfish to the population. Rowan and I went to a nearby pet store and I went overboard. 

We got 2 African dwarf frogs, a goldfish, and a black racer snail.

The frogs are my favorite addition.

They explored the place and eventually settled in the grass.

These guys crack me up.

Between me and you, I regret getting a goldfish. This one's a cow, slurping up all the algae and displaying near-zero intelligence. I believe that goldfish, much like gerbils and pugs, are man-made aberrations: dysfunctional and yearning for apocalypse.

Turbo, the black racer nerite. This guy roomba's around the tank cleaning glass and stones.

I found a frog in the garage the other day and made him a temporary guest in the Kingdom of Zeal. He's a too large to live their full time, even if he manages to stay full on flies, spiders, slugs, and snails. I need more non-weed plants in the terrestrial parts. 

Speaking of snails, they're taking over. 

I named him Silverchair

These little fresh-water snails are all over the place.

Caught the frog using the shell-fountain as his personal bidet.

Hans! He's so sneaky, but was curious about all the new guests. Soon enough he got back to tunneling, his forever pastime.

Kayaks

We had a record month. Performed 466% better than March 2022, which was our first March to be open. 

I'm looking forward to it heating up so I can pull kayaks around again. That might seem like a weird thing to miss but compare it to sitting at a desk all day long saying "Have you tried restarting?" and I think it will all makes sense. 

Had some rainy deliveries lately.

Had some shiny deliveries too.

Oh, guess what else. We got merch.

Next Month

ARCs will have been sent, and possibly some reviews for this book will be available! Preorder site will be live. Yak slinging will be in full force. Merch store will be online. Time'll tell what else.

See you then

dtl