Hello, friends! This weekend is a long weekend thanks to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, which makes me think about Dr. King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. I’m not going to wax poetic on the speech or anything like that because, let’s face it, there are people way smarter than I who can do it far better, but the term dream is important.
For Dr. King, the dream was a nation that acknowledged its flaws and tried to correct them. It was a dream of unity, greater equality, and freedom. It’s a dream that we’re all still fighting for, some in major ways, some in smaller ways. I have a dream, too, which is not anywhere near as poignant as Dr. King’s, but of course that’s the dream of a revolutionary. I’m sure the man, Martin, would’ve had more personal dreams, too. Dreams for himself and his family. That’s the kind of dream I’m thinking of.
These last two weeks have been tough. I still have a cough but my cold is gone. Even the cough is finally fading. Even through the height of the nasty cold, I continued to write. The work helped me escape the shittiness of the cold/virus that had its way with me. I may have been too tired to do anything truly physical but sitting down and hitting keys on my keyboard worked. All in service of the Dream.
The Patreon, the newsletter, my website, and the various social media accounts are all fun but they exist to help achieve the Dream. The Dream is the same as any other creative type: to be able to do the work full-time.
At 46, I have few delusions about the reality of this Dream. It likely won’t happen. I will likely continue writing (and creating) in my spare time after work and family obligations. It’s a bitter truth but one I’m slowly, painfully swallowing. That said, but I’m going to continue working on my dream. When worse comes to worse, even if I don’t get to do it full-time, at least I still get to do it, and that’s special. Too many people let go of their dreams or are too afraid to attempt them, which means they never know if they can do it. I’m doing it. I have a few books out. I have people who like my work. And best? I’m enjoying the hell out of myself.
I’ll continue working on my Dream, and I hope you’ll continue to come along with me.
Welcome to the 53rd installment of Gauthic Times, the newsletter about my writing, my life, and my dreams.
If you like my newsletter and would you like to see more, if you’d like to help me write more, you can become a Patron on my Patreon, where I talk about things in more detail and include the names of my works-in-progress. The lowest tier for Patreon is $1. If every follower I had on social media did the $1 tier, I could pay my bills better and maybe even write more. Same if they bought copies of my books.
Echoes on the Pond is out now! Grab a copy, if you haven’t already. If you have bought it already, books make great gifts! And if you’ve read Echoes on the Pond, I’d also really love (and appreciate) it if you’d leave a nice review on Amazon or Goodreads.
You can also get my collection Catalysts or my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed.
Anyway, let’s get into it.
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This week saw about 4,800 words added to the novel-in-progress, bringing the book’s total to around 150,800 words. I’ve entered the final third of the book, maybe even the final quarter. I’m a little nervous because I still don’t have a clear ending but I feel as though the characters and the situations will bring me to it. Anything else can be fixed in revisions.
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Beginning this week, I’ll be doing some things that are little bit different. My weekly Patreon update is usually used as the basis for weekly newsletter. I will edit out the title of my work-in-progress (you have to pay for that) and anything I decide should be exclusive for Patrons. I have a specific beginning and ending that I use for the newsletter, too, that differs from Patreon. I will continue doing this.
The difference will be that I will begin posting these updates on my website’s blog, too. Because of the situation with Substack and them allowing Nazis on the platform, I know people are uncomfortable with using them. I’m in the mindset of others like Monica Byrne and Brian Keene where I see that it’s a tool and in this day and age, all social media will have problems with Nazis. I can keep running from place to place or I can do my own thing. That said, my website has been around for 20 years and my blog–in various ways–has been around nearly as long.
If you’re reading this on Substack and you’re uncomfortable with the company, subscribe to updates right from my website. You’ll get the same content but without the ethical dilemma. I don’t know what the future will hold for my newsletter on Substack, but for now, this is where I’m going.
Lastly, there’s always Patreon. It’s not perfect either, but the monetary situation helps. I may look into other means, too, such as Ko-Fi.
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If you’d like to see what I could do if I wrote full-time, share this newsletter with others and consider a paid subscription. And I did just join Ko-Fi, so there’s another way for you to contribute!
You could also become a Patron on my Patreon, which has a lot more information about my works-in-progress and the books I’ll be querying, including titles and some simple, non-spoiler details.
Get my collection Catalysts, my novellas Alice on the Shelf and Shadowed, and definitely order Echoes on the Pond, out now!
If you haven’t left a review on Amazon, Goodreads, or anyplace else for Echoes on the Pond, please consider doing so. This greatly helps sell copies. And maybe call your local brick-and-mortar bookstore and demand they carry it! I’ll even sign copies! Well, if they’re local to me. That means Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and maybe some of the other New England states.
Thank you for reading!
Gautham: Bill Gauthier.com 
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