Progress Report from Western Kansas

Jeff Baker

Took a break by going out to my Niece’s Baby Shower last week. And I managed to get some writing done during the previous few weeks.

I sat down at a pizza place and while I was waiting on my order I did some plotting out on a story that’s due July 31^st. If I type away I should have it done in time.

I found out another story I sent off a year or so ago is for an anthology has changed publishers and word counts, so I have to shave off 1600 words and re-submit by the end of August! How my life has changed since I first started that story!

I don’t remember when I posted the last of these progress reports, probably after I posted my June Queer Sci Fi column. I finished the July column a couple of days ago. I want to get back to where I was with having several months worth of those already done and ready to post.

I wrote several of the weekly flash fiction stories, including one yesterday afternoon sitting in the backyard watching cousins swim and friends chat and cats play.

I started two or three other full-length stories that I have worked on more than the ones I have deadlines for! I’m breaking a cardinal rule that I may have made for myself one of the weekends visiting my Brother in the 1990s when I realized I was stretching the writing too thin by working on too many projects at once and finishing none of them. I may have more discipline now.

And I am doing better emotionally.

A lot of really personal stuff I won’t bore anybody with but I have a lot of friends and family surrounding me. Online and within traveling distance. And yeah, the writing helps.

I still miss Darryl a lot but I feel different about that. It isn’t as all-consuming as it was at first when I made a couple of dumb decisions which thankfully didn’t cost me much.

Even with the loss, the life of a writer is not a bad life to have, so I’ll leave it there.

That’s about it for now!

——jeff baker, July 10, 2023. 3:08 A.M.

ADDENDA: I checked. I posted the last of these back in May. —–j.