The year in review

2013 is about to end, and like every year, this has been a year of ups and downs.  The biggest downs we saw were the passing of my grandmother towards the beginning of the year, and then the passing of my brother-in-law Chris, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer, just before Christmas.
Another big down we faced, and will continue to face in the year to come is the fact that our three year old Alexis will need surgery some time early in the year.  It's not a major surgery, but any time they're going to cut into your child, especially a small child, is quite scary.
The year was also filled with quite a few ups.  The biggest being our decision for me to leave my "real" job, and go back to working at home.  Even though it has put a huge financial strain on us, it has been good in every other way.  I no longer bring home the stress of being the "store bitch," which is basically what I'd become.  I also have more time to write, edit, and create games, and I also have more time for the kids.  We're already starting to see a change in their behaviors now that there's a little consistency as to who they're going to be seeing each day at home.  My staying at home also takes a lot of stress off of Rebecca.  She can now focus on just working, while I take care of the cooking and cleaning at home.  Some people might say that being a stay-at-home dad is not manly, but if you ask me, there's nothing more manly than doing what's best for your wife and kids.
Some other big ups are that I'm starting to write a lot more and I'm having a lot of time to develop supplements for the Ephemeris RPG.  I've also started working hard on getting Nomadic Delirium Press up off of the ground, and we're starting to see an increase in sales and submissions to the various publications.
As always, it's been a mixed year, but I'm looking forward to 2014.  I have a good feeling for the year to come...I just hope I'm right.

The first volme of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica

I've just put the finishing touches on the first draft of the first volume of the Encyclopedia.  There's still a lot of work to be done, however.  The goal of this draft was to just get the very basics down for each star system.  Now I'll have to go through and expand on what's already there, and put in some rule notes so that game masters can better tie the information into their games.
No matter what, anyone that is interested in the Melanathee from the Ephemeris RPG should really enjoy this, as it will give them a much better idea of what to do with their sector of space.

The Nomadic Delirium blog

Nomadic Delirium Press now has a blog.  There you'll be able to learn about publications that are planned, publications that have been released, and whatever else they feel like posting.
You can find it at http://nomadicdelirium.wordpress.com/.

Working on the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica

I'm having a blast working on the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  When I first conceived of the idea, I wasn't sure if it was going to be as much fun as I hoped it would...but it is.  When I first came up with the idea for the Ephemeris RPG, I wanted to make it as hard SF as I could.  Granted, I had to use hyperspace to make it playable, but for the most part, I wanted things to be based on real science, or at least conceivable science.
When I started working on this project, I wanted to continue that.  So all of the star systems that will be listed in the Encyclopedia are real star systems.  And when possible, I've tried to use real planets that we know are there.  Even when I've introduced something that is out of the ordinary, I've tried basing it in science.
To me, this makes the game that much more fun.  I may be alone in that feeling, but I've always liked science fiction over science fantasy.  When I designed the game, I didn't want it to be Dungeons & Dragons in space...and I hope I've succeeded in that.

I love these productive days

Days like today are what make me happy that I left my "real" job.  I just about finished up an editing project for a publisher that I'm working with for the first time.  In addition, I reworked the short story I finished a few days ago.  I think it still needs a little more work, but I hope to have it done very soon.  As if that wasn't enough, I added many pages of research to the first volume of the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica, and I'm now ready to sit down and actually start writing the thing.
Yes, it was a very productive day.  I'm hoping to have many more like this in the days to come,

The Nomadic Delirium Press 12 Days of Christmas

Nomadic Delirium Press is running specials on their titles during the 12 days of Christmas.  Each day, a different tile will be on sale.  Some of these will be books I've written, magazines I've edited, or RPGs I've designed.  Others will be from other authors and editors.
For updates, you just need to go to their Facebook page.
Check back every day for that day's sale.

A new story

I just finished the rough draft of a new story.  This is the first unsolicited short story that I've written in quite a while, so it's a very good feeling.  My skills are still a bit rusty, so it will take several re-writes, but I'm fairly happy with the way this one turned out, even if it went a completely different direction than I'd expected.  A lot of times, however, some of my best stories actually are the ones that seem to have a mind of their own.
I hope to have it ready to go, and actually start submitting it before Christmas.
Now for the next story...

The words are starting to flow

Three weeks after escaping the "real" work world, the words are really starting to flow for me.  I'm not quite back to the point where I could sit down and crank out 5,000 words in one session, but they are flowing the best that they have in many years.
Right now, I'm focusing on cranking out some short stories to kind of get my chops tuned back up, but then I hope to get back into the novels, while still keeping the short stories going.
No matter what, it's a good feeling, and I think once the holiday season is over, things will start to flow even more.

November recap

It seems like I've started posting more now that I'm no longer trapped in a dismal "real" job.  Look for even more posts in the month to come...
I have some big news
The big news
Happy third birthday!
I'm free!
Keeping myself busy
Submitting reprints
Holiday deals featuring my stuff