Hello folks!
Another quarterly update for ya’ll. I’m definitely feeling the wrap-up/wind-down energy of winter. It’s a neat combination of readying myself for rest come December by doing All The Things over the next few weeks. For once, I don’t feel massively overwhelmed as the end of the Gregorian year approaches!
1. Drafting GenderVexed
I FINISHED THIS! It took eighteen months, and was strangely anti-climactic. I wrote the final line of the final chapter in mid-September and began writing an epilogue in early October. After a few false starts, momentum picked up, but it was as if an entirely new novel was unfolding, so I put a pin in it. I went back and read the last chapter I’d written. I read the last four chapters all together. I did a word count (168,000!). I accepted it: the book is done.
It’s way too long. There might be too many plot threads happening. It needs intense, unapologetic revising. But the first full draft is complete! This is exciting!
For my paid-subscribers/inner circle folks, I’ll be posting more chapters throughout the coming weeks. Thank you to those who have given feedback and reflections on what I’ve shared thus far! For unpaid subscribers, one of the perks of going paid is getting to read drafts of my fiction writing.
2. NaNoWriMo 2022!
Back in the summer I came up with a plot idea that kept bouncing around in my head. Finalizing a first draft of a book and finishing my first course in the editing certification programme generated motivation to actually use it. Halfway through October, I started prepping for participation in National Novel Writing Month1. So…that’s happening! Right now!
This new book has the working title queer_crip and it will follow a group of young disabled queer folks as they work to make a local 2LGBTQ+ camp accessible! In preparation for it, I’ve been using plot embryo templates from Rachael Stephen2 alongside the Story Circle template from Plottr. It’s VERY exciting to start writing with an actual plot in mind, instead of just characters and vibes. Hopefully this book won’t take years to write as a result.
3. About School…
I did well on the first course in my editing certification! I’m definitely continuing with the programme! It’s quite manageable and it turns out I’m very smart3—my GPA is 3.98. November through December I’ll be learning the basics of editing. I’m keen on the idea of developmental editing as another skill in my polymath repertoire.
4. Thangka Pieces
This is the BIGGEST news:
I finished the 20X30” full colour versions of my Representation Matters Thangka4 art pieces!
After finishing them, I immediately sought out imaging and framing options. My plan is to have some limited edition prints available, as well as CARD SETS. I know. Very classy.
I’m committed to local, small printing businesses for this for all the reasons5, which means higher cost for production but also better quality and more creative control. I currently have a budget of $1,500 to cover imaging, framing, and a print run. That might sound like a lot, but with framing coming in at just shy of $700, most imaging fees starting at $40/piece, and art prints starting around $150 for a small run of a single image, it’s a budget that will be eaten up quickly.
I share all this because most people aren’t aware of the up front costs to being an artist outside the gallery system.6 Each of these pieces account for 50 to 80 hours of work, plus supplies. It’s thanks to roughly fifteen patrons a year that I am able to pay for supplies, and I have yet to make anything remotely like a profit from the sale of...anything I've ever made and put out into the world. I am on the tightest budget just to share some stuff because I want to share it and there are like, thirty humans out there who regularly tell me they want to enjoy my art in their homes.
My aim is to have prints and card sets available by mid-November, but pricing and being a one-person-show may cause delays. I’ll keep ya’ll up to date on the status of this project and give you plenty of notice on whether I do a pre-sale to help cover printing costs, or if I’ll just do a limited edition print run.
In the mean time…here are photos of the finished pieces!
From now until my annual book rec blog in January, I’ll be sharing archive posts for all subscribers and drafted chapters from GenderVexed for paid subscribers. With the archive pieces, many of them will now feature AUDIO! This is a fab feature SubStack introduced, as it adds a layer of accessibility to posts. I don’t have a timeline on it, but eventually I hope to have audio versions of all my creative non-fiction pieces done.
Thank you all for your support!
You don’t have to go all official with NaNoWriMo and do the 50K word count—I’m just aiming for 30k this year. Over the years I’ve come to appreciate the breadth of resources to be found through NaNo. The tools on the site can be helpful for establishing a daily writing habit, even just a few 100 words per day. The forums have a lot of great resources and support for generating ideas. The forums are also how I found my writing group way back in 2019!
Thank you for the recommendation, Elnora! Here’s to writers supporting each other! Check out her blog for some great flash fiction and commentary on the writing process.
I know I am intelligent, but I’m not intelligent in a way that does well at traditional school, so it’s a BIG DEAL that I’m actually enjoying these classes and not experiencing them as a special kind of torture I opted into for certification.
In August this year I attended a presentation by Melissa de Leon Mason on appropriation versus appreciation in craft and art work. This was an offering in the How to Be a Good Human Series hosted by Shannon Downey of Bad Ass Cross Stitch. The biggest takeaway I got from the presentation was the importance of naming the origins of something, whether as an inspiration or because of our direct connection to it. So does naming power imbalances and tension that exists because of oppressive systems. It’s not about justifying why we, personally, individually, are “allowed” to do something but honouring where something comes from and being honest about our relationship to it.
As a white person practicing in Buddhism, I’ve long been wary of cultural appropriation in Buddhist spaces. I’ve written about it at length, and will continue to do so. I’ve reflected specificly about my creation of Thangkas as a white Buddhist practitioner, and invite folks to read my reflections. Thangka artwork originated in what we now know as India, and was adopted by Tibetans alongside Buddhism. Thangka art is more than just pretty images. These are tools of spiritual practice, used in Vajrayana and Mahayana Buddhism as ways to relate to the present moment and all that arises in it. As a Buddhist, these images have great meaning to me and I am careful about reproducing and selling them. I never want them to be mass produced or trivialized, and this informs not only my creation of original pieces, but how I share the process, the finished art, and any reproductions I have made.
Nicole of Radical Emprints is a wonderful model of how to live your values through your artwork and art sales. Her intentional sourcing of shirts from unionized, ethical clothing sources had a huge impact on me. I appreciate that making ethical choices under Capitalism is pretty near impossible, but whenever it is possible, I’m going to put in the effort! Also, check out her stuff. She makes really beautiful important anti-capitalist love notes!
The compromise of being in the gallery system is less creative control and usually a 60/40 split on profits. Plus, just getting through the gatekeeping of a system that’s pretty arbitrary.