Yoon Ha Lee, music edition (he/him)

Guilty as charged! /o\ I have not, I will add that to the list! XD

So, being a big fan of the original, I've been playing the (remarkably complete) early release of Slay the Spire 2. Overall review: it's excellent. Very much an update of the original game, playing fundamentally in the same way but with lots of new content. Perfect update.

I need to re-investigate Typora instead of shoveling everything through nano like a wimp!

My husband and I love Slay the Spire 2's co-op multiplayer already!! It's hard to find games with co-op that are pleasingly thinky but don't trigger my health stuff (e.g. I like FPSes and on good days we play Warframe together but I have wrecked hands & migraines lolsob).

...otoh I can tell you what pitch (rounded to the nearest equal temperament chromatic pitch) the sewing machine os thrumming at, which is objectively pointless information!!

Also forget my husband's shirt color the moment he leaves my line of sight because it's just not interesting or useful info in my daily life? I suppose I care that a shirt exists :p but since I don't personally use his shirt color to ID him, shrug emoji /o\

:support: I have ADHD and no trauma explanation. I -hate- heavy blankets and suspect I would stab my way out of a weighted one. Sympathies.

I also aggressively hate feeling TRAPPED, which includes sitting locked in place to see the screen. Sound I can appreciate while being free to move around! Which is a me problem. My husband and daughter are boggled that I struggle to binge-watch anything but again: I feel TRAPPED. 😅

I can differentiate faces okay if I put in the effort but I tend to not...even look at the screen a lot because I'm sketching other things or paying attention to the score and sound design! So in my case the biggest issue is apathy about face details 😅

dyed skein

dyed skein close-up

Cubase project ~screenshot

As a break from wrassling Cubase, aI dyed a skein. Stupidly pleased with myself.

(I'm a hobbyist and this is allowed to be inefficient and imperfect, I tell myself.)

Next dumbass project: dyeing skeins to -match my Cubase color scheme-!

A collage of four photos of jewelry made from dyed tigerseye, rainbow hematite stars, and swirly silver wire. There are two pendants, a pair of earrings, and a very elaborate cascade necklace.

It’s overcast here so I can’t get the colors to show up as well as I’d like in photos, but these four pieces are up on the website now! wyrdingstudios.com

I am curious: what are your comfort objects?

It's embarrassing how soothing I find basic blanket stitch (hand sewing/embroidery; I just learned there's a crochet one?!)

catten and catten plushie

Woodcarving knife or needle and thread if I need to use my hands. Also a plushie catten.

(Also, I haven't even touched on self-employment tax in the USA but regardless: DO THE MATH.)

Okay, I'm done talking shop about writing/publishing, I have practice scoring to picture schoolwork to dive into! :D

I've had advances from $2,000 (short story collection) to $6,000 (novel) to $250,000 (novel). These are not typos. I could absorb career risk because my HUSBAND has a breadwinner job with HEALTH INSURANCE. I'm not qualified to advise on individual writers' situations, but either way: DO THE MATH.

You CAN have contracts with language protecting you, e.g. "payment of BLAH on publication OR N months after delivery, whichever comes first" language, but this is NOT automatic.

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB. Please DO THE MATH on ROI. (more)

(c) If you're lucky, the book gets scheduled so it comes out a year-ish after D&A. If you delay or the editor does or the book is rescheduled, the "on publication" payment may be delayed too. (more)

"and acceptance" usually means you get paid (b) AFTER edits. Even if you're fast, you can't start revising until the editor gives you their notes. Notes may be delayed for months (or a year-plus) because Life. Revisions may take multiple rounds before the (b) D&A payment is released. (more)

The LORGER the advance, the longer negotiations are likely to take. Your "on signing" payment may reach you 6 or more mos. after the handshake agreement and often a couple mos. after ACTUAL signing.

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

(b) D&A (delivery & acceptance) IF you hand in the book on time. (more)

Hypothetical: you're now looking at 3 separate years (if not LONGER) for those payments. So we're at $60,000 / 3 (if split evenly) = $20,000/year over 3 years on the advance.

DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

Re: (a) signing: you (& agent) are likely in negotiations for several mos. if not longer. (more)

:sigh: Sf/f publishing income math that I feel SHOULD be common knowledge but maybe isn't.

Scenario: you get/accept an offer on a book of $60,000 advance. DON'T QUIT YOUR DAY JOB.

1. Say payment's in thirds - (a) on signing, (b) on delivery & acceptance, (c) on publication. (more)

I'm close to filtering out all AOL emails that aren't on a whitelist of people I already know because life is too short. Sorry, AOL folks... (Gernert agents don't use AOL emails for official comms that I'm aware of lolllllll.)

scammer "Nora Bennett" claiming to be from The Gernert Company contacting me (Yoon Ha Lee) when my ACTUAL agent (Seth Fishman) is...at The Gernert Company

Funniest literary agent scammer to cross my desk: claiming to be at The Gernert Company; my actual agent @sethasfishman.bsky.social is...at...Gernert... :p

Also that book is already published. :p

My "insta-delete emails so *I* never see XYZ" email settings are aggro for a reason. :p

Lost Doctor Who and the Daleks episodes discovered in 'ramshackle' collection The Doctor's assistant Peter Purves was invited to a screening of the episodes in Leicester.

We got two more episodes of classic Doctor Who back!!!

The Dalek Masterplan, Episodes 1 and 3! Missing for decades!

www.bbc.com/news/article...

Curse you I desperately want this AU fic :D

(for reasons I imagine you understand, for SOME REASON while concussed I had a very hard time keeping track...of whom...I had told I was concussed...among my friends...)

<3 I'm on hiatus from writing while I work on the orchestration / media composition MFA lolsob. Which is also a lot of work but I am enjoying it so much. :D

...my husband says only I would consider a postgraduate degree with a nontrivial workload to be a welcome respite. /o\

Thank you for the kind words!