By the Nine & Four, today I break the silence of several months to give an update and explanation, not only for the silence, but of plans moving forward.
First off, I would like to give a heart felt thanks to those that have stuck with me for these last few months of silence. Thank you.
Now an accounting of the last few months. At the end of series four and the release of the last of the Tales Thus Far, I had ambitions of taking a few weeks of for the holidays as I have made a habit of as well as using the time to work of a marked elevation of the content I would release in future. Also I began the process of compiling and writing several literary works relating to the Realms. These projects involved my first attempts at collaboration with others outside my personal circle, combined with the timing of the holidays, I had modest expectations of what would be achievable before the beginning of the year. Thus I had accepted that I would not be releasing any content until at least the beginning of 2024.
Then I was reminded yet again that life always has a curveball or three to toss, I shan't go into details too deeply, but me being laid off and the health issues of my collaborators caused delays almost immediately in planning and further recruitment. While I was able to initially make some steady progress on several projects despite this, several factors converged to bring this to a grinding halt.
First off was the need to find new employment, which was not only a time sink but began to wear on my mental health and drive to create. Combined with the stress of falling ever further behind on bills and accruing debt, my ability to focus and produce anything of quality was all but shattered.
However I was able to find new employment, not in any of my trades but work nonetheless. While this addresses the bills and debt, it comes with an unforeseen set of complications. The position is that of a Nightshift one, and after a decade of waking at crack of dawn, the change has proven to be anything but smooth.
The 90 or so days I have been there are mostly a blur, with and sense of regularity having been lost. This has caused no end of issues with what had been regularly occurring matters, streaming with the ABS or my running of other events with friends and family. I am grateful to everyone involved for putting up with these issues, and giving me the room to try and wrangle all this chaos back into some semblance of a life.
All said, the last few months have been working me over. I, however, am unbroken, and finding the flame beginning to stir from the embers. I am unsure of what or how I am going to proceed in total, as I have a bevy of options. I am determined to get this show back on the road, however, and know that the hardest part of starting after a long respite is to just start.
Therefore, This Week in the Library will resume at the beginning of next month (03/01/2024), as a once a Week live stream taking place tentatively on Fridays at 6PM Eastern. For now they will be open to all paid and free members of the Community and will be a combination of Q&A as well as discussion as to the future of The Realms and what projects are pursued.
As far as content for the Video platforms are concerned, that is still to be determined. Have no fear, the storylines for our various tales are not over. It is the form and format of future entries that is still in flux. As I have always said, I intend to take the realms and it's wonders to as many forms of media possible. How this will all take shape is still a mystery even to me, but I invite you to find out the answer with me, and perhaps even shape the result yourselves.
Thank You Again,
David O'Dell
TLDR: The short break intended got expanded because life. Getting back to things slowly. March first, 6PM Eastern, This Week in the Library returns here on Locals exclusively, where it will be a weekly broadcast. Thank you for your Support.
Perceptive Patrons of the Library,
The storm has past and recovery is well underway. Power has been restored, as well as basic internet access. I apologize for not being able to update before now; however, an unexpected snafu with my locals app kept me from posting here.
Plan is as it was before, Calling this week a wash, and continuing next week with a new entry for you all by Friday morning, to be echoed to YT a week after that. Livestreams might still be up in the air, due to the current nature of my internet access. Thank you again for your patience and support.
Until the next update, by the 9 & 4,
Be Well;
Take Care of Yourselves,
And Each Other
Perceptive Patrons of the Library,
As you are no doubt aware, Hurricane Milton is on it's way to impact Florida, which happens to be where I live. While I have prepared to ensure my own safety as much as can be done; I felt a message here was not only appropriate, but necessary.
While no hurricane is particularly well timed, Milton's timing is most certainly a source of vexation. Having just begun to make content again, while assembling the final few pieces for future projects; and this storm is likely to disrupt the minor momentum I have gained thus far, to my chagrin.
I am currently writing the script for the next entry, and am hoping to be able to rush things and get it out the door for the Locals Subscribers release Friday morning as was the schedule I was trying to set. However, this is by far guaranteed, as both the incoming storm is likely to disrupt power and internet.
This is likely, but not guaranteed, to affect my ability to stream both on YT and Locals. The damage to utilities and the ...
Alrighty folks, with the YT Release of S5E1, we will have, as promised, both a YT livestream and then one here on locals exclusively. Both will be around 30 mins, with the YT one possibly running longer because of limits.
YT Stream starts at 7PM Eastern on Sunday October 6th, with the Locals exclusive stream to start at 8PM at the latest.
I look forward to seeing you all there, have your questions ready, and comments warmed up!
