The Near Future

Blog Post No. 433

It’s getting to be crunch time for Break/Interrupt. With the usual deadline of getting the novella to the printer by the end of March in hopes of using a discount code for the setup cost, I’ve got less than three weeks to wrap it all up. Right now I’m still waiting on the last edits to come back, but (hopefully) since it’s in the final stages of the editing process, there won’t be too much to change. Fixing typos is easy enough, but rewriting sections due to plot holes or other mistakes this late in the game is a tough nut to crack. I’ve done it before, though. I should be able to do it again. If not, I just bite the bullet and pay full price. Besides, I’m the one who set the April release date. Not only does that leave the whole month open for me to actually get the book published, but I can always change it. It’s not like I need the books for an upcoming event or anything.

Another Collection Update

Blog No. 141

Hello fine folks. I’ve been talking about this darn collection with Christian for over a year now and all I’ve had for you were promises and Gorilla Dust. It’s been a long, bumpy, lazy road, with big changes and lots of letdowns, but we are finally in sight of the finish line. I decided to use this week’s post to write a short update.

When we started the collection (back in February of 2014) we had wondrous visions of a collection of short stories to go along with the quickly growing blog. We were racking up stories faster than we could post them and decided to collect the best of them and put out a book. Christian had his own collection coming out (which has done marvellously well: http://christianlaforet.com/the-space-between-houses/) but we had lots of stories in the bag and wanted to do something more with them. As it turned out, the dynamics of Adventure Worlds changed and the number of stories we each needed grew, and so did the amount of time spent working on it.

No, Science Fiction

Blog No. 139

Out in the world (during my brief forays away from my blissful seclusion) when I talk to people about my writing, I always get the same questions. I legitimately love being asked what I’ve written. Sometimes it’s asked with genuine interest and I launch into the list of things I’ve done, Adventure Worlds, This Blog, Working on the novel, the collection, Finder, The Zine, and anything else I think of at the time. The conversation then moves into details of those things and moments where I realize I’m selfishly prattling on and manage to ask a few questions of my own. It’s a great feeling to share what I do with interested parties. Sometimes the question is asked with malice (or incredulity if malice is too harsh). I relish the chance to show those people what I’ve done and what I’m doing. Even if their question was meant to belittle or call me out, I like being able to prove to them (and myself) that I have and am actually writing things, plus the question holds big talkers to their words.

Zines and Other Things

Blog No. 136

Zine number four is officially out in the wild. It, like the others before it, took longer than expected. Part of that is on my shoulders (as the guy who puts the layout together) but the major reason is that this time around we have ads. Anchor Coffee House, a favorite café of mine, and Paper Heroes, one of Christian’s regular haunts, graciously agreed to throw us a little cash to help fund the printing of the Zine. We still had to pay some out of pocket, but their contributions helped us find a local printer and spread the latest issue. The snag came with creating the ads and getting their approval. Both locations were easy to work with and very amicable, but I don’t have much experience making ads and finding the extra time to jet over to those stores and bother the owners to get their OK took time.  

A Few Thoughts Based on the Events of Last Week

Blog No. 126

Before I get into some musings, I want to point out that this blog is now over 100,000 words long. It’s been going strong for over two years now (600 – 900+ words a week) and while that’s not super speedy or even super long compared to other blogs, I think it’s a milestone I’m pretty happy with. If I were to put the same amount of effort into writing my fiction, I should have a good length sci-fi novel done. But I don’t (yet). I have this. It’s OK too, I guess.

Anniversary, Maybe Next Year

Blog No 115

Last weekend, I went to Anchor Coffee House’s first anniversary party. I was a great event and the place was filled with more people than I thought could fit in the building. Coffee was a dollar (which is why I couldn’t sleep that night) and they had a musician playing most of the day (though they usually have music on Saturdays). The little coffee shop that could had an amazing year, starting with a couple who had a passion for coffee and food, opening a place in (essentially) an industrial plaza on a highway road, and drawing coffee loves, academics, and artists (including me) into the fold. They worked hard and treated people right and had an incredibly successful first year. I was lucky to be part of both the night and the year in question.