Hi All,
This is my first announcement post (hence the jarring red image), and it’s kind of a strange and sad way to say “hello” to readers. I hoped this wouldn’t be necessary, but as the Writer’s Guild of America Strike stretches on without an end in sight, I felt the need to post a general update about the status of the serial.
To begin with, Anno Amagium is not over by a long shot. Believe me when I say the best is yet to come. In many respects, everything you’ve read so far has been build up for a colossal arc that is coming soon after the Athenaeum crew’s current adventure, which itself is just getting started.
When will Anno Amagium resume? I won’t be resuming until the month after the strike concludes, so… No telling, really. The 2007-08 strike lasted a little over three months. If this follows a similar playbook, we could be back in business as early as September. But now that the actors have joined the strike, it could be a long time indeed. It is obviously a frustrating state of affairs—I have a story I want to tell, and it would be nice to make some money telling it. That said…
Patrons will not be charged for the duration of the hiatus. My readers pay for services rendered, and if I’m not rendering them, I don’t feel comfortable charging you. Please note, I am actively working on new episodes during this voluntary hiatus. This is a Good Thing™ because I have a little more time to add polish, fine-tune foreshadowing, and do some longer term planning than my schedule usually accommodates. I know writers aren’t supposed to work during a strike, but seeing how I’m not a card carrying member of the WGA, and that my work doesn’t benefit the studios in any way, I figure this is an acceptable indulgence.
Wait, if you aren’t a member of the WGA, why are you striking? I believe creative writing is a valuable—and currently undervalued—profession that deserves better treatment from the Hollywood studios and streaming services that profit off their hard work. I find the push to reduce writing to a gig economy to be morally repugnant. The notion that AI and procedurally generated content can replace (or even supplement) human crafted fiction is nightmarish—true Black Mirror bullshit. I respect my friends and colleagues in the guild and don’t want to undermine their leverage in any capacity. And finally, on a personal note, I have been hungry to stand for something, and given the general state of the world, everything seems like a lost cause lately. But I believe in what the WGA is fighting for, and I know that it will eventually improve the lives of storytellers and the entertainment industry as a whole.
New audio episodes will continue releasing throughout the strike. As a silver lining, I will continue to publish new audio episodes in collaboration with Dan Lawson. Again, it’s a little cheeky, but seeing how the fiction is already out in the wild, it seems like an acceptable trade off.
And… yeah. I think that covers everything. Thank you for your support and understanding while the guilds and the studios duke it out. If you have other questions, comments, or concerns, please reach out on Patreon. I can’t wait to get back to publishing urban fantasy fiction for you.
-Hank
