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Steve’s Update 4/30/2017

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)

Let’s get to my weekly  Scrum style standups – and this is a pretty big milestone!

So for a month I’ve been using a lot more Scrum/Agile techniques, and that includes these weekly reports.  Now I can assess how it went!

The answer?  Pretty damn good.

More done, less stress, better sense of what I’m doing, more adaptability.  There’s a lot of blog posts about to come on this (which is also good as my blogging is erratic and I want to fix that).  These posts should also help you get up to speed as well, and after I tweak my methods I’ll probably do a roundup.

Major goals of this month:

  • Get Way With Worlds Minibook #1 back from editor.
  • Write at least 30 more questions for Minibook #5 and/or #6.
  • Start and write first chapter of my fiction piece “A Bridge To The Quiet Planet.”
  • Attend Fanime and speak (probably one day as Professor Oobleck)
  • Some general writing.
  • Experiment with Amazon Ads.

But hey it’s the end of one Sprint and the start of a new, so let’s get to status!

So what have I done the last week?

  • Way With Worlds Minibook #1: This is not late exactly as I had no deadline, but clearly have to check with my editor.
  • Way With Worlds Marketing: The newly printed bookmarks come today.  So yay!
  • Publicity: I’ve wanted to reach out to comic shops to speak at.  So far it’s kind of 50/50 on possible results – one not interested, one interested but noncommittal, two interested.
  • Seventh Sanctum Spotlight: Got people responding so I will probably start that this week!
  • General: A few social events here and there, nothing much out of the ordinary.

What am I going to do this week:

  • Way With Worlds Minibook #5:  Write at least five more questions.  I may need to accelerate these.
  • Seventh Sanctum Spotlight: Post my first entry.
  • Professional: I have two professional events coming up,this week.
  • Social: I also have a Bad Movie Event with some friends and my girlfriend.  Thinking this week might not be the most productive.
  • “A Bridge To The Silent Planet:” I’m going to plot this in one go or so over the weekend.  It’ll actually involve an experiment in writing organization.

Challenges and blockers:

  • Fanime may or may not have me do a third panel.  If they do, then I have to spend time to polish it.  I’ve budgeted time.

– Steve

Civic Diary 4/25/2017

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com and Steve’s Tumblr)

 

Man I am behind on these.  So let’s get to what’s up:

Local Political Group Social Media: Still at it.  It’s gotten kind of dull actually, but what I do helps drive things to the Facebook and Twitter pages – which will be useful as elections roll around.  I imagine there’s a lot more to learn.

Local Informal Group: This has proven to be pretty awesome.  It’s a small group (that’s kind of affiliated with a larger one).  This group meets monthly so we can get stuff done and it’s low-key, but keeps us all on the straight and narrow.  It’s part of a larger national group and we do regular activism – cards, calls, etc.

General Social Media: As I’m part of several groups I’ve worked to bring attention to issues and activism – often useful when you can copy and paste posts.

Calling My Representatives: I’m on several activism checklists, and these help me find issues to call on – as if I didn’t already have an idea.  In addition I track several issues over time so I harp on them continuously.

District Flipping: This is getting big.  Mostly I’ve donated, but there’s also phone banking going on and I might try that.

Economic Activism: Fell off of this as it was hard to work into my calling schedule.  Instead, I’m looking into setting aside time to mail.  Good lesson here – figure what pace you can do when.

I’m glad to be involved, but still feel like I’ve missed something.  I guess it’s more I’ll feel more engaged when elections in this area start.  Or it could be I’m new to this!

 

-Steve

 

 

 

Steve’s Update 4/23/2017

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(This column is posted at www.StevenSavage.com, www.SeventhSanctum.com, and Steve’s Tumblr)

Let’s get to my weekly “standups”  Scrum style continue!  What have I done and what am I going to do?

(OK, yes traditional Scrum is daily, but give me a break).

So what have I done the last week?

  • Way With Worlds Minibook #1: My editor should be on it.  Waiting for updates as we speak.
  • Way With Worlds Minibook #5: I completed my monthly goals over a week ahead of time.  I might write more.
  • Way With Worlds Marketing: The newly printed bookmarks are on their way – not sure what was up with the website, but I think they just got overloaded..  So here’s hoping I didn’t completely screw it up.
  • General: Went to assorted meetups, spent time with my girlfriend, and configured a new computer (a major part of my time over the weekend).  The latter should make me more productive, except it’s powerful enough to run Overwatch, so uh . .  yeah, there’s that.
  • Additional: I took an unplanned task to help edit someone’s story.  I might be doing more of this as I feel it lets me use my knowledge.  The idea is maybe I’ll offer, now and then, to do a deep-dive on someone’s chapter #1.

What am I going to do this week:

  • Way With Worlds Minibook #1:  Well I want to get this back, but it’s not required – I do want it back early May.
  • Seventh Sanctum Spotlight: I’m going to contact the folks who wanted to do it this week to start queuing content.  My goal was to contact but not necessarily publish, so I think this might be easier to just do end of month so next month starts queued up.
  • Miscellaneous Marketing: I want to check with local comic shops on speaking and do more with my self-pub group that also has a group of speakers.
  • General: Finishing any final computer configurations.  Probably get some social time in.  Plan next month.  Lots of miscellaneous and clean-up this month.

Challenges and blockers:

  • No blockers; if anything slightly ahead.
  • Long-term the next pop culture is on hold, and probably won’t start until late summer/early fall as my co-author is busy.

General:

  • Next month is shaping up to focus on Fanime, and a new project – writing fiction.

– Steve