Happy Monday fellow sentients, 

 I had every intention of writing an update filled with optimism and ‘joy de vivre’ this morning. Things were looking bright and the world had nothing but sunshine and chocolate in store for me. That is, alas, until half of what I had been working on all weekend literally came part in my hand.

However, I refuse to admit defeat. I will remain optimistic and will focus on the positives and they are plenty. If you want to know what went wrong, scroll down below. I want to update you guys on what’s going right.

• We’re getting a new cover! My friend Eric Belisle has agreed to create an updated version of the cover art for The Life Engineered. Not only is Eric an unreasonably talent artist who’s worked for the likes of Paizo Publishing and Wizard of the Coast but he was one of my original test readers on the book and was a fan from the first draft. He gets it and I have no doubt he will do the story and mood of the book justice. Seriously, go check out his work here. Also, hire him. Or just throw money and compliments at him.
• Editing is going at a steady pace. I get to improve the existing material but also add in a few new things like a glossary and a couple of descriptions here and there that will help flesh out the universe better for you, the reader.
  
• The model for Koalemos, aside from the issue described below, is moving along. I’ve started painting the main body and though it’s till rough the results are promising.
  
• Nerdtacular is coming quickly. In a little less than a week and a half, I will be flying to Salt Lake City to attend this little convention. A lot of you guys are from the Frogpants community and many of you will be at Nerdtacular. Seek me out and I’ll have a little something for you. Indeed, not only will you get a signed print of some robot art, but you’ll get a chance to win the model I keep referring to in these updates.
  

Before I go into the negatives, let me thank all of you once more for your support. I want to extend a special thanks to those who have recently pre-ordered The Life Engineered. It’s humbling to see people be this interested in my work.

JF

So what went wrong?

I spent a good part of Saturday sculpting the legs on this model of Koalemos that I’ve been working on. It’s been a difficult task but i got them to look somewhat as I envisioned they should. I painstakingly assembled said legs and set them to make molds. This is a two part process that takes a lot of work and requires a lot of attention. I even took the time late last night to verify that the process was going well and satisfied, I went to sleep.

I am not defeated. If trying to be a writer has taught me anything, besides how to write, it’s not to quit. Perseverance, repetition and pig-headedness are all part of the process. Each time, I learn a little more. Each time I grow.

EDITING AND MODELING

Hello friends! 

Let me tell you a story. Don’t worry, it’s a short one. This is the tale of how I got my first set of edits from the fine people at Girl Friday Productions and the weird emotional process that goes with it. 

I’m no stranger to having my writing criticized, but this is the first time I’m doing so by a professional who is paid to do just that and not a friend or acquaintance doing me a favour. As you can imagine, when I first got the email from my editor with two attachments; one a letter explaining the broader lines of suggested changes and the other an annoted version of my manuscript with comments for each recommendation, I was intimidated. It took me a day to build up the courage to open the letter and go through its content. 

My editor did an amazing job first by spotting some changes I already wanted to make (expect a glossary) but also by couching other criticism in a positive context. There is nothing in his letter that should be perceived as negative. Yet, despite all of this, some of the content triggered my self doubt. It took yet another day and another reading of the letter before I stopped feeling like a fraud and accepted that every writer must go through this, especially those who, like me, are on the first steps of their journey. 

Here’s the good news however; now that’s I’ve gotten over myself and I have a more collected point of view of the modifications and changes that are suggested to me, I’m really excited. 

I like The Life Engineer. I love the world and characters that populate it and I want to play around in that universe some more and everything my editor has given me to work on will make this book better. I’ve already received glowing reviews and criticism from people who have read my book about robots and these improvements will make this an even better read. I might even graduate from being happy with myself to being proud of my work. 

Best of all; I love how much I’m learning. 

In modelling news; I’ve cast the second large piece of the main body of the Koalemos prop I’m building. I’m sorry to report that it’s not a perfect cast. The good news is that the uneven results are easy if tedious to fix and the portions that worried me most came out looking perfect. So I have to patch a few holes and sand some surfaces. Big deal. Assuming all goes well I’ll be painting the main body this coming weekend. 

Between the editing and modelling I’ll hardly have time to do anything else and frankly, that’s how I like it. 

JF

There are a lot of imperfections to fix on this. A lot of putty and sanding.

However the bottom vents came out looking sharp and neat.