Hello there!
Welcome to the new folks who have joined in the past month!
The newsletter layout was getting stale, so I decide to do makes some changes to spruce up the place. If you’ve been receiving it since last year, you might notice. If you’re new, no big deal.
August has been hot as heck here in Ohio, so our garden has both flourished and suffered. Long stretches without rain mean some of our flowers and vegetables practically exploded, particularly our zucchini and tomatoes.
Unfortunately, veggies like green beans and snow peas don’t seem to like the blazing ninety-degree heat. It’s also meant an increase in mosquitos, which has made spending time in the backyard not-so-fun since I am apparently delicious to them based on the number of bites I’ve received.
Already thinking about what I’m going to tear out, move, and plant next year. It’s interesting to see what thrives and what struggles based on shifting sunlight patterns throughout the summer.
I had so much fun releasing music in July, that I doubled up in August. Over at Bandcamp, you can check out two new instrumental electronic albums, ZERO HOUR and GAME OVER. If you dig music by Trent Reznor and action-based video games, you might dig it.
I’d be remiss if didn’t mention that THE BLACK SKY came out just over a year ago, August 28th to be exact. For those of you who have had a chance to read it, thank you. A lot of work went into it over a number of years, and I had lots of help to make it to the finish line. I’m happy with the result and excited to continue to play in that world. I feel like I’m leveling up, so to speak, on THE RED SKY, and my recent short stories have challenged and improved my writing as well.
Hopefully, by this time next year, I’ll be talking about getting ready to write the third and final book in the trilogy. Stay tuned!
WRITING
THE RED SKY was on hold in August. I took a break to refresh my head at the halfway point as well as work on short stories. I wrote THE BUTCHER (retitled RUMP ROAST) at the tail-end of July and revised into August, and then wrote a second short story with a temp title for the moment. Was good to change gears and let my mind work on some ideas that had been bouncing around. I’ll be back to working on THE RED SKY in September.
For THE RED SKY playlist on Spotify, here is what I added: Exiles by Max Richter, Kristjan Jarvi, and the Baltic Sea Philharmonic, Offworld Trading Company game score by Christopher Tin, and Moments Lost by Analog Sweden.
RECENT READS
THE LAST COLONY BY JOHN SCALZI
The third entry in the Old Man's War series is less about amazing tech and war, and more focused on political intrigue and power struggles, which was fine by me. In the first two books, Scalzi established the world and the characters, and the third book brings several threads together and pulls them nicely. It may end just a tad too abruptly and neatly, but it's satisfying, so I'm okay with it.
RECENT TV/MOVIES
THE MOVIES THAT MADE US (S.2, Netflix) - Another fun set of entries, Forrest Gump was a particularly interesting episode.
WATCH THE SOUND (AppleTV) - Mark Ronson helmed docu-series about music technology that changed pop music.
MAKING IT (S.3, Hulu) - Another fun season watching talented crafters do their thing.
NO SUDDEN MOVE (HBOMax) - Soderbergh crime film entry worthy of checking out.
6 UNDERGROUND (Netflix) - Another Michael Bay film not worth checking out, except for the insane opening twenty minutes.
THE SUICIDE SQUAD (HBOMax) - Better than SUICIDE SQUAD, but still left me cold.
BLACK SEA (NETFLIX) - Always a sucker for a submarine movie, and while this has its moments, it’s no Hunt For Red October (or U-571, for that matter).
VACATION FRIENDS (Hulu) - Dumb fun.
MORTAL ENGINES (Hulu) - Great designs and action, thin characters.
WARNING SIGN (Hulu) - An 80s sci-fi/horror film that somehow slipped under the radar but is very solid - good cast, good direction - in the vein of Contagion, Outbreak, etc. Check out the trailer:
MUSIC
A few reminders before you go:
READER REVIEWS! If you read and enjoyed THE BLACK SKY (or any of my books for that matter), I would be grateful if you left a positive review or a rating at Amazon or GoodReads. Reviews help other people find the book.
All previous newsletters are archived. Lots of stuff to check out including a link to the original 2011 screenplay of THE BLACK SKY, hints and helps to get started on the real work easter egg hunt teased at the back of the book, and more!
There’s a “music inspired by” soundtrack written specifically for THE BLACK SKY you can listen to at your favorite streaming sites like Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, etc.
For those that have read THE BLACK SKY, you may remember a mention or two of a bar called “The Dank,” the place Tessa worked at in college where she and Bishop met. I created a virtual playlist for this “punk rock bar,” which you can check out on Spotify.
Stay Safe!
Tim
Listen to my 90s music podcast: Dig Me Out