Blog Post No. 484
The end is near for the fifth and final novella, Snow from a Distant Sky. As I mentioned last week, I’m waiting on a few edits to come in before getting started on the layout. The cover is currently being designed and drawn by the great Glen Hawkes, too. (I can’t wait to share it). As soon as I get those edits in, I have to go over them, do a final once over for myself, then the out-loud read before putting it all together and sending it off to the printers. The book may come out in the first or second week of April, depending on how the sample copies turn out. Continue reading “Revenge of the Day Job”
Here we are in the middle of winter (or technically the latter half, but it’ll be a while before spring gets here). The days may be getting longer, but it’s still gets dark really early. I’ve found myself commenting a few times that it feels way latter than it actually is. The lack of light is draining. In the winters, I often think about the years my dad spent working in a factory. He would leave for work in the dark, spend all day inside with few or no windows, and drive home in the dark. 
It’s odd to think that in the future, today may be part of the good old days. While I was working on last week’s blog post, I started to think about when I first started this blog, some eight years ago. I had tried and failed to start several blogs and I had some friends in similar boats. Eventually something clicked and this took hold. I had hoped it would be part of a little network of blogs with my friends with guest posts and posts linking across multiple sites, like webrings of the early internet, but it didn’t happen. Even though some of my friends have websites and blogs, I’m the only one who does regular posts. 
This week’s post may meander a bit. I have an idea in my head and I’ve been turning it over in my head for the last few days—trying to find the right way to express it so that it makes sense to other people. Like, I’m sure if you were inside my head (and not horrified by the stuff going on in the background) it would make total sense. I’m going to try to use words to explain it, though, as the technology to see into another person’s head (thankfully) doesn’t exist. The basic thesis statement is that when you set your brain to focus on one type of thing, the ideas that you create from the things you absorb around you will mostly fit that format. See. It’s not easy to put into words. Let me try to elaborate and clear up what I mean. 
Editing continues for Break/Interrupt. I’m currently waiting on a couple of reviews. While I wait, I’ve been trying to keep busy with other things. I’ve said it many times, including a little bit in the 
As a child, Christmas was a magical time. I distinctly remember staring at the clock, waiting for it to be early enough for me to get out of bed and go dig through my stocking while my parents somehow pulled themselves out of bed and got ready for the day. (I say somehow from the perspective as an adult now looking back). I always had trouble sleeping. Many nights little Ben would sit up in his bed quietly playing with stuffed animals or listening to tapes on his Realistic tape recorder. (I spent too much time looking for the exact model and I think it was this Radio Shack one). On Christmas nights, I don’t think I slept at all. 
One thing to get out of the way right off the bat. I am not a coder and my meager accomplishment would likely insult the sensibilities of a real coder at a single glance. With that in mind and the overwhelming amount of help I’ve gotten from 
October is coming to an end and while I’ve stumbled with the edits on Break/Interrupt, I finally feel like I’ve made some headway. I’m still behind (a state that I unfortunately fallen into way too often) but with some elbow grease, I may be starting the second draft on November first. Maybe it will be my not NaNoWriMo project. 
The first draft of the new novella is done. I finished on Friday with a big push and took the weekend off. It’s way too big and not just because it’s longer than I wanted it to be, there is a lot of fat to trim. For the first time in close to 70 days, I’m not writing. To be clear, I only spent 56 days on Break/Interrupt (the other days were finishing the Invasion Novel) but that’s 25 days longer than I had hoped and longer than the marathon writing I did last year for 
Ben Van Dongen 