Faith is a hard thing to muster after eighteen months of unemployment. I’ve submitted hundreds of job applications into the ether with no impact. Interviews arrive at glacial speed, if at all. Passing three rounds is a minor miracle, but since most employers require five these days, it’s a miracle without a payoff. Requirements change constantly from the word “go.” Remote jobs become hybrid, and hybrid ones become 100% on-site.

My day-to-day expenses burn precious retirement money. I’ve nearly exhausted mine. If I can’t find a path to self-sufficiency without a job, I’m sunk. At best, I have a couple of months to build something worthwhile. No pressure, though!

Time’s slipping away from me. I need to try something different. So the moment has arrived for me to tell my stories.

I’ll unveil a couple of my creative projects soon. One of them, The Cinders of Your Mane, is a novella prequel to a larger book I’m writing: Beasts and Brutality. Cinders will reach first draft status in a couple of days. Then editing begins. The cover art should arrive mid-March. When it’s complete, I intend to release it for free alongside a modestly-priced audiobook version. If you’d like to know more about these projects, check out my fiction page!

Meanwhile, I’ve completed a rough draft of my nonfiction autobiography: Dot-God-Damn. I’m holding off on editing it while I shepherd other projects. In brief, this book is a tell-all about my life during the Dot-Com Boom and Dot-Com Crash. It is not for the faint of heart or prudish. But if you enjoy stories about sleazy cops getting robbed outside gay sex bars in Dallas, you may find it to your taste!

Seriously, that story is in the book. It actually happened. I laugh about it decades later.

But wait! There’s more! In addition to my writing work, I’m readying a Patreon-based podcast about my post-employment journey. What’s it like to try and create a revenue stream from thin air? How do you weather years of unemployment without going insane? (I may not be the best authority on sanity. But my partner is a psychologist, and he’ll be a guest.)

I’ll also share some interesting stories from my own past on the podcast. As an example, did you know I’m a second-generation IT worker? I grew up coloring old computer punch cards with crayons. Oh, and my dad took a data processing job in Saudi Arabia during The Eighties. I’ve got lots of stories about that period in my life.

Tune in. Who knows what the hell will come out of my mouth? Some of it might even be useful!

I can’t hide behind the word “someday” anymore. “Someday” is now if I intend to avoid disaster. Maybe I’ll succeed. Maybe I won’t. But I don’t have a chance without an audience. I hope you’ll become part of it. Success means survival for me.

It certainly beats the looming alternative.