More wedding planning

We're now getting deep into the wedding planning. We met with our photographer yesterday, and so that's all good to go. We've also started registering for gifts, and we hope to have that out of the way either tonight or tomorrow night. We've started planning the honeymoon, and we hope to book the hotel in February or March. The biggest problem we're having right now is getting information on how to book a judge at the courthouse. Calling and e-mailing has gotten the same answer from everyone we've talked to, which is, "We don't really know." That to me seems absurd, since there have to be a lot of people who do courthouse weddings. I'll try again after the holiday, and if I can't get a result at that point, then we're just going to go to the actual courthouse and talk to people until we find someone that knows what in the hell they're doing.

Since we're going to be sending out invitations next month, we're going to sit down with the girls tonight and we'll all pick out a font to use for those.

So far things have been fun, and not too stressful.........

Preditors & Editors Poll

It's that time of year again. Although I've become a bit disillusioned with this poll over the last few years, it is still a good way to gain some publicity for my work, so I will once again push for votes...

You can vote for me in the following categories...

Author: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/author.shtml

Science Fiction Short Story: Forgive Men their Trespasses: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/shortstorysf.shtml

Zine Editor: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/zineeditor.shtml

And you can vote for The Genre Mall as best bookstore: http://www.critters.org/predpoll/bookstore.shtml

2009 in review

Looking back on 2009 from a professional point of view, this was a mixed year. My fiction publishing was a bit sparse. I had two short stories published this year, and didn't write any new ones. I did however revise one novel to completion, and another is hopefully one or two drafts away from being done.

The big news for this year was that we finally released the Ephemeris RPG. In addition to doing much of the writing on the core rulebook, I also created a species sourcebook for each of the game's species. I created on character sourcebook, and started on another. I also wrote two adventures for the game, and created some miscellaneous stuff that will be useful for players.

From a professional standpoint, I'm fairly satisfied with the year. I would have liked to have written a little more fiction, but that just didn't seem possible.

From a personal standpoint, this was a great year. Each day brings me one day closer to marrying the most wonderful woman in the world.

See you in 2010!!!

Wedding Update

It's been a while since I mentioned the wedding, so I figured I'd post an update. We've decided to scrap the idea of a ceremony, and have opted instead to go to the courthouse on May 21st. After that, we'll be taking our closest friends and family out for dinner...where there will be wedding cake. Rebecca insisted on that. Sometimes I think she's more excited about the cake than about marrying me...no, not really.

After the wedding, we'll be honeymooning in Taos, New Mexico.

The idea of spending thousands of dollars on one day seemed ridiculous, given that I'm still unemployed, and she doesn't get paid as well as she should, so we'll be doing something smaller. I know she'd really like the big ceremony, and I feel bad that she can't have it, but the most important thing is that we get married...

Merry Christmas

I don't know if I'll be on-line any time during the next couple of days, so I just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, or whatever holiday you celebrate at this time...either genuine or stolen.

We're just going to be doing the family dinner thing on Xmas night after opening presents in the morning. We have our two dogs staying with us for a couple of days, so that's an added 100+ pounds of animal hanging out in our little place...and the cats are not happy about it.

Hope you all have a great one...whatever you celebrate...

Keeping myself busy

Even in the midst of all of the holiday madness, I've been keeping myself busy, and getting quite a few tasks completed.

As already mentioned, I delivered Red Moon Rising to the publisher that might be interested in it. I also delivered the manuscript for the first print issue of The Martian Wave to Tyree at Sam's Dot. I'm hoping for a February or March release.

I've also completed The Trader's Sourcebook for the Ephemeris RPG...and now I need to start on the Soldier/Mercenary's Sourcebook.

I've also almost completed Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9 for Sam's Dot. I'm just waiting for some info from a few more contributors, then I will be delivering that as well.

Yeah...not too busy...

Red Moon Rising has been delivered

I've just sent the revised version of the new novel to the publisher who had requested some re-writes on it. I have my fingers and toes crossed that this one will finally find a home. I've been working on it off and on for years, and since it's a novel about the environment, a cause I'm a very big believer in, I'd really love to see it published.

So...if you could all cross your fingers for me, I'd appreciate it.

More deals

Cyber Monday may be over, but there are still some good deals out there on my stuff...if you don't mind e-books...

First off...
Nomadic Delirium Press has created a new bundle. For just $10, you get:The Ephemeris rulebook, The Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List, Necessity's Call-A low level adventure, The Ephemeris Book of 1st Level Characters, The Ephemeris Book of Tables, and Seedlings on the Solar Winds-A collection of short stories from Eph...emeris creator J Alan Erwine http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=68777

Secondly...
Nomadic Delirium Press has dropped the price on the NDP Fiction Bundle through DriveThru SciFi. You can now get all four of the e-books for just $7. Two short story collections from J Alan Erwine and a novels from James Baker and J Alan Erwine. Almost 700 pages of science fiction for just $7...you can't beat that.

So, order today... http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65749

Cyber Monday Specials

With this being Cyber Monday, I figured I should let all of you know about some specials involving books I've written...or helped to write.

DriveThru SciFi has a Nomadic Delirium Press e-book bundle for just $5. You get three of my books...Seedlings on the Solar Winds, The Opium of the People, and Marionettes on the Moon...plus you also get The Poet by James Baker. four e-books for $5 is hard to beat. Simply go to http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65958 and order all four now

DriveThru RPG has the e-book version of the core rulebook for Ephemeris available for $5. You just have to go to http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?discount=17204 and you can start playing tonight.

Both of these sales are only for Monday, November 30th, so you need to order now!

Happy Thanksgiving

I just wanted to pop in and wish all of my readers in America a Happy Thanksgiving! At our home, we're just going to have a small gathering. It will just be Rebecca, the girls, probably her brother, and me obviously. We'll be doing a small turkey and a ham, as well as potatoes, corn, and most of the other traditional Thanksgiving foods.
Rebecca bought a holiday cookbook a couple of months ago, and we're starting a tradition where each Thanksgiving two of us will pick something, and on Christmas the other two will pick something. This Thanksgiving, it's my turn as well as the oldest's turn. For some unfathomable reason (at least to me), the oldest picked shrimp cocktail...I will of course not be indulging in that. I, on the other hand, picked a chocolate cheesecake, which should not come as a surprise to anyone that knows me.
One thing we're going to do that would fall more into the non-traditional foods would be that I'm going to be making my Chickasaw Frybread.
I think it's important that while we're all celebrating what we're thankful for that we keep the Native Americans in our minds. Of all of the racial groups in the US, they've really gotten screwed the most, and Thanksgiving is a reminder of that, so please take a moment to remember the tragedy that has been perpetuated in the name of America on the original inhabitants of this continent.

Whipping the WIPs

The last few days have been very productive. Yesterday I finished up the Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List. This Ephemeris RPG supplement is meant to add to the equipment list that was provided in the original rulebook. There just wasn't enough room in the original book to come up with a good equipment list, so the EEEL gives you 65 pages of equipment, and it's all available as a free download from DriveThru RPG at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65873.

Just moments ago, I also finished writing up the notes for the re-write of Red Moon Rising. The next step is to actually attack the re-write, which I'm hoping will only take two or three weeks.

Progress is good!

The WIPs

I currently have two major projects that I'm working on. The first is the re-write of Red Moon Rising. This is progressing well, although I think I still need to soften the antagonist a little. He still seems a little too harsh to be believable. If all goes well, I should still be sending this off to the publisher by the middle of December...and then we sit back and cross our fingers.

The second project I'm working on is the Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List. When we released the initial rulebook for the game, it had a small list of "goods," but it was nowhere near enough, and I've been working on a much larger list. I was originally thinking that this would be available by the end of the month, but I might actually be able to get this done before Thanksgiving...assuming that life doesn't interfere. Once it's done, NDP will be making it available as a free download...so any Ephemeris players out there, get ready for a lot of new stuff you can add to your character!

In addition to these two biggies, I'm working on getting the December Sam's Dot update ready, putting together the first print issue of The Martian Wave, and putting together Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9...plus dozens of other smaller projects.

It seems like a lot, but I only seem to be happy when I'm truly overwhelmed!

Oh deer

Yesterday, as the snow was starting to fall, I went to the window, and I saw these visitors coming up out of the canal behind our place...



I knew we had deer around here, but I never really expected them to come this close. The girls were really excited to see something like that so close...although they seemed to be more worried about getting cold...kids!

Revisions on Red Moon Rising are continuing. It's my hope that I will be turning in the final revisions to the publisher about one week before Christmas. It would be nice to get them done earlier, but you know, there's this little thing called LIFE that always seems to get in the way...

And so it begins...

I've finally started on the much-delayed revisions of Red Moon Rising. As a refresher, this is my environmental disaster novella that I've been working on off and on for more than a decade.

A small press publisher read the most recent draft and was intrigued, but felt that the book need some extensive revisions...or at least the first third of the book needed revisions.

I hate revising, but I'm through chapter one now, and I'm heading into the parts of the book that really need work.

Wish me luck!!!

Marionettes on the Moon is an e-book now too

My second short story collection, Marionettes on the Moon, and other stories, is now available as an e-book at DriveThru SF. You can find it at: http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65619.

And the best part is that the collection will only cost you $1.00.

When Living is a Crime

My rather dark SF short story When Living is a Crime has been published in the latest issue of Tales of the Talisman, which can be ordered from The Genre Mall at http://www.genremall.com/zinesr.htm#talisman.

Info about the issue: Karen Anne Mitchell introduces us to a Taiyiha--a woman who has been made into the ultimate lover by aliens--and a lonely man who faces his own inner demons. Join Lawrence R. Dagstine as he shows us the lengths a werewolf must go to adopt a child. Danielle Ackley-McPhail gives us a glimpse into the life of a lonely man and the solace he receives from a humble visitor. J Alan Erwine will show you a dark future where a soldier who has seen too much is treated as a criminal. This issue includes eleven stories and eleven poems guaranteed to sweep you away on wings of the imagination. Don’t miss the autumn 2009 issue of Tales of the Talisman!

The opening paragraph of my story: Moonlight through a smoky haze and a field strewn with contorted corpses. That was the sight Niklas found when his brain finally let him see again. He didn't know who the invaders had been, but he knew the corpses on the field. Bodies that had fallen on one another until rigor mortis finally set in, locking them in poses out of Satan's version of the Kama Sutra. Friends who had gone to the Great Beyond before him. Friends that would hopefully guide him in the days and weeks to come.

E-books

Two of my titles are now available at DriveThru SciFi as e-books. You can find The Opium of the People at http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65438, and Seedlings on the Solar Winds, and other stories at http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65440.

They're both priced $10 off the normal trade paperback price, so what are you waiting for???

Why, yes, it is snowing

I'm sitting here playing catch up (mostly Sam's Dot stuff), and watching the snow outside my window. It started snowing last night, and it's been pretty steady all day, although it seems to be picking up a bit now. I'm guessing we have about eight inches right now, and I'm pretty sure we'll end up with more than a foot by morning, but in reality, this storm is not all that impressive...as Colorado snow storms go.

MileHiCon day 3

The last day started out as quickly as the previous. At 11 in the morning I ran a game of Ephemeris. It looked like we wouldn't get enough people, but I ended up having six players with me, which is exactly what I was looking for. I had Ian Brazee-Cannon, creator of Ephemeris: Critters & Pests, Howard Brazee, Flying Pen Press publisher David Rozansky, Stace Johnson (for an hour), and James Van Pelt's two sons...who I'm afraid to say I didn't get their names. We played for two hours, had a lot of fun, and by the time we were done, my voice was going.

But that didn't matter because immediately after the game, I had a panel called Stories, Art Direction, & Web Design for Online Magazines. Unfortunately, our moderator didn't show up. Lucky for us, Carol Hightshoe quickly volunteered me, and everyone else on the panel agreed...so I moderated a panel that I hadn't even given any thought to. Luckily, it was a panel I knew something about, so I was able to wing it, and I think it went pretty well.

After a quick lunch, we caught the 20 lb. Critter Crunch, which the kids always really seem to get into...and for that matter, so do the adults. After that, we had about an hour to kill, so rather than walk aimlessly around the con, we went to the room where they were going to hold the closing ceremonies and decided to hang out there. Before anyone else showed up, Marc Gunn (the musical guest of honor) showed up and put on an impromptu concert for us...which was VERY cool. Nothing like having a GOH perform for just your family.

Then it was the closing ceremonies, and everything came to an end. I didn't get to see anyone as much as I'd hoped to, but I did want to mention a few people that I did get to spend at least a little time with...Laura Given, Rose Beetem, David Lee Summers, Ian & Sarah Brazee-Cannon, Howard and Patricia Brazee, David Boop, Carol Hightshoe, David Rozansky, Stace Johnson...and a cast of hundreds.

Normally I use the old digital camera to get some pictures, but it's been giving us some problems, and we had some disposables that I picked up from the Office Depot by us before it closed...so we decided to use those. Very bad decision! Rebecca called a little while ago to say that almost none of the pictures came out...

MileHiCon day 2

Hit the ground running for day 2. My panel was at 10 am, and this one was GM 101: A Thief, a Mage, and a Paladin Walk into the Tavern. It was about being a game master and running RPG's. It was a fun panel and had a much larger audience than I'd expected...with a lot of good feedback from the audience. I plugged Ephemeris as much as I could without being truly obnoxious.

Immediately following my panel was my signing. Luckily I was sitting with David Boop and Carol Hightshoe. Since we all knew each other, it gave us something to do since there were very few people coming by. I think the biggest problem, and this was echoed by a lot of the authors I talked to, was that the signing table was not in the Dealers' Room this year. I realize with Nancy Kress and Barbra Hambly, they need the room out in the atrium for all of the fans, but for the rest of us, being in the Dealers' Room where people are actually looking to spend money makes a lot more sense. Moving us back into the Dealers' Room would be my main recommendation for next year.

After that, it was mostly doing stuff with the kids. Superhero costuming, superhero gadgets, mask making, and face painting. Our oldest had bracers painted onto her arms, while the youngest had zebra stripes painted onto her face.

We then went to the Marc Gunn concert, which was very entertaining. That was followed up by the Masquerade, which I thought was a bit of a let down this year. Not many costumes, and a lot of them seemed thrown together...still can't believe the Predator didn't win.

As we were getting ready to go home, we ran into an old friend of mine who I hadn't seen in many many many years. I didn't even know he would attend something like MileHiCon, but there he was, and he seemed to be having a good time.

MileHiCon day 1

I had planned on blogging over the weekend, but we got home late every night, and I was exhausted. Overall, the con was good, although it seemed a lot less energetic than usual. Attendance was down a bit, and I don't think people had as much money as usual...so for those of us hoping to make some money, it didn't go so well. Plus the kids kept acting up for some reason...haven't really figured out why yet.

The first day started with the 100 Years Since Darwin panel. Most of the discussion was about how SF gets Darwin right and wrong, although we did finally get into the whole Darwin/Creationism debate. Of course, it wasn't really a debate since most everyone in the room comes down firmly on the side of Darwinism. I think Courtney Willis had the best observation when he pointed out that this is really only a debate in America. Most of the rest of the Western world accepts Darwinism, and the whole "Intelligent" Design argument doesn't even exist.

Later in the night we went to the opening ceremonies, which are always entertaining. That was immediately followed by the Odd Austin concert. They seemed shocked that we were actually staying to watch them, but they're always entertaining. You can think of them as young Weird Al's. We had to pick up their first CD while we were there too.

During the opening ceremonies we'd let the oldest go off to a panel on her own. This was a kids game that they were going to be playing revolving around Rangers. It let her have more fun at the con, and gave hopefully gave her a sense of independence that she might not always feel. Unfortunately, there were some issues between the Rangers and the ConCom, so they had some problems playing their game over the weekend.

After the Odd Austin concert, we had planned on going home, but apparently the Rangers were getting together for a meeting during the Floatilla...so we went to that as well. This is where people build their own little boats and race them in the hotel pool.

Overall, day one was quick...but fun. More about days two and three later...

Getting set for MileHiCon

The Con starts in just a few hours, and we're getting all of our final preparations done. My first panel will be at 4. If you're going to be at the Con, be sure to say hi. If you're not, you'll be able to follow my progress on Twitter at http://twitter.com/jalanerwine.

If I have time, I'll blog about the con over the weekend, but it might be early next week before I get to it, because we're going to have a very full weekend.

Species Sourcebooks

I've now finished all six of the species sourcebooks for the Ephemeris RPG. This has been a pretty big undertaking, and I'm now glad that they're done. I'm currently working on finishing up a low level adventure that we'll play at MileHiCon. After the con, the adventure will be available to the general public.

I'm really enjoying all of this RPG work that I've been doing, but I have to admit that I'm starting to miss writing fiction. Hopefully I will be able to get back to that fairly soon.

Circus

Last night we took the girls to the circus. I have some very mixed feelings about the circus. I remember having a great time going as a kid back in Ohio, but I also know that circuses have a long history of animal abuse, although I haven't heard any "direct" accusations made against Ringling Bros. in quite a while. Still, it always makes me wonder if going to these things is a good idea.

However, kids don't understand this stuff, and they had a blast. With all the financial issues we've had over the last couple of years, we haven't been able to do as much for them as we'd like...so this made it worthwhile.

Still, given the things I was hearing from people around me, I have to wonder if seeing animals perform gives the general public the idea that that's what wild animals are here for...to perform for us...

Of all the crazy things we saw last night, perhaps the craziest happened before the show even started. Now you get to go down onto the floor and meet the clowns and some of the other performers. While we were down there, I ran into one of my old college professors...to be more precise, one of my favorite professors. He and I got a chance to talk for a few minutes, and it was pretty cool. His Abnormal Psych class has had a huge influence on my writing...

My MileHiCon schedule

No word yet on whether or not I'll be hosting a game of Ephemeris, but here's the schedule as I have it now...

Fri. 4pm 100 years since Darwin
Sat. 10 am GM 101: A Thief, a Mage, and a Paladin Walk into the Tavern
Sat. 11 am signing with David Boop and Carol Hightshoe (with the three of us, it should be entertaining)
Sun. 1pm Stories, Art Direction, & Web Design for Online Magazines

Hope you can all make it!!!

An Ephemeris Update for early October

Yesterday, the Melanathee Sourcebook for the Ephemeris RPG was released. This is the fifth of the species sourcebooks I've written for the game. Each features information like character classes and skills that are specific to each species. They're small PDF books that are available at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/store.htm. Hopefully I will have the Tulmath Sourcebook done in the next few days, and then we will have all of the species rounded out.

I think these books will give a nice little twist to the game that we just couldn't include in the initial rulebook. Even though the book is just over 400 pages, the Ephemeris universe is just too damn big to fit in those pages.

In the future, we will be releasing sourcebooks for each of the classes, and Ian Brazee-Cannon (who wrote the Critters & Pests book) is working on a Smuggler's Handbook that we will hopefully have out by the end of November.

I'm hoping that I'll be hosting a game of Ephemeris at MileHiCon in a few weeks. If I do, please feel free to drop by...we will need players, and I'll have copies of the game with me for anyone that might be interested.

H1N1 and other news

This last week has been a long and tiring one. Our oldest started running a fever and generally felt like crap. We finally got her into the doctor and they confirmed that she had influenza A, and 96% of the influenza A cases in Colorado are H1N1, so the odds are that she had the dreaded swine flu.

Now that she's feeling better, I have to admit that were I kid, I would much rather have swine flu than the more garden variety of flu, because other than a sore throat, some congestion, and a fever, she had no other symptoms. She had a little bit of nausea at times, but that's where it stopped. I remember being a kid and having the flu. I also remember having to keep a trashcan by the bed.

I realize that at some point H1N1 might mutate into a very deadly flu strain, but the reality of the situation right now is that this flu is not that bad. If you look at the stats, fewer people are dying from H1N1 than die from the regular flu. This is another case of the media blowing things out of proportion...and yes, I realize it could get bad, but people certainly don't need to be in the state of panic that they're in at the moment.

In other news, this has slowed my progress on creating Ephemeris supplements. I was hoping to have the last of the species sourcebooks done in the next couple of days, but instead, I still have two more to finish. Still, I would ask that if there are any gamers reading this blog, check out the game at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm. I really think we've created a very fun game.

I should be receiving my MileHiCon schedule any day now, and once I get that, I'll post it here as well. I'm hoping that I'll be hosting a game of Ephemeris at this year's con.

A condolence card

Yesterday we received a condolences card from the vet who has helped us with all of our sick dogs. Everyone from the office signed it. This one was for Thunder, and I assume we'll be getting one for Coco in the very near future.

Enclosed with the card was a poem on a sheet of paper with her paw prints. I found the poem very touching, so I searched it out on the internet to share with anyone who has ever lost a pet...

http://rainbowsbridge.com/Poem.htm

Anyone who is a regular to this blog knows that I'm an Atheist, so I don't believe in what the poem has to say, but it was touching, nevertheless...

Thunder and Coco

I've been wanting to post about the dogs that we've lost in the last few weeks. For those of you new to my blog, our dog Spike contracted Parvo, and we spent a lot of money to pull him through that. Shortly after that, his sister, Thunder, also contracted Parvo. Unfortunately, it hit her a lot harder, and we couldn't save her.

Then last week, our oldest's 17 year old Cocker Spaniel, Coco, had to be put down because of old age. It might have been kidney failure, or it might have been liver failure, but at his age, there was really nothing we could do for him...

This is Thunder...

This was taken on our way back from Texas when she was about three months old. She was a very smart dog. We'd bring treats over and put them up on top of something, and after she ate her treats, she'd run over to wherever we had the treats hidden and start barking.
She would have made a really good guard dog. Whenever we'd come over, she'd get down on her belly and growl at us, until she realized who we were. Then she'd start jumping all over us.
She learned sit and stay pretty well for a young girl, and she was always full of kisses for us.
She will be missed.

This is Coco...

Even though he was partially blind and partially deaf...or maybe mostly blind and mostly deaf, he was still a very sweet boy. Whenever he'd realize we were around, he'd come up to us wagging his stub. When he first met Spike and Thunder, he wasn't really happy with them, but after a couple of weeks, he was jumping around with them, and even trying to jump on us...despite the fact that he was 17 years old.
My favorite story about him was that he used to jump on the bed of our oldest after he'd been drinking, and if you've ever had a Cocker Spaniel, you know that there ears get very wet. She never liked his wet ears, so she'd push him off the bed. He, of course, would jump back on the bed with his happy expression, and with his stub wagging, like he was saying, "I know you didn't mean to do that, so here I am again..."
He will also be missed.

This is Spike...

This was just taken last week. For a four and a half month old, he's pretty big. He thinks he's a 30 pound lap dog, always trying to sit on our laps and then trying to chew on our arms and ears.
He's a really good dog, and loves to play with us, but I think he's feeling kind of lonely because all of his friends keep disappearing. We're just trying to make sure that he knows just how much he is loved.

And because the cat gets jealous if I talk too much about the dogs, here is a picture of Mosi with her Homer...

We lost another dog

On Thursday, we had to put our oldest's 17 year old Cocker Spaniel, Coco, down. He'd been in their family for four years, and he was a very sweet dog. Unfortunately, time just caught up with him. The vet thinks it was kidney or liver failure, but there really wasn't anything we could do for him at that age.

The oldest was sad, but she took it better than her mom and I did...and she definitely took it better than I did when my dog was hit by a car when I was in third grade. I missed something like three days of school because I was so upset...

I really have to wonder about people

I wonder whatever happened to common courtesy in this country. Because Rebecca's dad needed her van to go to Texas, we've been using his Blazer...which is a piece of crap. It has starter problems, the gas gauge doesn't work right, and I don't even know what else is wrong with it.

Anyway, on Thursday morning, we were taking the oldest to school. The Blazer stalled out at an intersection. For those of you familiar with Aurora, it was the intersection of Colfax and Tower...for those of you not familiar, this is a road with a speed limit of 55 and some very nutso drivers. We stalled in what would be the passing lane if people in Colorado actually observed the idea of a passing lane.

So, we sat there. Dozens of people drove by us, honking, yelling, and gesticulating. Nobody stopped. We couldn't even get the stupid car in neutral to push it off the road. Meanwhile, we're sitting in a car with people barely swerving to miss us as they try to get through green lights. How we didn't get rear-ended by someone doing 55 or more, I have no idea.

We finally got the car into neutral, and I managed to push us off the road...of course, no one stopped to help me. So we sat at the side of the road for a while, and still no one stopped. Finally, we realized we were going to have to get gas. So I walked half a mile to the gas station, bought a gas can, and lugged back a gallon of gas. While I was gone, one person actually did stop to see if my family was ok...but only one.

Eventually we got the car started, but it then died in front of our apartment. So, we have been without a car, which means that I've been taking the oldest to and from school by bus (which is expensive no matter what RTD might try to tell you.)

So, I have to ask again, whatever happened to common courtesy in this country? A family stalls out in a car, and they're more of an annoyance than someone who needs help. We often stop to help other people, but one has to wonder what's the point if no one else is willing to do this...

Because of all of this, I find myself once again way behind on work, and struggling to get caught up. It's really been a couple of crappy weeks.

Ephemeris Update

We've been hard at work on Ephemeris materials. A couple of weeks ago we released Critters & Pests by Ian Brazee-Cannon. This is a look at some of the creatures that make space travel a challenge...to say the least.

Yesterday we released the first of the Species Sourcebooks. These will be guides that give more info about each of the species. The first one released was the Althani Sourcebook (by me), which features info on two new sub-classes, two alternative species forms, some new equipment specially designed for the Althani, and a martial art that can only be used by the Althani.

All of these are available as PDF files at the Ephemeris website at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/store.htm.

And all of the Ephemeris products are available as PDF files from DriveThru RPG at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2805

Puppy update

It looks like Spike has made a full recovery. He's back to his usual puppy self, jumping on everyone and trying to love on everyone as much as he can. He's already put three pounds back on, and we were able to return him home yesterday. Before we did that, however, we spent five hours spraying everything in the back yard with a bleach solution...hoping to kill any of the Parvo virus that might still be there.

Unfortunately, it's not all good news...Spike's sister Thunder also contracted it, and it hit her a lot harder and faster. When we picked her up, I held her the entire way to the vet, and she just stared up at me, struggling to breathe. When we got her to the vet, she was running a fever and had a pulse of 200. The vet was also pretty sure that she was septic. We had no choice but to put her down. It was my first experience with this, and it has been a rough few days in our household.

We're certainly happy that Spike made it...but we really wish he still had Thunder to play with...........

A crappy day

When we went to get our daughters back from Texas this summer we brought back a puppy for them. His name is Spike. He's a lab mix who's very smart and one of the sweetest dogs I've met.

Lately he hasn't been feeling good, so we took him to the vet today. Turns out he has Parvo. We checked him into the hospital to get the best treatment they can give him. They're saying he has a 50/50 chance, but we're going to do everything we can for him...even if we can't really afford it. He's part of the family, so we have to.

Crazy busy

It's been a while since I've posted because I've been crazy busy. The e-book versions of the Ephemeris RPG have really started to take off. We've got quite a demand for new material, so I've been trying to write stuff as fast as I can. In the next couple of days we'll even be releasing our first supplement from someone outside of the design team. For info about the e-titles, please visit DriveThru RPG at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2805. We even have an introductory bundle posted which contains e-versions of the initial rulebook, a 1st level adventure, 54 1st level characters, and the Book of Tables. All for just $10. We wanted to price it low because anyone who games knows what it's like to drop $30 or $40 on a supplement, only to get it home and realize it's worthless, and if people decide they don't like our game, we don't want them to feel like they've been ripped off. And of course the best reason is that we really want people to try the game out, and at $10, you really can't go wrong.

In other news, I've been busy building furniture for the girls room (not from scratch), and my future Best Man was also in town, so I've been away from the computer quite a bit. In fact, yesterday was one of those rare days when I didn't even check my e-mail.

Both of the kids are under the weather, and crabby as hell...and I can now feel the creeping cruds creeping up on me...

Got Game?

The Ephemeris RPG is now out and should be available wherever you buy books or games. If your local book, game, or comic store is not carrying the game, you can request it with the following ISBN: 978-0-9801703-1-3.

For more information about the game, or to order it (or Ephemeris merchandise) on-line, please use these links...

The Ephemeris webpage:
http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm

The Amazon page:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0980170311

The Nomadic Delirium Press page at DriveThru RPG, where you can buy e-book versions of the rulebook and the first adventure:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/index.php?filters=0_0_0_0&manufacturers_id=2805

The Ephemeris merchandise page:
http://www.cafepress.com/ephemeris

Weekend Update

Friday was the big Twitter release party for the Ephemeris RPG...12 hours of tweeting is enough to drive just about anyone batty...myself included. We had a decent crowd in the morning, and then things thinned out later in the day. Overall, I'm hoping it was a success.

Even though the game is now out, we still haven't seen any copies. The printer has had some problems with the cover, but hopefully we'll be seeing them this week. I'm also hopeful that we'll have the Amazon link at that time as well, and I'll post that here as soon as I have it.

In other news, we're now 10 days away from the oldest starting 3rd grade. I think it will be good to get her back in school because she and the youngest are spending way too much time together, and any of you who have kids know what that means.

For those of you who have followed this blog for a long time, you know I'm a HUGE cycling fan, and of course today was the end of the Tour de France, and although they predicted it was going to be a hugely competitive race, it wasn't anything like I think the fans were hoping for. Maybe next year with two of the Contador and Armstrong on different teams we'll see a little more competition.

Watching cycling is kind of bittersweet for me anymore. Every time I see something interesting, I immediately want to e-mail my friend Joe to talk to him about it...then I remember that Joe passed away due to cancer a couple of years ago...

Now, I must get back to creating more material for Ephemeris...yes, even though the game is done, it's only one rulebook. We still have a lot of stuff to create...and maybe I'll even find some time for some fiction now.

If any of you are interested in ordering a copy of the game, please go to http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm.

I'm back

We got back from Texas a few days ago, and I'm just now getting caught up to a point where I can blog again. Texas was about what I expected...flat, desolate, and hot. We were about an hour west of Fort Worth, and there doesn't seem to be much there, and the day we got there the high hit 105. I was more than ready to leave at that point.

We brought two puppies back with us. One for our girls and one for their cousin. They're lab mixes, and they're both very cute. Our girls named theirs Spike Joe, and at 9 weeks he was already 15 pounds...so he's going to be a very big boy. Spike Joe is currently staying with the girls' grandpa and uncle because we simply don't have room in our apartment.

The Ephemeris release is going to be Friday July 24th, and we will be celebrating the release all day on Twitter (10-10 EDT). If you're interested in keeping track, you just need to follow @jalanerwine or #Ephemeris. We'll be talking about the game, answering questions about the game, and even giving away a couple of copies. If you want to take advantage of the pre-sale price, you're almost out of time. Go to http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm, and order your copy before the price goes up!!!

I'm looking forward to the release...after it's over with, I can start focusing on fiction again...unless the game's a huge hit...then I'll have to write more material for it, but I won't mind that one bit!

The Ephemeris Cover

I just got the final version of the cover for the Ephemeris RPG, and here it is...



Hopefully that will catch some eyes!

We're leaving in Texas in a few hours to pick up the kids. Hopefully I will be back by the end of the weekend. I doubt that there's Internet access there, but I will try to Twitter by phone when I can. Just follow @jalanerwine if you want to keep track of how miserable I am in the Texas heat...

Happy 4th

Raining like crazy here right now, so I'm sure a lot of plans have been washed out. I didn't really have any plans, so no big deal for me personally. Rebecca is working tonight and the girls are still in Texas, so I was just going to sit on the balcony and watch fireworks if there were any I could see...but that was just an excuse to not work, so I'll probably work instead.

On Wednesday, we head to Texas to pick the young 'uns up, and then we should be back on Saturday.

On the marriage front, it looks like we probably have a restaurant to have our reception at. They've never done anything like this before, but the manager seemed receptive, and said they'd do it...but I still have some nagging doubts about whether or not it will really come to fruition.

On the professional front, I'll be hanging out on Twitter on Monday July 6th from 7 pm EDT - 8 pm EDT to talk about Ephemeris. I hope some of you will be able to join me for the conversation.

Other than that, things are status quo on the homefront. I may try to post again before we leave for Texas, but if not, you'll hear from me in a little over a week.

Wondrous Web Worlds. Vol. 8

The latest edition of Wondrous Web Worlds has been released by Sam's Dot publishing. For those of you unfamiliar with this anthology, it features the best poems and short stories from several of Sam's Dot's on-line zines. Each issue is voted on by the fans, and the winners are placed in the anthology.

This anthology started out way back in the days of ProMart Publishing, and has been continued by Sam's Dot...with me as the editor every year.

So you can pick up a copy at The Genre Mall.

Not posting as much as I should

There hasn't been much to report, so I haven't been posting much. We're almost ready to release the Ephemeris RPG. The goal is still July 24th, and once we get the final artwork for the aliens, I'll be able to confirm that.

The hush hush project at Flying Pen Press is still rolling along. Hopefully we'll be able to make some more definite announcements about that in the next month or two.

Next week Sam's Dot Publishing will be releasing Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8...once again edited by me. The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and I can't wait to see the book.

That's about it for now...

Iran

As most of you probably know there was an election in Iran recently. All indicators were that it was going to be a close election, and yet the incumbent won in a landslide. Not only that, but hand written ballots were counted about as fast as the US can count their electronic ballots. I think anyone that looks at these facts can clearly see that the election was a fraud...and certainly some of the people that have seen that have been the Iranian people.

The Iranian regime claims that there are no protests in Tehran, and yet pictures that are coming out of the Iranian capital clearly shows tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people protesting. Meanwhile, the government cracks down on the protesters and people are killed.

Meanwhile, here in the US, the revolution is not being covered by the media like I'd expected it would. It seems to get a mention on the news, but the true story is not being told...and I have to wonder why.

It would seem that if you really want the truth about what's going on, you have to go to YouTube and Twitter. People caught up in the revolution are posting regularly, knowing that they will face sever repercussions if they're caught.

Here's a sample...



Let's hope that the Obama administration, and other governments throughout the world refuse to recognize the Iranian regime. For years, those of us in the United States have been wanting a regime change, but anyone with any intelligence knew that the change would have to come from within...and here it is!

And as for all the ignorant Americans who thought we should just nuke Iran because of the government's views, try to remember in the future that a government does not necessarily represent the views of the actual citizens. The people of Iran want change, and we should let them have it...

A Tuesday Update

We had our big meeting at Flying Pen Press to discuss the project we're working on. Everything is hush hush at the moment, but hopefully we'll be able to divulge the details in the next month or two.

Speaking of Flying Pen, tomorrow marks the release of Riders of the Mapinguari. David Rozansky, the publisher, will be hosting a release party on Twitter...so if you're on Twitter, simply follow #FeralWorld tomorrow. There will even be chances to win some copies.

I'm continuing to work on the finishing touches of Ephemeris. Hopefully we'll have some artwork soon, and then it will be time to send it off to the publisher.

I'm not really sure why I'm feeling so tired, but I feel like I haven't slept in days...

Keeping busy

Seems like this last week just flew by...

We had Rebecca's birthday, and the two of us have been doing a lot of wedding planning. Yes, it's still 11 months away, but we want to get as much planned as we possibly can. My dad and brother were also in town over the weekend, so we met them for lunch one day. It was her first chance to meet anyone from my family, and she still wants to marry me...so I guess things went well.

I'm still working on the finishing touches for the Ephemeris RPG, and we're still running the pre-sale. What? You haven't picked up your copy yet? Well, you still have time, so go to http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm.

Over at Flying Pen Press, we're having a meeting this week to work out more of the details on the hush hush project we have going...and it should be a lot of fun once we get it going. This week we'll also be releasing Riders of the Mapinguari by Gaddy Bergmann. We're having a sale for 20% off up until the release date, which is June 17th...so if you'd like to pick up a copy of that, head over to http://flyingpenpress.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=34.

That should pretty much get you caught up on what's going on in my life. I'll try to post more as things start to come together...

On Twitter the next couple of nights

Tonight and tomorrow night (June 6th and 7th), I will be hanging out on Twitter from 7:00 EDT until 8:00 EDT to answer questions about the Ephemeris RPG...or whatever else you might want to ask.

If you want to be part of the conversation, just be sure to follow @jalanerwine.

While you're waiting, pre-order your copy of the rules at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm. It will normally list for $19.95, but you can pre-order your copy for just $14.95.

The pre-sale has begun

The pre-sale for the Ephemeris RPG has now officially begun. The first rulebook will be released in late July. When it is released, it will be a 6X9 trade paperback with more than 400 pages of information! Upon release, the list price for the book will be $19.95 + S&H...but during the pre-sale, you can order the book before it's released for only $14.95 + S&H.

So what are you waiting for? Go to http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm and order your copy today.

The cover shown here is just a mock-up of what the final cover could look like...but we needed something...

Catching up

I took a couple of days off so Rebecca and I could spend some time together, and now I'm playing a desperate game of catch-up.

During those days, we took a lot of walks, and while passing a stream, I caught a picture of this guy...



Since he's in shadow, it's kind of hard to see, but this little guy had more red in his fur than I've ever seen in a raccoon.

Now that I've been back to work over the last couple of days, I've updated The Genre Mall and the Sam's Dot website.

I'm not expecting things to ease up any time soon as tomorrow marks the official start of the Ephemeris pre-release sale...so there will be a lot of promoting to do throughout the day. Tomorrow I'll have the actual link to the pre-sale site, and I'll post it here so those of you interested in ordering a copy at a discount can do so.

A day of nothing

In all the time Rebecca and I have been together, we've never had a day where we didn't have something (or several somethings) to do. Tomorrow will be the first time that we are completely free...so we are going to relax.

If we get up early enough in the morning, we'll probably take a walk...probably to the little river that runs through the field behind us. After that, we're going to come home and watch all three Lord of the Rings movies (the Director's Cuts)...only taking breaks to call the kids and order take out.

I don't know if either of us will be able to handle not having anything to do...but we are certainly going to try!

Featured Anthology at Anthology Builder

The featured anthology at Anthology Builder contains one of my stories, "The Twin Sorceresses." This is my one, and so far only, story that would be categorized as a children's story. Yes, I know it's kind of scary that I might actually be writing stuff that could influence children, but there it is...

If you're interested in the anthology, which looks like it has some other great stuff in it, you can find it at http://www.anthologybuilder.com/view_template.php?template_id=381.

Tranquility in Tales of the Talisman

My short story "Tranquility" is in the current issue of Tales of the Talisman. A much older version of this story was the first story I wrote after making the "decision" to become a science fiction writer. This story has some of the same elements as that original, but I made a lot of changes to it...which it desperately needed. Gone are the three pages of exposition at the very beginning of the story that explain the war...like I implied, I was a rookie.

The basic premise of the story is that there's a disgruntled main character who is in the military, serving on the moon. When war breaks out on Earth, he helps to put an end to it...but at what cost to his psyche?

If you're interested in reading the story, you can order a copy from The Genre Mall at http://www.genremall.com/zinesr.htm#talisman.

A very productive couple of days

I've been keeping myself very busy over the last couple of days, and as a result, I've gotten a lot done, including finishing up two major projects.

I finished re-working the main Flying Pen Press page. You can check that out at http://www.flyingpenpress.com.

Even more impressive, I finished the final revisions on the Ephemeris RPG. There's still formatting to do, and a lot of other work to be done, but it looks like we should be able to start the pre-sale during the first week of June.

On a more personal note, I found out yesterday that my dad will be coming out for a KMGH reunion, so this will be Rebecca's first chance to meet someone in my family. For the most part, I think she's excited, but since I told her that I get a lot of my weirdness from him...I think she's a little worried.

We also think we may have found the site for our wedding next year...but it's in a public park, so we'll have to look into the rules for that. It's kind of interesting because I had mentioned the place a few times, and she never seemed to enthused. But on Friday we were over by there, and I told her how I envisioned the wedding happening...now she loves the idea.

Memorial Day Weekend update

Things have been crazy around the homestead. Yesterday was the last day of second grade for our oldest, and now both kids have gone to Texas to visit Grandma...and they won't be back until July. Things are sadly quiet around here.

The revisions on Ephemeris are coming along. With a little luck, I will actually have the final revisions done over this long weekend.

Over at Flying Pen we're talking about something that I think will be a great idea...but I can't really say anything about it right now...but we're putting together a team that might be creating some very fun stuff.

Feeling extremely sleep deprived at the moment, but hopefully I'll catch up on sleep soon.

In the meantime, enjoy a picture of one of our newest neighbors...

Nobody's Home to Aoife's Kiss

My short short "Nobody's Home" has been picked up for the March 2010 issue of Aoife's Kiss. It's kind of hard to believe, but this is the last science fiction short story that I have circulating. Most of the last few years have been taken up with novel writing and game creation, so I've run out of short stories.

There are still a few in my collection, but they're so bad, they never deserve to see the light of day again...

I said I wasn't going to do it...

...but I did it anyway. I've now joined the masses at Twitter. If you're interested in following me there, feel free to drop by https://twitter.com/jalanerwine.

Keeping the family on their toes

For those of you who actually know me, you're probably well aware that I'm basically a disaster in the kitchen, but this is more because I just don't really care about cooking...as opposed to actually being incompetent.

Apparently my family seems to think that I don't know my way around the kitchen. I told the kids that we were going to make breakfast in bed for Rebecca, so when I got up, the oldest had a bowl and a box of cereal out. Both of them were quite surprised that I planned on actually cooking breakfast...and Rebecca was equally surprised when we brought it in for her.

Later in the day I made a traditional Chickasaw fry bread. It was the first time I'd ever made anything like this, and I'm pretty sure it was the first time that I've every actually made something from scratch. Even to my surprise, it turned out really good. The girls seemed to like it at first, but I think they changed their minds the more they ate it...but I liked it, and that's what matters.

I do so like to keep people on their toes.

A Spring Walk

The oldest and I took a walk yesterday, exploring some of the "wild" around us that we hadn't seen before. On Thursday, we noticed that the prairie dog babies were starting to come out of their holes...so, the first shot I got was of one of them on its hole. He's kind of hard to see, but he's the off-colored spot on the fresher looking hole...



Normally, this field is very brown and sparse, but since we've gotten a few inches of rain in the last month, the field has really greened up. So, I had to get a shot of it...



Having prairie dogs around is a pretty cool thing, and I've been reading up on them, trying to understand why they do the things they do, and I've found that they have a complicated society, and actually seem to be fairly bright. Not only that, but they aren't the nuisance that most people claim they are...in fact, they're an important part of the ecosystem in this part of the country. There are hundreds of these guys in the field, and with the green, they stand out a lot more. So if you look at the other side of the river in this shot, all the little brown splotches are prairie dogs...



The most surprising part of the walk was when we came upon this young lady. I had no idea we had these so close to our place. This picture was actually taken within half a mile of our door...

For Goodreads followers

I'm now cross posting this blog on my Goodreads site, so now you can read my entries here, or over there...your choice.

If there's anything specific that you'd like for me to talk about, please let me know...

The first revisions are done!

I've just typed out the last of what are the first revisions on Ephemeris. The revised rules are almost 15% longer with quite a bit more detail. There's still a lot of work, as we still need to add more things for the characters to play with, but this is a significant step.

I feel like I've been working on this beast for years, and I actually have been, and it will be nice once we finally release the game. As of right now, we're shooting for an Aug. 1st release, but if all goes well (which it rarely does), we might be able to push that release up a little!

Stay tuned for more information as I have it.

An update for the end of April

I've been very busy of late. I've had a case of the creeping cruds (no, it's not the swine flu...people really need to relax on that subject.)

We're nearing the end of the school year for the oldest, so she's had all kinds of events. I've also been putting a lot of effort into the revisions of Ephemeris, and I'm almost done with those. I've also been working on a bit of a redesign of the Flying Pen Press website...hope to debut that eventually.

We've also been working on trying to get all of our financial issues worked out. We were supposed to be getting married in a few weeks, but Rebecca's tax return was intercepted because of unpaid student loans, and now her wages are being garnished. Add to that me losing my "real" job, and things have been a struggle, and we've had to postpone the wedding until next May. By then hopefully the economy, and our personal finances will have improved.

In the next couple of days I will hopefully be posting an entry about finishing the first revisions on Ephemeris. At this point, we're hoping for a release date right around Aug. 1st, but there may be a pre-sale event even before that...so for those of you who have impatiently been awaiting the release of the game...it may actually be coming!!!

Ken Rand

Back when I first started out this crazy endeavor of writing, I was published in several ProMart magazines. Around the same time, there was a guy named Ken Rand who was also being published alongside me. When I became an editor for ProMart, I had the pleasure of publishing Ken several times...often joking with him that his stuff was too good for what I was editing...and in some ways that was true.

Over the last few years, we've exchanged an occasional e-mail, posted on each other's LiveJournal from time to time...but overall we didn't keep in touch like we should.

I've just learned that Ken passed away yesterday. He'd been sick for a long time, and he often talked about the fact that he was outliving any of his own expectations for his health, but I guess his illness finally became too much for him. All I know is that I wished I would have kept in touch with him more than I did.

You'll be missed Ken. You were a great writing talent, but more importantly, you were a great guy...

Great experience during revisions

Normally, revising my work is something that I really hate doing. Last night, I had one of those great experiences while working on the revisions of Ephemeris. It was after sunset, and I was sitting in our living room with the sliding glass door open. Yes, true, we did just get almost a foot of snow just a few days ago, but that doesn't mean it can't be really warm a few nights later. During that storm, this area got a lot of moisture (we saw a lot of rain and snow), so the river that runs through the field close to our house is running high and running fast. Needless to say, it was quiet enough last night that I could hear that river running while I was working on the revisions.

There's just something about the sound of running water that seems to drive the creative juices. I've heard this from a lot of writers, and I know it's true for me. So, I sat for a solid three hours and just cranked out notes for revising the game. It was one of the best revision sessions I've ever had.

Sadly, with the dry heat we're now getting, the water levels are starting to drop in the river, so I might not get to repeat that experience for a while...at least not until we start getting our Summer deluges.

The initial draft of Ephemeris is done

I've just typed the last of the 80,000+ words that is the initial draft of the Ephemeris RPG. This has taken forever and a day to get to this point, but as of late, I've been getting a lot done on it. Unfortunately, my partner in this has dropped the ball a bit, and I've had a lot more work to do than I expected...but it's done...it's done...it's done!!!

There's still a lot of work ahead of us. I have to go back through and put in all kinds of table. I have to work on the language to make it smoother. And I have to make some changes to the early part of the game because some of the rules changed half way through. Things just made more sense the farther into them that I got.

It shouldn't take anywhere near as long to revise the rules as it did to create them, so we're still hoping for a late Summer release. It would be so nice to finally have this beast out of the way...but it's been a lot of fun creating the game.

Now...I think I'll sleep. This last little push has left me with some severe insomnia...

An Ephemeris update

The RPG I've been designing, Ephemeris, is now very late in delivery. However, there is definite progress that is being made. Most of the initial draft of the rules has been written. My co-designer is supposed to be sending me the final chapter that I need very soon. At least, I hope he will be. If he doesn't, then I need to write that section. After that it will be some tweaking of the rules, and a whole lot of re-writing...but we are making progress.

I'm hoping for a release in late summer or early fall.

Price on my Kindle books reduced

If you're lucky enough to have a Kindle, you can now get two of my books for just 99 cents!

The Opium of the People and Seedlings on the Solar Winds are both available from Amazon for a new low price. Here are the links...

The Opium of the People

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

Why are you here?

Since joining NetworkedBlogs, I now have nearly 100 followers...and I know there were several of you here before I joined. I would imagine that quite a few of the people who are "followers" actually just excepted the Facebook invitation because that's what a lot of people do. But for those of you who actually do follow this blog now...or who have followed for quite a while, I'm curious as to what makes you read this particular blog? What do you like to hear me talk about?

This is your chance to give me some feedback...

Thanks...

Forgive Men Their Trespasses at Afterburn SF

My story, Forgive Men their Trespasses, is the featured story at Afterburn SF this week.



This story is set in the same "universe" as my novel The Opium of the People, although this one takes place in the Denver metro area. Those of you familiar with Denver might recognize a few of the places.

Hope you enjoy the story...

The Blizzard

As Colorado blizzards go, this one wasn't much of anything. We did have sustained winds of about 40 mph, and we did get about a foot of snow in this area, but anyone familiar with Colorado in March knows that that's not all that impressive.

Still, I did promise some pictures to a few people, so here they are.

During the storm (a little dark because of the blowing snow):


The morning after:




No matter how much snow, the kids always have fun:

Filed By

Anyone who reads this blog knows that I'm always trying to find a new way to promote my work. Today, I found Filed By...and I signed up, so please feel free to check out my page. It's currently a work in progress...

The end of BSG

Last night was the final episode of Battlestar Galactica, and my thoughts on the final episode are about the same as my thoughts on the series as a whole. It had some great moments, and it showed a lot of potential, but ultimately it fell flat.

The whole series had a little too much "God" or "Gods" in it for my taste. I don't necessarily mind science fiction with a bit of a religion in it...as long as it's a good story. Watching last nights episode, however, left me greatly disappointed. In a lot of ways, I felt that the writers fell back on the old Deus Ex Machina, which seems to be something you can get away with on TV...but NEVER in print fiction. In the end, everything happened because that was how God wanted it to happen...what a lame rip off! And Starbuck? She was an angel? What does that say about this Cylon God, considering that Starbuck fracked half the guys in the fleet?

Overall, I would give the series and the final episode a C+. It had moments of greatness, but it fell back on literary cliches far too often. I imagine the writers thought they were being clever by having the Galactica end up at prehistoric Earth...but guess what guys? It's been done before...and Douglas Adams did it better!

I guess the good thing is that I now have an extra hour to work on Friday nights...

Flying Pen Press

I've just been named Senior Editor at Flying Pen Press. I will be taking over many of the editorial duties in an effort to free up the publisher to focus more on the things that a publisher should be focusing on.

Flying Pen already has several great titles out, and you owe it to yourself to check them out.

A busy week at The Genre Mall

In a good month, I'll add about 15 new titles to The Genre Mall. In the last three days, I've completely blown through those numbers. On Monday, I uploaded 13 new titles, and today I uploaded another 10 new titles. Those numbers are unprecedented.

It was a pretty wide variety of titles, and I've also added a new publisher...Flying Pen Press. Please feel free to check out all of the listings at http://www.genremall.com/new.htm.

The Syfy channel

By now, I'm sure most of you have heard that the SciFi Channel is planning on changing its name to the Syfy Channel. If you weren't already aware, I'll wait while you go read the article...

http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/03/sci_fi_channel_aims_to_shed_ge.php

Is it just me, or were you insulted as well? I was particularly annoyed by:

“The name Sci Fi has been associated with geeks and dysfunctional, antisocial boys in their basements with video games and stuff like that, as opposed to the general public and the female audience in particular,” said TV historian Tim Brooks, who helped launch Sci Fi Channel when he worked at USA Network.

I personally embrace the term geek and nerd. I happen to be proud of those names, and let's face it, there are a lot of very successful people out there that are geeks and nerds...Bill Gates ring a bell?

When I first heard about this, I was thinking it was time for those of us that are geeks and nerds to band together and boycott the Syfy Channel...then I realized that they don't really show anything worth watching anyway...

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8

Last night I finally finished the editing of Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8, and I e-mailed it off to Tyree at Sam's Dot Publishing. I've already seen a mock up of the cover, which was done by Laura Givens, and it looks like it will be a very nice looking book. Once it's actually released, I will post a table of contents and an ordering link...of course.

I have two more days at the real job, and then it will be time to file for unemployment. I'm going to be sitting down with someone (can't say much yet) on Tuesday to talk about a job. It wouldn't be a job that would pay really well (yet), but it's a job with a lot of potential...and it's something I would REALLY enjoy doing. So, we shall see what comes of that.

A day at the ER

Yesterday was a fun day spent at the ER. Rebecca called me at work at 10:30 saying she was in intense pain and thought she needed to go to the hospital. I left work and quickly came home. She was having intense pain (she said it was worse than labor) in her back and abdomen.

So, we ended up going to the hospital. Seven hours later, we got the diagnosis we were expecting...kidney stones. She's not the type that does anything easy, however. She has them on both sides, and one of them is larger than normal...so it might not pass. I took today off from work to make sure the oldest got to school, and to keep an eye on the youngest, while I keep Rebecca doped up on pain killers.

Seven hours seems a bit ridiculous for a Monday afternoon at the ER. I know they have a triage system set up, but I don't think it works. There were a lot of people that got in before us who didn't even look like they were in pain...whereas she doubled up several times while we were waiting. If she'd had a severe kidney infection, those extra hours of waiting might have made a big difference in the final outcome.

After she was discharged, we went to get her prescriptions filled...that was the next part of the ridiculous day. Her anti-nausea prescription was $110 for 15 pills...and that was with insurance!!! Something tells me socialized medicine might not necessarily be a bad thing. The funniest thing about it was that her highly addictive narcotic pain killer was only $5. Yeah, the American health care system really works. I hate to imagine how much all of this would have cost us if it had been me...I don't have insurance. Even with her insurance, I'm sure this is going to set us back quite a bit.

The one sad part of the night was while she was in her room waiting, I saw the police bring a girl in who was probably 13 or 14. She was cuffed, and because they didn't have any empty beds, they were questioning her and giving her a breathalyzer in the hallway. I think she'd attempted suicide. In the two plus hours we were in the room, I never saw her parents show up...that's the biggest tragedy of all...

Weekend update

Things have been hectic around here, so that's the main reason for the lack of posting of late. We had the in-laws staying with us for a couple of weeks, so that kept us busy with a lot of different things. Since they left, the kids seem to have forgotten how to behave, so that's made life interesting.

This coming week was supposed to have been my final week at my "real" job, but it looks like we're going to stay open for at least one more week. I've been able to pick up some extra hours, and as a result, I should now qualify for unemployment if I don't find a job...which I don't think I will right away. I've never liked the idea of government aid of any kind, and I've never had to take any kind of aid in the past, but times are changing for all of us, and stimulus or not, the economy pretty much sucks right now.

In the writing corner, I've had a small press publisher pass on Red Moon Rising, but they gave me some very specific things that didn't work for them, and offered to re-read it if I can make the changes. Given my crazy schedule, it will probably be a few months before I can get back to work on the book.

My main writing project right now is still Ephemeris. I'm making progress on the game, but it's very slow progress. For editing, I'm pretty sure we've read all of the submissions for Infradead, and we will soon be finishing that up. I feel very bad about that project because I haven't had enough time to devote to it like I would have liked. As a result, our co-editor, Scott Virtes has had to pick up a lot of the slack...and I feel very bad about that. I'm also working on Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 8, and I will hopefully be sending that off to Tyree at Sam's Dot in the next couple of weeks.

That's about it for now. I'll try to post more often as time allows it...but now I must feed the kids, and continue to try to find a "real" job.

Recognized in public

A few weeks ago, my oldest took a copy of Seedlings on the Solar Winds in for show and tell for her 2nd grade class...a lot of the kids were very excited about it.

Then last week, Rebecca and I were shopping for birthday gifts for the youngest when I suddenly heard a voice from below saying "You're the guy who writes books!" It was one of the oldest's classmates, and he was very excited. You would have thought he'd met whoever it is that little boys think is cool these days.

Authors are rarely recognized in public, so this was pretty cool for my first time...

And of course the Hugos

Hugo balloting has also opened. If you attended Denvention or if you're already registered for Anticipation, you are eligible to vote. Simply go to...http://www.anticipationsf.ca.

If you're eligible, then you should certainly take advantage of it and vote. I wish I could attend Anticipation this year, but with the wedding and everything, we simply can't afford a trip to Montreal this year.

The Locus Poll

Locus Magazine has started their annual readers poll (although you don't have to be a subscriber to vote. This is a great way to vote for some of your favorite titles from last year, and it's also a good way to show support for Locus (one of the best resources in the speculative fiction field.) If you're interested in voting, simply go to https://secure.locusmag.com/2009/2009PollAndSurvey.html. The poll has drop-down menus for the items they consider worthy of voting for, but you can write-in a title or editor as well.

Should you be interested in voting for me, you can consider the following:
Short Stories: The Magenta Equations from Allegory E-Zine and Hunted from Tales of the Talisman. You can also consider me for editor...although I don't expect to beat out any of the people on the list...I am a realist as well.

Some other people and titles to consider:
Editors & Writers:
Tyree Campbell
David Lee Summers

Artist:
Laura Givens

Zines:
Aoife's Kiss
Tales of the Talisman
The Fifth Di...
The Martian Wave

Publishers:
Nomadic Delirium Press
Sam's Dot Publishing

Aliens

As many of you probably know by now, I'm helping to create a new science fiction role playing game. One thing that should be different about this game as opposed to others is that, for the most part, we are trying to use plausible science in the creation of the game. Granted, we are using hyperspace, but who wants to play a game where relativity has to be taken into account? In other ways, we're trying to make it believable. Think more along the lines of Babylon 5 as opposed to Star Wars.

Most of the "encounters" that characters are going to have will be with the major species of the game, but we'd still like to include some "monsters" in this thing. With that in mind, we're wondering about vacuum based lifeforms. What do you think they would need to survive, and how would they have evolved?

Obviously, they need to be able to "breathe" in some completely new way, they need to be able to function in vacuum, they need to be able to survive the extreme temperature fluctuations, they obviously can't have blood like we have...

...what else do you think we need to take into account when we create these critters?

Regime Change

Here in the US today we had our peaceful transition of power. Out with the old (and it's about time), and in with the new. Anyone who has read my more political postings on this blog has to know that I was never a big Bush supporter. My personal feeling is that he was the worst thing to happen to this country in my lifetime...and maybe ever. So, seeing him get on that helicopter today really felt good.

I'm glad to see Obama in office. I think he will make a much better president (but then so would my cat), but I don't hold the overwhelming optimism of so many Americans. First off, he's a politician, and it's very difficult to trust politicians in this day and age. Secondly, he's shown several times that he's willing to compromise what he says are his beliefs in order to gain favor (like most politicians.) Still, I don't think he will do anywhere near as much harm as Dubya did.

I watched his speech, and I thought he had some good things to say, but like most speeches, it was filled with ideas but no real plans. We'll have to see how he plans to make those ideas a reality in the coming months. I was very put off by the amount of times god and religion were mentioned...although it was nice to hear him say non-believers. Not sure if I've ever heard a president comment on what is a growing percentage of the population...and it was also nice to hear him say that he wants to put more emphasis back on science...something that has suffered horribly under the Bush regime. It was also nice to hear an American president that can actually use the English language. I haven't yet heard Obama say nuclear, but I'm willing to bet that he will get the pronunciation right.

The best part of this day was the fact that there is now a non-white male running this country. We're way behind many other countries, but that at least gives me hope. I can now point out to my kids that, like them, he's mixed, and even they could be president...although we still have to elect a woman.

I will say that I am cautiously optimistic about the future of this country under Obama's leadership, but I think his supporters are setting him up to fail. There is no way in the American political system that he can bring about all of the Change that he is talking about...but he will do better than Bush.

Goodbye George! I won't miss you even in the slightest.

And Good Luck Barack!

My site

I've been able to get my domain name back, so jalanerwine.com is back up.

The date

In my year in review blog I mentioned that one of the biggest things I'd be doing this year is planning our wedding. Turns out it won't be as much work as I'd thought. After looking over our finances and realizing just how expensive a wedding and honeymoon would be, we quickly became aware that we had limited options.

Our original plan was to get married this May, but we wouldn't be able to afford the wedding...so we were going to postpone it to August. By doing that, we'd be able to afford the wedding, but not the honeymoon. So, we were faced with the option of pushing the wedding back to May of 2010. At that point, we both realized that it was more important that we get married...ceremony or not.

So, we will be having a courthouse wedding on May 21st of this year. After that, we will be honeymooning in Taos. This is also easier on us because we were already planning on having the kids spend part of their summer with their grandma.

For our first anniversary, we're thinking about having a second ceremony, which would be more like a traditional wedding...including all of the guests...

Preditors & Editors

This is an annual poll that has had some major problems in the past. It looks like they might have everything going right this year, so if you're interested in voting for me, I've been nominated in the following categories:

Author
Science Fiction Short Story: The Magenta Equations
Zine Editor

Also, please feel free to vote for any Sam's Dot Publishing or Nomadic Delirium Press listings that you might see...

And The Genre Mall is up for bookstore...

http://critters.org/predpoll

Lost domain

Apparently my domain name expired, and nobody bothered to tell me it was going to...so I've lost my website.

I'm working on rectifying the situation, but it might take a while...