
We had an early start on Friday. It was the mother-in-law’s birthday and we wanted to take her card and gifts up before midday if possible, but the poet had a Teams meeting first thing. So we got up early and went to see her before that started.
When we got back, I made us both some breakfast and fed the birds. Then I started with a bit of a tech declutter. I’m working my way through LinkedIn at the moment, removing all of my historical posts. And I removed most of the people I follow, leaving just 5 on there. LinkedIn will be the next social media platform I’ll be closing down.
I don’t use it. I’ve never used it. All I had it for was auto-posts of book reviews and the blog. One contact uses it to send messages to me, but I’m also friends with her on Facebook, in real life, and she can read my blog. When I’m about ready to close it down, I’ll put up an announcement. Or I’ll leave it there with just the announcement, the same as I do on Twitter/X.
As soon as I’ve updated the back matter in all of my books, I’m closing them both. Books I publish from now on will have the new back matter and only one set of ‘also by’ publications.
It’s supposed to be a 5-minute declutter, but it never is. Or not at the moment it isn’t. If I was just keeping on top of emails, then it would be a daily 5-minutes, or a touch-it-once routine, then either file it or bin it straight away. For now, though, it’s taking up an entire Pomodoro.
Once I’d done that, I went and checked the space opera workshop. I’d already stalked Dean Smith and Kristine Rusch on their Facebook pages, and Kris, at least, was still posting regular stuff, alongside leading the in-person class. So that set my mind at ease: nothing horrible had happened.
So I went and checked the workshop again, and there they were! Two-and-a-half days’ worth of classes. I got my notebook out, settled in, and started to catch up.
I think they just got real busy with the in-person class. This was the first time they’d held a workshop in their newly relocated office premises, the classes kind of spilled over into lunch breaks, plus there were 13 or 14 students, and every one had submitted their assignments. That’s a lot of reading when the stories range from 3,000 to 8,000 words. Even Dean had received a lot of assignments from the study along gang, which made me feel a helluva lot better for not submitting any of my own.
Most of the attendees to the in-person workshop have signed up for future classes, which means those are very likely to go ahead. Plus, a bit of extra news: they don’t usually include an anthology for these classes, choosing instead to include an add-on for anyone who wants to submit a story to a publication. But in future, there will be a ‘novella component’ for both the in-person classes and the study along classes. If that’s not going to be an additional add-on, it’s something I’d like to have a go at.
All in all, I really enjoyed the class and I’m going to schedule the future study along classes in. Then, if there’s much space between them, I want to schedule in the existing online classes I’m already signed up for. I don’t think I’ll submit assignments at the end of them, even though for some of them I think we still can and Dean will look at them.
I shared Friday’s blog, but that was it for the day. The catch-up and note-taking took up most of the day,
On Saturday we did the shopping. But on Sunday we had an hour in the garden.
I gave the small apple tree a hard prune and I pruned the roses in the front garden down to the base. I know that some roses grow on new wood and some roses grow on old wood, but I have no idea which is which, nor which of our roses do what. So I’ll keep an eye on things, and if they flower, then I’ll know they flower on old wood, and if they don’t, then I’ll know they flower on new wood. And if we’re here for another year, I’ll know which ones to leave next winter.
While I did that, the poet tackled some of the brambles in the front garden, using his new chipper so he could fit more in the garden waste bin. The council won’t be emptying the green bin until March, which means we won’t be able to get much more in it between then and now. If we have another hour in the garden this coming weekend, we might have to fill rubble sacks and take them to the tip.
We had a look at going away in the campervan at the end of the month, but we couldn’t find anywhere with availability and took that to mean they’re mostly closed in January. We could park at the roadside, but I’m not sure we’re ready for that yet. So we decided to spend the remaining weekends in January in the garden, having another hour per session. Plus, Monkey Dust are back at work this weekend, which will be interesting.
It’s difficult to keep on top of all social media links, I’m in the middle of tidying up the website, sorting out dead links / pages and old photo’s and have been busy most of the day on and off but don’t feel as though I’ve achieved much though… I have an old website template which I might go back to, but I’m undecided as yet….might put a post on threads for people to vote?
I’m using link tree now, it’s so much easier, only one place to change everything. Apart from on here, which is really easy anyway.
I haven’t even looked at Threads.
I’m reassessing my relationship to social media in general, and looking for other options, especially since I don’t want to use my advertising budget on FB or Amazon ads.
Sounds like you’re enjoying the class. That’s great.
Good for you, getting in the garden. It’s -7F here this morning, so I will stay inside as long as possible.
When I stepped outside yesterday, it had just started to rain. We’re not getting a lot of rain at the moment, so I revelled in it.
I’m reassessing my entire online presence, trying to reduce it as much as possible. I’m not sure about the FB/Amazon ads. FB in particular is riddled with horror stories and I hate to give up my payment information to such an organisation, although I do keep a PayPal account running on empty, so it’s less likely to be emptied by someone else.
I do enjoy learning how others do things. I’m always open to trying new things myself.