Hey, friends. First up, some readers have been asking and yes, I’m on strike along with the Writers Guild of America (with backup from writers’ unions in Australia, Canada, Israel, Ireland and Italy, and probably a few more.) The strike does not affect novels, so no worries, Harmony and Daniel are still coming back and nothing will be delayed. I did have an option deal underway which is now completely dead in the water, and that sucks but it’s a necessary thing. My dad was a trucker; I do not cross picket lines.
I'm preparing for my first trip in two years, where I'll be pitching a new book to some agents live and in-person, which I've never done before. I have three weeks to prepare. Panic levels: rising.
I'm waiting on edits for some things at the moment and don't have a lot else to share, so here's a random look at my unrelated weekend tinkering: I used open-source software to hook a conversational AI to an animated avatar and a speech synthesizer. I will NEVER use AI in my writing (I have serious philosophical/ethical issues with that and besides, I love writing, it's my jam), but it does make for a cool hobby project.