I currently live in the valley between anticipation and anxiety. My rough drafts for Dot-God-Damn and The Cinders of Your Mane are now completed. Finding time to edit them is my current challenge. Because in addition to Beasts and Brutality, I’m turning into a part-time businessman for the Bearly Coping podcast.

After doing some research, I decided creating a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC) for the podcast couldn’t wait. That paperwork is underway with a legal service, and trademarks will follow soon thereafter. Once those two things reach completion, it’s on to business checking, online payment methods, Patreon details, etc.

All that work happens before I create and release episodes. The creative process is slow, but the legal process is glacial. Fortunately, I have plenty of work to occupy me in the interim.

When I sat down to plan episodes for the podcast, I realized that a different approach might prove more entertaining. As a bonus, the new format will help promote Dot-God-Damn on the road to publication. I’m going to tell stories about my career in tech, and trust me, those won’t be bland tales about server upgrades. You will, however, hear about parking lot shootouts and running into colleagues at bath houses.

I’m also going to talk about crazy stuff that happened in my personal life. Shadowy bars. Questionable hookup decisions. Hanging out with werewolves in the Santa Cruz Mountains.

Curious yet?

I’ll also dig back in time a bit to talk about moving to Saudi Arabia as a kid. I’m second-generation IT (dad was in data processing), and my father took a job overseas during The Eighties. Has anyone ever walked up to your parents on the street and offered 300 riyals for your sister because she’s blond?

Yeah, that happened. When my parents declined, my ten-year-old self told them they passed up a good deal. My sister didn’t seem amused.

Someday soon, you’ll be able to hear those stories and more. For the time being, I ask for your continued patience. I want to make the best first impression possible.