In the Works #11

Ebbs and Flows

Music has taken a backseat for me for the past six months. It’s strange and uncomfortable for it to be absent because so much of my identity has been tied up in music, being a musician and a songwriter since I was a kid. I’m trying to sit with this and accept it with the understanding that it’s still a part of me even if it’s dormant right now.

Harmony House has been flowing! I finally made it through writing the final chapters a few weeks ago in a crazy three days of flow that produced nearly 10,000 words. It’s deeply satisfying to have an ending that lands where I wanted it to when I began over three years ago. Having an ending has given a whole new confidence to my weekly edit and performance of the audio narration for the episodes. Now that I know where all the characters end up, I can perform them with a whole new level of nuance.

What I’ve Been Working On

I’ve done my share of looking back in the last few years. For whatever reason I woke up a couple of weeks ago and decided to have a conversation with my younger self. Here’s what that sounded like.

When You Arrive, Send Me a Postcard

The wonderfully talented and thoughtful

Kimberly Warner

fell in love with my novel, “The Memory of My Shadow” recently and invited me to have an in-depth conversation to talk about it. We did, and it was so much fun. I hope you’ll watch it and your interest will be piqued to read the novel.

Ben Wakeman's Memory of My Shadow

On Kimberly’s recommendation, I threw my hat into the ring in this essay contest and produced a vision of the relationship between humans and AI and how it may not be our destruction, but our salvation. I may publish it on Catch & Release at some point in the future.

An Essay Contest. It’s January 1, 2050.

What’s Next

I’m considering starting a monthly video that’s a salon-style chat with interesting writers and artists on the Substack platform I’ve come to know and love. I’m curious if this is something you’d be interested in watching.

There have been a lot of inquiries as to when or even if I will host another installment of the Same Walk Different Shoes project. The answer is yes! I’m planning to host the next one mid-summer. Let me know if you’re interested in participating by answering the poll.

Finally, I’ve been giving a lot of thought to whether I want to publish my novel, “The Memory of My Shadow” in the traditional way. I realize a lot of readers would prefer to read it in one go as an e-book or a physical copy. I’m curious to know what you think.

Thank you!

Thanks for all your support and generous feedback. I’d love to hear what you’re working on and if there are intersections between our worlds. Jump into the comments and let me know.