Words & Art: FreeRead #59
Welcome to my free Substack newsletter about my fifteen year voyage as a self-publishing Science Fantasy author & artist.
The Gifts of Life
As most writers and artists know, there are times when the creative flow stills, like the ocean on a calm, windless day. On these occasions, I suspend judgement and step back. Sometimes I play with ideas for other potential projects or create digital art for the sheer pleasure of it. I keep assuring myself that my writer’s mind will fluff its creative feathers, and we will fly together again. Patience…not my strong point…however…
In this pause, I find myself looking back and comparing life at sea level living on a boat in one beautiful Alaskan cove or another to living in the Colorado high desert at 6,200 feet (1890 meters). Both life styles provide opportunities to see and to try new things.
Having lived in Bermuda for over 20 years and later a decade on a boat off the coast of Alaska, I turned into a water lover.
The tidal flow, the rolling waves, the moments of shimmering tranquility are all part of my nature. I miss having a body of water close, but the adobe dunes and red rock cliffs are also beautiful.
The Grand Mesa, which I can view from my studio window, provides access to evergreen covered mountains and groves of aspens that take your breath away. Diversity is key to a healthy life and for me, a writer, photographer, and digital artist, to the creative essence that fuels my passion for living.
From S.K.’s Technical Partner
Substack Naming Convention Changed
I made a couple minor changes to the naming of our SubStack posts to better match the new Subscriptions display on the Substack APP.
Renamed the newsletter "WORDS & ART", to fit the the space allowed.
Reduced the post title to “FreeRead #60”, to clearly identify that the entire post is free to read and to include an issue number, all on one line in the app display.
A personal grudge…I do not care to have a ‘pay wall’ appear by surprise in the middle of an article. I hope the label “FreeRead” conveys to the potential reader that the complete post is available to them without a charge.
I went back and changed all 2025 posts to this new style, I’ll update all the back issues after this ‘settles in’.
Backing up the Substack Posts to my Computer (Just In Case)
Remember, "It is not IF your computer will lose your data. It is WHEN." Having a backup system (that you personally have verified you can recover data from) is the easiest and cheapest insurance.
It is fairly easy to get the mailing lists and copies of posts from Substack and put them on your computer using Substacks “Export” command.
If you are looking for details, here is an overview of what I do on my Apple Mac to get the posts and mailing lists from Substack.
Using my browser I went to our Substack page "Dashboard"
Select "Settings" (far right element of row of eight items across the top of the page)
In left hand column select "Import / Export" (second from bottom)
Third item down "Export your data" and select "New export" button on right
Wait a few minutes as things get processed...
Select "Download" and a zip file is downloaded to your computer.
On your computer (in wherever location the file was sent to) you will find a ZIP file with a long name consisting of random characters.
I chose to rename the zip file to reflect that it is a backup of all of Substack post on a particular date and put is in my computers folder where I keep the creation files of our Substack posts. (This folder is routinely backed up automatically by Apple's Time Machine software every hour to a hard drive permanently connected to my Mac. I also routinely use other software to backup to another hard drive I rotate to an offsite secure storage routinely.)
Whats in the Substack ZIP folder?
First there are two .CSV files you can open with your spreadsheet software. Apple Numbers opened each, one is a list of the posts that have been sent and the other is the current mailing list.
Then there is a folder labeled "posts" that has two .CSV files and one HTML file for each of the posts sent. One of the pair of .CSV files is who was sent the email post. The other, who opened the email. The HTML file is the 'source' of the post with the text and graphics included. (Not an exact image of what was sent, but all the information is there and recoverable...including the images.)
Talking About The Weather
After a mellow winter with not too much snow or getting too cold, spring has attacked. Wind and rain, then cold and snow, then hot and windy, then repeat.
We have already had two official Red Flag Warnings. Abnormally hot, low humidity, and wind, and maybe lightening, all combine to present severe wild fire risk.
I took our DIY air cleaner out of winter storage and prepared it for another season hoping that, like last year, it is not needed too often to clean the wildfire smoke out of the air in the house.
Over the previous few days our peach trees burst into bloom then Thursday night a storm front roared through, and we found snow on the ground in the morning. Pink peach blossom petals were left on the ground when the snow melted.
Friday night we have a freeze warning and more snow promised…we will see how the trees survive after all of this.
“ALERT!” So comes the message on my iPad on Sunday as I finish this post. Again a Red Flag warning…
Copyright 2025 by S.K. Randolph
FreeRead #59, April 20, 2025 - Science Fantasy, Illustrated by the Author
All the places you’ve spent your life are MAJESTIC … through Nature’s creation, and our eyes. You have been truly blessed. Phenomenal Photos capturing your experiences, thank you 💖 I know how much these places must mean to your innate creativity as you spin your tales like fine silk … 🌟aaaahhhhh
Orkke, You always make me smile. Thank you!!!