Invasion Novel – Update

Blog Post No. 524

I sure hope I’m not going to be shooting myself in the foot (since I write my posts before their Thursday release) but if things go according to my current schedule, I should be done this draft of the Invasion Novel by tomorrow. I’m calling it the sixth draft even though I’ve been through the book more than six times. I feel like this is the sixth version of the book, though, so I’m sticking with it. While I’m optimistic that I’ll be finished, there is one potential issue that could make me a liar.

Breaking it Down

Blog Post No. 514

I’m a little embarrassed at how long it took me to get back into the edits on the Invasion Novel, but I’ve finally started to go over Christian‘s notes. As I suspected (and worried about) he had a few big picture suggestions that will really make the book better. The problem is that now I have to make those changes which involves going through the whole novel and making sure I connect all the dots so it makes any kind of sense.

The Longer Path

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.

Short Stories or How the Hell do I Write That?

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.

Snow from a Distant Sky is now Available

Blog post No. 491

I may be milking it a little by now, but this is a short post to announce the official release of Snow from a Distant Sky. In case you don’t already know, it’s the fifth book in The Synthetic Albatross Novella Series that started with The Thinking Machine in 2018. As I’ve mentioned a number of times, the series is now on hold for the foreseeable future. One of the main reasons I wrote the series was to have new books each year for the annual events I was attending. Now that I have Broadcast Wasteland, Break/Interrupt, and Snow in my pocket for when I do go back to events (you can read last week’s post to know why I’m not taking part, yet) I think my time is better spent working on some novels.

Updating the Whiteboard

Blog Post No. 483

Some years ago, I was at Arvin‘s place and I saw that he had a whiteboard set up on an easel with all his many to do lists scrawled across its surface. It would have been in our university days and probably in the midst of Wii Like To Podcast production. I thought the idea was great. A non-permanent place to write reminders that was clearly visible. My family had a whiteboard set up by the garage door when I was little, but it was rarely used, and at the time, I certainly didn’t have a need (or at least the wherewithal) to keep notes or a schedule.

Consuming as a Writer

Blog Post No. 407

I feel like over the last few years the posts on this blog have tended to be more about whatever is going on in my life in the moment and less about thoughts and ideas. It’s easy to just knock out a few hundred words about the week when I have an event or reading going on, or if I’m starting or finishing a project. It’s a little more difficult when I’m just at home trying to write every day. I just did an update last week, and since the only thing that has changed is the word count, I want to avoid repeating myself (more than I already do). I had the idea for this topic a while ago and it’s been sitting in my draft folder so I figured I’d give it a shot.

Murderbot

Blog No. 393

I’ve recently finished reading the first four books of the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells. There are two more books in the series, one out now and the other announced, but they are both novels. The ones I’ve finished are novellas, and seeing as the new ones are novels, they seemed to be the end of an arc. I was quite taken with the first book when I read it. I got it as an ebook since it was on sale (and may still be). I read it quickly and generally had a good time with it. I was eager to get to the next book (it was already out, and I think the other two were either forthcoming or just newly released at the time). I didn’t, though, because it was so expensive. I have an issue with the current price of ebooks ever since the publishers managed to take control of the pricing. I only buy ebooks on sale now, since the prices can be way too high. (When I can get a paperback for ten dollars, I’m not spending the same or more for a digital copy).

2019: A Year in Review

Blog No. 372

Welcome to the long post where I look back on my previous year on this blog and as a writer and feel things. Those of you who have been with me for a while (hi mom and dad) know the story of this blog all too well. Some time back in 2010 I decided that I should have a blog. I was still in the “I want to be a writer but I don’t actually write,” phase, so it fizzled out rather quickly. Then, at the end of 2012 something clicked and I actually started to do this thing (for real). I started writing stories to go up on Adventure Worlds, and I restarted this blog, aiming for a weekly post. Now it’s 2020 and I’ve managed a post a week since January 10th 2013. Most of the time it’s been on Thursday, but there was that one hiccup that I will never live down where it came out on Saturday because I was bad at organization and planning and overwhelmed with three jobs at the time. Still, it was a learning moment. I think it taught me to think long term and realize how a simple slip-up or lazy moment can blemish an otherwise impressive (if otherwise meaningless) achievement. That said, 362 posts in a row, seven years, and over 270 000 words. That’s not nothing.

Tripping into January

Blog No. 371

It’s 2020. Nine-year-old Ben is really excited about all the really cool future stuff. Current Ben is terrified with what some of the new future stuff could mean for us (like deep fake and AI). It’s all writing fuel, though. I’m currently listing out all the things I didn’t get finished this year, that I have to get done early in the new year (or was just before I started to write this). The list is long and includes some things that are more long term (or long term for finishing, but I may have to get started soon). It’s jumbled and there are overlaps and loose ends all over the place. Some of it is erroneous (or out of date) but with all the issues, it’s a requirement for me to get my head around the new year and the new and old projects I have to get done.