That title is as far as I got in my Spanish Duolingo education, who I learned just laid off contractors to implement AI technology to do the work they were doing. While it's supposedly being framed as "no big deal" in this article, it's still something that goes against my morals. If the layoffs and AI integration meant an increase in wages for full-time and part-time employees without lowering the quality of the their software then I'd approve, but if neither of those are the case (which I'm certain it is), then I'll shame. Either way, I've cut ties with Duolingo because I don't like the taste this leaves in my mouth.
That was not how I was supposed to open this post, but clearly I'm in my no-filter year--I did have a birthday in December--so I'm gonna go for it. On to business!
Welp, I've just completed the final read through for my first newsletter of the year, which is also a dive back into sending it out. This January newsletter will be a re-introduction of myself, my work, and expanding on some things I've been kicking around the last few months. I'm already coming up with ideas for February's newsletter. I've come to realize that there is no reason why I can't make it a truly engaging newsletter, so I'm going to present a new idea in February and hopefully people will respond to it. I've got some other ideas bouncing around in the wide empty space known as my brain, but I need to really dwell on them before deciding.
Anywho, January's newsletter will hit inboxes on 01/15, and will be active on the archive on 01/24. If you haven't signed up for my newsletter yet, you can sign up here.
As to what I've been working on, I started plotting another story. I had an idea, it dug it's talons deep into my brain, and now I have like a 6-page, single spaced outline in OneNote that's getting longer. It's a vampire story, and I'm hoping it won't span more than two books because I don't have the bandwidth for another series. I seriously need to learn how to write standalone books or something because jeepers.
I've also started the outline for the third book in the IFL series, which is weird because the second one hasn't even gotten off the ground quite yet. I mean, yeah, I've written six chapters of it, but I just got to the first major turning point in the story and there are like 6-7 more chapters to go before I can think about calling it done. Maybe there might be a few more chapters. We'll see what happens.
This brings me to the first IFL book, which hasn't even been released yet lol! With the long weekend, either ahead or behind me depending on when you're reading this, I'm dedicating all my time to it. I'll be committing the edits I made during my first pass through on top of adding some things to put it in alignment with the second IFL book. Once those are done, I'm off to find an editor. While I love my usual editor, I'm looking for someone who is well-versed in North American football stuff to catch things that might not be believable. A lot of web searching and liberties were taken with the football aspects of this book. A...lot!
Oh! Before I forget, if you want to know more about the first book in the IFL series, I give a full synopsis and cover reveal in my January newsletter, so you should sign up for it.
All right, I think that is going to be it for this post. Remember newsletter is out on the 15th, or is already out depending on when you're reading this. Sign-up here to get it directly in your inbox, and if this you're reading this post after the 15th, the January newsletter will be live in the archive on January 24th. Full disclosure, any coupon codes or freebies mentioned in the newsletter will not be vaild if you're accessing them through the archive. So, I'd sign up if you want to get those goodies.
As always, do review and rate the books you read, especially those put out by independent authors and self-published ones.
Until next time....
-DJ Small
