Well, we made it through 2020, so that’s something. However, it does mean that 2021 is the next thing on the agenda, so maybe I should come up with some resolutions. But then again, I’m not sure I’ve ever followed through on any that I’ve made in previous years, so maybe we should put that idea to one side.
Let’s just say that I intend to write some more stuff. After the inevitable lull on completing Book Four of Mathematical Mysteries, BAD DAY IN MINSK, last year, a whole load of other projects have begun to swarm into my head. This is nice, but I would like them to appoint some kind of leader, so that I know who I need to be negotiating with. If not, I may end up doing the usual thing of trying all of them at once and giving them all up after the first 1000 words.
I’m also thinking about what I can do to market BAD DAY IN MINSK, which is coming out in April. I don’t think I’ll be doing any weird music videos this time, you’ll be pleased to know, although I’m still quite fond of the one I did for THE RIDDLE OF THE FRACTAL MONKS, even if hardly anyone’s been tempted to share it.
If only I’d done it as a sea shanty, eh?
Anyway, in odd moments I have been continuing to work on Archiepyedia, partly as a resource to market the books but mainly to help people who are joining the series at a later point. It’s also going to be helpful for people have read the earlier books but have forgotten what happened in them. This, it turns out, includes myself.
If you undertake this kind of peculiar endeavour, you do find yourself doing odd things, though. I was writing the article describing The Autonomous Bailiwick of Channellia, which plays an important part in A QUESTION OF TRUST as well as THE RIDDLE OF THE FRACTAL MONKS, and I noticed that on page 214 of the paperback edition I’d gone and described its flag:
A long wooden pole protruded out of the middle of the building, flying what I recognised the Channellia flag, which consisted of the business end of Poseidon’s trident against a symbolic wave motif.
So obviously, I had to do this. A quick visit to Pixabay to collect this and this plus half an hour or so on GIMP, and this is what I came up with:
I don’t think that’s too bad, actually. Maybe there’s another line of work opening up for me.