2021 was an absolute trainwreck, in multiple ways. I lost the first four months of it—no work at all—and had a major routine change halfway through it when my commute went from seven minutes to thirty-five, and I went from being home 99% of the day to being out 99% of the day. The kinds of work you can do in a coffee shop are very different from the kinds of work you can do at home with a stationary set-up, so the disruption basically went “major disruption, nothing done—a few months where you’re getting your feet under you—major disruption, trying to get things done—try to make up for that in the last quarter of the year.”
It amazes me I got anything done at all. But let’s talk about what I managed despite the upheaval.
WRITING
Writing remains my bread-and-butter, the consistent money-maker. I published four books in 2021, three novels and one collection:
• Dragons’ Fealty
• Scions’ Flight
• Coracle 1
• To Discover and Preserve
I also wrote one standalone short, “Silver and Gold,” which will end up in next year’s holiday collection.
I did a lot of writing in 2021, though, that isn’t done yet—this is good! This means I’m going into 2022 with projects I can complete. In particular, I wrote nearly a novel’s worth of work while rewriting Zafiil, I nearly finished the next Alysha series book (my next target, hoping for Jan 2022), continued working on Coracle 2, started a gamelit novel, and a holiday novella which will probably get wrapped up next year.
This was the first year I did dedicated “planning” work. Usually I don’t bother to outline stories unless they need the development, and I’m about to start on them… but in 2021, I wrote dedicated outlines for future projects. I also wrote out a detailed plan for the unicorn (Le’enle) collection I want to Kickstarter next year, if I have time.
• Planned Le’enle collection + KS.
• Outlined KH5
• Outlined Qora novel
This was the first year I was asked to do more than one guest post, so… I did! One on blurbing for the Mad Genius Club, and one on ATH.
I feel pretty good about where I am, writing-wise, going into 2022. And since “publish at least four books a year” is my standing goal, I’m satisfied that I managed.
ART
My art process (I have discovered) is the most vulnerable to change. Having a big workspace, with a camera set-up and all the tools I need nearby, isn’t necessary for me to draw, but it makes a big difference in how often I do and what I finish. I can haul things with me to paint in coffee shops, but the projects are going to be smaller and more tactical—“I need this for this book” rather than “this would be a fun thing to work on while chatting with people on Twitch.” I also had a pretty cool plan worked out with the school about doing art on-campus which fell through for various reasons… big disappointment there.
Nevertheless, I managed to do some streaming, and oddly, being out frequently tumbled me into a gallery showing at the coffee shop, where I sold 7 out of 9 of the posters I hung. That was successful enough that I’m thinking of investigating new show options in 2022.
I finished three large paintings and a handful of smaller pieces, filled two normal sketchbooks (and the usual run of smaller journals, used for making lists/taking notes). And I designed a new badge for patrons, this one for my book backers. I’ve been wanting to do that one for a while so I’m glad I finally got to it.
I also doodled in five books for a giveaway I participated in, and I sold two doodled-in books. Both to Sheltie. Hi, Sheltie. XD
OTHER BUSINESS STUFF
In bullet form!
- Talks: I had a lot of talks planned for 2021 that got canceled, but I did zoom-run a couple of panels for Anthrocon.
- Crowdfunding: I ran one (very successful!) Kickstarter in late November, which I should finish up fulfilling in January.
- Patron platforms: I’m still maintaining Patreon, and added Locals to my portfolio. I’m not sure how I want to handle patronage in the future; multiple platforms feel cumbersome, but I’d like to have options for people who prefer to use one platform over another. My plan for 2022 is to continue with the two I’ve got and evaluate at the end of the year whether the community seems more robust on one or the other.
- Social Media: I continue to feel like social media has a lot of pitfalls for me personally, but I did return to Twitter and I feel like that experiment has gone all right. I don’t know that I want to branch out from that, though.
- Website: In 2021 I did some experimentation with running my own ecommerce site but the tax laws are too irritating for a single proprietor (or at least, this sole proprietor). So I am back on Etsy for now. I also re-did my wordpress theme, twice. I still don’t like it, but I don’t think I’m going to like any of it. I miss my old site.
- Wiki: When I couldn’t think of anything to do (or when I needed a way to ease into writing), I updated the wiki. Enormously helpful resource. I don’t know if anyone else uses it, but I’m glad I have it. It now has 941 content pages and 461 images…! And the statistics page also tells me there have been almost 16,000 edits since the wiki was set up. 48 people have registered—thank you, 48 people, for the help you’ve given me.
- Discord: Early in 2021 I shut down my Patreon Discord server, which I think was a good decision because it allowed me to examine my relationship with realtime chat (and to consider, at length, how I interact parasocially). After nearly a year, I feel like I understand better what messes me up about chat and what boundaries I need to put on it in order to feel safe and not consumed by it. My household wifi blocks Discord, so when I started experimenting with it again at the end of the year, I could only use it for a few hours a day, and that worked better than I expected. I will probably start a small server in the new year, but it won’t be the big production it was when it was for-pay, and I won’t be on it constantly, the way I was before. We’ll see how that experiment goes.
PERSONAL
Finally, I feel it would be appropriate to mention a few personal items relating to 2021.
Discovering that nearly all covid deaths in the non-elderly are related to metabolic syndrome was a personal wake-up call. I do not want to be that person. Since January, I’ve lost 15 pounds through intermittent fasting (I’m at 18/6, for those of you who will ask), and got off the only medication I was on. I feel much better, and I fit into my old jeans from my college days… which… I guess was a great pay-off for never throwing them away? Past Me’s optimism was warranted after all!
Controlling when I ate took care of a lot of my weight issues, but since I’d like to lose maybe another five I’m going to start looking at what I’m eating and see if I can adjust my diet to something a little less “I’m missing an internal organ so I default to eating easy-to-digest things” and a little more “I don’t run on carbs.” I’ve also started walking daily, once on weekends and twice on weekdays. I don’t think of this as exercise. More like ‘move and think’ time, because moving helps me think.
Related to ‘helping me think,’ I spent a lot of 2021 examining my relationship with technology and realtime. I wake up early (around 5 am) and spend at least half an hour quietly doing non-technology things: I go for my first walk, I practice handwriting, I read the Bible, or a classic book, or I read a little of one of my language textbooks and practice some of the exercises in it. When I’m out, I try to be mindful of how much I’m using my phone; I make conscious choices not to whip it out when I’m waiting in line, or when I’m bored, and instead try to participate more fully in whatever’s around me, and whatever I’m feeling (even if it’s boredom). I’ve felt like technology is slowly overtaking the pauses in my life that I used to need so my subconscious could churn away on whatever it needed to work on, so my goal was to reclaim those pauses. Doing this has taught me that technology inspires a freneticism that uses up a lot of energy and cope. At first, slowing down made me anxious—what was I missing, why was I not getting as much done? But now that I’ve been working at this for a year, I’ve discovered I only felt like I was getting things done, and the things I was missing weren’t necessary.
The only thing I miss is talking with people.
To deal with that, I decided to interact more completely with human beings in front of me, which has led me to have lots of odd and interesting revelations. The most bizarre and repeatable is that if you are fully present during a random interaction with a stranger, it always goes better than if you’re not. You don’t even have to be smiley and enthusiastic for this to work, 9 times out of 10. If your energy level is “I am here and paying attention to you, and only you” then you get a very different response from “I am wrapped up in my own head.” It is bizarre how much free stuff people give me when I am present in their moment with them, and how much better they treat me.
“Put down the phone/tablet/etc. when someone is talking to you” is a good way to start on this path if you want to try it. If you do it enough times, you will begin to notice how infrequently other people do it, and realize how rude it is.
So that was 2021. I feel I rescued it from the wreckage, but it was not my best year (sales were particularly abysmal). 2022 is going to be better.
How did yours go? And what would you like to see from me in 2022?
Or at least, I intend it to be relaxing. Hopefully it delivers.
4:22 minutes
Materials:
- Pen: Moonman Starry Glass dip pen, Mars: https://www.jetpens.com/Moonman-Starry-Sky-Glass-Dip-Pen-Mars/pd/31536
- Paper: Strathmore Writing Series 500, lined: https://www.jetpens.com/Strathmore-500-Series-Writing-Pad-8.5-x-11-Lined-50-Sheets/pd/15322
- Ink: Robert Oster, Rose Gilt Tynte: https://www.jetpens.com/Robert-Oster-Rose-Gilt-Tynte-Fountain-Pen-Ink-Shake-N-Shimmy-50-ml-Bottle/pd/25170
In which I talk about the paper, the paint, and the experience of oils versus gouache. Fun stuff, will do more.
Thank you Locals supporters! Your contribution to my art war chest here is what's powering these experiments and videos. For now I'm keeping them public but I may start doing some subscriber-only videos if you all are interested.💖
Thanks for your comments yesterday on the business post... all very provocative, in a good way. I'll try to respond to all of them today.
Some Alysha misc now, since I'm gearing up for the results of the Kickstarter!
Petrov is giving away coupon codes for every book in the Alysha series (and has some leftover coupons for Marda and the business book). You can pick those up here (and please do! The books are bought already, someone should use them!) https://twitter.com/PetrovNeutrino/status/1457344535843987461
Our own @JudasComplex sent along a sample of the Faith in the Service audiobook, which I've attached for your delight! I... haven't had a chance to listen to it. Don't ask me about my past week and a half or so. Putting it here will guarantee I get to it.
After hearing the amused comments during the livestream, I went ahead and added all the ship type illustrations I have inked from the 90s to the wiki. Glory in the rampant adorableness of their anthropomorphic stylings! See those ...
A little comedy today, at least in the link. Transcript follows.
Hi, all. Welcome to this episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
A while back I was introduced to a comedy sketch about Cuban coffee by a Mexican comedian, Gabriel Iglesias. ( The sketch begins with him greeting all his fellow Latinos and then backing up to say ‘but we’re all different, aren’t we’ which is a segue into a demonstration of how different Hispanics speak Spanish.
It is hilarious. First, because I am a Spanish speaker and a linguistics hobbyist, and his portrayal of various accents resonated with my experiences in trying to make sense of them myself… Not always easy, since from culture to culture, slang and accent are often totally different (and sometimes grammar! Spaniards use a grammatical construct that has died out in many other Spanish-speaking countries, the plural “you.”)
I also loved it because the Cuban coffee part is real. I grew up with Cubans. I know how we are....
One of the most common things I hear (and say) right now is "the asymmetry is the story." Here's one about how none of us are innocent of the sins we hate in others.
Hi, all. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Jaguar’s Heart.
It’s been weeks since the Baen’s Bar incident and I’m still thinking about it... because the longer I do, the more I feel, overwhelmingly, that it’s obvious that the problem is deeper than “this forum was saying stuff that offended us.” We have to back up to the glaring fact that people on opposite sides no longer consider each other human. Nothing I say will matter because the people disagreeing with me don’t think I’m human. They have denied my humanity; they have not bothered to listen to my beliefs, or have fake-listened to them in that way that people do when they’re so ready to prove you wrong that they’re only using your speech to provide talking points for their own ideas.
We have forgotten how to listen.
Increasingly, we have also ...
We’re just about at the midpoint of 2025, so I thought today would be a good day to do a Jaguar check-in! What a weird year it’s been. Very busy, family-wise, with lots of both good and challenging changes; I am using up a lot of time on that, but how is that news? You know how it goes.
My current major project is finishing up the second Jokka collection and mailing all the Kickstarter prizes. That should be wrapped up next month sometime, when we start the Red Honey serialization. I tell you, it’s a wild to be scanning old sketchbooks, only to find sketches of the Red Honey characters from the 2000s! This story has been on the backburner a long time! I also unearthed a lot of sketches from the development of the jokka.org website, which I used the wayback machine to archive (as much as possible). I’m thinking of restoring some amount of it to my current website, which is my other major project right now: my website. I feel like ...
I want to do these badge designs for things like shirts, acrylic pins, and the quiz! What design do you like? There are four "head and bust" styles and two "full body" styles.
As you all know (she says), we’ve reached the end of our last serial, Live, Love, Level, and I’ve been dragging my heels about what to do next… mostly because it’s hard for me to write more than one story at a time and if a serial goes on long enough, I’ll inevitably be working on another project. But I had a brainstorm when the Kickstarter got us every stretch goal except the Red Honey novella, which some of you have been waiting for, for decades. That story’s already 5000 words toward an expected 1,5000 (I know, I know) and the Kickstarter has definitively proved that the Jokka still have fans who want more stories.
SO! Our next serial will be Red Honey, the story of how the Jokka moved out of the nomadic age into the age of settlements. Some of you might remember the seeds of that evolution in Kediil’s second adventure, “New Stories.” And Roika and Keshul talked briefly about the first Jokku settlement during Pearl, hinting that there was some drama involved. Well, there is, ...
KICKSTARTER KICKSTARTER GO GO GO
The Jokka kickstarter launches Thursday! And runs for 12 days, so if you want any of the original art (or one of the few “get yourself drawn as one of the Jokka” slots), go sign up to be notified of launch!
ON THE HORIZON: A LOT MORE ART
Scott Adams is fond of saying that you either want something, or you decide. That if you’re in the ‘I want’ phase, you don’t actually take steps; things only start happening when you have decided they’re going to happen. And I, ariisen, have finally decided I’m sick of not scanning and archiving my sketchbooks and turning them into stuff you can enjoy, like art books and prints and wiki images! I’ve already done Sketchbooks 1-10, and I’ve made a start on the next set of ten.
My plan is to run a Kickstarter for the first art book in a month or two (so if you’re a fan of my art more than my writing, your campaign is coming!) and use that as the proof-of-concept for the process for the remaining 200 or so… see where the issues are, streamline where I can, order proofs of the art book and decide what paper I like and what kinds of covers are economically feasible. I’ve timed myself and it takes about two hours to scan one sketchbook, if I stand there and do nothing but turn pages. I don’t think I can make that part go by faster, but I might be able to do something about the post-processing phase. Let the experimentation begin!
While I’m doing that, I’ll be posting some of the scans here! These posts will be separate from Back in Time Tuesday, which is for finished artwork dug out of the closet from whatever time period I feel like sharing. This means the Patreon will be getting EVEN MORE ART.
I’m debating right now whether the art sharing will be my “serial” until I’m ready to serialize new fiction. Someone also suggested writing wiki/worldbuilding entries as serial content, which might be fun. But I’m still only wanting to do those things—I definitely haven’t decided. Until then, there definitely will be an art explosion. I’ve montaged some things up there as demonstration of what you have to look forward to!
If you are a lurker, now’s a good time to decide whether you want to subscribe to contribute to my coffee fund. I do, in fact, literally drink a cup of coffee while trapped in my laundry room, turning pages and leaning on the drier! Or if you’re a paying subscriber, consider buying me a monthly coffee if you’re currently in the ‘tossing the jaguar a buck’ club. My coffee capsules are closer to $2 after shipping. XD
We’re all overloaded and looking for moments of beauty and cheer and inspiration in our days. A lot of this older artwork is silly, or delightful, or cartoonical, and I think it might be just what we need.
Seriously, check out happy bee guy there. What even was that. Lol.😂
Anyway, I'm doing the things! Jokka! Art! Fun! Forth!
