There's something waiting for me in my dreams

When doctors put people on medications that manipulate the neurotransmitter levels, they don't really tell you about the side-effects...or at least my doctor didn't.  And he certainly didn't let me in on what I'd go through after I was off of the medication.
I've been off of the meds for almost a week and now I'm suffering from some extremely severe insomnia.  Even worse than the insomnia is when I do sleep.  I have horrible dreams and nightmares about the death of loved ones, and other equally horrible things.  Needless to say, this leaves me quite exhausted by morning, and that along with the withdrawal symptoms leaves me feeling very unlike myself.  Luckily, I know that it's the meds doing this, so I'm not suffering the depression that this could easily cause, but I'm certainly not feeling like myself.
Not to worry anyone though, I'm not planning on doing anything stupid...just waiting impatiently to be myself again...

I'm leaving Sam's Dot

After a great deal of "soul" searching, I've decided to leave Sam's Dot.  I was recently promoted at my "real" job, and that has cut into my family time, and pretty much eliminated my writing time, which was down to almost nothing already.  So after a lot of thought, I've decided to say good bye to SDP.
It wasn't an easy decision, as I've spent more than a decade editing for them and for their predecessor ProMart Writing Lab, but I think it was the right decision.  I need more time to write, and I certainly can't take more time away from my family...so there it is.
I won't be leaving editing completely behind.  I will still be doing editing for Nomadic Delirium Press.  In fact, The Fifth Di... and The Martian Wave, which I've been editing since the ProMart days will be coming along with me to NDP.  The Fifth Di... will probably be converted into an inexpensive downloadable e-zine, and The Martian Wave will continue on as a print zine, although I would imagine that I'll have to run a Kickstarter just to get it off the ground.
So, it's an end and a new beginning all in one.  Most importantly, I think it's what will make me truly happy, and ultimately, that's what's important.

A 12th birthday

Yesterday was our oldest's 12th birthday.  It's hard to believe that she's almost a teenager...although her attitude certainly has its teen moments...
When I first came into her life, she was a little first grader, and now she's in middle school, having crushes on boys, and doing the crazy things that 12 year old girls do.  Although she frustrates the hell out of me at times, I'd have to say that for the most part, I'm very proud of the young woman that she's growing into.  I think that if she continues to make good decisions in her life, she could be just about anything that she wants to be...if we can only motivate her.
Happy birthday, Eryn!

The Battle for Turtle Island is here

The new game is here.
Imagine it's the 19th century, and the colonization/conquest of the Americas is underway yet again, only this time magic is real, and the Indians have a lot more of it than the colonists. This is the world of The Battle for Turtle Island: Buffalo Wars.
The colonists may have the better weapons, but the Indians nearly double the magic of the colonists. Maybe this time the history of the Americas will be very, very different. The Battle for Turtle Island: Buffalo Wars is actually two books in one. It has the core rules for The Battle for Turtle Island RPG, which will be a series of books featuring the different parts of the Americas, and it also has the Buffalo Wars supplement which looks at the battles for the plains.
You can choose to be a Cavalry Soldier, an Arapahoe Medicine Man, a Colonist Trapper, an Apache Warrior, or any number of other classes, and your character can choose to change classes as they advance. This book contains, the character classes, the special abilities for each Indian tribe, the goods, the spells, and much more.
The only other thing you'll need to play is some dice and a vivid imagination.
You can, and should, order it from any of the following:
Amazon
Smashwords
DriveThruRPG

February recap

Cosmic Crime Stories Vol. 5

Pre-order A Kepler's Dozen

An 8th birthday

Greetings from zombie land

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions

Last year, the publisher I work for merged with another publisher, and then this week I found out that the company I work for at my "real" job is going to be merging with one of their competitors.  I suppose this is just the nature of the economic world we live in, but I have to wonder if all of these mergers will cut down on competition throughout the business world.
The funny thing about this is that it sort of plays into the novel I'm thinking about writing...one in which the elimination of competition in the corporate world has some grim consequences.  Yes, it's a dystopia...

Greetings from zombie land

As this medication continues to make me less and less of who I am, I think I've come to the conclusion that it's time to stop taking it.  Unfortunately, this medication is one that you can't just stop taking...there are some serious repercussions if you do...like seizures and suicide.  My initial impulse was to call the surgeon that prescribed these things to me, but considering it took him many many months to even call me back after my appointment with him, I think it will be better to call my GP when I get a chance, and have him tell me how to do it.  I know I'll hear back from him, and I actually trust him...I'm not so sure about this surgeon.
Hopefully in the next month or two the fog will clear.  Unfortunately I will still have the pain to deal with, but these meds weren't doing anything about the pain anyway...

An 8th birthday

It's hard to believe that today is our middle daughter's 8th birthday.  It seems like only yesterday that I was pushing her around in a stroller when we were picking her big sister up from school.  Time goes by so fast.  There was a time when she needed us for almost everything, and now she can pretty much take care of herself...although she still likes to play the helpless child at times.
So, happy birthday, Jul.  Hope you have a great day, and I hope you love your presents...I think you'll be very surprised.

Pre-order A Kepler's Dozen

You can now pre-order your copy of A Kepler's Dozen by going to http://www.hadrosaur.com/kepler.html.  This anthology features one of my stories, and it will be released in June.
Here's the write-up for the anthology...
A new anthology of action-packed, mysterious, and humorous stories all based on real planets discovered by the NASA Kepler mission. Edited by and contributing stories are David Lee Summers—best selling author of Owl Dance, The Pirates of Sufiro, and other novels—and Steve B. Howell, project scientist for the Kepler mission. Whether on a prison colony, in a fast escape from the authorities, or encircling a binary star, thirteen exoplanet stories written by authors such as Mike Brotherton, Laura Givens, and J Alan Erwine will amuse, frighten, and intrigue you while you share fantasy adventures among Kepler's real-life planets.

Cosmic Crime Stories Vol. 5

The fifth issue of Cosmic Crimes Stories has been released.  This is the first issue that I've edited, although in truth, a few of the stories were selected by former editor Tyree Campbell.  I've always liked crime stories related to science fiction, so I loved taking over the editorial duties on this zine.
What's in this issue?  Here's the write-up...
Future Imperfect… Crime will always be with us, and as laws evolve, so will the techniques of violating them. In this issue, you’ll meet femme fatales, con men, evil politicians, and a war hero who has trouble adjusting to peace in space. Plus there’s another fine Robichaud article . . . and much more in this latest issue of Cosmic Crime Stories!
You can order your copy at http://sdpbookstore.com/cosmiccrimestories.htm.

January recap

Sam's Dot Publishing update

The Battle for Turtle Island release date

Gertrude Hambil

Back from Ohio

About time!

Brain funk

Me and my crazy ideas

Me and my crazy ideas

I don't know if it's this medicine messing with my head, or what, but I was thinking today what a great idea it would be to take my latest book, A Problem in Translation and turn it into an RPG.
Am I really crazy enough to think that this would be a good idea???

Brain funk

This medication they've put me on for my chronic pain has left me in a brain funk.  I feel like I'm slightly out of phase with reality at the moment.  Everything seems hazy, and my brain seems to just stop at times.  I've had bouts of dizziness and I'm even more exhausted than normal.
I'm hoping that these are only temporary side effects, and eventually my brain will adjust to this stuff.  I'm not really sure if it's worth having the pain subside if I have to feel like this...

About time!

We had to take my oldest daughter in for a vaccination today, so while we were there, I decided to ask if my doctor could come up with a new surgical consult for me, since the previous surgeon wasn't even returning my calls.  Would you believe it?  About one hour after we left, the surgeon called me...
The diagnosis is that there's no definite fracture in any of the ribs, although he does believe one of the ribs is causing the popping that I can feel and hear coming from my chest.  Unfortunately, there is no way to tell which rib it is, so he can't go in and remove it, for fear of removing the wrong rib.  He did say that there is fracturing in the cartilage on that side of my rib cage, but there's no way to surgically fix it...so I'm stuck with being on neural suppressants...probably for the rest of my life...

Back from Ohio

Getting to my grandmother's funeral was quite the whirlwind tour.  We left Wednesday just before noon and got into McConelsville, Ohio on Friday morning.  We were there for about eight hours...just long enough for me to spend some time with my mom and brother before we went to the funeral.  After that it was a very brief family get together, and then we were back on the road because Rebecca had to be at work on Sunday morning at 6 am.  We got back to Denver about 9:30 on Saturday night.  We basically covered over 2700 miles in about 80 hours.  All of this with an 11 year old, a 7 year old, and a 2 year old along for the ride.  The most impressive part of this quick trip was the fact that I don't drive, so my absolutely amazing and wonderful wife did all of the driving on her own!  Did I mention that she was amazing and wonderful?
The actual funeral was well done.  My grandmother was a fairly religious woman, so a minister oversaw the proceedings, and although I didn't necessarily agree with a lot of the religious stuff he had to say, it was nice that he actually knew my grandmother.  A lot of times, you go to these things and the person conducting the funeral is just reading from notes that have been made by the family, but he used to drop my grandmother's house to visit, and he actually had a lot of us smiling and laughing about some of the things she would say or do.  Some people may think that laughter and happiness shouldn't be a part of a funeral, but I personally believe that it should be a celebration of the person's life...and there was a lot to celebrate about my grandmother.  She was a very kind person, and a lot of people commented that she was "everyone's" grandmother.  Everyone knew they could go to her for anything they needed, and if anyone ever wanted to just stop and visit, she always made them welcome.
Now that I've written this, I think I need some more rest, as I'm still exhausted, and it's back to work at 6 am for me tomorrow.
And by the way...did I mention that my wife is absolutely amazing and wonderful?
Well...SHE IS!

Gertrude Hambil

Earlier today, my grandmother, Gertrude Hambil, passed away.  She was the last of my grandparents, and I can honestly say that next to my parents, she was most responsible for raising me and turning me into the person that I am today.
The last few years have been hard on her, and we all thought we were going to lose her a long time ago, but she had a lot of fight in her, and she held on.  I never got a chance to see her in those final years, and maybe that was for the best, as I guess she wasn't really the same person.  Age does horrible things to the human mind.
I have so many wonderful memories of her.  Sitting on her lap while going for rides in the country, working in the garden (especially me planting pumpkins), the smell of her bacon in the morning, and so many more.  When my mom first called me today, we both agreed that she'd had a good life, and for the most part, a happy life...not too many people can really say that, but she did.
The world seems a little emptier today, and she will truly be missed.

The Battle for Turtle Island release date

The new game I've been working on for quite some time now, The Battle for Turtle Island will be released on Monday March 4th in trade paperback and as an e-book in various formats.
Look for more info as we get closer to the release date.

Sam's Dot Publishing update

At the beginning of this year I became the Managing Editor for Sam's Dot Publishing, basically taking over the day to day running of the company, which is now owned by White Cat Publications.  A lot of people have been wondering what will be different about Sam's Dot now that Tyree Campbell has moved on.  The basic answer is...not much.  All of the titles that Tyree had contracted will be published in the years to come, and I will eventually be opening back up for novel submissions, and I will be editing those, and we will be releasing those under the Sam's Dot name.
Obviously, my editorial focus will be slightly different from Tyree's, but you shouldn't notice a huge change.  The biggest change I think anyone will notice is wider distribution, and that's a good thing.
I guess you could say, the more things change, the more they stay the same.

December recap

Come on People

Another Apocalypse has come and gone

Christmas 2012

Goodbye 2012

Goodbye 2012!

Another year has come and gone, and like many other years, this one certainly had its up and downs.  The biggest downs would have to have been Rebecca being held up at the end of January, and then some bastard stealing our tax check.
Although those were some low lows, I think the highs made up for it.  Our oldest started middle school, and even though she already has some of the teen angst going on (a couple of years early), she's still doing great.  Our middle daughter has moved on to second grade, and she's more or less excelling...if we could just get her to do her homework.  And of course the youngest has grown up so much.  At the beginning of the year, she was barely walking and could say a few words.  Now she's strolling around everywhere, counting to 11, learning her ABC's, using four and five word sentences, and of course loving Star Wars and Babylon 5.  Another positive on a personal level was my accepting a promotion at work.  Although it's leaving me exhausted, we're bringing in some extra money, and that's always a good thing.
On a professional level, it was also up and down.  March saw the release of my third novel, A Problem in Translation and I also finished the initial drafts of a new RPG.  The biggest down would be that I didn't do anywhere near enough writing this year.  I do have a new story coming out in an anthology early next year, and I'm certainly hoping to do more writing in 2013.
All in all, I'm glad to be saying goodbye to 2012.  The stress from the robbery has kind of haunted everything, and once we get past the one year anniversary, I think everything will start looking up.