The Future of This Newsletter

Hey folks.

Some personal news, as they say.

Flash back to Christmas. I was in Milan, working on an update to my Elon Emeralds story and a sequel to my Ian Urbina / music royalties piece—just to address some FAQ and Twitter criticisms—when I unexpectedly ended up in the ER.

I’m back in Canada now, more stable than recovered. Tests are ongoing. Clarity is still elusive. It may have been COVID, maybe aggravated by something else. I’m fine-ish, but I’ve found it impossible energywise to do more than my client work most days.

I’m not ending the project here. But I am effectively suspending billing for paid subscribers by pushing out upcoming payment dates a month at a time. (I’d already done so for a three-month period late last year, though some of you may have been newly charged in the last month. I’m happy to offer refunds to any who want them!)

Instead of feeling guilty about the smaller stories I’m not getting out (some of which may still see the light of day; no promises), I’m going to largely backburner them to focus on the behemoth that I’ve been working on for well over a year now: a full re-evaluation of the Thai cave rescue. It’s the most important and most involved story I’ve ever touched. It will deeply surprise people, on multiple dimensions. It’s a genuinely wild narrative that even a very long article can only do very bare justice to, and it gives outstanding color to many of the dynamics I’ve gone on about here.

The main story is 98% drafted, the artwork commissions are in, and the teaser is sketched out. My partner on the story (bless him) is just waiting on me to help finish the many, many footnotes. I’m planning to take some time off work in the coming week or two to get that over the finish line.

I may turn paid billing on again when we release it, but monthly only, just so that I can gauge new interest while avoiding anyone prepaying for more work that may never follow. The income stream from this newsletter has been non-trivial (and very appreciated!), but hasn’t been enough for me to confidently leave my work. How the cave story gets received will likely decide the path forward. At worst, I hope to revert to my original plan of putting out a book (a mixture of archive posts with content I’ve saved for the purpose). But it’s difficult for me to see a path towards consistent production here—or progress on the larger project I want to make my life’s work—while I balance my day job. I just don’t have enough in me right now.

Whatever befalls, I deeply, deeply appreciate the support and camaraderie and shared curiosity that y’all have gifted me. I hope to repay it well, whatever that looks like.

Jeremy