Project TROIKA
K. Steeze has completed his "edit" & revisions to produce the third draft of the Project TROIKA novel. He's remarked that this signals the end of Tier 3, but that is incorrect. Tier 3 continues until we take the novel is accepted by a publisher. Tier 4 is the final revisions under the guidance of the editor at the publisher, with Tier 5 being publication, marketing, & release. Still, this is a large step forward &, though I've not yet finished reading the third draft, it marks a significant improvement over the haphazard earlier draft. ("Haphazard" is not meant as a criticism, merely a reflection of frenetic pace at which The Ace had to write to honor Tier 2's deadline for the completion of the first draft. For all the hard work I put into Tier 1, I've never completed a task half as Herculean as Tier 2.)

Project TRIANGLE
Work on Tier 1 of the Project TRIANGLE novel—the sequel to the TROIKA novel—continues apace, with weekly video story conferences 'twixt K. Steeze & yours truly. The heavy lifting of Tier 1 is mine to do, with Steeze acting as sounding board, confidant, & invaluable collaborator. As we do not have an entire fictional universe to construct for TRIANGLE, "simply" a plot to devise & resolve & characters into whom to breathe life, we shall not require as long a time. I've proposed October 31 as deadline for completion of Tier 1, though we're not yet reached an agreement & I do not want The Ace to begin Tier 2 of TRIANGLE until at least the completion of Tier 3 of TROIKA. Still, I am treating 31 October as the Tier 1 deadline.

Grow or die.

Project PALINDROME
I was fired from PALINDROME, & with good cause. I was terminally late with my work product. I am ashamed, but I know Steeze made the best decision for the health of what has been such a long-term, personal project to him. With TRIANGLE, I hope to redeem myself to some degree.

Project PARAFFIN
Work on the Project PARAFFIN novel has been suspended. I once encountered something about writing, attributed to Tom Wolfe but I do not vouch for the authenticity of that attribution, that went something along these lines: "Anyone who's spent years writing a novel hasn't really been writing, just dancing around it." I wasn't writing, I wasn't working on Tier 2 of PARAFFIN, I was still mucking about with Tier 1. So, with Steeze having declared it time to get work on TRIANGLE, it was easy to set aside PARAFFIN, since I really hadn't been working on it as I should have done. Tier 2 of PARAFFIN begins the day after the completion of Tier 1 of TRIANGLE, with 31 October 2014 as the deadline for the production of the first draft.

The Rebel Black Dot Song of the Day: SKApril
The Bruce Lee Band, "Running Out of Time" from the Beautiful World E.P. (T.L.A.M.)

Commentary: The Bruce Lee Band is one of the myriad bands fronted by Asian Man records founder Mike "Bruce Lee" Park, as staunch an opponent of racism as that disgraceful undercurrent of human affairs has ever known. Some of his other musical endeavours include Skankin' Pickle & The Chinkees (a ska band, but without horns), & he has also released music as simply Mike Park. A social conscience, especially active opposition to racism, has long been a feature of ska, & long may it be 'til at last that scourge is banished from the course of human events.

I might have digressed. "Running Out of Time" isn't an explicitly anti-racist song, it's just a lot of fun with a great, driven ska beat.