Blog Post No. 541
It’s actually happening and as I write this, I don’t know how I feel about it. This Saturday, I’m going to be in Chatham at the CKExpo with Christian for my first event since 2019. That’s just in a few days and I’m excited and nervous and feel pretty silly that something I used to do so regularly is affecting me so much. I’ll be wearing a mask the whole time (thanks for the N95, bro) and bringing a big bottle of sanitizer, and maybe a pack of wipes, I haven’t decided.
Blog Post No. 539
I’m feeling a little disconnected right now. It’s April and for the previous five years in April I had a book come out in the Synthetic Albatross Series. This year I don’t and it’s very strange. Normally, this would be the time when I would be scrambling to get the final copy to the printer, or anxiously waiting for the review copy to come in so I could see what horrible mistake I missed (costing me more money) or what kind of horrible state the printing (or binding, or positioning) would be in. Not that I’m doing any of that in 2023.
Blog Post No. 527
Since January of 2013, I’ve written a weekly blog post on this website. (It was the tenth post overall). Ten years is a nice round number and a recognized milestone, so I’m really happy that I made it this far. Not to say I have any plans to stop, but ten years and over 500 posts seems like a lot while I look back on it. It’s kind of like that game Lemmings. There was an option to assign one of the little sprites to build a set of stairs. It started off slowly, pulling planks from a sack and laying them down on top of one another. Eventually, they would run out of material and if you were on top of things (and not looking towards the next obstacle on the map) you could select the same worker to keep building before it just walked over the edge.
Blog Post No. 527
I’m sure everyone has heard or read about how extensively people can acclimate to just about anything. There are people out there living with pain, stress, or other burdens that (while I’m sure it beats them down) they have just gotten used to all the things they do to mitigate their situation and move forward. Sometimes there’s no other choice and sometimes it seems easier to just put up with things the way they are than go through whatever it may take to change them. That’s an extreme example, but I’m sure we’ve all had a temporary burden hardship like a broken down car or uninvited guest and we’ve just learned to live with the new normal.
Blog Post No. 495
It’s been about a decade since I really started to get into writing. It’s something I knew I wanted to do when I was rather young, but it took a long time for me to get over the first big hump and actually learn how to write. I’ve had the occasion to talk to a lot of folks about writing over the years (usually, happily). Some of them mention wanting to write but are intimidated with the process. I always tell them that writing is actually not that hard. It takes getting used to criticism and some work to learn the proper structure, but I honestly believe that almost anyone can do it. Continue reading “Moving On”
Blog Post No. 494
Sometimes stories just don’t turn out how you thought they would. Not that it’s necessarily a bad thing. Stories are a mutable thing when they live in your head. They can be anything and everything until they aren’t. When you write them, you solidify the story and eliminate possibilities. To get way too pompous, they’re a lot like a person’s life in that way. We can choose a million different paths, but once we make a decision, the possibilities shrink. Continue reading “Anything and Everything”
Blog post No. 492
Snow from a Distant Sky is done. Barring any major screw-ups that have made their way trough all the drafts, beta reads, and reviews, all that’s left is waiting for the copies I’ve ordered to come in, bringing some to Biblioasis to sell, and distributing the ones out to the people who have requested to buy it from me. Since the book is officially release, I no longer have any excuse to not be editing the Invasion Novel. Continue reading “Failure.”
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. Continue reading “Snow from a Distant Sky is now Available”
Blog Post No. 490
I was hoping to announce that Snow from a Distant Sky is available this week, but I haven’t gotten the sample copies from the printer (as of writing this) so the wait continues. I hope I get to release it soon. Not just because I’m excited for people to read this one, either. Since the province where I live is opening regardless of infection rates, I’m getting more and more requests to take part in events. Continue reading “Reluctant”
Blog Post No. 488
With Snow at the printer and out of my hands, it’s time to dive back into the Invasion Novel.
When we last left off…
I had finished the second draft of the Invasion Novel in July of last year and was going to get two more drafts done before starting Snow from a Distant Sky in August. Then I was besieged by an army of earwigs. Before I put the editing on pause to write and release the novella (available to order any day now) I managed to get in a third draft of the still far too long novel. That leaves me to start the fourth draft which I’m planning on doing tomorrow. Continue reading “Switching Gears”
Ben Van Dongen 