Crowded

Inspirational song: Start Me Up (The Rolling Stones)

I decided to be an early adopter of a trend today. I saw a Kickstarter campaign I couldn't resist. The cartoonist who draws the Oatmeal and a couple of his friends got together and designed a card game called Exploding Kittens. The cartoonist drew all of the art, and the friends designed the game. They went to Kickstarter in search of a mere ten thousand dollars to use to develop the game, perhaps to use to print off several decks and try to market and sell them. I don't think they quite understood the appeal and power of the Oatmeal. Within eight minutes -- that's right, I said eight -- they had hit their goal, and by the time I saw it an hour or so later, they were zooming through the two hundred thousands. It was over three hundred thousand by the time I finished pledging my money (by which I mean purchasing a deck, because that's the "reward" for sending in a pledge). When last I saw the page, it was well over $1.1 million, and it hasn't been a half of a day yet. How in the world could I possibly not participate in this trend? I, of all people, need a game that involves Exploding Kittens. That's my whole raison d'etre.

I was a good girl today. After weeks of being stuck, I pulled out one of the longer stories I've been sitting on, and I pushed past a block. It's still in an embryonic state (zygote, really), but it's about 45% longer than it was this morning. I lay awake last night, regretting having a cup of coffee with dinner, but not really upset, because a lot of my "whys" and "hows" were answered. I alternated between composing and researching today, and I am very pleased to be two or three steps farther along my thousand mile journey. I'm not going to focus on how much more is ahead of me. I'm going to be happy that I am moving again.

I'm not letting myself combine those two paragraphs, so don't worry. I'm not going to let myself even wonder about a Kickstarter or other crowd funding of my own. I don't want you to think I'm going to hit you up or anything. I'm not. Right now the support I want is feedback, not funding without a tangible product to offer back. If the day comes that I have a completed book to sell, I'll nag you then. You're off the hook for now. But when that deck of Exploding Kittens shows up, I'll be looking for a crowd to play it with, so you might not be entirely in the clear.