QUARTERLY UPDATE - SPRING 2025
Hello and welcome to my very first quarterly update!
The following content is included in my email newsletter, which also comes with other perks. Allegedly.
You can subscribe to my newsletter using the link on my website (I think it's at the top of the page) and if you have already subscribed but haven't received anything... check the junk folder. That's where it showed up for me, and let me tell you, seeing my own newsletter go straight to the junk folder did no favours for my self-esteem.
My plan is to send out a newsletter once every three months, so you know what I have (or, in most cases, haven't) been up to.
With that out the way, let's move on to...
WHAT IS ALEX WORKING ON?
The spring quarter (yes, it's currently spring in the Best Hemisphere) is typically my busiest time of year in terms of writing-related work, and this spring has been my busiest yet!
Here are the progress bars on my website, as they currently stand:
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At time of writing I'm around 70% of the way through a new book, currently under the working title "The Monadic Broadcast".
I'm not going to say too much about it until the first draft is done (I've found in the past that the more I talk about a work-in-progress, the less likely I am to actually finish it), other than to say that so far I'm really enjoying writing it and that it's a little different to anything I've ever done in the past.
At the moment I'm averaging around 2000 words per day and I'm currently track to finish the first draft by October 22nd (which is well ahead of the November 30th deadline!)
Hopefully, by the next quarter, I'll be able to tell you more about it.
I'm also very hard at work putting the finishing touches on Joie de Vivre, which is due for release on Halloween. I just finished the final proofread, which was a harrowing process if ever there was one.
I sincerely apologise if there are still typos in the final product--proofreading is like battling the Hydra: Every time you squash one typo, another two magically appear somewhere else. I've also had to deal with a bunch of complications involving formatting errors in both the ebook and print editions, which, as far as I'm aware, have all been solved now.
Not gonna lie though: It's been an absolute nightmare of a process...
WANNA BECOME AN ARC READER?
I'm currently looking for ARC readers for Joie de Vivre. (If you're not familiar with the lingo, 'ARC' means 'advanced reader copy'.) Basically, if you become an ARC reader, you get a free copy of Joie de Vivre.
But there is a very important catch!
You'll need to read AND review the book on Goodreads (and also Amazon, if they'll let you) and you'll need to do all this before October 30th.
If you're interested, you can apply on my website, using the "Become a Beta Reader" form. (Feel free to mention on the form that you're wanting to be an ARC reader, rather than a Beta reader.)
I'll be looking for readers who are interested in the genre, and who are therefore more likely to write something positive about it, so if you're into sci-fi horror or weird, surreal, experimental fiction, then feel free to apply.
You WILL need to create a Goodreads account, if you don't already have one!
PRE-ORDER DISCOUNT FOR JOIE DE VIVRE
If you're reading this, then you probably already know, but just in case you didn't:
I am offering a pre-order discount on all editions of Joie de Vivre, so if you order before 31st October, you should be able to save a buck or two.
The key word here is "should" - I've received a lot of mixed messages about which retailers are doing what, and indeed where you can pre-order the book from. Which isn't ideal, I know.
But the key message is that you should order now, rather than later.
WHAT'S NEXT?
There are 31 days left until the release of Joie de Vivre.
I'd like to be able to say I'm excited, but the truth is that my dominant emotion right now is a mixture of nervousness and exhaustion. But apart from one or two minor background things, it looks like everything is ready to go on that front.
In October I'll be working on getting the first draft of The Monadic Broadcast finished--with a bit of luck, it'll be done just before the release of Joie de Vivre!
After that, I plan to use November to do one more quick pass-through on "Then Came the Night of First Missile", my other novel which is currently stuck knee-deep in the querying trenches (I'm trying to find a trad publisher for this one).
So that's all from me for now! I'll be back on December 31st for the next quarterly update and my end-of-year wrap-up.
Thanks for reading and thanks very much for your support. Have a great day and/or night!
- AEW