J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Category: Metablog Page 1 of 4

Communications from my Past Self (and other reasons to write)

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On May 20

In Creative Work/Career, Metablog, Personal Updates, Writing

East Cut neighborhood in San Francisco

I’m gearing up for some changes to this site. Probably a new theme, and hopefully a better system for signing up for my newsletter.

Considering these changes has led me to consider what this blog is for. Self-expression? Self-promotion? Is it a lifestyle blog? A health blog? A creativity blog?

Sure, all of the above. But here are the reasons that resonate with me the most right now:

1. To think more clearly. For me at least, there’s no substitute for writing about a topic in order to understand it, to formulate and articulate my views. I write, therefore I think.

2. To have a record of what I was thinking and feeling at a particular time. Just today I reread a post I’d written from when I’d overcommitted to work, and was feeling overwhelmed. At the moment I feel like I don’t have quite enough freelance work, which creates some financial stress. But reading my previous post reminded me that I said some no-thank-yous to give myself more time to work on writing and music. So that’s what I should do.

3. To grow my readership. I haven’t put much energy into this, but it is important to me. Having regular readers is great for so many reasons. But it’s a responsibility, a two-way street, and if I’m not writing interesting and helpful posts then I can’t expect an audience to stick around.

And here are a couple reasons that don’t, or no longer, resonate with me:

1. To write about health topics. Bottom line, I’m not a medical professional. I have a deep interest in nutrition and human health, but there are also huge gaps in my knowledge. In another life I might have become a nutritionist or naturopath, but that’s not the path I chose. And that’s not the kind of reader I want to attract or interact with.

2. To sell something. This blog will never become a sales funnel to buy my course or eBook. I just have no interest in that. If you happen to discover one of my novels that you think you’d enjoy, and buy it, fantastic! But the primary purpose of this blog never was and never will be to make a quick buck.

Personal Updates

  • I recently returned from the Nebulas Conference in Anaheim. It was my first in-person writing conference since the beginning of the pandemic, and being around other authors was incredibly energizing. I didn’t have any particular agenda beyond learning and socializing, but I ended the weekend with a slew of new ideas and a recharged writing battery. My friend Jane was nominated for a game-writing Nebula for her work on a recent D&D book, and though GRRM won the award for Elden Ring, I felt very happy for her and her team. I also met Steve Lerner, the writer of Stray (nominated in the same category)–I look forward to playing the cyber-cat game. As for novels, I’m currently reading and enjoying Daughters of Tith by J. Patricia Anderson.
  • The quiver of complete, unpublished fiction is getting pretty full, and in the coming months I’ll be shifting my efforts to submitting more work for publication, and possibly taking another crack at the agent querying process. At the moment I’m working on revisions of Green Dawn (previously titled The Savior Virus), a near-future medical thriller/sci-fi novel.
  • There are a few social issues I’m trying to think more clearly about, so I’ll probably write about them in the near future. A few of the questions I’m considering:
    • What Should the Left Do About Men? (high male unemployment, falling educational levels, social isolation, etc.)
    • How Can Labor Disrupt the False Promises of AI-Enhanced Productivity?
    • What are the Most Effective Ways Citizenry can Reclaim Power from Fascist/Authoritarian Leaders and Groups?
  • I have two new EDM releases out:

That’s all for today, hope you are enjoying your weekend!

Blogging in 2021 and Beyond

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On March 6

In Metablog, Writing

I didn’t post at all in February, mostly because I was working on revisions of The Last Crucible, Book 3 of the Reclaimed Earth series, which is now turned in to my editor Don D’Auria at Flame Tree Press. The cover looks beautiful and I’ll reveal that as well as the release date in the coming weeks.

The recent blogging gap did make me reflect on blogging in general. A few factors have pulled me away from posting as much as I used to:

  • Sometimes I feel a sense of cognitive dissonance when I read older posts. I started this blog twelve years ago in 2009, and I don’t always agree with my past self, or relate to him emotionally. That sense of dissonance sometimes dissuades me from writing. Whatever I write, some aspect of it will seem foolish or incorrect in the future.
  • Generally I feel less sure of myself than I did five or ten years ago. Being a father, experiencing illness and death in the family, and undergoing various personal struggles have humbled me. Many of my past posts offered advice, but who am I to give advice? Every year I’m alive I become more aware of the vast number of things I do not know.
  • A few years ago the Google algorithm sharply reduced traffic to any website discussing health issues that wasn’t an accredited medical institution. This makes a lot of sense in terms of reducing the amount of health nonsense on the internet (some of which I’ve written myself). But it did reduce overall traffic to this site significantly, which was discouraging.
  • Now that I’m officially a novelist, most of my writing time goes into writing novels.

On the other hand, there are still quite a few positive aspects to blogging:

  • This site actually generates income. My friend Rob, who taught me a scalp massage technique that helped me reverse my male-pattern hair loss to a significant degree, decided to offer me a generous commission for a couple blog posts I wrote that link to his site. So that’s nice.
  • Writing about whatever is top-of-mind helps me sort out my own thoughts. That’s always been a huge personal benefit of blogging, and that continues to be true.
  • It’s useful to have my own place on the internet where I can promote my creative work, moderate comments to my own standards, and publish whatever the hell I like.

So I’m doubling down on blogging. I have to give credit to Steve Pavlina, who published a blog post every single day in 2020, for nudging me in this direction.

My approach to blogging in 2021 will look something like this:

  • Schedule a chunk of time most Saturday mornings to write a blog post or posts.
  • Write about whatever I have something to say about in that particular moment (less planning, more pantsing).
  • As always, try to write something that offers at least some value to the reader. I’ll continue to share whatever I’m experimenting with in my life, what I’m learning, what obstacles I’m facing and how I’m navigating those problems.
  • Do my best to put whatever doubts and hesitancy I have about blogging aside, and just keep writing and posting.

This feels doable. Writing a post a week is a reasonable commitment, and I expect the rewards will vastly outweigh whatever time and effort I put in (as they have in the past).

Revisiting Goals and Intentions, 10 Years Later

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On January 26

In Life Purpose & Goals, Metablog, Metaprogramming

My original blog banner (photo by Stephanie Morgan)

This year marks the ten-year anniversary of this blog (my first post was written in December of 2009). Zooming out, that decade comprises about a fifth of my life so far, a third of my adulthood, about half of my marriage, nearly the entirety of my time as a father, and more than three times the length of my writing career (which didn’t officially start until 2016 with my first published story).

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New Blog Series: 8 Aspects of Reversing Aging, and What Can Be Done Now

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On December 10

In Health/Body-hacking, Metablog, Reverse Aging

My new in-progress novel, The Savior Virus, takes a deep dive into speculative anti-aging technologies. I’m interested in reversing my biological age in real life too, a topic I introduced in this post. I’ve been taking Niagen to increase my NAD+ levels, using saunas whenever possible induce heat-shock proteins, and shifting my exercise program toward HIIT and endurance training to increase the length of my telomeres.

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A Special Announcement and Upcoming Blog Changes

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On October 10

In Creative Work/Career, Metablog, Writing

Monthly pictures of Leia at the $1/mo. membership tier.

Around the first of November I’ll be launching a Patreon account featuring the following rewards:

  • Exclusive access to unpublished drafts of my new fiction each month (a new short story or chapter of my in-progress novel) with the opportunity to provide feedback.
  • Full and unlimited access to all private blog posts on this site (jdmoyer.com)
  • At higher levels, signed copies of my novels, one-on-one consults, invitation to an annual patron dinner (roving location) and many other rewards.
  • Monthly pictures of my beautiful mystery-breed dog Leia.

For regular readers, that might bring up the question: What private posts?

So as not to surprise anybody, as of November 1 or so, some of the existing posts on this blog (less than 10%) will become accessible only to Patreon members at the $3+/month tier. Some new posts (also less than 10%) will fall into the same category.

For those who can easily afford the three bucks a month, I’d encourage you to join my Patreon for the following reasons:

  • The new Patreon-member posts will be written for a smaller audience, one presumably more like-minded, and will be both more lively and more personal than the public-facing posts.
  • Joining my Patreon will allow me to dedicate more time to writing, including both blogging and fiction writing (resulting in more blog posts, stories, and novels).
  • It’s fun! I support a number of artists and projects on Patreon myself. It feels great to give back to people whose work I have been enjoying and benefiting from for months or even years.

What do you think? My Patreon isn’t live yet, but I’ve been working on the various membership tiers. I’d be curious as to what kinds of benefits you might want, either as a reader of this blog or of my fiction.

Reminder: On October 1st I launched a book review contest, which is open until the end of year. Review The Sky Woman on either amazon or goodreads, and win $500, two tickets to WorldCon Dublin, or one of about twenty other prizes. Based on the number of entries in past contests on this blog, there is a significant chance that everyone who enters will win something.

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