Pausing billing!

Hey everyone!

I'm pausing billing, because I feel weird taking payments without offering anything substantial in return (and yes, I know that Patreon is built for this kind of thing, but still).

The last few months have been crazy. Here's an overview of the projects I've been juggling:

• Plane way overfunded on Kickstarter. All stretch goals unlocked. The amount of work this resulted in was utterly ridiculous, lol. Thankfully, the work is fun, so it rarely ever feels like labor. I'm moving into the proofing phase in the next week or so.

• Caleb Stephens and I just finished his latest novel, a true-crime/horror story about Millennial entrepreneurs, which was a total blast to work on.

• It was grueling AF, but I edited two TTRPG rulebooks and can't wait for them to hit Kickstarter.

• I completely renovated my blog for my "real job" and made a very rare podcast appearance.

As if all that weren't enough, I might be gainfully employed for the first time in 12 years soon! I reached out to a client of mine on LinkedIn, the CEO of a SaaS startup that has seen pretty incredible growth and success, to touch base and have a casual talk about work.

It's no secret that I haven't been happy in my career for a long, long time. In 2020, I went back to school for copyediting and tried starting over with The Dread Machine, but three straight years of losses and stagnant growth left me with no choice but to return to management consulting. Unsurprisingly, I'm still unhappy. It's not complicated; my routine is stale, there's no room for advancement, I've accomplished my professional goals, I just want more.

Anyway, all of this is to say that it's looking like I'm going to become the Head of Client Onboarding, thanks to my weird scope of expertise. It's a big title, and it's one the company is creating for me, so we're still figuring out what my responsibilities would include.

There's nothing I love more than management software, so this job is as close to a perfect fit as I'm likely to get, especially since I'd be working with people who actually recognize the value I bring. For the first time in a really long time, I'm actually excited about my career in the beauty industry.

Thank you so much for supporting us! Once I have a paycheck again and things settle down, we're pursuing 501(c)(3) status for TDM. This will allow us to apply for grants to fund projects, rather than relying on crowdfunding (or draining my personal bank account, lol). These discussions are tabled for now, though—at least until our annual corporate retreat: Murder Cabin 2024.

I'll be dropping the PDF version of Plane here once it's done. In preparation for the new job, I'm working double-overtime to get the game ready to ship. (But let's be real: I'm also working double-overtime because watching it come together is incredibly satisfying...and a little bit addictive.) Anyway, I expect it will be ready to share with all of you soon, so I'll see you then!