I have been feeling very temporary lately, as though everything is just a brief turn before further temporary events. It’s been a bit of a weird few months, not necessarily good or bad. The best way I can describe it is a fit of starts and stops. Anyway, let’s talk about what’s been going on. I’ve not done a general blog in quite a while.
My Full-time Year and Transitions
A major contributor to my feeling temporary was my year-long full-time teaching contract. I had one year of full-time scheduling and faculty duties and loved it. It was only for a single year in an interim position, and as it wound down, the feelings of being temporary began to really hammer at me. This is especially because the contract was not renewed. I will be transitioning from a busy but ultimately fulfilling role that I loved, back to being part-time and needing to supplement my income because I am limited in the number of classes I can teach at my current college.
This means a lot of job applications and freelancing in the months ahead. I am dreading it because when I look for work, I find myself particularly anxious. It feels like I am selling myself, and when nothing happens, it feels like an inherent rejection of me as a person, and always has. Nothing humbles a person quite like the process of job hunting or seeking out and taking on clients as a freelancer. I am sure I can find many people who read this who would relate to that concern.
And as freelancers, we know that contracts are only ever temporary. We have the work – until the budget is cut.
Writing Center Blues
Another contributor to temporary feelings is my role as a Writing Center Coordinator. It is a job I cherish, excel at, and have wanted for years. However, this also provides me with a hard dose of reality: my Writing Center role is still interim. This position must be offered to full-time faculty first. If no full-time faculty wish to step into the role, then it opens up to associate faculty, like I was when I applied, and like I am going to be again.
This means that if a full-timer wants the role, I am out. It also means that if the role opens up, I may have to apply all over again rather than maintain the current role. I know I am good at what I do and accomplished a lot, but would a little continuity be a lot to ask for? I am sure I’ll still be Writing Center Coordinator next semester, but after that? Who knows.
Let’s talk about something else, shall we?
State of the Site, Projects, and Output
It’s clear that my year of full-time brought with it more financial stability, but less time to update material here on the website. It was a tradeoff that I felt happy to make because I didn’t have to worry about the song-and-dance that is freelancing. The reality is that now I am going to have a schedule that opens up, and I need to fill it, or I’ll go crazy.
So, let’s take a look at the projects I have and the status of various things I want to do to fill the job between my teaching and job-hunting. I am only posting what I am focusing on and actively working on, right now.
Active Projects
- Cosmic Dash: The first chapter should be out at the tail-end of June. I am transitioning from the webcomic to prose, as I outlined a few months back. This is swapping in for The Dead Life, for clear reasons if you’ve been following the site.
- The Dead Life: The Dead Life is going on a hiatus for a bit, with the completion of the first part of the five-part novel. I am very proud of where that ended up, and I am excited about what the second part includes, but I need to take a break on it for a while. I will post some material here and there, including a short story, but I do not have a definite return date on this one.
- Fang & Bone: Fang & Bone is back after a brief break. It will be my primary project in June. Once Cosmic Dash begins updating, I will swap chapters each week. Fang & Bone is still my “breakthrough” piece, I think, once it finds its audience.
- RGBots: I took a couple of weeks off. RGBots is going to update again starting next week and maintain that twice-weekly schedule. Funnily enough, my most disposable concept has been my most consistent one.
- Thorn By My Side: This comic strip is still coming. I need to continue doing art tests because I am still not entirely satisfied with the art so far. The comic has some arcs planned, and I have a couple of other characters planned, but I do not want to overthink this either.
- Supernatural Selection: Still on it, still working on research and scripts. I’ll be editing the latest zine soon, for which submissions are open until later this month.
Trying to Plan Ahead
One thing I want to do less of, as I reach the end here, is neglect the site. I need more reliable posting schedules, and I just want to write in general. I’m going to do my best to do a weekly blog, but what I need is people bugging me about it. So if you read this and comment on the site, or have me on Discord and socials, please tell me to write. It helps.
I will also be trying to post more sketchbook entries. Will it be mostly development material for Thorn By My Side? Yes! Is it me trying to mine existing work for posts here? Yes, as well! But there’ll be Cosmic Dash stuff too.
Inspiration Track: “Exactly Where I’m At,” by Ween. I’ve loved this song for a long time, and it served as a fitting inspiration for this post.
