Sorry I’m a bit late with the update.

Hey, that kind of rhymes.

A bit late
With the up-date

Anyway.

So what did you do this week, champ?

This week was busy on the backend. I spent most of my hours whittling away at Codex lamenters. I rebuilt the entire codex inside Affinity Publisher. This was a cover to cover rebuild. Luckily I had all the contents done with only a few exceptions, so the process went rapidly.

To further make the task more difficult, I’ve been experimenting with Adobe alternatives. The price and terms of Adobe products are extortion, so I’ve been seeking alternatives for awhile. To that end, I finally made the jump on PC to Affinity products. I’m less than satisfied with some of the quirkiness of the programs, but, for the most part, they are ok. I made the switch to Blackmagic Da Vinci for video editing years ago, so I’ve been working towards this outcome for awhile. Adobe is largely dead to me, but I still don’t have a PDF program, which is critical to writing stories for the interweb. Almost all of the PDF programs are ass.

I miss Adobe.

Codex Lamenters looks pretty good. There are a handful of image goofs I’m trying to work out and I have to finish off the rules and tables. I hit all my goals with the project and although I’m nearly done, there will still be a few weeks before I release it. Writing rules is not my strong suit, but I want to get that section done. I’ve been debating about just dumping in some very basic rules, but there is a mechanic I created called “turn of fate” in the book that I want to make somewhat interesting. Maybe others will take interest in the book after I release it and improve the rules part of it? That would be cool if the Codex became something larger than myself and others wanted to contribute.

I’ve been going through older materials that I haven’t touched in awhile and simply re-reading them. This week included The Last Day and Housebands.

Housebands was the week prior, I guess. My “Top-Men” also looked at them, so I’m jumbling up my weeks.

There were no changes to The Last Day with the exception of a monologue by Steven that was made to sound a hair more natural. Both of these were given the old watermark treatment and posted to the site along with Star Trek and Able Squad.

Cool. What Else are you Up to?

Next on the agenda is Obi-Wan and Awaken. Did I mention that last week?

*checks notes*

I did.

So.

I know I said this would be done already. Kenobi had some revisions last week, but I’m preparing to add one more scene. I’ve got it outlined, so all I need to do is write out the dialog and insert it. The placement and rippling changes it causes have already been added to the script. The scene will get done this week. I guess to whet your appetite, despite no one actually reading this, the scene is between Anakin and Owen. This flashback of sorts gives context for later events in the film and for scenes in A New Hope. Contrived, sure, but Star Wars is horribly broken, continuity wise, so here we are. This will be the last in a series of flashbacks in the film.

After that is Awaken I suppose. Awaken is a tougher nut to crack because this requires reading the entire script with a critical eye. Not to spoil it for you, but I read the first ten pages and I was kind of disappointed. That disheartened me, but I’m going to start over again when my plate is clear and give the film its proper due. I really want to put a fork in Awaken, it’s been a long time coming, but I feel that monkey is never going to get off my back. I’ve identified a few themes in the script I want to emphasis and made some notes on how to enhance them. I’ll have to figure out how to layer them in after a full read through.

Then What Writer Man?

Then what? I wrote Able Squad Part II on my white board so that probably. I just do what the white boards tell me. I’m also going to revise the portfolio page for Able Squad because it looks a mess. I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself because Awaken is going to take a hot minute, but, for now, that’s the plan for writing. I’m leaning in to One Night With Michelle as the next full project. I want to get the site some exposure too, so I’ve been scheming schemes for that endeavor.

On the backend of the site I’ve got some housekeeping to do. Getting these updates back into an orderly fashion is task one. I’m also looking to redo the excerpts on my blog because they don’t show right on the Notes page, I’m building a standardized portfolio template, looking at responsive design changes, and thinking about improving the author element in these posts too (That’s the little box with my ugly mug in it).

Ok, kids. Time for your nap.

God Bless all of you reading this right now.

Talk to you next time.