Newsletter February 2026 - Boss Fight!

Hello!

I haven't sorted out my magic fusion problem...yet.

Record Scratch

I bet you're wondering how I got here. Last month, I had great intentions to focus on editing and sorting out the technical issue around how magic works and how it interacts with the plot and fusion in Under the Diamond Moon. Until I sort that out, I'm not able to progress with my editing. No sense polishing pages that might have to be ripped out later.

Well, the uptick in day job work I mentioned last month has only increased, and I had to travel to several conferences. Great fun and very helpful for the day job, but it really drained my energy (if only I had magic-powered fusion). When it came time to write, the option of drafting my ghost story beat out the editing challenge. In some ways, sorting out sticky technical issues in my story was too much like all the sorting out of sticky technical issues that I do in my day job. The ghost story is a nice way to escape reality and let my brain rest.

However, I'm not just vomiting words onto the page like I've done in the past... cough NaNoWriMo. For this story, I'm striving for more interesting prose from the get go. It's a short story, so there are no side plots to manage, and I know what happens. There's no rush to commit the ideas to paper before they dissipate like fog in the morning sun.

To help me improve my writing, I've added more challenging books to my reading queue. The big one being The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe, a.k.a. "The Final Boss of Sci-Fi"

I've read the series a few times, and I learn more each time. Yet I still don't feel like I really get it. But in a good way.

March promises to be another busy work travel month, so I'm keeping my expectations realistic. Focusing on reading and researching, but continuing work on my ghost story. Maybe being stuck in a hotel for a week here and a week there will give me the time and scrap paper to finally sort out the magic fusion issue.

Wish me luck!
Todd