Five things I did at work last week

So apparently DOGE’s “what are five things you did at work last week” is now an ongoing weekly task, which I am heartily in favor of, at least until the Trump Administration’s reforms to the executive branch are complete. The best counter-argument for this policy that I’ve heard so far comes from Cal Newport, who points out that this sort of request is typical of an insecure and overbearing manager, but I don’t find that argument very convincing. Given the sheer amount of corruption and outright fraud that Elon Musk’s DOGE has already uncovered, I think there are very good reasons for the Trump Administration to be overbearing. Besides, it really shouldn’t be that hard to come up with five bullet points, as I will demonstrate now.

Last week, I:

  • finished releasing all of my books in audio on Audible, using KDP’s AI narration tools,
  • made a rough outline for a seven book series, of which my current WIP (The Soulbond and the Sling) will be the first,
  • re-released “Lord of the Slaves” as a free short story,
  • wrote up character sheets for all of the viewpoint characters in The Soulbond and the Sling, and
  • outlined twelve separate throughlines in the story bible for The Soulbond and the Sling.

Oh, the trauma. How can I possibly be expected to do this every week? And people say that writing isn’t a “real” job… in any case, I plan to make this a regular thing for as long as DOGE and Elon Musk continue to keep it going. Feel free to add your own five bullets in the comments!

Re: DOGE: Five things I accomplished at work last week

  1. I started and finished the rough AI draft of The Unknown Sea, at 54,330 words (cover reveal forthcoming).
  2. I published 14 titles from my backlist on Audible using Amazon’s AI narration system.
  3. I compiled ten years of author’s notes for an upcoming book release.
  4. I developed a magic system for a new fantasy series, where magical powers can only be unlocked through marriage between a man and a women who both have latent abilities.
  5. I workshopped the first three chapters of an unpublished WIP through my writing group, and used their feedback to start outlining my next WIP, a fantasy adaptation of David and Goliath (but with 100% more jackalopes).