Ben VS the Uncommon Cold

Blog No. 206

I work up on Sunday morning and knew something wasn’t right. My weekend had been the culmination of two solid weeks of work (no time off for good behaviour, or writing). Lots of terrible thing happened that had no choice but to be dealt with. Friday night was seven hours of crap that stuck to me through Saturday morning for my back-to-back shifts. While I managed to get a solid chunk of text written Friday morning, nothing was getting done on Saturday. As soon as I got home from my thankfully easier shift (minus having to mop the floors as the cleaners failed to do for the umpteenth time) I took a much needed nap and prepped all my stuff for Sundays RetroRama. No time for love Doctor Jones. I did my best to get to bed early Saturday night, knowing what was in store for me.

Original Goals

Blog No. 191

I’m tired today—unbelievably tired. I haven’t felt this exhausted in a long time. I can’t even remember when I was this wiped out. It’s not like I did anything extraordinary. I have had a few nights that went later than usual (some my fault, a few definitely not) thought that’s not terribly unusual. Perhaps the number of night in a row has become abnormal, but they really weren’t so late. The heat has affected my sleeping, and I have been sleeping poorly on top of that (for reasons I’m not allowed to know apparently). There seems to be no end in sight (for either the lack of sleep, or today, which is dragging like one of those dredges, or maybe an anchor). I’m not sure what that has to do with anything other than it’s the most prominent thing in my life today. When you’re tired, everything else seems to fade a bit. The amount of red squiggly lines I’ve had to go back and correct is absurd.

Mad At Last Night Ben

Blog No. 170

            Ever since I wanted to write (even before I did anything about it) there was always a long list of stories I planned to finish. Some of them were going to be comics, or films, or both, then books, stories, novels, or television shows. Sometimes it wavered between several. The point being, I had (and still have) a bunch of stories I want to write. Magically (through the art of hard work and tons of support) I have written some of those stories. Some of them have even turned out well. It’s amazing what a little work and consistency can do. Currently my list of projects (currents and forthcoming) is short. While I want to get to everything eventually, I have to be practical. I have four projects I want to finish this year (if not more, but probably less). Two of those I am currently working on and feel like I should do some kind of an update thing. (If for no other reason than to keep myself accountable).

Fresh, Exciting, and New!

Blog No. 118

I have a rather full plate this year, when it comes to writing and the like. Christian and I are hard at work on the second (and a half) drafts of our collection, I have a rather long multipart story going up monthly on Adventure Worlds, I’m picking away at the novel I started last year (and restarted this year), I have edits galore, and since we have more artists working on Finders, I’ve been drumming up new ideas for the pair, plus the next zine is due. What I don’t need is another story idea burning a hole in my imagination, but that’s what I have. Saturday morning, I woke from a vivid dream, ran over to the computer, and feverishly typed an awkward opening paragraph encapsulating the fading memory of the dreamed adventure. Now it’s following me around, pulling me away from my other tasks, spinning around my head like one of those pirate ships at theme parks (but the ones that actually go all the way around.

NaNoWri-No

Blog No. 104

November is a busy time for me – this year especially. I no longer have to worry about exams (thankfully) but the push I tend to make in September is in full swing, so wiring, editing, and designing tasks pile up. Then I have to worry about Christmas. Christmas is a big deal in my family. My mother takes is very seriously and it’s one of the few times a year that my entire family is all together. Plans are made early and help and attention is needed everywhere. I tend to start my shopping in November, but I try to push everything else back as close to the day as possible. In December I’m also playing Best Man to my best friend’s wedding, so between making plans for that (out of town) and a bachelor party (further out of town) I have to get a suit, write a speech and hone my ping pong skills.

Rereading Ready Player One

Blog No. 100

Fanfare, celebration, cheers, high-five’s all around! Something amazing has happened and it’s at the top of the post. I have somehow managed to write 100 of these posts, ranging from barely passable to really not bad. I’d even say I had at least a couple goods too. I’m proud of myself and I’m not all that ashamed because it’s a really accomplishment for me. Sticking with this for so long, so regularly – no small feat for someone with my lack of sticktoitiveness. But again, like always, I am off topic right from the start (the way I like it).

Behind the Writing: The Fifth Monday – Part Three

Blog No. 98

Sometime, in the early part of the year, Christian had an interesting idea. It’s not strange for that to happen, most writers are writers because of interesting ideas, but this one wasn’t a story. It was technically a story, but it was also more. Since we, at Adventure Worlds, post our stories on Mondays, and some months end up with five Mondays, Christian thought that we should do something special on those odd months. He decided to start a story, but leave it for another one of us to continue, and so on. He even started the thing off with the event happening on a fifth Monday (which is what I call dedication). The reigns were handed over to Alanna, who took it in a totally different direction, then passed it on to me.