Author Journey (May 9, 2022)

Time is a funny thing! Some weeks seem to last forever and others are over in the blink of an eye. I was really productive despite the feeling that time was slipping through my fingers. There’s never enough time!
May 9, 2022
Hot Topic
One of my biggest concerns this week has been getting hold of volume nine of Rosario+Vampire. If you remember I ordered a copy from a manga shop in Montreal more than two weeks ago. I received an email saying they were processing it shortly after and since then… nothing… I’ve been back to their site and that book is showing as a backorder item. I’ve also seen several reviews of this site complaining about incomplete orders and getting ghosted.
If they don’t have a copy to sell, I want to know about that now. I’ll cancel my order and continue to look around. I literally only ordered it there because it was the only place that had one and now, I’m not sure that they did. My gut feeling is telling me to cancel and walk away, but I’ll give them a chance to respond to me first. I am, however, tempted to put the entire series on hold for now and jump to something else.
What have I been watching/reading?
This week, I watched something completely different… Well, not completely – it was animated. Anyhow, the season was ten episodes long and I got through the entire thing last week and wrote up a number of reviews. Those will be dropping in quarter three. On my last site, I did depart from the usual anime and manga on the odd occasion, but I haven’t done it here until now… well, until July…
It’s another win for my binge-watching/reviewing cycle. There’s nothing quite like fully immersing yourself in a series to really get into the world and the story. Watching an episode a week leaves a lot of time between episodes in which you can have your initial views challenged. Your mood can change and that can impact how much you enjoy a story. By watching the entire series close together, I’m hoping to reduce those factors and ensure that it’s my opinion that I’m giving and not a mix of other peoples’ views.
Fire Force will be back soon… I just need to light the fire…
Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood gave us yet another chance to grieve. Damn you! This was almost harder than the first time…
Exciting times! I started reviewing a new series and that was Peach Boy Riverside. Have you seen it? Did you watch it as it aired? I’d love to hear your thoughts on the show, especially as I’m watching it in chronological order and not the order in which it was released.
The more I think about it, the more I realise that I need to own Magical Girl Apocalypse. This is a crazy series and one that I’m sure I would reread over and over again. I’d even pull down random volumes and flick through. The artwork is insane and the story is incredible… or is it the other way around?
Work in Progress
Just as I start to settle into the new routine, the next reporting cycle at work begins. By that, I’m talking about the day job. So right now, I’m busy running code and pulling data from variance locations to put together a bunch of fairly boring reports. It’s not the most fulfilling job in the world, but it’ll do until I can convince myself to write a bunch of books and turn that into a career.
I mentioned last week that I was listening to the audiobook of The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski while walking Gus. Well, I finished it and had a great time. One of the really interesting things was that I was able to place all of the scene breaks before as they happened. I’d read the book before, but this was my first time listening to the audiobook and it was a fascinating exercise. It has bizarrely given me a lot of confidence in my own ability to structure a novel.
With that book done, I jumped onto the library audiobook app and looked for another fantasy novel. Of course, a lot are already borrowed and the waitlists can get pretty big. I found one that was available right now and decided to give it a go. It is A Plague of Giants by Kevin Hearne. In theory, this book sounds intriguing. It’s kind of like the fantasy equivalent of World War Z by Max Brooks in that it follows a historian as he accompanies a bard who tells stories from around the world following a hostile invasion. In reality, it was boring and the method of storytelling made it impossible to really get into the characters. I’ve listened for almost two hours so far and I think I’m done.
The Plan
Once again, this is where the majority of my focused work has gone. I can hear you saying why don’t you just use this time to write your novels because I often ask myself the same question. One day, I will be able to switch it on at the drop of a hat, but it’s been so long that just getting myself going takes longer than watching an episode, plus I have my need to be productive that makes staring at a white screen for too long painful.
At least being productive in this area now, opens up lots of time in the future. I’m going to try to write again this week and will focus on doing two hundred words. It’s not a lot but it is a start and it will soon grow if I can keep at it. So, yeah, back to what this section is about – blogging!
Posts
- Quarter One
- Author Journey – 13/13
- Historic Anime – 39/39
- Seasonal Anime – 36/36
- Ecchi Anime – 14/14
- Bonus Posts – 18/18
- Quarter Two
- Author Journey – 6/13 (+1)
- Historic Anime – 39/39
- Ecchi Anime – 39/39
- Seasonal Anime – 3/3
- Bonus Posts – 1/1
- Quarter Three
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Historic Anime – 20/39 (+7)
- Ecchi Anime – 37/39 (+14)
- Bonus Posts – 4/4 (+2)
- Quarter Four
- Author Journey – 0/13
- Historic Anime – 4/39 (+2)
- Ecchi Anime – 1/39 (+1)
Amazingly, I’ve almost finished my posts for quarter three and we’re not quite halfway through quarter two. Now, I’ve just got to make the most of the time I’m buying myself.
Writing
- MSR (Paranormal Harem Rom-com)
- Plotting – 49/58
- Writing – 43/58
- Editing – 42/58
- Artwork – 0/9
- Valiant Lineage (Epic Dark Fantasy)
- Plotting – 41/41
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
- Black Death (Post Apocalyptic Shoujo AI)
- Plotting – 0/?
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
- Asteroidea (Horror Science-fiction)
- Plotting – 0/?
- Writing – 0/?
- Editing – 0/?
- Artwork – 0/?
Small and steady is the name of the game now. If I’d committed to doing just two hundred words a day I would have more the twenty-five thousand words done already. That should be almost enough to finish the novel that I’ve been sitting on for a while.
Final Thoughts
So, there you have it. I’m insanely productive in one area and basically negligent in the other. I’ve been trying to find the balance for a long time and I think doing two hundred words a day is the way to go. It all adds up pretty quickly and the more I do it, the easier it will get to switch my mind between the two tasks.
Anyhow, thanks for reading.

It bugs me, too, when I can’t get an answer from a distributor about a book (or about any product). You’ve been busy I see; impressive progress report!
Thanks, I just need to try to balance my output between blogging and writing. Blogging feels easier at the moment so I’m riding that wave.
Hope I can find out what happened to my order soon.