Preview the Yak

Preparing Trouble for pre-release now, with a target launch of June 1, 2026. As I've moved from edit phase to layout, I am seeing the promise of all that work last fall to automate the process. I tried to use my nerd powers for good and set up automation for the processing. Do writers keep a GitHub? I do.

The Scrivener-to-pandoc-to-LaTeX pipeline is not super lightweight, but I'm giving the book another typos pass now, and they're popping up in clumps. Being able to re-run the whole layout end-to-end is a good thing. Needing to do it because I find piddling mistakes is less good. Such is the sexy, high-profile life of an indie, right?

I'm excited to get this one out the door. It's the longest-timeline project I've worked on yet, taking perhaps ten years total to come together, with long gaps in the trunk in-between. My drive right now is the dopamine hit of ordering a proof copy, which can't be done until all the dimensions are settled, which can't be done until all the text is settled. We use the phrase "shaving the yak" professionally to describe the process of slow, meticulous labors with no evident end in sight. But I know there's an end, and a self-imposed deadline, and that's the kick I require.

 Back to Trouble... and watch for the release! It's already for pre-order on the Books page now.

 🧩🦏  

Trouble book cover, showing the "alchemy" art significant to the story

 

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