Category Archives: Personal
It’s a New Feature We Like to Call a VLOG….
It’s my first Vlog!! This is going to be an ongoing thing here, because I’m hoping it’ll get updated more than my written blog articles
Hope you all enjoy & I’ll be doing more soon.
News of My Death Has Been Greatly Exaggerated
Wow, a month and a half since my last post. You’d think I’d forgotten this blog existed.
Truth be told, I just haven’t had much to share with the world. The Veil has stalled in edits. I mean, it’s getting there, just a lot slower than I had hoped. But with all things The Veil, I shouldn’t be surprised. That book has always taken longer than I hoped. And perhaps the reason is that I’m not ready for it.
I had a lengthy discussion via email with a fellow writer named Regan Leigh. We were comparing notes on the YA series we had in progress. As I outlined the scope of The Veil, I realised that this thing is big. Maybe too big. With every edit and passing day, I seem to throw more into it. At present, I have 1 book written, another book started & plotted, and two more books with very rough outlines. And that doesn’t even end the blasted thing!
It dawned on me that if I self-published The Veil Book One, I’d be making a deal with my readers that the series would be completed and done so in a timely fashion. Am I ready to dedicate myself to seven years or more on one series? If I’m honest, I’m not. Regan gave me some sage advice; Set aside The Veil until I learn to manage my writing time more efficiently. Stick to more standalone stories until I’m more proficient at organising my thoughts and then I’ll be able to write the Veil series.
It made sense, but was scary at the same time. Because writing a book, it’s like nurturing a child. And when you’ve finally got it to a point where it can walk, stand and think on its own, it’s hard to let go. But I know I need to do that. I’m just not ready to tell that story yet.
Which is not to say writing it was a waste of time. I’ve learned a great deal from it. I’ve also gained the confidence that comes from knowing that I have finished a novel.
In a convenient twist, an idea for a book struck me the other day and I’ve fallen in love with it. It’s a fantasy. I’ll be doing some world building and telling a single story in the one book.
And to push myself to the limit, I’ve signed up for Nanowrimo.
If you’re not familiar with it, that’s National Novel Writing Month, which is in November. The idea is to write a first draft of a novel equaling at least 50,000 words within the month’s time. That works out to approx. 1,667 words a day. Which is a lot more than I’m used to.
To get ready, I’m planning ahead. That’s right, the pantser/write-like-it’s-chess boy is planning ahead! Because that’s one of the lessons I’ve learned from The Veil. The better I had planned a chapter, the faster it was to write. I did have days where I hammered out 2,000 words in a single session. If I plan a whole novel, I’m hoping I can do the same.
During Nanowrimo I’ll be doing more frequent updates here on the blog. Yes, I do intend to breathe some new life into this poor, neglected corner of the web.
I feel great about this new book. It feels like a winner. Hopefully I still feel that way by the end of November.
When Did You Become a Writer?
A bit of a personal blog entry this morning.
Was there a defining moment for you? A point where scraps of stories hidden in folders became work aimed at being published? When was that moment that you started including “Writer” in bios of yourself?
When I was in grade school, I loved to write. There was only one type of assignment I looked forward to and that was creative writing. I was that kid who was assigned a “short” story and turned in a binder with chapters. In those creative and heady moments of youth, seeing my name on a book cover was my singular goal.
But as with most dreams of childhood, I strayed from that path. Other interests and influences pulled me away. Over the years I wrote less and that vision of my name on a cover dimmed.
Fast forward to me in my thirties. I had rediscovered writing, but had no focus. Every story I started was left only partially completed. I had ideas, pages and pages of ideas, but I couldn’t translate that into a finished product. My wife developed a look that said “Will you just shutup and write” that I saw on regular occasion when I started a conversation with “I had an idea for a story…”
My defining moment, the thing that finally made me focus on finishing something, anything, was the death of my father.
My dad left an impression on people. Even now, two years after his death, I still have people that stop me in my work life and tell me how amazing my father was and how he influenced/helped/changed/supported them at some point. I have a set of morals that I can easily trace to my father.
As I mentioned in a previous post, my love of science fiction, fantasy and reading I can trace to hours spent sitting next to my dad watching classic Star Trek and Doctor Who.
When my dad took early retirement, he looked forward to trips with my mom and had thoughts of writing a book about his paramedic days called “Life Under the Lightbar.” You can imagine his dismay when he was diagnosed with lung cancer two weeks after his retirement party. And then a year-and-a-half later, he was gone.
So much planned and dreamed. So much left undone.
As the grief subsided, I realised that dreams shouldn’t be put off. I looked at my pile of half-finished writing and loose ideas and thought, “If I die tomorrow, I don’t want a bunch of half-realised dreams left behind. I need to finish something.”
And now, a first draft is done.
My dreams are larger than just one first draft. What I truly want to leave behind is still incomplete. Which is fine, because I intend/hope to have more time to finish it. But I’m on the road. I feel that I can call myself a writer. I feel less unfulfilled than I did before.
Did you have a defining moment? Was there something in your life that finally pushed you hard enough that you were able to type “The End?”
From Dark of the Moon – Optimus Prime!
OK, I admit it, I’m a bit of a freak for Transformers. Almost as big a fan as I am Doctor Who. So each time something new in the franchise comes along, I’m a little excited for it.
The best part is, my 7yo son is a fan too. So I have a perfect excuse to make trips to Toys-R-Us and check out the latest toys
But hey, you all know that, right? I mean, this is the blog space that trumpeted the pics of the Megatron and Shockwave toys.
Confession: My favourite transformer of all-time is Optimus Prime.
When I was a kid, I had to have every version of Optimus Prime. It didn’t matter whether it was a repaint, a mini, or a bat, monkey, etc. If it was the current version of Optimus, I had to have it. No other transformer inspired such loyalty.
While I wasn’t a huge fan of the flames, I loved how Optimus was envisioned in the live action films. I darn near squealed when the classic Gen. 1 voice of Peter Cullen started with the intro. And man, it was awesome to see Optimus unleash some kick-ass. I mean, the forest fight in the second movie? Damn.
And the third movie Dark of the Moon? It looks like it’s going to deliver some more Optimus-ownin-Decepticon-butt action. Yes, my hopes for the third film are getting elevated with each released trailer.
So along comes the requisite refresh of the Optimus toy for the third movie. No huge surprises here. It looks pretty standard to the previous versions. Clearly they’ve altered the transformation a bit, but that’s to be expected.
But oh wait….
What’s that?
Booyah, Optimus Prime with a trailer!!! OK, my hopes for this film just went Kerplow! Other than the flames, what was the thing we fanboys bitched about in regards to Optimus’ appearance in film one? Yup, where’s the trailer?
Fixed.
Not only fixed, but I’m laying odds plays a part in the plot, cause lookey what Optimus becomes with his trailer….
Some super crazy powered up – winged – version. Yeah, I’m thinkin this version of Optimus is going to own. I hope it isn’t a wimp out and just turns out to be his “Fly me to the moon” outfit.
All this hype is thanks to the good folks of Tomopop.
So verdict? Excited. OK, yeah, Michael Bay, I’ll be in the theatre. PLEASE let it be as good, no, better, than the first movie. Between this toy and the Superbowl trailer, I’m starting to get hyped!



Nano Project