Author: pete

I’m not big on new year’s resolutions, given how transient they tend to be (that probably says more about my perseverance than anything else, but the studies support my case). So instead, I’m starting 2016 with a plan, charting specific, quantifiable objectives.

I took most of December off work and writing to complete an urgent renovation project on the house, because it turns out everyone wants to schedule scaffolding, builders and glaziers around the Summer break, and I’m obviously a masochist. Working outside in the sun (and rain, this is Auckland) gave me a little space to consider my works in progress, and – more importantly – to count them. Aside from those shown in the blog sidebar, I have several short stories, novellas, novel drafts, two podcast outlines and a screenplay in my “active” folder, and the “completed” folder was barely touched in the latter months of 2015.

So the plan is essentially this: complete shit. Erm, I’ll rephrase that. The plan is to complete all of my pending projects before I begin any new ones. I’ve got a shiny new timeline, a list of priorities, and as part of my accountability I’ll be posting more regular updates on this blog.

So, when we meet up for the more regular social interaction that probably does fall into the Resolution category, you can help: don’t ask me what I’m working on. Instead, ask me what I’ve finished this week, or when my next deadline is due.

Longer writing exercises are a frequent outlet for procrastination, so in 2016 I’ll be making more use of Twitter prompts for short bursts of poetry (and the always fun six-word stories), so follow @PeterRavlich if that’s your thing.

Finally, Initially, I hope that your 2016 brings with it plenty of opportunities to create, share, reflect and live. Globally, 2015 was a flawed creature in too many ways to list – but it has been put to rest. 2016 begins. Let’s make it better.

So, my determination to post updates throughout National Novel Writing Month waned a little as I got stuck into the novel.

November brought with it my now traditional late start to the challenge, as mentioned in the last update, and I compounded my risk of failure by taking the weekends off. However, the characters would not be denied, and I now have a shiny new first draft of Bad Habits, the sequel to my Fallen Shepherd Saga.

There is still a lot of rewriting, expanding and polishing to be done, but the characters knew what they were doing – more or less – and the story came together into a shape I’m really happy with.

Getting this post in early, to make up for the year so far… I’m working on a new project that I’m really enjoying, but National Novel Writing Month approaches, and I’ve had several gentle enquiries about the next novel in the Fallen Shepherd Saga world.

Because flattery works far too well, I’ll be using NaNoWriMo to complete a draft of said novel, tentatively titled Bad Habits. Between now and then, I’ll be head-down on this current project, and finally getting the three parts of The Fallen Shepherd Saga released as a single volume.

… the malware distributors and exploiters of sites, slinging their unholy scripts and overcoming all obstacles to speak their gospel of vi4gr4 and other apparent desirables to the heathen masses.

So, yeah. The site was hacked.  Better yet, my dutiful backup routine contained one tiny flaw: the archived backups (sorted by month, no less, on redundant devices) were missing almost every second file, and all of my uploads. Thank you [unnamed backup vendor]. You made my afternoon.

Lesson of the week: don’t take anything on faith when it comes to site security or the backup process.

We’ll be using a default theme while I work on a new design for the site, which is much more fun than trying to re-create the lost one. It’s time to get more responsive anyway, and overdue for our long-suffering (but gracious and uncomplaining) mobile visitors.

In better news, I’m working on a new stand-alone novel, and I’m having a great time with the characters and the world. I’ve also got a non-fiction project nearing the editing room, and a few short-stories that are almost ready for publication.

Will post again soon, but now it’s off to test a new backup script, and re-upload at least some of the site images.