Keeping myself busy

Now that I'm free of the "real" world work, and working at home, I'm keeping myself quite busy.  I've started on a series of supplements for the Ephemeris game that will focus on the sectors of space used by each of the species.  I'm tentatively calling it the Ephemeris Encyclopedia Galactica.  I've also been doing a lot of editing, and formatting of zines and books.  I'm working on some new ideas that I might use for books or magazines for Nomadic Delirium Press, and I'm even doing some writing.
I'm also loving having time with the kids and Rebecca.  The little one has been so thrilled to have me home with her every day.
Now, I need to get back to work.

I'm free!

Today was my last day at the "real" job, and it couldn't have come soon enough.  I was really tired of people not doing their share of the work, and then catching crap from so called "superiors" when I busted my ass day in and day out.
Hopefully this will work out for us, but I suppose I'd better get to writing...

Happy third birthday

Today is Alexis' third birthday.  It's hard to believe that she's turning three.  In some ways it seems like she's been with us for so long, but in other ways, it seems like she was just born yesterday.
It's amazing what a little person she's become.  She's already trying to read (although with no success), and she often seems desperate to learn everything.  There are so many things about her that remind me of myself, and there are also so many things that remind me of my wonderful wife.
We're so happy to have her in our life, and we're looking forward to seeing how much she grows over the year to come.

The big news

Given the wild speculation going on on Facebook, perhaps this news isn't as big as I'd originally thought.  No, we are not expecting.  The no-longer-not-so-big-news is that I gave my two weeks notice at my "real" job.  I was pretty much tired of having to do extra work because others were either lazy or incompetent, and I was also tired of catching hell for things not being done, when I was busting my butt.  So, we talked it over, and I decided to leave.
I will be working as a stay at home dad now, while I'm also working on writing, editing, and publishing.  Money is going to be much tighter for us, but we're going to do everything we can to save every penny and try to make this work.
Other than the loss of money, everything else about this arrangement will work out better for us.  So, hopefully I will be writing some stories and books that will bring in a lot of money, and hopefully Nomadic Delirium Press will be publishing stories and books that will do the same...

I have some big news...

...but I'm not going to share it until next week...

October recap

My MileHiCon schedule
Tantrums
A new novel
My final MileHiCon schedule
MileHiCon recap
Having a blast
Lunatic Fringe

Lunatic Fringe

As you may remember, I did a panel at MileHiCon about science in science fiction called Lunatic Fringe.  There was a review article posted about it at Sciencefiction.com.  You can read it at http://sciencefiction.com/2013/10/29/much-science-science-fiction/.

Having a blast

Towards the beginning of the year, I left my position with Sam's Dot (as taken over by White Cat), and started focusing on editorial duties for Nomadic Delirium Press, and I'd have to say that I'm having a blast.  I like this whole working for myself.  I've created a couple of anthologies that I'm now reading for, and I'm even thinking about starting a new webzine.  We're beginning to see an increase in readership and the zines are filling up faster than they have in a while.  It would seem that people like the direction I'm taking NDP...or at least I hope they do.
No matter what, it really is a lot of fun to be an editor and a publisher, and I'd love to make it a full time thing...we'll have to see...

MileHiCon recap

We've been back for a few days from the Con, but this is the first time I've had enough down time to really sit down and write this blog.  As always, we ran around like crazy, trying to do as much promotion of my stuff as we could, while still making sure that the kids got to do a lot of fun stuff.
Friday we had a panel about Mars, which started off a bit slow because most of the panelists didn't know the answers to the first couple of questions, but once we got past that, we had a really great panel with a lot of good conversation about the future of Mars exploration.  That night we did autograph alley, which didn't seem to have as much traffic as usual, but still managed to sell one book, while talking with some old friends.
Saturday started out with a signing.  During that time, there must have been some great things going on because traffic was very slow, and I've never seen so few people roaming around.  That afternoon, I did the Lunatic Fringe panel about science in science fiction.  This was one of the best panels I've ever done.  We managed to get a lot of information out, while we had a blast.  I don't think I've ever been on a panel with such "colorful" guests.  A really great time seemed to be had by all.
Sunday started with a reading, which was pretty well attended.  I just read a portion of the first chapter of A Problem in Translation as anything I'm working on is still too rough to share.  That afternoon I did a panel about the new era of publishing.  This was another great panel.  There were four self-published authors, and me as a publisher.  Again, we shared a lot of great information, and had a great time.
These were some of the best attended panels and reading that I've done.  I had to admit that when I saw the panels I was scheduled for, I didn't think they'd be that great, but they were really were.
As an author I didn't feel this was that successful of a con, but for Nomadic Delirium Press, I think this was a very successful con.

My final MileHiCon schedule

Here's my final schedule, with rooms and panel descriptions:

Friday:
3:00 p.m. Grand Mesa A Dreams of Red

The Dutch organization Mars One says its wants to put humans on the surface in 2023. The Inspiration Mars Foundation plans to fly astronauts to Mars and back on a 500-day mission in 2018. And of course, science fiction writers have been dreaming of a visit to the Red Planet for centuries. But how does fantasy stack up to reality? 

8:00 p.m. Atrium Autograph Alley

Saturday:
1:00 p.m. 2nd Floor near Art Show Signing

2:00 p.m. Grand Mesa B&C Lunatic Fringe

How fuzzy can the science be and still be believable?  

Sunday:
11:00 a.m. Mesa Verde C Reading

3:00 p.m. Wind River A New Era of Publishing: Good, Bad, & Ugly

What does it mean for both readers and writers? Good as in new professional markets like 47North and more choices for authors as well as the fact that books stay available as e-books, so readers don't have to worry about book one in a series being out of print when they discover book three, as well as more books coming back into print because authors have the rights and are publishing their back lists. Bad as in mountains of garbage that gets dumped on Amazon and Smashwords, and what that means for readers—how do you find the good stuff and avoid the garbage? The Ugly: the widening rift between indie and traditional publishing and those who try to bridge that gap with a foot in both camps (hybrid) and why it shouldn't matter because readers just want good books. And the online distribution stampede, with prices set by the distributors.   

A new novel

Although I'm still toying with the YA novel I started, I broke ground on a new novel today, and this one certainly won't be YA.  Yes, I'm back to writing dystopic fiction.  The new novel is once again about an oppressive government and the struggles of the individual to not only survive amidst the oppression, but to actually attempt to overcome it.
I've had the idea for a while, and I even knew a little about the main character, but I wasn't entirely sure who he was until I wrote the first 1000 words of the novel today.  Now I have a much better idea of who he is, what he wants, and what he might be capable of, so now I can sit down and at least put a loose outline together, so that I don't get lost in the rest of the novel.
Life is still very hectic, and the "real" job is still wearing me out, so I have no idea how long it might take me to write this book, but I'm pretty excited about it, so I'm hoping it will flow quickly.

Tantrums

Imagine someone sitting in a corner, fingers in their ears, crying because they can't have their way.  Imagine someone throwing themselves to the floor and kicking their legs and flailing their arms wildly because they can't have their way.
Am I talking about my almost three year old?  No.  I'm talking about these so-called leaders that we elected to Congress.  Get over yourselves ladies and gentlemen, and get down to what we are paying you to do...work.  Govern as we tell you you should.  It's not government by the few, it's government by the people.  You, you selfish jerks, work for us.  You have no right to hold us hostage, so get over yourselves and do your jobs.
As long as I'm still paying taxes for my government to work for ME, you damn well better work for me.
Rant over.  I have work to do...

My MileHiCon 45 schedule

It isn't set in stone yet, as I'm hoping to add a singing, but here's my schedule for MileHiCon 45 as of now:

Friday 3:00 p.m.: Dreams of Red
Friday 8:00 p.m.: Autograph Alley
Saturday 2:00 p.m.: Lunatic Fringe
Sunday 11:00 a.m.: Reading
Sunday 3:00 p.m.: New Era of Publishing: Good, Bad, & Ugly

I'll post more details about each of the panels in a few days.  Hope to see some of you there...

September recap

Glad that week's over
We've lost another one
Another one of my crazy ideas
Maybe I should have said something
Water water everywhere
Back to the intense pain

Back to the intense pain

For the last couple of months, the chronic pain in my ribs has been hanging out around a two or three, with only an occasional flare up, but since Wednesday, we've been spending our time around an eight, with occasional shots of pain that go right off the scale.  Most of the 10+ pain incidents happen when I have to lift or move something heavy at work...unfortunately, this seems to happen quite often.
NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH: My guess is that the ribs have flexed into an unnatural position, which is causing them to strain everything around them, and until they "pop" back to where they need to be, I'm going to be in this intense pain.
Even taking heavy duty painkillers at night isn't really helping, and I'm exhausted from being woken up by the pain.  I'm so glad that the quack of a surgeon they sent me to couldn't find anything better to do than put me on medication that didn't work, and mostly made me want to blow my brains out.  Unfortunately, I'm currently uninsured, so I can't even go to my regular doctor.  I should have insurance again by the end of the year, but that's assuming that I keep my job, an assumption that isn't safe given the merger we're undergoing.
Some may think that Obamacare is the work of the devil, but as someone who suffers from chronic pain, I'm looking forward to it...especially given that insurance companies of the past could have denied me coverage.
For now, I'll suffer quietly, and hope that the little one stops trying to jump on me...

Water water everywhere

For those of you following the news, Colorado has been seeing some of the worst flooding ever, and some of you may have noticed that Aurora (where we live) has been hit quite hard.  So far, there's no reason to worry about us.  In our area, we have seen quite a bit of street flooding, and the creek near us actually came over its banks yesterday, but it's several hundred feet away from us, and a good thirty or forty feet lower than us in altitude, so it would take some incredibly substantial flooding for it to get to us.
We are expecting another inch or two of rain today, but after this, we're supposed to dry out, and we're all more than ready for it.
Thanks to everyone who has e-mailed or messaged me asking how we're doing.  Your concern is appreciated.

Maybe I should have said something...

Most of you will remember that at the beginning of the year, Sam's Dot Publishing was taken over by White Cat Publishing.  It was only a couple of months later that I left Sam's Dot.  At the time, I said that it was because I wanted more time with my family, and more time for writing.  There was some truth to that, but it wasn't the whole truth.  In actuality, I wasn't getting paid on time, I wasn't getting information on when titles would be published, and authors and other editors weren't getting paid at all.  I decided to take the high road at the time, and not discuss it openly, but I'm now seeing that another round of editors has quit for many of the same reasons, and the authors still aren't getting paid.
When I was with Sam's Dot and ProMart, we always made the writers a priority, and now I feel like maybe I should have said something when I left in the hope that some of the writers who are now going through hell with White Cat wouldn't have had to go through that hell.  I feel like I owed it to those authors, and now I'm sorry that I didn't give them a warning about the things I saw going on.
I hope that those authors will find homes for their work, and I also hope that White Cat will someday learn how to treat their editors and writers, but in all honesty, I'm not hopeful for the latter.  Considering that it would seem that we were all intentionally purged because we knew Tyree is quite ridiculous.  The publisher had a fully trained editorial staff in place, and could have been quite successful, but I guess that was never going to happen...

Another one of my crazy ideas?

As I'm working on expanding and growing Nomadic Delirium Press, the idea of doing novellas suddenly seemed like a good idea.  What I was thinking about was doing something like the old Ace Doubles.  Basically taking two very different novellas and slapping them together.  I'm not really sure if this is a good idea, or if this is just my sleep-deprived mind sending me some sort of hallucinations.
I'd be curious to know if anyone else thinks this is a good idea, or do I just need to get more sleep...

We've lost another one

Yesterday, Frederik Pohl passed away.  He was a very big influence on me.  From the time I first learned to put a subject and a predicate together, I've been writing stories...even then, mostly science fiction.  But it was after reading Gateway that I decided that I really wanted to be a science fiction author.  I loved all of the Heechee novels, and there was something in the telling of those stories that had a huge impact on me.
Like, love, or hate my fiction, Frederik Pohl is a big reason why my writing is out there for others to read. So, I thank him, and say goodbye.  He will be missed.

Glad that week's over

August started out well, but it faltered quite a bit at the end.  Last Monday, Rebecca got a call from her district manager telling her that they were transferring her to a new store effective Sep. 1st.  She had to leave all of the good friends she'd made at her old store, and wasn't thrilled about it...but she's a trooper, and she's going to make the best of it, and be the best damn supervisor her new store has ever seen.
About an hour later, she found out that her parent's dog, Missy, had to be put down.  Missy was such a great dog.  The first time she met me, she climbed onto my lap and tried to stay there all day.  She was a 70-80 lb black lab, so lapdog is quite the misnomer.  She was always very protective of our girls, and was one of the best dogs I've ever known.  She is definitely missed.
We have reason to believe that there is more crap headed our way, but hopefully it won't happen.  I can't really talk about it...