Fall 2022 Update

Hi fam, is it! I’ve been very productive on the backend of “Ackerly Green,” working on the site, the app, and my new book, as well as brainstorming immersive and interactive plans for 2023; but I realize it might seem pretty quiet from the front end, so now that it’s technically autumn (!) I figured it was a good time to check in and give you an update!

I’m still here, working at Ackerly Green every (week) day, BUT with a more reasonable and responsible workload. I am truly, honestly, giving myself time to rest, recover, and enjoy time away from my self-imposed responsibilities! Progress!

PERSONALLY:

I’ve been traveling, reading (Stephen King’s Fairy Tale currently), dabbling in a little magic practice, and playing with AI art (seen in this post’s main image. I am giving myself a challenge of coming up with blog post header images using ten iterations or fewer.) I’ve also been falling in love with my e-ink notebook, falling even further in love with our five chickens, and watching my kids grow up way too fast (how have I, a young, young man, ended up with 13-year-old twins? A mystery for the ages.)

Now, onto the more important stuff.

THE SITE:

First and foremost, let’s talk about the new forum. I have heard you loud and clear that it can feel overwhelming and confusing, especially for those coming from the old Discourse forum. The “Activity Feed” on the main page is one prime culprit because it’s meant to be a mix of discussions, personal updates, and blog post comments. Still, it’s SO different from how we’re all used to interacting here. I completely get that and am working on making the main area of the website more discussion-focused, showcasing just the most recent forum/topic updates while also having secondary info about users, journals, and blog posts either in a new sidebar or otherwise minimized on the feed.

I’m also planning on putting together some videos on how to use the new forum, which I think will be useful for veterans and newbies alike.

Also, one downside of transitioning the forum to Wordpress is that spammers and bots love Wordpress, so we’ve seen more spammy comments and replies in the past few months than we ever did on the old forum. To solve that, I installed the Captcha 3 reputation system on the forum’s registration, and since I did, zero spambot sign-ups. So, here’s hoping I’ve stemmed the tide, but if you catch one I miss, feel free to report it with the moderation functions on the site or app (and if you don’t know where those are, see above, a video is coming soon!

APP:

I’ve pushed four whole app updates since the summer! These minor updates have increased the app’s speed, added community moderation options, and added access controls that will be very useful next year when we start playing together again!

More updates are coming this year and early next year, including native reactions/liking, which was such a core part of the old forum, swipe and gesture support, custom post type support (which is GREAT for me), dark mode, and support for in-app live streaming!

NARRATIVE:

This will be an entire post on its own. For now, I’ll say I have spent this whole year thinking of ways to revitalize what I do here, how to make it feel special again, for you, for me, and how to make the experience less finite. I want veterans to feel excited and rewarded for the time they’ve invested, and new readers feel less like they’re looking through someone else’s photo album and more like time travelers, able to re-experience the magic no matter when they discovered it.

That includes new ways to interact with characters and each other and new ways to experience the books.

In the coming months, I will need beta readers and beta testers to try out some of the things I plan on doing next year. If you’re up for that, whether you’re new or you’ve been here from the beginning, let me know by commenting below or PMing me directly. I’ll get you in the group to get your perspective on all my new plans.

THE NEW BOOK:

Finally, I’ve been dating a new book. It’s fun and exciting, and I’m excited to see where it goes. We’re not putting labels on whatever we are just yet. We’re not saying “series” or “immersive, interactive experience.” But I will say it feels new, different, and unlike anything else that I’ve written.

Wanna know his name?

Well, instead of just telling you the title, I’m also going to share part of the art from the book cover without all the surrounding elements because I’m very good at keeping secrets.

The title and typography alone are a pretty strong hint at the genre and overall vibe, but if I had to, I would describe it as gothic but modern, thrilling, literary, and just a little scary. It’s a book that could sit on the shelf somewhere in the vast space between And Then There Were None and Interview with the Vampire.

So, yeah, Agatha Christie meets Anne Rice. No pressure.

You can’t understand how nervous I am about sharing this. It’s been my sweet little imaginary romance for over a year, but I think it’s time.

I call it Bronze for the Bloodletting, and I can’t wait to tell you all about it.