August: Re-announcing Cloud Empress
how to build a creative schedule and other Mothership RPG news
It has been a very busy month and there is a lot to share!
Announcing Cloud Empress
Announcing...erm, re-announcing Cloud Empress, an ecological science fantasy Mothership RPG setting. Due to new naming requirements from Tuesday Knight Games (the publisher of Mothership), I needed to rename MOTHERLOAF. After some brain-melting deliberation, I have landed on Cloud Empress: in the land of ten thousand cicadas.
After brainstorming some titles on my own, discussing potential names in the 3rd party Mothership publisher discord, and opening up a Twitter poll, I feel confident that the name Cloud Empress matches the subject matter and tone I am trying to convey with this Nausicaa-inspired Mothership setting. While the name "Bug Song," received slightly more votes in my Twitter poll, I was won over by the many people who commented about the mystery and emotional effect of Cloud Empress. I hope you like the new name as much as I do! Follow the Cloud Empress itch.io page to find out more.
Free Cloud Empress introductory adventure releasing September 6th.
Last Voyage of the Bean Barge is an introductory adventure to Cloud Empress I’ll be releasing next month. In the adventure, PCs navigate a dangerous flight path as their airship is assaulted by giant cicadas. I was able to playtest the adventure several times in August at a local convention and I can't wait to share it with you. Last Voyage of the Bean Barge will be released on the Cloud Empress Itch.io page and as an entry in the Vaults of Vaarn Summer Jam.
Aniforms - a lo-fi Mothership Zine
In more Mothership-related news, I participated in a game jam on the official Mothership Discord. The prompt for the jam was zines written as "in-world" documents. The zines should also be lo-fi in one way or another. For my entry, I submitted Aniforms, a horror-themed riff on the 90's classic Animorphs. The aniforming procedure allows people to switch bodies with animals, but what happens when an android tries to aniform?
Aniform’s format replicates digital news being transmitted into the minds of an android audience by an android reporter. Our reporter, ANDI-1108 dives deeper and deeper into a mysterious celebrity disappearance, but at what cost? Aniforms is in the approval process with TKG but will be available digitally and in print sometime in the early Fall.
Developing a Creative Schedule
Finally, I've known for a long time that many writers keep strict schedules to write. Re-reading Stephen King's book On writing this month has encouraged me to think about how can better protect my creativity while centering my family and well-being. For context, I am the type of person who feels guilty for not writing at every free moment and this has caused a lot of undue stress and guilt in my life. I've also added more stress recently by regularly engaging with Twitter and starting to coordinate a team of artists and writers on the Cloud Empress project.
To develop my creative schedule, I started tracking the habits and activities that I already regularly followed. I also took note of the periods of the day when I felt most creative and when I felt most focused. I then started to rearrange and make minor alterations to my schedule to see if I could prioritize and align creative activities with pre-existing periods of focus and creativity. In the morning when my brain is relaxed and I feel the most creative, I now avoid social media, emails, or screens until after my morning writing (if at all possible). I find that keeping social media out of my morning allows me to focus during a peak creative moment in my day.
After some trial and error, here is my mostly reasonable creative schedule. Right now I follow this schedule closely about 30% of the time.
MORNING
6 am, wakeup
6-6:20 am, read something
6:20-6:40 am, shower and get dressed
6:40-6:50 am, meditate
6:50-7 am, journal
7-8 am, make breakfast and watch my toddler
8-8:30 am, creative writing/game design
8:30-8:45 am, check social media and email while multitasking at my job
8:45-12 pm, work at my job
AFTERNOON
12-12:30pm, lunch
12:30-1 pm, video game time (Guilty Gear Strive currently)
1-5 pm, work
NIGHT (this time block varies the most)
5-7 pm, cook dinner and family time
7-7:30 pm, yoga
7:30-9 pm, creative writing/game design
9-10 pm, TV time with my partner (and usually drawing on my iPad)
10 pm, sleep
OTHER STUFF
Tuesdays & Thursdays post/monitor Twitter
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I'm finding that when I stick to this schedule, I have a good balance of creative pursuits, meeting my obligations, taking care of myself, and most importantly spending time with my family. We’ll see how this schedule shakes out over the next few months though. I’d recommend mapping out some of your time if you’ve never tried before.
That’s all for this newsletter! Do you schedule your creative/hobby time? What tips or tricks do you have for finding time for these activities?
I really love the Cloud Empress change. I think it's actually stronger than the original MOTHERLOAF name. Plus, it all continues to look great. Excited for that lo-fi zine too!
ROFL I'm so glad you changed the name. I love the name Cloud Empress, and probably would have assumed MOTHERLOAF was a joke game rather than this labor of love you've sent us.