The One About My Unscheduled Pause

Why I took some time to think about life, writing and everything else?

I fell off a cliff three months ago.

Metaphorically speaking, of course. I’m not some ghost typing from the great beyond, but that would make a funny serial…

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Therapist: No, Zane. Bad writer, no biscuit.

Zane: Right yes, focus.

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Back to my new habit that has me looking over the edge of the abyss on the regular. And why, it’s sucking up a ton of time.

But for a mostly good reason.

One that’s not entirely driven by vanity or the terrifying prospect of my own mortality rushing at me faster than is decent, I promise.

I’m 39 and three quarters.

You know what that means.

Yup, some sort of idiotic crisis revolving around sports cars or young women, and me kicking and screaming as life drags me ever further away from my well-spent youth towards inevitable decrepitude and death.

Punctuated only by the regular milestones of taxes. ¹

But, I saw it coming!

I prepped for said crisis.

1. Finished my first book, I did. I realise now it’s my first draft of a novel, but life’s all about learning. Even if it feels a little late.

2. Then, I decided the best thing to do to feel young again is just spend more time with old(er) people. They’re great, fonts of wisdom, and they call you youngster.

3. No, actually to feel young again I got into shape, I realised feeling old is actually feeling tired or feeling weak. So go do a thing that makes you strong and full of energy.

So I got sweaty and slimmer and more zippy.

And dumb.

Because now I’m running.

On mountains.

A lot.

It’s giving me a great opportunity to explore the city around me, the one I thought I was leaving, but thankfully have decided to stay in. Oh yeah, that happened too. Did a recce, saw UK and Europe, and decided “not quite yet”.

But yes, I’m exploring the mountains around me, which will be great for Era 2, when my cyberpunk world is knocked on its ass back into dieselpunk fantasy.²

Back to the running

On mountains.

I’ve signed up for a 46 km race (that’s longer than a marathon — almost 10% longer). Because, I’m young and vital, dammit, and I’ll prove it by running up three mountains and back around in seven (to eleven) hours as I’m a sane person not going through any mid-life crisis at all.

This is our flat mountain and it’s pointy cousins. Screenshot from the race website, without permission. Feels like fair use.

My wife made me do it.

She’s just the best³.

Running takes time, so I’ve written less.

I’m healthier though, and if I starve myself and eat only broccoli for a month I can have six-pack washboard abs. But, I’ve let that one go too.

It’s a lot of effort and willpower and I’d rather put that into writing.

When I’m not running.

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Pro Tip: Getting fit and learning discipline is the only way that I’ve managed to finally write consistently. So for my heart and my novels I gotta keep running.

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You may have noticed a Prologue pop by.

If it went whoosh and you missed it, no matter, here it is again.

It’s for Slave to Memory, I’m serialising the improved draft here now that my beta readers kind and generous friends have shared very useful and actionable feedback.

Which besides reshaping Book 1, has already redirected Book 2.

AI is no substitute for a kind human reader. It’s those human emotions we’re trying to evoke. Not the machine’s.

So, now you can see without a shadow of a doubt, that I actually do write fiction, and not just write about writing.

Best of all you can tell me if it’s crap.

But be specific, it’s more helpful. 😉

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I’ve you’re not keen on the weekly chapters, you can toggle “Serial Fiction” off in your Manage Subscription page.

I’m FOCUSING down on (my) Fiction (journey)

1. I killed my separate serial fiction Substack and merged it with this one, I’m going to hack and slash and simplify The Reader Experience as well.

2. I’ve handed over keys to Microcosm to

   May More
   , the excellent writer and editor who will be reinvigorating it and taking the editing load of my sweaty shoulders.

3. Fablehaven will change to an in-world cyberpunk setting. I accidentally created another story world I suddenly had to keep alive. #Stupid.

   Any writer that says they don’t have enough ideas can borrow my brain for a bit. I could use some quiet time.

But I won’t talk too much about this until I’ve done it. Like scheduling that prologue (that took me two months).

I hate talking and not doing.

So, no more side quests.

Just novel writing, serialised here, and all my mistakes trying to build a subscription-loving audience using all our modern tools.

And a little bit of running.⁴

I won’t actually write about running. But it’s why I won’t be writing here quite as much. But as a bonus, I’ll share a pic of me on race day sweaty and disgusting.

I’ll share when I have something worthwhile share.

I hope it will suffice.

💜

1. No, I haven’t forgotten about family, wife, kids, grandchildren (in a long long long time). It’s funnier to gloss over that. There you happy, you ruined it.

2. Shhh, no, I have a trilogy to finish first.

3. 22 years together in June, you betcha she’s the best. ❤️

4. Ok, a ton of fucking running.