Weeknotes

Weeknotes

This entry was posted in Facts and Fictions Point of Contact Post and Publish Ruby Red Weeknotes on by

Yes, I know these things are supposed to be weekly not fortnightly.

What has passed

There have been a few things in the last week and a half which have distracted me or taken me away from work. With the exception of a friend’s birthday celebrations none of them have been good. So productivity has been poor.

I managed to get a page of Point of Contact done for last week, but not for this. With stuff that’s coming up I don’t think there’ll be a new page for several weeks. The next page introduces some important characters and sets up part 1’s big finish, so I want to make a better job of it than I feel capable of at the moment.

One thing I did manage was getting a book onto Amazon’s Kindle platform. Post and Publish collects three novellas and four short stories for the ebook reader (and many i-devices too). No sales yet, but it’s a little more length in my long tail. I’ve just uploaded Ruby Red, with luck it should be live by the weekend.

The bike business is steady, after a particularly good week a fortnight ago. I haven’t got rid of any of the bikes I was working on, but others have left the building and given me a little more space. I’m also now the proud owner of a bike trailer, which should make carting stuff around easier.

What shall come

I may have lost any momentum I had earlier in the year. It’ll come back to me, but I’m going to take a week or three to deal with some stuff I think. Projects will be rebooted/finished as soon as possible and there’ll probably be some campaigning and political stuff to liven things up. I can’t give any definite plans for the next week or so.

Longer term I think there may be a market on the Kindle for shorter works sold cheaply- 10,000 to 40,000 word novellas, possibly as parts of a series- so I’ll kick off some ideas along those lines.

Next time I hope to bury you under news of projects nearing completion, starting up and in planning.

Captain’s log, week 488

This entry was posted in Bikes Italian Job Twitter Weeknotes on by

I read about weeknotes in Wired and thought they might be something interesting and useful to do. I can give you an update of what I’m getting on with and leave reminders to myself of what needs to get done. Of course, it’s taken me a few weeks to get around to starting one.

I’m going to fiddle around with the structure as I do more of these. In future I’ll probably open with a rundown of what I’ve achieved from previous weeknotes. For now let’s leave this bit empty.

To be done in the next week

I need to get at least one page of Point of Contact done for publication on Monday. The next page is one of the ones I didn’t thumbnail, as was this Monday’s, so I have to do a little more work than on other pages. It’s also the last talky page before a load of action pages that will round out part 1.

There were three bikes in my project queue for this week. I’ve already got the first one out of the way, it was in quite good shape and just needed cleaning and a little fettling. I’m left with a BMX build and a Raleigh Nova shopper. The Raleigh was missing the pull chain for its hub gears and had no brakes. Replacement brakes were more expensive than the gear parts, which is annoying. I need to source one more item from the parts pile and I should be able to put this bike back together. The BMX has already had a replacement fork fitted. I’ve bought new cable for the detangler kit and just have to pick the replacement handlebars and brake levers and it should go together no problem. They should get done on Friday or Saturday. The bike trade looks like becoming a good mini business. I’m planning to get a bike trailer to make collecting bikes and bits easier.

Events in the next week

Screenfields is back in Spinningfields. This week’s film is Cocktail, which I can happily miss, but in a fortnight it’s The Italian Job (the original one, not the “remake“).

Eurocultured is on this weekend. I haven’t been to that the last couple of times.

Longer term and deadline free projects

Bob Time, the footage for which I shot in October of last year, needs to be finished. I now have a computer which is up to the job and, after comparing a couple of trial versions of video editing software, have ordered Sony Vegas Movie Studio Platinum 9. It’s not as fully featured as some of the packages I’ve used in the past, but it does most of the stuff I want. I should write a comparison review of Vegas and Premiere Elements, and there’s a tutorial on matte keying which needs to be done because none of the ones I found were all that clear.

Lulu have lowered the prices of some of the formats for their print on demand books.. I think ilt’s time to do an omnibus of my three most recent novellas- Sounds of Soldiers, Global Weirding and So Much To Answer For– and some other stuff. Just a straightforward job, I may just pour the text into a word processor and let it do most of the work rather than lay out the pages in a dtp program.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned Magcloud before. It’s another print on demand service, but this time for magazines rather than books. I’ve ordered a few of the magazines on their list and they’re very nicely finished, printed on decent stock and quite glossy. As with any POD service, some of their range is stunning and some of it….. isn’t. I hope to produce a magazine that’s nearer the stunning end of the collection. Working title is Somewhere Else and the first few issues are going to be dedicated to photos. I’m going to go back through my architecture wanders and retouch the best of the photos to create the first one. Then I’ve got all my photos of ghost signs to look through. And I know quite a few photographers, maybe I can work with them on something.

TW3ets

That Was The Week That Was in tweets. I used to have something running which dumped each day’s tweets to Spinneyhead, but I got complaints about it and its often recursive nature. Here are a few of the sillier and/or wittier things I’ve Tweeted in the last week or two.

Avatar would have been much more interesting if the Na’avi were based upon the Tree People from Cannibal Holocaust http://bit.ly/aUrIC4 11:23 PM May 11th

In a cafe, designing robots for the comic. Later I’m going to a demo of 3d tv, so more scifi. 4:23 PM May 12th

Shall soon be learning about 3d tv. Is it more than just an expensive way to self-diagnose photosensitive epilepsy? 6:48 PM May 12th

How long until someone sues their parents for passing on bad genes? 9:13 AM May 13th

Why do I have the impression that the first Lib Dem/Tory cabinet meeting started with them all throwing their car keys onto the table. 1:48 PM May 13th

The bus I was on nearly mowed down a load of lamb dressed as mutton. 6:54 PM May 14th

I am not a care bear! 8:51 PM May 14th

“This one time, at Sex Camp.” 9:29 PM May 14th

Just saw the pink panther cross Oxford Road. 2:51 PM May 15th

“Crabs. They’re like battle spiders.” 6:00 PM May 15th

It’s never nice when the bike you’re working on draws blood. I’m worried it’ll get a taste for it and I’ll be responsible for a vampire BMX. 11:56 AM May 17th

Conversation at the back of the bus- “I’m telling you this in confidence.” after mentioning 1 name I recognise. Wish I could hear more. 10:46 PM May 19th

Heading east until I end up somewhere I don’t recognise. Then I shall explore. 2:04 PM May 21st

Always wake gnome with coffee. 9:56 PM May 22nd

I’ve not seen a single episode of Lost. Would tonight’s be a good place to start? 6:34 PM May 24th