Halloween is when my first book in the Stories of the Eleriannan series, In Sleep You Know, begins. I thought it would be fun to have a little gathering where I dress up, read the opening chapter of ISYK, then drink tea, have snacks, answer questions and chat with my guests, and at the end pull some oracle cards for those who want.
All stats and my thoughts about them are current as of October 2026. Strap in, this is long.
Being any kind of author in 2026 isn’t easy.
And every day we wake up to find that more hurdles have been throw into the road for us to figure out how we can cross without breaking us.
The newest? Well, for today at least it’s fucking Meta and their fucking insistence to try and extract value from the only people keeping their platform afloat by insisting that if they use it, Meta has the right to send AI bots to their websites and scrape them.
Uh, that’s not going to get them more users.
But they’re a collapsing giant and they are pulling everyone down with them in an attempt to be relevant. They know Facebook is basically a holdout for older folks and those who are still there because of those folks or groups that they need for their hobby or business. Younger people generally do not use Facebook; they barely use Instagram. [They’re on Tiktok, but that has a host of other uh, problems cough]
Now I’m going to be very honest here [which I always am but I’m making a point]: I use social media. I am on both Facebook and Instagram. I am not on Tiktok, but I was for a hot minute, until the whole fiasco where Oracle and some other sketchy entities bought out the US version. None of these platforms are Good or Virtuous or even Positive For Me. They exist to make money on the attention of their users and have been used to push political agendas and sow division. They also unfortunately are a large piece of the online agora, where a decently sized chunk of the populace gathers to meet, do business, and be a community–more or less. I preferred the Internet when the agora wasn’t Sponsored by Various Nefarious Corporations, but that’s what living in late stage capitalism is all about. Sometimes we’re forced to pick the least harmful option if we want to participate in the world.
But you know what? Maybe it’s time to stop participating in that version of the world.
Let me tell you, I’m FURIOUS about what unfettered capitalism has done to the Internet. When I first started coming online, a million years ago, websites were new and clunky and it was pretty easy to get a space and learn HTML and talk about your favorite thing. I had a personal one and then one for my band. Both were terrible! I loved them! What I loved even more was realizing that I could read thoughts, research, and interests from people all over the world, any time I wanted. I could talk to people who loved the same kind of music and books and poetry that I did, and not have to wait for letters to show up in my PO box. We could have actual, real-time or almost real-time conversations! There were newsgroups and IRC channels and bulletin boards and webrings and of course email, which hadn’t been enshittified with endless spam yet. I talked and video chatted with people on the other side of the world regularly. I made friendships that I still have today. [a lot of those people are still on Facebook; now you see one of the reasons I’m still there, though I generally don’t post. It’s my only point of contact these days with some of them.]
So what’s the answer?
I wish I could tell you. What I can say is that I’ve already reduced my footprint on Facebook, and it’s lost me very little. Again, I’m only there to keep in touch with some people I would lose otherwise. People say “get their email!” Buddy, that isn’t going to work. Most people these days are loath to be in their email for fun or socializing, because it’s a huge part of their job, and/or it’s full of spam and advertising, and we’re exhausted just looking at it. I wish we would go back to emails. But I can look at the metrics from my business emails, which more often than not are chatty and conversational rather than pointed at selling, and people don’t open or engage much. I think email is pretty dead as a way to maintain a relationship, which is tragic as far as I’m concerned. I love text–obviously, it’s what I do–and letters in particular.
I’ve been more active on Instagram, and now I need to decide what I want to do about that. With Meta threatening the big AI scrape, I have a few choices but all feel icky, other than leaving outright, which effectively cuts me off from a chunk of my audience. I already don’t do paid advertising, so that leaves me with posting or word of mouth. Posting is spotty when it comes to being seen and Meta is doing it’s best to reduce that even more, and word of mouth is unreliable at best. I have a small core of supporters who talk about my work, but I can’t and shouldn’t depend on that. It’s not their job to promote me, even if I wish they would tell everyone about my books! What I want and what is reasonable to expect can be and often are worlds apart, but at least I recognize that, ha.
I talk a lot about integrity and ethics and how I strive to keep the business of writing ethically aligned with my morals. I do that for me, and also for you. It’s important to me to show you how I think through my choices, especially in these challenging times; it’s also helpful for me to think them through in real time, publicly, so that I have a record and receipt for my choices and thoughts. There are lots of choices I make that I’ve had to explain and have had pushback about [my stance on joining Substack/the Nazi bar, for example] and I feel fine with my choices but talking about them can be helpful for others weighing the same decisions. I think in the weeks to come I’ll be dropping some of the social media I’m on and talking about where I have stayed–at least for now–and why.
In case you’re curious or unaware, I’m currently active on Instagram [to be assessed], Bluesky, and YouTube. I’m less active on Discord, Mastodon, and Tumblr, in that order. I am on Facebook but only post events and use messenger to keep in touch with friends who aren’t anywhere else. This also is going to change drastically, thanks to Meta’s new rules; I will be deleting my author account by October 30th. Oh, I guess you could count Goodreads, but I really only use their groups to promote.
So do you have places you’ve found to be friendly to readers and authors and artists that aren’t actively trying to extract our worth? [hahahaa I know, I know] Please do share! And how much do you think about the ethics of the platforms that you use?
I started writing this entry back on September 24th. Since I abandoned it because of overwhelming stress and mental fatigue, some things have changed. I’ll annotate them as we go, because the main message of this post still stands. I still feel unmoored, though I’ve taken some of the steps that I mention here, and they have helped. Anyway, let’s see what I had to say. Updates will be italicized.
Usually I write with purpose and a point. Today, I’m not so sure.
Maybe this should be a journal entry. I don’t know. I feel disjointed, unmoored. Nothing is predictable, at least this month. [Let’s be real, things have been steadily becoming less predictable by the day for quite some time.] October hasn’t been any more predictable!
A lot of things have been uncertain: my health, my partner’s health, the world and what’s happening in it, where I’m going with myself and what I want from life. How to control anything, really. I’m sure I’m not alone here. I have been pretty busy, which both helps keep my mind occupied and drains away my extra energy. I participated in a QuickRead with Strong Women-Strange Worlds last Thursday. [September 17th] It was a fantastic time and possibly one of the best live readings I’ve ever done. You know how when you’re doing something you can just feel the mojo at work? That’s how it felt. In fact, the panels I participated in at Flights of Foundry that weekend were also the same. Very aligned, with great flow and interactions between all the panelists and the audience. I loved the topics, and everyone brought up fantastic points in discussion. [If you couldn’t make it, you can still catch replays of the panels if you get a membership at https://flights-of-foundry.org/registration/ – there’s even a special Late Bird tier.] [Available until Tuesday, Oct 20th]
Unfortunately during the first day of FoF I got a message that my partner was in the hospital after a medical emergency. I’m not going to put all his details out there but he’s been doing okay though recovering slowly, and he looks to be going home today. [That ended up not being correct; he stayed in the hospital for two weeks then went to a recovery/rehab facility where he still currently is.]
It does drive home something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently: how to divide my energy and attention in a way that allows me to be creative and also there for the people I love, in a way that is joyful and less stressful. I have been concentrating on events this year pretty hard. I love them, and I love meeting people and talking about my books and writing, but they also cut into my time writing…and quite honestly, living. I haven’t done nearly as many fun things with the people I love as I’ve wanted to do this year. I haven’t spent enough time with my partner.
Something has to give, right? I only have so much energy to divide up. That’s been the most difficult reality to come to terms with. I’m disabled. I can only do so much without paying a steep price. [As demonstrated by how August took me out after the Book Fair at Bel Air was followed immediately by a BTS concert. It was too much and I’m really only now starting to feel more like myself.] I’m not the person I used to be, no matter how much I try to push myself to perform like I used to do.
So I think 2027 is going to be more about creating things with my own hands, and making my own “events” that are set to my schedule and energy levels–and less about attending big events and doing a million panels and pushing myself to be in the room[s] where things happen.
I haven’t visited Round Falls in ages. If you’ve read CASOD you know what and where I’m talking about.
What if I make my own rooms?
I have before. I can do it again. I can offer a soft space where I, and other people who might like to, can talk about the craft or writing and/or art of any kind, and offer our experiences to those who might want it. I can create just for beauty’s sake and not think about “oh no I need to pay the bills.” Bills will get paid with or without my art; only once in my life has my art actually paid the bills so maybe it’s healthy to shift my thoughts on what I expect from it.
The entrepreneurial side of me cringes at that thought but the artist side loves it and feels so fucking free at the thought.
I’m running out of time; twenty years, if I’m lucky. If not now, when? *sips chai, contemplates existence and the paucity of time left in this vessel*
I started setting up free classes/lectures/whatever you want to call them on this website …last year? I think? And I haven’t progressed very far with it, not for lack of wanting to. I was just spread too thin. But! I can do that now. I can offer my own perspective on making art and keeping one’s values intact. I can speak on what it’s like to go it on your own and how that’s both freeing and a little terrifying, and what you win and lose by taking that path. And I can embrace multidisciplinary approaches to art, because it all supports each other. Want in? There’s no cost. There’s no requirement, other than to abide by my Requirements To Work With Me. I have the Emergence platform to post to, and this blog, and a Discord where we can gather if you like, at least until that platform gets screwed up by capitalism too. Join Emergence and you’ll get a link to the Discord, as well as access to pages with links to books and tools I recommend. More curricula to follow!
I also plan to make some video blogs about what I’m creating, about writing, and whatever else I want to yammer on about. I used to do more of those but life got in the way, and now I’m going to start moving the infringing parts of life out of the way and do more of what gives me life.
[Everything that follows is an update on this, as of October 11th 2026.]
Since I wrote this, I did indeed start focusing more on creative things. I left a bunch of Discord servers, staying only on my own and a few other important ones [like the Balticon server]. I drastically cut back my time on social media. I have been having some direct chats with friends, which is good because it feels personal and nourishing.
That’s given me time to keep up better with everything happening with my partner, as well as giving me more uninterrupted time to write and do other creative pursuits. One thing I’ve been able to do is finally make some trailer/teaser videos for my books. So far I’ve done one for In Sleep You Know and another for A Small Light in the Darkness, and I’ll have ones for the others soon enough. They are low-pressure ways to entertain myself and make something visual for enticing potential readers to investigate my stories. I’ll link to them [or you can see them on the page for each title here on this website] and if you like them, I’d really appreciate it if you’d drop a heart or share them. Selling books right now is very challenging, what with late-stage capitalism crushing everyone.
As for Eleriannan #4, I finally was able to get back into writing so I’ve added some more words to the WIP. I’m currently up to 71,770 words on the unedited first draft, which is 2/3rds of the way through my word target. That’s a soft goal; I’m the only one in charge of me, so I can change it at will or if I think the story warrants it. For perspective, my other Eleriannan stories come in at around 120,000-125,000 words. ASLID was about 55,000 if I recall correctly.
I’m not worried about the break I had in writing. I mentally break my books into three parts not because of structure [although funny enough, that actually IS the case with this specific book. It’ll make sense when you read it.] but because of how my personal writing schedule tends to go. That is: the first third goes very quickly, as I’m in the exploratory part of writing and ideas are coming fast and furious. Then there’s a pause, while I think.
Why do I pause and think? Because here’s where the plot’s path really starts to become clear, and I need time to sort through all of my ideas. I’ve talked before about being a discovery writer, and that’s part of my process. Basically, I let it cook.
Then I dive into the story again and I go and go until I hit that 2/3rds mark. Then it’s time to percolate some more. I usually have several threads that need to be tied together and this is where the big work will start to do that, so I give my brain time to work through how that’s going to happen. No, I don’t consciously know how it’s all going to come together yet. Yes, this is how it always works for me. No, it’s not stressful at all. [ahahahahaa sobs]
That’s where I am right now, just diving back into the plot and picking out the path to the end of this book. One of the most miraculous things about this writing method is how it all comes together, like magic. The magic is obviously powered by a lot of playing through potential scenarios and how they answer the questions that have been asked in the beginning of the story. I don’t know if this is the method I’d recommend, but it’s how my brain works and it keeps giving me stories that people rave about so…I’m not changing it!
This kind of writing needs space and patience, though, and that’s been a tough combo to get lately, what with everything happening in my life. So I made adjustments, and prioritized the people and art in my life. So far, it seems to be working.
What that means for the future? Not sure. But I will continue to assess my plan and develop changes as needed. And I’ll of course keep updating here.
Thanks for continuing to be with me on this journey.
