Writing

The Whole World Doesn’t Love Me

by

It’s rather weird to be in the public eye. Granted, the “public” eyes I’m in are rather small, but when a few thousand people intake something you’ve created, there’s bound to be someone that doesn’t like you. It’s a little weird to be disliked by someone you’ve never met, or talked to, or talked about, etc.

Don’t get me wrong, lots of people dislike me. I’ve been called names that would make sailors blush (and there are a couple Navy folks that read my blog, yes, you’d blush). Those people, however, have reasons to hate me. I may not agree with their reasoning, but at least they have something to claim I’ve done to them.

It gets wacky when people randomly email you, or comment on youtube, or attempt to make you look dumb in public somewhere. Even that I can handle to an extent. The thing that I find interesting is when people assume that if someone has managed to get published somewhere, that those people must be arrogant, rich, self-absorbed ignoramuses. Because in order to get someone to pay you for your creation, you must have cut corners somewhere. All geniuses are undiscovered, and must die poor and alone, right? How dare I risk embarrassment and ask a publisher to accept my creation as professional quality. I must be really arrogant to think my stuff is better than those that aren’t published.

Guess what? I DON’T! Crimeny, I’m more insecure about the things I do than anyone I know. (My suspicion is that everyone feels that way, whether they admit it or not) If you don’t like what I do, then don’t read/watch/listen to it. If you’re a publisher, just don’t buy it. (Unsurprisingly, I’ve never gotten a, “You suck” response from a publisher, they generally have better things to do)

Oh, and if you don’t like this blog post, feel free to email me about how much I suck. I have a special place for those emails, snuggled up next to the male enhancement offers I get. :o)

The Glorious Reveal!

by

Maybe not glorious, but hey, you get what you pay for. And this is free. (Click the image below to watch it online)

screencap.png

I’m Linux Journal‘s new, “Gadget Guy” — and I do video reviews of products for them. The first video is up, and depending on the feedback they get, I will be a continuous feature on the Linux Journal website. So like, go watch it and stuff. And tell your friends. And neighbors. And people you meet at the grocery store. And tell the Santa at the mall. Email your congressman a link.

Well, at least go watch it. It’s not a dry product review, I promise. Just click on the picture above.

Writers, FTW!

by

It’s really lucky for the rest of the world that geeks and writers aren’t terribly motivated folks. One of these days, however, we might actually get around to taking over the world. And I’m only half joking…

UPDATE: Oh, and for the first time in my life, I can say “Union” without getting a little vomit in the back of my throat. It’s nice. 🙂

Scary stuff

by

This scared me today:
picture-5.png
But it was healed a bit later. I didn’t realize how much I depend on Google… Even my NaNoWriMo novel is on Google, so they better pay their electric bill, because I need them to stay running!

(Novel is going very slowly, and the site redesign wasn’t just me procrastinating, it’s something I’d been working on a while. 🙂 )

Gaming

by

I recently wrote an article about the Quake III gaming engine being released open source, and the games that have developed from it. It’s here, but unless you’re a Linux Journal subscriber, you can’t read it yet. (Feel free to subscribe, by the way ,it’s a great magazine, and they have a pleasant habit of giving me money…)

Anyway, today, we had an after school gaming program. Thankfully, I just happen to have some recent experience on some free multiplayer games. 🙂 Yep, there was a lab full of kids playing open source games, and loving it. No, they weren’t using Linux — but hey, baby steps. At least all the students are familiar with Linux!

It went great, and it’s tied into tutoring of At-Risk kids, so it’s a win-win situation. Well, I didn’t win much, but the kids do. 🙂

UPDATE: Huh, 3 links to Linux Journal in one post. I’m feeling a bit like a fan boy. Here: Have a couple other links not related to Linux. (BTW, that Garfield comic is one of my favorites!)

Novel Update

by

I’m sick, I’m miserable, and I’m terribly behind. I haven’t given up or anything, but I feel like crud. I’m going to plug away a bit tonight, but I’m not going to let my behind-ness be an excuse to quit.

Hope you all are doing well. 🙂

Wordcount, Day 1

by

I wrote 1833 words today. Which is, not too bad. The really cool part is that for the first time ever, I had FUN writing fiction! Not looking back and just writing was hard, don’t get me wrong, but it was also freeing.

My characters actually came to life a bit, and it was really fun watching them interact. I’m sure there will be drudgery, but I had so much fun today, that it will hopefully be worth it in the end.

Good night all!

NaNoWriMo, baby…

by

NaNo Baby!I decided to write a novel. 🙂 Yeah, yeah, I’ve been saying that for years, but I’m taking advantage of National Novel Writing Month, and I’m going to try to really do it. Basically, for the month of November, entrants must write like crazy, and by the end they must have 50,000 words.

The catch? Well, for one, that is a lot of writing! Two, you’re not allowed to go back and edit, etc. The whole point is to GET ‘ER DONE. Since my inner critic is so nasty, he’s stopped every other novel writing attempt at about 150 words. I keep going over and over and over that initial 150 words, and never get any further.

Hopefully, I’ll be able to keep the bass turd at bay, and get the novel done. It’s about 1,667 words a day, including Thanksgiving, so I should get started!!! (If I post less often, now you know why. I’ll try to update on my progress though. Feel free to spurn me along.)

Dreams and Risk

by

I used to think when people talked about taking risks in order to follow your dreams, they mainly meant the financial aspect of risk. I think that might be largely true, but as I’ve recently been following my dreams, I’ve discovered the risks aren’t always financial.

I’ve wanted to be a writer for literally longer than I can remember. Writing is that thing that gives me the most fulfillment. When I wake up in the morning, I think about being a writer. Likewise, when I go to sleep at night, I usually drift off dreaming about it. Even though it seems like I’m being melodramatic, I’m actually being completely serious!

Many of you know that I’ve recently been published in a magazine. It’s really quite awesome, and I think the relationship with Linux Journal might grow into something more. (I can’t really discuss details, but it’s pretty exciting stuff) I’m also trying to write at least a first draft of a fiction novel this winter. Needless to say, I’ve started down that scary road of dream fulfillment.

Here’s the part that threw me for a loop: The failure I’m worried about has nothing to do with finances. I’m not quitting my day job, and if I never make another penny writing, it won’t matter a whole lot to my family financially. We’re fine. However, if I write a book, and it sucks — then what?!?! The risk is that my dreams will crumble. I never realized just how significant that would be to me. See, a dream is exciting, but a reality is, well, pretty real. If I never try, the dream stays intact, but if I go for it, the dream might just fall apart.

The encouraging thing is that it turns out I’m actually a decent word-putter-togetherer. There is still the risk of failure, but I finally see that following any dream takes courage — because the risk of failure is always there! In my case, it’s not financial failure, but a crushed dream is almost harder to stomach than losing a job.

What a scary and exciting time in my life. Thanks for sharing it with me.