Reflecting on 2020 and Prepping for 2021
It has been a while. I don’t give this website much thought since I quit pursuing music full time. To be frank, I made this website when I committed to being a musician full time. I was in the last year of school and about to head into the real world. Excelsior Quartet was hired out to be an Artist in Residence at Westmont University and as a guest artist at the South-Western Tuba Euphonium Conference. Then I got into a car accident that screeched my music career to a halt and I couldn’t recover and pay bills at the same time. It was a mess. I finished my professional engagements and had to find work, raise a newborn, and recover physically from the consequences of the accident. Ultimately, I didn’t have the energy or time to put in those coveted six hours of practice in I did in college. No more 10pm to 2am practice times because it was the best time to get a practice room.
The job search went terribly. My expertise was in food service and music. Physically, I couldn’t meet the minimum requirements. Even four years later, I don’t think I have recovered. But I guess we can attribute some of that to being a young adult and not a vibrant teenager. For the most part, I couldn’t even find full time office work for some reason. They claimed getting a degree would solve our problems but that doesn’t truly reflect reality. I made a new career for myself at that moment and I started what would become Skald’s Tale Entertainment LLC.
Then I left social media. The discourse and dialogue I were participating in was harmful to my psyche. People were unintentionally attacking my character and their choice of intentionally attacking the things I participate in. This happened both from the groups that I participate little in but also my close friend group. I don’t know why. Maybe it is because I took a hobby and tried to make art out of it. Then I tried to get paid for me. Either way, I needed the space. I constantly was driving to recitals and visiting people if they needed me. I couldn’t understand why I didn’t get a download for a podcast when I could see the analytics. Don’t even have to listen to it, the one download was crucial in those early moments.
On January 2nd, 2020 I opened my business officially. Skald’s Tale Entertainment LLC and several shows began production. We even prepped for our first crowdfunding campaign. Then COVID-19 and the 2020 protests happened. I had/have a high turnover rate for clients this year and overall lost a fair amount of income. Between that and California Assembly Bill 5 – I was looking at an extreme loss of work. So, my wife and I moved. We became the statistic of people leaving California for the expense and made a new home for ourselves in Pittsburgh, PA. With our projected wages we can afford a three-bedroom duplex at the cost of a studio apartment in Los Angeles.
I now spend my mornings doing at-home preschool with my daughter and writing articles. I spend Auri’s quiet/naptime getting through some writing and cleaning and my evenings running my business. In December of 2020, I finished my Masters in English with an emphasis on collaborative storytelling, speculative fiction, and creative writing. Now, I need 2021 to continue to move forward. I felt that 2020 forced me to stall my business due to reduced income and overall fatigue of world events. However, I cannot afford another year like 2020 and am putting all the energy I put into my Master's degree back into creative projects.
Wyvern’s Aria is continuing strong, but my cast and I agreed that we needed a face lift. So, we will be updating our art assets to reflect that. In 2020, we also signed on Throwing Bones Podcast. Throwing Bones is a queer-led Monster of the Week game featuring high school teacher adamantly defending their students. We have art assets in commission for that and will update the website with that accordingly. This year, I also began negotiations to publish our first tabletop game. I’m hoping to have a contract signed this month to cement that.
In 2021, I am moving away from private gamemastering in hopes of other writing work. Running games paid my bills for near three years but I think I am growing beyond what the market is willing to pay. With a degree in writing, I’m hoping for a narrative writing job or at least as an entertainment writer. The games that are active will remain active but will not be renewed if the game loses many players.
Additionally, I have partnered with Astral Tabletop to create a new web series and will have several announcements on that in early January. We have two projects in the back pocket which includes a war game featuring unconventional races as well as a “Chinese meets Cowboys” game. My team and I are trying to determine which game to pursue first. Casting will be beginning during Quarter 2 of 2021.
Lastly, we will be crowdfunding two projects as well. Likely smaller micro-ttrpgs to help fund the business. I have been writing some stuff that needs a place and this seems like the best way to do it. Hopefully with the profit we can negate some costs and be less in the red.
Skald’s Tale Entertainment is also hiring a part-time virtual assistant and game designer in 2021. I’ve already interviewed a few people and am happy to continue to expand my team. Just need to confirm the funding.
Personally, I am unable to pursue a PhD in 2021 due to many programs not accepting grad students due to the pandemic. I’m saddened but I guess I’ll just fill up that time with my continually addiction to World of Warcraft. Maybe I’ll be able to get back into a game of D&D or Pathfinder but that is always a tumultuous process for me.
But for now, consider this a yearly update on where the Rondeau family is at. We are updating the https://rondeaucreator.com website and be a place for my personal thoughts. And I am planning a relaunch day for https://skaldstale.com one-year anniversary. Follow Skald’s Tale on twitch at https://twitch.tv/skaldstale and see what we have planned for the new year!