Here We Go Again

Back in the spring of 2020, COVID-19 swept through the world, causing massive disruption to everyone and everything. Millions of deaths, trade and economic collapse, people refusing to protect themselves or others from contamination.

And now, it's happening all over again. Except the cause is greed and power, not a virus.

*sigh*

If you're a history buff like, we're seeing an action for action repeat of the first half of the 20th century. Back in 2020, Kris Rusch posted about Black Swan events disrupting the expected path of things. Go read it. I'll wait.

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So, what does this have to do with me and my writing? I had planned to do a Kickstarter this month for The Books of Apep series. I've been prepping for this campaign for two freaking years, and...

Of course, shit hit the fan. Not mine, for once. But everyone else's. And this Black Swan event is even weirder than the last one.

Everyone in the U.S. is suffering from the current, and rather deliberate, chaos in D.C. to dismantle the government. I won't get into my fury about my son's panic at not getting paid as a soldier.

But on top of that, the employees of Kickstarter have gone on strike. Ironically, the workers unionized back during the pandemic. And now, they are looking for nothing more than to continue their four-day work week and a cost of living increase in their wages. Management isn't even trying to negotiate in good faith. Kind of like Congress right now.

So, I delayed in putting up my campaign, hoping that the strike would end soon. Both of my parents were in unions. I remember us dropping off Dad at the picket lines during strikes in '70's. Frankly, I feel a little funky about crossing the Kickstarter United virtual picket line.

Company owners seem to forget who makes the products they sell. They forget who buys the products they sell. And if people aren't earning a decent wage, they can't buy the products these companies sell. It's a vicious cycle that no one seems to want to stop.

In my own case, my book sales are down because of the uncertainty of the economy. I can't blame my readers. DH and I are also nervous about what will happen next, too.

What am I going to do? After waffling over the last three weeks, I'm going to bite the bullet and launch the campaign at the end of the month. If it funds, great! If it doesn't, I'll try to do it again next year. But I've got to look after my own interests, especially if GK needs financial help!

In the meantime, I'll keep writing to keep from weeping over the disaster my country has become. Which is how I wrote 2600 words on A Barrel of Vintner yesterday.