“I’m not dead yet,
I can dance and I can sing.
I am not dead yet, I can do the Highland fling.
I am not dead yet. No need to go to bed.
No need to call the doctor because I’m not yet dead.“
That, my Followers of Fear, is from the chorus of “Not Yet Dead,” one of the songs in the musical comedy Monty Python’s Spamalot. A show I would love to see someday, but as of yet, I have not had the opportunity to do so.
It is also a good opener to a post to let you all know that, yes, I am still alive. I know it might seem like I wasn’t, or maybe, God forbid, I have given up on this blog! After all, it’s been nearly a month since I last posted on here. But in reality, I’ve just been super busy lately. You know how it is: between the writing and the day job and everything else, I’ve just been a busy little demon.
Plus, as I mentioned back in February, I don’t want to post just to keep up with some demand or to make sure I stay visible. I want to post because there’s something worth posting about. Whether that be my thoughts on writing or horror, a review of a book I really think you should read, or I have an announcement that I want the world to know about.
Sadly, I don’t have any of those right now, but I did feel it was necessary to check in. And since I’m here, why don’t I give you some updates on how things are going with me? Ready? Okay!
- The writing is going well. I’ve been making slow but steady progress on Crawler, the mummy novel I’ve been working on. It’s not as fast as I would hope, but it’s better than making no progress, which is what I was making for four years. And I will continue to work at it, while also finding a more permanent title for the story. (There’s a movie with a similar name coming out soon, and “Crawler” was never meant to be a permanent name, anyway.)
I’ve also been working on and sending out other stories here and there, and I’m hoping to have news on some of them any day now. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even have a publisher for The Shape of Evil, my 3D Printer from Hell novel. You never know. - I got a pay raise at work. This is very good, as I’ve had to replace both my water tank and my washer and dryer this summer (and the latter was a saga of trying to find something that fit my tiny laundry room, let me tell you). But it also means that I’m able to save more, which means I get closer to writing full time. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking: how does getting paid more at the day job lead to writing full time? Well, it means I can save a bit more after each paycheck (hopefully, anyway). And if that happens and I decide to leave that day job for writing someday, I’ll have more savings to rely on and I won’t have to go back to work in an office so quickly.
- I’m planning some travel for the near future. It’s still early days, but I’m working on going on a trip or two not related to a convention or book event. It’s been some time since I did any sort of trip like that (remember, my last one was supposed to be Israel in winter 2024, but that got canceled due to the war), so I’m looking forward to it. However, a lot of details are still in the air, so I will wait to give you any specifics until I have some stuff nailed down. Until then, know that I’m looking forward to sharing plenty of photos with you.
Anyway, that’s all for now, my Followers of Fear. I can guarantee it won’t be another month till you hear from me, but it might still be a while. In the meantime, you can keep up with me by following my social media accounts, which I will link to down below. Until next time, my Followers of Fear, good night, pleasant nightmares, and 55 days till Halloween. Who’s already putting up their Halloween displays?
Rami Ungar The Writer 