State of Creative Criticality
November 2023
November 15, 2023
Where have I been?
It’s a great question, and the answer is pretty simple. My day job has taken up the vast majority of my bandwidth over the last few months with a massive high-visibility project on a tight deadline. Imagine taking a process that should take several years and safely fast-tracking it in far less time while still maintaining the expected quality and making a profit for my employers.
Something had to give. That something was my work here. But as the day gig’s needs start to loosen a bit, I can spare a few more spoons (or spell slots, if you will) at Creative Criticality.
I appreciate your support and your patience as I continue to explore pop culture and the world around us both critically and creatively.
So, where do we go from here?
I placed the Timestamps Project on hiatus during the writers’ and actors’ strikes, but I’m ready to pick up again with Arachnids in the UK, more than likely around the Doctor Who 60th anniversary. There are 26 entries remaining in the Thirteenth Doctor’s era, and by the time this website catches up to the actual show, it will be closer to 30 entries.
After that, the Timestamps Project will become a bit more – ahem – timely as I cover each season/series as it finishes. I still want to keep the slight delay in place to keep the spirit of the project, though.
In the meantime, I’m considering some options for rewatches of other series. I keep toying with the idea of covering Star Trek like this, but I also need a bit of a break from 60-year-old franchises. I’m thinking smaller and something with fewer seasons.
This semi-regular look at topics that I “just can’t let go of” will continue as well. I’m always on the lookout for good topics to muse about, as well as promoting the good things my friends do in the creative space. This topic ends up being a kind of catch-all for whatever pop culture or real-world topic is on my mind.
Among those topics is Narrative Diversons, the quarterly discussion on what I’ve been watching, reading, and playing. Expect the end-of-the-year edition to include from Autumn 2023 as well as those movies and television items from Summer 2023 that I didn’t discuss due to the strikes.
This series takes a lot of time to research and prepare, which is why it often falls to the back burner, but it is also important to me because of my history, education, and experience. It’s not going away anytime soon.
Similarly, this series will continue. It’s another time-consuming one to write, but I love to cook for those I care about. With my schedule running the way it has been this year, my meals have been reduced to a repeating regimen of easy-to-remember and easy-to-cook items. All still healthy, but lacking in experimentation.
Other Items
Before my schedule flew out the window and exploded, I submitted short works to two publications. Those will be coming soon from their respective houses.
I contributed a short humorous essay for the tenth-anniversary edition of Outside In, a series published by ATB Publishing. Celebrating 10 years of the book series and 60 years of Doctor Who, this book looks at 163 adventures from the classic era as a celebration of both the television show and the book series inspired by it. It is available for pre-order with a release date of November 23, 2023. You can find the pre-order and more information at ATB Publishing.
I also contributed to Dragon Tales, the charity anthology edited by Michael Gordon. Dragon Tales is a benefit book celebrating Atlanta’s largest multi-media pop culture convention for fans by fans. It contains stories, essays, memories, pro-tips, and more by folks who honor Dragon Con in their heart and try to keep it all the year. I previously mentioned this in September, and a release date is still forthcoming.
Last, but certainly not least, I also have a project that’s been simmering for years and was inspired by friends Bethany Kesler and Gary Mitchel at Wholanta 2018. It’s been a while, obviously, but I really want to pick that up again.
Anyway, I’m not dead (yet) and neither is Creative Criticality. If there was a way to pay the bills by simply keeping the lights on here and talking culture all day, I’d do it, but sometimes the day gig calls and I have to answer.
Thanks again for sticking around. I look forward to picking up the torch once again very soon.
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