To any who’ve been paying attention, it’s no doubt obvious that I have not yet edited my reading of “Prometheus and Chiron.”  For anyone who has been awaiting that release with bated breath, I do apologize (and encourage you to breathe normally).

Similarly, it’s obvious that I haven’t yet made any new videos to post since my introductory effort.

One reason for the latter fact is that I simply don’t like how I look right now.  I’m not exactly hideous, perhaps (though opinions surely vary), but I am heavier than I like to be, and I would really like to lose a little weight before making any more videos; there are also other cosmetic issues that I find unsatisfying.  This reticence is despite the fact that there are specific matters on which I would love to make commentary (such as my irritation about people failing to signal when turning or changing lanes), and which I’d like to address videographically because, as I think I’ve said before, video lends itself particularly well to rants.  Tone of voice, as well as facial expression, can help convey certain passionate arguments in a much more potent way than can words alone—though I am a devotee of the written word, and likely always will be.  Video also tends to reach more people, for better or for worse, than the written word often does.

Maybe I’m foolish for even caring about my appearance.  I’m a great admirer of both the written and the live, spoken words of the late, great Christopher Hitchens, for instance, and he was by no means a paragon of runway-model physical beauty.  He was, however, Hitch—surely one of the most charismatic speakers (and one of the most brilliant writers) with whom the world has been graced in these latter years.  It’s probably not reasonable for me to judge myself by the standards of such a singular individual, though I certainly aspire to achieve some fraction of his command of the beloved English language.  Still, it may be that I’m too hard on myself, as well as too shy.  If any of you have input to give on that subject, I’d be delighted to receive it.

Still, written language is my first love and truest calling.  The idea of using audio and video is, at least in part, about spreading awareness of my writing to a greater number of people.  I sometimes trouble myself with the thought that this approach is impure, and that I will dilute my writing by giving more attention to audio and video.  Of course, this would be considerably less of a problem if I were to be able to support myself entirely by writing, and didn’t need to go into the office and work for most of every waking day.  We do not, however, get to choose the state of our current reality, we can only do our part to influence the future as well as we may.  Qué lástima.

I do tend to write about a great many topics that are not related to fiction, but address science, philosophy, politics, and the law, and these I’ve taken to posting on my other site, iterationsofzero.com.  I have written and partially written more articles than are yet posted on that site, but I plan to continue to deliver them as they come into full fruition.  These posts address the sorts of subjects that might also lend themselves well to video.  I’ll continue to explore—internally, at least—the possible uses of that medium for conveying my ideas, but it’s certainly not as natural to me as writing.

Speaking of writing, I have continued steadily to write on “Unanimity,” now that “Hole for a Heart” is complete and posted.  I’ve been getting down a good eight to ten thousand words a week on that, so it’s proceeding rapidly, though there’s still a way to go before it’s finished.  After that, as I’ve said before, I expect to shift to a much lighter-hearted project for my next book.  I may change my mind, though.  I can do that, since I’m not beholden to anyone other than myself vis-à-vis what I specifically write, though I would welcome and consider input from any interested readers.

On another, related matter, I’ve been giving still more thought to the notion of publishing my short stories as Kindle e-books, which would entail removing them from this site as I make that shift.  I think that I’m probably going to go that way, so if any of you are interested in reading those stories, but don’t think they’ll want to splurge for the ninety-nine cents I plan to charge, now would be a good time to indulge yourself.  If you have any convincing arguments (or even unconvincing ones, I suppose) for why I should not do such a thing, then feel free to bring them to my attention.  I do think, though, that I will soon be changing those venues, because it’s one, rather pure, way to monetize even my shorter writing.

In conclusion, I’m still obviously a bit unmotivated and ambivalent about the audio and, especially, the video ideas, though I do think they are interesting.  Perhaps I should stick to my greatest strength—writing—and not indulge the woeful tendency in so many to wander away from the use of the written word, that fundamental lifeblood of human civilization.  I am all but certain that I’m going to move my short stories to e-book format.  To make it worthwhile for those of you who might have already read them, I’ll add a little commentary before each one, and of course there will be cover art (though I don’t know if that’s an inducement or enticement for anyone).

I’ll let you all know when that happens, of course, and in the meantime, I will continue to post regularly on this page and on Iterations of Zero, with the goal of averaging one posting per week on each.  This may keep some of my commentary on IoZ a bit behind the news cycle, but since I tend to comment on matters that I think are more far-reaching than any one event, that shouldn’t matter much.

As always, I welcome your input on both sites (in the comments section), as well as on my Facebook page and my Twitter feed.  I admit that I prefer written to spoken conversation (partly because I have significant and asymmetrical conductive hearing loss), so I truly would welcome your comments, even if they are critical.

I bid you be well, stay sane (but not too sane), and make the most of your existence, my fellow virtual particles.

TTFN