Canister X – A.P. FuchsWriter, Artist, Creator
I’m feeling much better. The lingering effects of covid have lifted. I’m still not 100% due to other issues but the brain fog is gone and I’m getting things done.
All is on schedule for the summer releases, including GIGANTI-GATOR DEATH MACHINE: TRIPLE FEATURE.
Unfortunately, I won’t get the Axiom-man books done in time for comic con. I can write fast enough but it’s the publication lead time that’s the problem.
I’m going to still keep working, though. One step at a time.
With the two waves of books I plan on putting out this year, I’ve been so busy as my health will allow that I haven’t been getting any writing done. It makes me feel down and sad especially since there’s no way I’m going to finish the Axiom-man books in time for comic con. Writing them is one thing; publishing them and all the time that takes is another.
So I’m kind of left without a path because I’m busy getting books ready for print and eBook and don’t have a creative outlet.
I don’t know.
Just venting.
Need to come up with a plan.
I haven’t blogged here in nearly a year, which makes me a hypocrite because I used to stress blogging fairly frequently. Thing is, I fell ill again and had to put a full stop on most things while I recovered. I was able to pick at odds and ends but wasn’t able to get back into the full swing of things.
Over the past few weeks I’ve been as productive as ever and finally brought some book stuff out of the darkness and into the light. I did a lot of work and the following is an update as to where my various projects are at.
In no particular order:
Giganti-gator Death Machine: Triple Feature – with the editor.
The Canister X Transmission: Year Four – with the formatter.
The Canister X Transmission: The Long Year Five – with the formatter.
Expected release: Summer 2022
Reissues:
Blood of the Dead – with the formatter.
Possession of the Dead – with the formatter.
Redemption of the Dead – beginning of final proofread.
Surprise Project – In pieces but not in a bad way. Just need to assemble everything and write something for it.
Expected release: Fall 2022
The Axiom-man Saga:
The Summoning – to be written soon.
Episode No. 4: Transformations – to be written.
New Dawn – to be written.
These three Axiom-man books will be written back-to-back because these three stories are The Battle of Power Trilogy, so essentially one story told over three parts. My goal is to have them out by Winnipeg Comic Con in the fall. I know the above looks like a lot and overshooting the year but you have to remember what these projects are and how close each one is to being finished.
Other items:
Fredrikus – I have one episode inked and ready for scanning. The comic is temporarily on the backburner while I finish up the above.
The Canister X Transmission: The Very Long Year Six – I plan to resume the newsletter at a later date. I want to wait until I’m fully back up and running so I have something to write to you every week.
YouTube – I have a package here at Axiom-man Central that I want to do an unboxing video for so look for that soon. I also plan to make more videos once I’m fully back in the saddle.
Canister X – I’ll blog when I can and when I have something to say.
And there you have it: A complete picture of what’s happening with various projects on the go. Let’s hope my health keeps up.
Cheers.
~APF
Status Report – 020721:
I’ve been off my sabbatical since the beginning of January. Since then, I’ve done my best to work at a pace that is more health-ful. It’s one thing to go 1000mph, but it’s also important to know when to ease off the gas. I had my foot to the floor for too long and paid the price, which was burn out. It took about five months to recover to the point where I can go a little harder without compromising my health. I still made art during those months but at a much slower pace.
Since being off sabbatical, I’ve spent most of my time making comics, namely Fredrikus.
Episodes 18-20 have aired along with the front cover and first page of Issue 2. Go here to check them out.
Episode 21 to air shortly.
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop me an email by going here.
This concludes your Status Report for 020721.
Status Report: Notes from Sabbatical – 100120:
I’m still taking things day by day. I really burnt myself out good so am simply easing my way back into creating and doing some of the peripheral tasks for it (like tweaking stories).
I honestly don’t know how long this burn out will last. I’ve been burnt out before and it took months to recover. Couple that with my chronic health issues and I don’t know when things will get back to normal. All I can do is try and put one foot in front of the other.
I’m still taking on freelance work, however, and that work gets priority over the other things I’ve been doing so if you’re looking for an editor, I’m available. Please see my rates page here.
Anyway, just wanted to keep everyone in the loop.
This concludes Status Report: Notes from Sabbatical – 100120.
Status Report: Notes from Sabbatical – 090420:
On top of 2020 putting a wrench into my plans, I simply burnt myself out going 1000mph and wrecked my health as a result. It took all of August to rest up enough to start working again, and by working, I mean getting back into creativity. The difference now–and due to being careful with my health–is I’m working at a much slower pace.
I know you’re used to regular content from me, but that’s something I cannot provide right now. Right now the goal is to ease back into creating and go at a pace that doesn’t destroy me.
I’m feeling a lot better after a month’s rest, but I still have a ways to go in terms of recovery so self-care has been the priority these days and I’m taking things one day at a time, sometimes even one moment at a time.
There are no deadlines. There are no promises. Just simply creating art for the joy of it and telling you about it when appropriate.
Anyway, I hope you are all doing well.
This concludes Status Report: Notes from Sabbatical – 090420.
Dear reader:
After much careful thought and deliberation and self-reflection, I’ve decided I’m going to take a sabbatical from the way I currently do my work. For how long, I’m not sure. What I do know is my health requires a much-needed break from going at 1000mph. I’ve been pushing hard for about a year and it’s taken its toll. That said, I’ll still be making art behind the scenes because I can’t help myself, but in terms of the rat race that is the arts business, I’m going to take a break from it and take the time to recharge and restore.
This means I’m doing an All Stop on publishing new and old work, including Fredrikus and the newsletter.
I will still be doing any freelance work that comes in.
I look forward to catching up with you guys once my health improves.
Thank you for your understanding.
Sincerely,
A.P. Fuchs
Project Rebuild Update:
This is just a note to say that Project Rebuild has resumed. A few health lapses put the project on hold as well as a few things outside of my control. The good news is my health is in a better place so I’m able to dedicate the appropriate amount of time to it. The main goal is still to have Project Rebuild be the overarching project for 2020. The only thing that has changed are the specifics to the timeline (like release dates).
Anyway, I’m eager to get back into this because it’s an important piece of my overall publishing puzzle.
Status Report – 041420:
Enjoying the new workflow, which follows my new system of Slowing Down to Speed Up.
We are almost where we need to be to discuss Project Jackass here on the blog.
Also, this was blog was retooled behind the scenes recently. A couple minor tweaks left–basically settling on one or two other plug-ins–but otherwise we seem to be back up and running smoothly here.
Websites are fun.
Right, don’t blog about blogging. That’s Old Internet.
Had a health lapse recently but seem to be getting back on track. (Non-COVID related.) This is good.
Back to the drawing board. Consider this notice one that says, “Yes, we are still working here and almost have news.”
In the interim, please check out my YouTube channel and consider subscribing. Heroes and monsters are what the videos are all about.
This has been your Status Report for 041420.
Stay Focused Social Media Blocking App and Timex TW5M23300 Watch.
Last week I was off-line except for a couple of tasks that needed doing via the Internet (like administration). To ensure I remained off-line–I’m just as human as the next guy (I think)–I got an app for my computer phone called Stay Focused. This app can block any app on your phone and, in the free version (which I used), can block up to 5 apps at once. You set a schedule by telling it which hours and what days you want certain apps blocked. I applied these to the social media apps on my pocket computer to keep me on lockout. While true I’m in Broadcast Mode in the winter, as part of broadcasting I sometimes need to go into an app like Instagram and post something. The problem is one glance at the feeds can quickly lead to two, then three, and so on, and the next thing you know you’ve fiddled away an afternoon scrolling and scrolling and refreshing and scrolling.
This picture is a screenshot of the app from the day I went dark. You can see the stat on there says I’ve already tried opening the app 3 times and each time it didn’t work (was running tests). The timer on locking me out of these apps ran for a week. And it worked! Once I knew I was locked out, I didn’t give the apps a second thought.
Stay Focused also acts as a master lock, meaning you have these little locks under it (like the apps you’re blocking), but then you can lock Stay Focused itself–but only in 6-hour chunks in the free version–to ensure you don’t unlock your blocked apps. I’m assuming this is for extreme cases where certain people need a double padlock on their phone. To get even more extreme, I’m pretty sure there’s a lock on Stay Focused that forbids you from uninstalling it in an effort to destroy your barriers.
What was interesting was it kept track of how many times I unlocked my phone to do something, like reply to a text from family. I was disgusted when I saw, at the end of one of the days, I had unlocked the phone around 35 times. I barely used it that day! But numbers don’t lie. I barely used it? That was 35 times in the span of 12 hours (roughly). That’s approximately 4 times an hour. That’s once every 15 minutes. My unlock count steadily dropped as the week wore on and I got busier, but this goes to show how much we’ve integrated pocket computers into our lives.
The app has other features, like how long you are using any one program and your total phone usage for the day.
In the end, getting an app like this is highly recommended, especially if you are a phone junkie and recognize you have a problem (dopamine addiction). And, yes, the irony of this kind of post ranting about frequent phone use is not lost on me. I fully recognize a good part of my business is digital and having people on-line looking at or reading my stuff is better for me yet here I am encouraging my readers to go live life in the physical world. Oh well. But my refutation to the irony is this: I’m referring to balance. Is your on-line and off-line lives balanced? Take away sleeping hours, eating, and body maintenance, and see how much time is spent on a screen while you’re awake. The rest is up to you.
(I know that author J.B. Bennet got on board and locked themselves out of things during working hours each day, so others see the merit in this.)
I made this video on Friday of last week and aired it yesterday. It gets into what happened during my time off-line. Watch and subscribe. You might relate.
Lastly, for months I was getting frustrated of having to pull out my phone to check the time. While 9 times out of 10 all it was was checking the time, there was always that one time in there where it became an excuse to futz around on the phone. I couldn’t have that. I needed to be off-line, so I took the plunge and got myself a basic sports watch by Timex. As a kid, I had a couple of their Ironman watches, which I loved. I was aiming for another basic Ironman this time around but it was suggested to me that’s more a watch for a 15-year-old than a man so opted for a different one because I thought that was a valid point (I’m talking purely the aesthetics).
This is the watch I got, model TW5M23300:
And that was how I kept dark last week.
Taking a break from the Internet is something I’ve recommended for years for the sake of maintaining all facets of one’s health. I will go off-line again somewhere down the road because 2020 is a stupidly busy work year and sometimes you need to just shut up and get the job done. But that upcoming time off-line won’t be for a while yet. Not until my first holiday of 2020. Until then, I’ll be here, writing to you and making books and art and comics and videos.
Keep coming back to the blog every day. There’s always something being posted.
– APF
Ps. Today, a new chapter of Gigantigator Death Machine aired on Patreon! Please go here to get access to this fun romp of creature horror for just a buck!
