Happy new year everyone! After taking a while to recover from burnout, I’m happy to say I’m back to blogging. My Patreon is…. well, gone — it’s a long story, and not by choice — but I have many updates for those subscribed to me here!

Number one: I have a SubscribeStar now! This should be much easier to use, and I’m queued up into February both for SubscribeStar and on here already, so that’s good. For those who aren’t aware, subscribers get my posts early; this time around I’m also posting an exclusive article for subscribers only each month. For January, it’s about Night in The Woods; for February, it’ll be about my personal relationship with poetry, and why I consider it my “first language”. If you like the work I do on this blog, this is a great way to help support me.

Number two: You can now preorder Carrion City in physical form! These preorders were originally only open in December for a short time, but between the Canada Post strike and the aforementioned Patreon shenanigans (that also involved Paypal… it’s been a time) they’ve been extended to the end of January. This is a handmade zine in full color, mounted on cardstock — and if you preorder, you get both the ebook and a bonus ebook of Revenant’s Hymn. Great value for twelve bucks, honestly.

Number three: I put the serious one at the bottom because it would feel weird to go from marketing to this, honestly. Earlier this year I was diagnosed (pending genetic testing, but it’s pretty definite) with something called Usher Syndrome. It’s come up here and there that I have sensorineural hearing loss in both ears — I’ve been that way since I was born. Over the last two years, it’s become increasingly clear that something was going on with my vision. As it turns out, it’s something called retinitis pigmentosa; in other words, progressive peripheral vision loss. What makes it Usher Syndrome is that it’s tied genetically to my hearing loss, which has got to be some of the shittiest genetic luck I’ve heard of. Everyone with RP/Usher loses their vision at a different speed. So far, I’m doing okay; but I’m likely to be legally blind within the next ten to twenty years.

So that’s part of why things like SubscribeStar and selling my books, already important, are going to be extra vital to me. Not only do I have to support myself like I always have, but I’ve got a whole host of other things to deal with! I can’t drive (I couldn’t before and kept putting it off, but now I legally can’t…) and likely can’t work most jobs being both deaf and blind, so I’ll be making the most of what I can do. Plus, I’m now saving up for a service dog, a cane, and all sorts of other things.

It’s not a fun adjustment so far, I’ll be honest. But I figure, I’m open about so much of what I deal with anyway. So there we have it. I’m doubling down to make my creative work go places, both as a writer and a reviewer, and I’m hoping I can reach people with it.

Thanks so much for your support and your time! Happy New Year, and may 2025 be kinder to all of us.

-Elliott