Blog Post No. 507
Back when Adventure Worlds was just a blog for some want-to-be writers to post stories as we practiced our writing, the original group was about on the same footing. Christian probably written the most up to that point on a separate blog, but none of us had anything published, self pub or otherwise. That was back in 2013, nearly a decade ago. Continue reading “The Longer Path”
Blog Post No. 506
It’s been about a year since I was first called back to the day job. I was off for over a year from mid March 2020 to August of 2021. I feel like I did alright in that time off. I released the third and fourth novellas in The Synthetic Albatross series, I wrote the majority of the Invasion Novel, and I did a lot of sitting around watching anime. When I first got the call, I was hesitant to go back. Unlike many folks, the time off had been good to me. I knew that it was only a matter of time before everything opened again, but it was still a surprise when it happened. I came back before the official return to work order was released. The new supervisor of my facility asked me to go to another facility she ran to start opening it back up for rentals.
Blog Post No. 505
I used to be a night owl. Throughout my childhood, I always had trouble falling asleep. I’m a light sleeper, too so any other activity in a house full of people older than me, would wake me up. I remember listening to my old tape player, setting up stuffed animals on my bed, and playing pretend long into the night. By the time I was in high school, I would usually get five (or if I was lucky) six hours of sleep a night. Like a classic teenager, I would stay up late (past my super early bedtime) and struggle with getting up in the morning. Continue reading “Late at Night”
Blog Post No. 504
Now that I’m back into the swing of writing short stories (one finished, one almost finished) I’ve started to get caught up in thinking about the process of writing again. I’ve only done the first drafts of those shorts and I know that there is a lot to fix in them. I’m in no rush to do the second drafts. I tend to have the best results when I wait at least a month before getting into editing. For these stories, it may be longer since I’m going to jump back into the Invasion Novel as soon as the first beta read is back. Continue reading “Thinking of Things and Writing Them Down”
Blog Post No. 503
My first love of books came from reading Philip K. Dick short stories in high school. I loved the creative ideas and the tight prose. I had an idea that I wanted to tell stories before discovering those collections, but after reading them, I started to see the possibility of becoming a writer.
My first foray into writing was to finish some short stories over on Adventure Worlds Press. They were terrible, but full of ideas that had been brewing in the back of my mind for years. Taking the best of what I was writing at the time, Christian and I put together my first book (his second) No Light Tomorrow. It’s just a little short story collection and I’m a much better writer now, but I’m still proud of that book. Continue reading “Short Stories or How the Hell do I Write That?”
Blog Post no. 502
I can’t pinpoint the exact moment I decided I wanted to be a writer. I wasn’t a big reader as a kid and it was a while before I started to discover the type of books I really enjoyed. (I’m pretty sure the first book I read in a day was Sphere when I was home sick from grade school). I do remember always thinking up stories and imagining myself in my favorite movies as a kid. Maybe the first time I ever actually said I wanted to be a writer was in high school. The point is, that ever since I’ve wanted to be a writer, I’ve been on the lookout for compact, portable, distraction free writing solutions.
Blog Post No. 501
Welcome to the far side of 500 posts. Usually in the middle of June, I write a little post for my birthday. It’s usually short and sweet (like a little break for both of us). I may have a comment on the concept of birthdays, or my personal experience with my own annual holiday. Maybe I come up with something specific for the year (like last year’s pandemic birthday post).
Blog Post No. 500
This is it. What everything (ever in the universe from the big bang to the moon landing) has been building towards. It’s the long anticipated 500th post on this blog. Before I get too deep into what is likely going to be a long and esoteric post, I want to thank Justin Cantelo, Brittni Brinn, and Christian Laforet for indulging me in writing thought-provoking (and far too kind) posts over the last three weeks. With little to no hesitation, they all agreed to help me and that’s a really good indication of friendship. They may be sick of me by now, but if they are reading this, thanks for your great guest posts! Continue reading “500th Post”
Blog Post No. 499
Continuing the run up to the 500th post, this week we have a guest post by C.M. Forest, better known on this blog as jerk Christian Laforet.
Alright, picture this: It’s early, like, the sun isn’t up yet early. The day is promising to be a hot one, but the chill from the night before is still in the air. I’m standing in front of my house, a small suitcase and a bag of books on the ground beside me and a Monster energy drink in hand (with a few more tucked into my suitcase). I’m anxious. Toronto is a four-hour drive (through some of the most boring landscape ever spewed from the Earth) and the event, a reading at a bar for a genre publisher, will not pay near enough to cover the costs of the trip. I can’t even say I’m looking forward to the event itself. I’ve always been an introverted person and the idea of standing before a group of strangers and reading aloud is not an appealing one. So, yeah, I’m anxious. And then I see the red pick-up truck turn the corner of my street and that anxiety begins to dissipate like the nighttime chill. A moment later, Ben is parked in my driveway, my bags are loaded and I’m climbing into his truck. Some sort of joke has already been cracked, as has my Monster, and with a last glance at my house, we’re off. And now I’m no longer anxious, but exited (and not just because Ben is a good-looking guy either!). I’m excited for the hours I get to spend with my friend with nothing but conversation to fill the time. Continue reading “Thousands of kilometers, Baconators, and how to fix Star Wars – Guest Post by C.M. Forest”
Blog Post No. 498
Keeping the party going this week is Brittni Brinn. Not only is Brittni one of the most supportive writers in the Wrecking Writing Crew, she helps me to be more in tune with modern social sensibilities since her writing is always cognizant of the subject.
I don’t quite remember how or when I started joining Ben and the rest of the Writing Wrecking Crew for regular sessions—maybe it was after a reading or a book fair we each participated in. In any case, I started meeting the Crew at Tim Hortons around the city. I was the odd one out in some ways. For one thing, I didn’t have a car, which made far away sessions tricky to get to, and I didn’t have the established friendships the rest of the group had. Plus, before I joined the Wrecking Crew, I didn’t know that you could order Tim Hortons coffee in a ceramic mug. I learned that from Ben. Continue reading “Especially Wild Ideas – Guest Post by Brittni Brinn”
Ben Van Dongen 