Eryn wants to go to Washington D.C.

Our oldest has the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. during the Summer of 2015 on a trip that's run by Worldstrides.  She will have the chance to visit most of the monuments, see the National Museum, and get a better idea of the history of our country.  Unfortunately, it looks like her school isn't going to be doing anything to help them with fundraising, leaving them to raise all the money on their own.
Given that, we're doing everything we can to help her raise the money, and we've set up a page on Go Fund Me for anyone that would be willing to help her.  The site can be found at http://www.gofundme.com/8wknt8.
We know money is tight for everyone, but if anyone is able to help her out, it would be greatly appreciated.  This would be one of the most amazing experiences she'll have as a young lady, and we really want to send her.

April recap

Nomadic Delirium Press titles on Kindle
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica Sectors Five & Six
What's next for the Ephemeris RPG
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Seven, Eleven, Twelve, & Fourteen
I love weeks like this
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Fifteen-Twenty
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Near Space
My oldest is going to D.C.

My oldest is going to D.C.

Our oldest will be going to Washington D.C. next summer. We're looking for ways to help her raise money. If anyone would be willing to help her out, please follow the link below.
Thanks ahead of time!
https://olr.worldstrides.net/scripts/cgiip.exe/RegisterOnline/PaymentLogin.htm?ttype=gift&custid=102629001&custlname=Noli

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Near Space

All of the "Near Space" supplements have been combined into one book.  At the moment, this is only available as an e-book, but we should have it available as a print book in May.
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Near Space looks at the sectors of space that are near to Colonized Space, but that haven’t been completely explored yet.
You’ll find colonies that have been set up by some of the six sentient species, and you’ll find worlds that will make good colonies.  You’ll also find things that you might not expect…civilizations that have fallen, weird intrusions of hyperspace, and signs of intelligence that still might be out there.  This and more awaits players and game masters in The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Near Space.
A useful tool for both players and game masters, this supplement will help take your Ephemeris game to the next level.
Order from us: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/ephemeris-encyclopedia-galactica-near-space/
Order from DriveThruRPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/129004/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Near-Space
Order on Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JXPWC04

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Fifteen-Twenty

The last of the "Near Space" tomes of The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica is now available.
Now’s your chance to explore the final sectors of Ephemeris “Near Space.”  You’ll learn about the colonies that have been established, the worlds that are waiting to be colonized, and the other oddities that populate these six sectors.  Learn about planets that once held civilizations, and no longer do, or learn about hyperspace rifts created by a war of Cyber Wizards, or learn about the asteroid obstacle course that the Althani have created.
These are just a few of the things waiting for you in The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Fifteen-Twenty.
Order from us: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/ephemeris-encyclopedia-galactica-sectors-fifteen-twenty
Order from DriveThruRPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/128957/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-FifteenTwenty
Order the Kindle version: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JWZU15S

I love weeks like this

On Monday night, I started on the final "Near Space" supplement for The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  I typed the last word yesterday morning, and the rough draft of the supplement comes out at over 10,000 words.  I love really productive weeks!  It will have to go through a couple of revisions, and I hope to have it ready to go by the end of next weekend.  That will complete "Near Space," and I'll be moving on to "Unexplored Space," which will have what I hope will be some great surprises for everyone who is playing Ephemeris.
10,000 words of game writing is a little bit easier than 10,000 words of fiction, but I'm still happy with it, and I hope to be diving into fiction hard very soon.  For now, I'm just toying with it a little bit, but the game supplement writing is going strong, and for now, that needs to be my focus.

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Seven, Eleven, Twelve, and Fourteen

The exploration of the Ephemeris: Science Fiction RPG universe continues with The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Seven, Eleven, Twelve, and Fourteen...
There’s more to the Ephemeris universe than just “Colonized Space.” Now you can get a chance to explore those sectors where the six species are only just starting to colonize, or even where none of them have been before.
The EEG: Sectors 7, 11, 12, & 14 continues to explore the space between the colonized sectors of the Ephmeris RPG.
It will be posted in our store shortly, but for now, you can find it at DriveThruRPG: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/128574/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-Seven-Eleven-Twelve-and-Fourteen
It should also be available on Kindle very soon as well.

What's next for the Ephemeris RPG

As many of you know, we recently finished releasing the supplements for the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica for the colonized sectors of space, and now we're working on near space.  We still have unexplored space and deep space to go, and we have some fun surprises in store for all of you game masters and players...we may even go beyond deep space, depending on how future supplements are received.
We're also thinking about the possibility of introducing mass combat rules, so that huge space battles can be solved much easier than they can now...and this may be very important because...well, let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Hope you're enjoying the game, and if you have ideas, please feel free to pass them on to us.  The best way is on our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/ephemerisrpg/.

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors Five & Six

The exploration of "Near Space" in the Ephemeris RPG universe continues...
There’s more to the Ephemeris universe than just “Colonized Space.” Now you can get a chance to explore those sectors where the six species are only just starting to colonize, or even where none of them have been before.
The EEG: Sectors 5 & 6 continues the exploration of “Near Space.”
Order from us at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/ephemeris-encyclopedia-galactica-sectors-5-6/
or
Order from DriveThruRPG at: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/128195/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-Five--Six

Nomadic Delirium Press titles on Kindle

Nomadic Delirium Press has now added all of its e-book titles to the Kindle.  This includes several of my titles, including everything I've created for the Ephemeris RPG.  Over the years, Ephemeris has done pretty well through Amazon, and now hopefully with all of the supplements also available, we'll see a further increase in sales.
For some reason, Amazon has some very screwy rules for the royalties it pays to publishers that use Kindle, so NDP was forced to raise prices on a few titles, but it was only a few.
Feel free to search Amazon for any of my titles...they should all be there now...

March recap

The stitches are out
E-book sale
GM's Day at DriveThruRPG
Holy Crap! There's a teenager in the house
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sector Ten (Human Space)
The new Cosmos
Insurance company BS
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space
A debilitating sneeze
Idioms About Idiots
My writing process-Blog tour
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors 1, 2, & 4
New print versions of Ephemeris titles
The Ephemeris Omnibus 2013 in hardback
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space in paperback

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space in paperback

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space is now available in paperback.  This supplement lets you explore the sectors of space that are "controlled" by each of the six species.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/127376/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Colonized-Space
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space is a combination of the first six volumes of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  It looks at each sector of space that is controlled by one of the six species.  An invaluable supplement for anyone playing the Ephemeris Science Fiction Role Playing Game, especially those that have been looking for campaign settings for their games.
A useful tool for both players and game masters, this supplement will help elevate your Ephemeris game to the next level.
Before ordering, please keep in mind that this supplement contains the same information that was released individually in the EEG for sectors 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, & 21.

The Ephemeris Omnibus 2013 in hardback

Over 600 pages of hardbound rules for the Ephemeris RPG, and we're talking full size 8 1/2 X 11...a must have for any Ephemeris game master or player.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113551/The-Ephemeris-Omnibus-2013
The Ephemeris Omnibus 2013 features the Ephemeris core rulebook (with some rule changes, including mutli-classing), and all of the rule supplements that have been released as of the end of 2012.  All of the species and class supplements have been blended into the core rulebook to create a massive (over 200,000 words) rulebook that will allow you to play the most extensive Ephemeris game you'd ever want to play.

New print versions of Ephemeris titles

We've released print versions of two more Ephemeris titles.  You can get The Ephemeris Omnibus 2013 at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/113551/The-Ephemeris-Omnibus-2013?manufacturers_id=2805 and you can get The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica; Colonized Space at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/127376/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Colonized-Space?manufacturers_id=2805.

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Sectors 1, 2, & 4

A new supplement in the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica is now available.  We're starting to look at "Near Space."  These are systems that are close to the main systems of the six species, but actually aren't under their control.  In many places, you'll find worlds that have been colonized by one of the six species, or you might find worlds that had been colonized by an ancient species, or you might find something even stranger.
This supplement looks at three of the sectors of Near Space.
Order from us at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/ephemeris-encyclopedia-galactica-sectors-1-2-4/
or
Order from DriveThruRPG at: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/127723/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Sectors-One-Two--Four

My Writing Process-Blog Tour

Today I’m participating in a blog tour where authors discuss their writing process. My friend, the extremely talented David Lee Summers, posted last week. You can learn about his writing process here: http://dlsummers.wordpress.com.
So, sit back, and you'll get a chance to learn something of how I write...

What am I working on?
After spending a lot of time working on novels, I'm taking a bit of a break and going back to writing short stories.  This is where I cut my teeth as a writer, and as much fun as I think novels are to write, I enjoy short stories even more.  I think trying to condense a great deal of detail into a very small number of words is every bit as challenging as writing a novel, but in a very different way.
I've also been spending a great deal of time writing supplements for the Ephemeris RPG, which is a very different kind of writing, but just as challenging and just as fun.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?
While you can definitely see the influence of writers like Asimov and Heinlein on my work, I think my work tends to focus a lot more on the individual as opposed to the "big" idea.  Much of my work centers around the idea of the individual oppressed by society, or technology.  Although I often try to paint an optimistic picture of the future, much of my work is pessimistic.  I also think I focus a lot more on dystopias than many other writers.

Why do I write what I do?
I think the answer that "I have to" is a pretty good reason.  I've been fascinated by science fiction since I was a very young boy.  I first saw Star Wars when I was seven, and yesterday was probably the 50th time that I've watched it (or maybe it's more), and I've loved everything SF ever since.  Science Fiction also gives me the opportunity to express some of my concerns about society in a way that isn't necessarily preachy.  Authors have been using SF to talk about the ills of society for decades, and I'm just following their lead.

How does your writing process work?
Much of my writing is done in my head before I even sit down in front of a keyboard.  Since I have three kids, ages 3-13, actual writing time can be difficult to come by, so I more or less have to write whenever I have time..
If I'm working on a hard SF piece, I will also spend a great deal of time researching the science I'm going to use because I want to make sure I get it right.
Once I start writing, I'm not the revise as you go type.  I tend to plow through a story until I get to the end.  Once I'm done, I let it sit for a bit and then go back and do massive revisions.  A lot of times my rough drafts are deficient in description, so I go back and add that in the second draft.  Once that's done, I let it sit again for a while before I do a third draft.  After that, I hope the story is done, and I move onto the next story I want to write.

Next week:
On Monday, March 31st, please visit the following blogs to learn about these wonderful authors:

Ian Brazee-Cannon - Ian Brazee-Cannon is a writer, film maker, game designer, podcaster as well as a husband and father. His short stories have been published in The Fifth Di..., Wondrous Web Worlds, Forgotten Worlds, Tales of the Talisman and May-December Publications' anthology 'Say Goodnight to the Bad Guy'. Ian has been working with Nomadic Delirium Press on supplements for the Ephemeris RPG. He is one of the founders and regular co-hosts on the Amateur Skeptics podcast. Ian has also involved with Dangling Carrot Films, Running Riot Productions and Ijin Productions as a writer and director on their projects.

Michael Merriam -
Michael Merriam is a science fiction and fantasy author living in Hopkins, MN with his wife and an overly energetic Maine Coon. Like most writers, Michael has done a variety of odd jobs over the years including: actor, late night disc jockey, short order cook, bassist, and booking agent for a puppet troupe. Michael is legally blind due to retinitis pigmentosa. He has published three novels, two short story collections, three single-title novellas, and over 80 pieces of short fiction. Michael is also an active blogger and spoken-word performer who enjoys burgers, single-malt scotch, and attending SF conventions. Visit his website at www.michaelmerriam.net

Idioms about idiots

It's a new t-shirt vendor that offers you the chance to express your opinion of some of the truly frustrating people in the world...http://www.cafepress.com/idiomsaboutidiots.

A debilitating sneeze

I had just gotten Lex to sleep on Thursday night when I felt a really powerful sneeze coming on.  I wanted to do my best to not wake her up, so I did everything I could to restrain it.  Once I did sneeze, I felt my bad ribs pop and move around like crazy.  Needless to say, I've been in almost debilitating pain ever since, and have not been getting much sleep.  If I had to rate the pain, I'd call it a seven or an eight, and you have to keep in mind that I have a very high threshold for pain.  I can't get comfortable unless I'm sitting up, and then it has to be on something soft like the couch...not the best way to sleep.
This made us decide to do some research on possible corrections.  One thing we found is that there are very few surgeons that will actually re-do the procedure I had on adults.  And of course we also found that in general, insurance companies won't cover it, and the procedure runs $10,000-$30,000.  We don't know if a complete re-do would be necessary, because we were having trouble finding surgeons who even had any idea of what they might be able to do for the pain, and the one we did find was a quack and a half.  Once I'm insured again, we will renew the search.
Also in our research we began to wonder if my procedure had been screwed up.  Even all those years ago, it was typical for a surgeon to insert a bar to support the sternum, and given that I had the worst case my surgeon had ever seen, I'm forced to wonder why this bar wasn't inserted.  Yes, it would have been another procedure two years later, but maybe that would have helped me avoid all the pain I'm in now.  I'm sure no doctor will say that because they'd worry that I'd sue my surgeon, but he wasn't all that young at the time of the procedure, so I'm not even sure if he's still with us.
For now, I just have to try to deal with the pain.  The 800 mg of Ibuprofen every 4-6 hours just isn't doing the trick anymore.  No matter what, this is an awful place to be, and so far we haven't found anyone that might be able to help me out of it.

The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space

We've combined the first six volumes of the EEG into one tome, and it's now available:
The Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica: Colonized Space is a combination of the first six volumes of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  It looks at each sector of space that is controlled by one of the six species.  An invaluable supplement for anyone playing the Ephemeris Science Fiction Role Playing Game, especially those that have been looking for campaign settings for their games.
A useful tool for both players and game masters, this supplement will help elevate your Ephemeris game to the next level.
Before ordering, please keep in mind that this supplement contains the same information that was released individually in the EEG for sectors 3, 8, 9, 10, 13, & 21.
 Order from Nomadic Delirium Press at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-ephemeris-encyclopedia-galactica-colonized-space/
or
Order from DriveThruRPG at: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/127376/The-Ephemeris-Encyclopedia-Galactica-Colonized-Space
We are also working on releasing this as a paperback.  More details as they are available.

Insurance company BS

We got a letter from our health insurance notifying us that they aren't going to pay for Alexis' overnight stay after her surgery because they deemed it unnecessary.  I'm not exactly sure what their criteria are for "necessary," but I think it's ridiculous that a health insurance company thinks they know more about health care than the actual doctors.  From the beginning, it was expected that she would stay overnight.  The only reason she wouldn't have is if they only had to remove the cyst, but the fact that they actually had to remove part of a bone from her neck made the overnight stay necessary in the eyes of our doctor.  This is the kind of BS that needs to stop.
When I was unsuccessfully trying to get treatment for my chronic pain, the health insurance company wanted to refuse a cat scan for me.  I really love these guys.
Based on the rambling letter they sent us, it sounds like they actually aren't going to screw us over, but instead they're going to screw the hospital over.  And people wonder why health care is so expensive.
We need a complete dismantling of the insurance industry, not stop gap fixes.