Karavansara

East of Constantinople, West of Shanghai

Category Archives: My Projects


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Always look at mishaps as if they were opportunities

First day with the new Operating System, and while I am well pleased with Linux Mint, I am still unable to run Scrivener, and this means 90% of my work-in-progress is out of reach. All the files are safe and nicely backed up, but I can’t read them, and I can’t work on them.

But this provides me with an opportunity – there’s two stories I have in Word format, one I was editing and the other I was translating and re-writing. These are the only ones I can work on at the moment, so I’ll stop procrastinating and I’ll finish the work straight away.
Because working on multiple projects at the same time provides us with a fantastic opportunity for procrastination – I’ll work one hour on this one, then OK, maybe I’ll move to something else. Then wait, this idea would work great with that story… let me take a break while I think about it.
It can be a huge waste of time, and we need to exercise a terrible discipline, or we’ll get lost in too many projects, too many ideas, to many wastes of time.
Discipline.
Or a software mishap that leaves you with very limited options.

So today I’ll nail closed the revision of The Queen of Spades, a tarot-based story for a forthcoming Italian anthology.
I think I’m going to add a 250/500-words, high action scene.
Boy, will the editor be pleased with this surprise!


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Going Stoic

Considering the poor state of affairs of the planet, of the nation in which I live, of the village in which I am stuck and of my general situation, it feels like a good idea to learn more about this Stoicism thing.

For this reason, I have just enrolled in the 2019 Stoic Week, a free online course and workshop that next month will help a few thousand people try their hand at the Stoic approach to living.
This year’s theme is Care for Ourselves, Others and our World, and sounds like the sort of thing that might become important in the future.

The 2019 Stoic Week will run from the 7th to the 13th October.
Perfect timing, considering the following week I plan to visit the local Oktoberfest with my brother and a few friends – first Stoic, then Epicurean.
This ancient philosophy thing is a lot funnier than it was in high school.


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Gearing up for some new things

The next thirty days (give or take a handful of days) are going to be the hardest for me in the last three years. I say this without any particular emotion – if there’s one thing I’ve learned in these three years as I managed to make a living writing, it’s how not to succumb to fear and anxiety.
The panic attacks are a thing of the past.
It’s gonna be hard, and I’ll get out of it at the other end, one way or another.

And I’ll be working a lot – I’ve stories to finish and deliver, a new book to get going, I’ve started writing the sequel to The Ministry of Thunder (more about that later), I need to take care of my health and I’ve decided to make my Patreon page grow. I’m also starting an experiment about which I’ll be writing here and elsewhere in the next days. I’m keeping busy – because that’s a good way to weather the hard times.
So I’ve spent a while today brushing up on the skills I’ll need to add a podcast to my Patreon page.

Well, two podcasts, actually – one in Italian and one in English, because my Patreon page is bilingual, and it’s good to be my patron, independently of what language you speak.
Double the work, but also double the fun.

The first in this new series of Podcasts (because the Karavancast is currently sleeping) will be online on the 30th of September because it happens to be the International Podcast Day, and it will be accessible to all my supporters.
I’m planning a guerrilla podcast, recorded on the go and in the open, with no scripts, minimal post-production and a length under 15 minutes.
I still need to find a suitable title, and a list of topics.
Suggestions are welcome.


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Nuts & Bolts, or how I wrote a book without really trying

I was checking my archives today, and realized that in the last six months I have put together about 22.000 words of ramblings, ideas and what-not about writing and making a living of it (or at least trying), in the form of 1000-words post I do periodically for my Patrons and that go under the title of Nuts & Bolts.

The series started in February, and this being September, it looks like a good idea to collect all those pieces under a cover, add another few thousand words of extra stuffing and secret sauce, and then see what happens should I release it as, say Nuts & Bolts, Season 1.
Both in ebook and paperback, and free for my supporters .
The fun thing is, I’ll be able to release the book simultaneously in Italian and English, because my patrons get the articles both in English and Italian.
And then I’ll keep going and start Season 2 on Patreon – after all, my Patrons seem to like it.

But watch this space, because there’s more things happening on my Patreon page, and I’ll post the news here.


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Greetings from Dry Gulch, Colorado

I am pleased to announce that Tales from Dry Gulch, the weird western collection edited by David B. Riley, is available in both ebook and paperback via Amazon.
The volume features my short story Hank’s Ghosts.

Welcome to Dry Gulch, Colorado. The year is 1881 or so, the gold mine has played out, but there’s talk some company from back east is supposedly putting in a zinc mine near town. Folks are friendly in Dry Gulch. Don’t forget to stop by the bakery for a loaf of sourdough bread from Miss Wendy’s secret recipe, then wet your whistle in the saloon next door. Just be sure to tip that piano player. You can get your prospecting supplies from the Dry Goods Store. And you can catch up on Mrs. Duncan’s cat in the pages of the Gazette. Keep an eye out for Henry, the town drunk. He likes to tell folks about the ghosts he sees, if you buy him a drink.Dry Gulch is easy to get to. Just saddle up and take a ride out to the weird, weird west.

As you can see, in my messy and dark workspace, I am well pleased to have my own copy handy.


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Useful lessons, and where to find them

Yesterday I posted an article for my Patrons, in which I tangentially compared this writing business to being an adventurer.
And I know, it’s a romantic notion, it’s me telling stories about myself to paint a veneer of glamour over the tight budget and the overdue bills, but that’s my story and I’m sticking to it: writing for a living is like setting off on a long journey to find the ancient ruins of the Lost City, or crossing an ocean on a sailing ship.

Having recently discovered the works of Alastair Humphreys, I’ve been reading Ten Lessons from the Road, a motivational handbook based on Humphreys experiences during his four years travelling around the world on a bicycle.

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The case of the missing library

One year ago, in two evenings, I wrote the first 3000 words of a planned 4000 words of the Contunbernium, in Italian. I was not very convinced by the proposal I had received about publishing a story of mine, and the way in which the story was going left me cold, and in the end I dropped it.

I don’t throw away anything.
Writing is my job, no matter if I like it or not (it’s complicated), and I don’t throw away what I write. So The Cursed Hieroglyph languished in a lonely directory on my PC until I was asked for a story with specific characteristics. Bingo.

So I’m rewriting and finally finishing my story, and as I usually do, I am doing a bit of research on the fly to tighten up the background.
It’s one of those cases in which I wrote first, and checked the facts later.
And, well… damn!

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