F'ing health insurance

As I mentioned previously, we had to change health insurance companies recently, and as a result, the company forced me to change the meds I take for my chronic pain. Now that I've been on the meds for a couple of weeks, I can say that the health insurance company is completely wrong in their decision. I'm dealing with more side effects than I did on my previous med.  I'm much more tired and deal with dizziness quite often. More importantly, it doesn't do anything for my pain.
On the old meds, I almost always had dull aching pain, but rarely did I have days where I was in intense pain, and I even had days where I was painless.  With these meds, I'm always in pain, and it's almost the same as if I wasn't on meds. The pain is often almost debilitating. It's hard for me to sit in this hard chair that I sit in to work from home, and when I have to go to work, I almost always come home in intense pain.
The unfortunate thing about this is that the insurance requires that I be on this med for three months before I can go back to my old meds.  Someone needs to explain to me why insurance companies are allowed to make health decisions for people that overrule the decisions of their doctors. That's beyond insane, but since they pretty much own both political parties, there's not much any of us can do...

GM's Day Sale

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
For the next week and a half, you can pick up all of the Ephemeris titles for 30% off from DriveThruRPG at http://www.drivethrurpg.com/rpg_gmsday.php?manufacturers_id=2805&filters=0_0_0_0_0_31817#selectpub.  It's a great time to add to your game, or for you to start playing the game...

February recap

Life. Don't talk to me about life
Pre-order the e-book version of the March issue of The Fifth Di...
Crisis Averted by Laura Givens
More health insurance BS
Order the March issue of The Fifth Di... early
The March 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... is here

The March 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... is here

The Fifth Di… returns to print in 2016!
The first print issue in many years features the fiction of Robert N. Stephenson, Ian Brazee-Cannon, Robert P. Hansen and John Grey.
A man is driven to desperation in his effort to find his father. An immortal finds himself among mortals seeking his secret, a secret he can’t give them. Another man has been taking advantage of the misfortunes of others after an asteroid impacts Earth, and now he must face the consequences. And a mission to find life on another planet has failed again and again…now what will happen when they are forced to go to yet another planet?
http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-fifth-di-march-2016/
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/615060
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BPSQXVK

Order the March 2016 issue of The Fifth Di... early

Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
It's still a week until the release of the March 2016 issue of The Fifth Di..., but you can pre-order the print (yes, print) edition now, or...you can download the EPUB version today and read it a week early.  The print edition sells for $7.00 and the digital version will sell for $1.99, but if you order it before the release date, it's only $1.49.  Go to http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-fifth-di-march-2016/ and order your copy today...
The Fifth Di… returns to print in 2016!
The first print issue in many years features the fiction of Robert N. Stephenson, Ian Brazee-Cannon, Robert P. Hansen and John Grey.
A man is driven to desperation in his effort to find his father. An immortal finds himself among mortals seeking his secret, a secret he can’t give them. Another man has been taking advantage of the misfortunes of others after an asteroid impacts Earth, and now he must face the consequences. And a mission to find life on another planet has failed again and again…now what will happen when they are forced to go to yet another planet?

More health insurance BS

Health insurance companies in the United States are out of control, trying to control people's lives, and dictating what kind of medical help they can get.
As many readers of this blog know, I suffer from chronic pain.  For the last several months, I've been on a medication that has helped alleviate some of this pain.  I'm far from pain-free, but I'm living much better than I used to.  Unfortunately, we had to change health insurance plans, and the last time I went to get my prescription filled, I was informed that my new insurance would not cover it.  We went round and round between me, them, the pharmacy, and the doctor.  We finally were able to learn that the new insurance company will not allow people to take the medication that I've been on if they haven't first tried another drug, and so they are forcing me to change medications.  The medication I'm now having to take has been clinically shown to be less effective in treating chronic pain than the medication I've been on, and it also has a lot more side effects.  Of course, it's also cheaper for the insurance company, so I'm forced to change.
Even worse, this whole process took about a week to resolve, and I didn't have enough of the original medication to last a week, so I had to space out my doses, which, of course, has made me very sick.
Now I'm going to have to deal with withdrawal symptoms from the one drug and new side-effects of the new drug...should be a fun couple of weeks...
Something really needs to be done about these insurance companies.

Crisis Averted by Laura Givens

Crisis Averted is a great new short story collection by Laura Givens that has just been released by Nomadic Delirium Press...
Crisis Averted by Laura Givens is here!  Pick up an e-book or print copy of the book now...What constitutes being human?
Why are gods so bad at poker?
How would you square dance in zero-gee?
What is the alcohol tolerance of a superhero?
When is a good time to visit the universe next door?
Why does Buffalo Bill want a T-Rex?
Is Buggs Bunny transgendered or just a drag queen?
None of these questions are answered herein, but asking them is half the fun.
For all ordering options, please visit http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/crisisaverted.htm

Pre-order the e-book version of the March issue of The Fifth Di...

The e-book version of the March issue of The Fifth Di... is now available for pre-order.  2016 marks the return of The Fifth Di... to print, and the print version will be available on February 29th.
The Fifth Di... returns to print in 2016!
The first print issue in many years features the fiction of Robert N. Stephenson, Ian Brazee-Cannon, Robert P. Hansen and John Grey.
A man is driven to desperation in his effort to find his father. An immortal finds himself among mortals seeking his secret, a secret he can't give them. Another man has been taking advantage of the misfortunes of others after an asteroid impacts Earth, and now he must face the consequences. And a mission to find life on another planet has failed again and again...now what will happen when they are forced to go to yet another planet?
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/615060
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01BPSQXVK?

Life. Don't talk to me about life

As most of the readers of this blog know, 2015 was a rough year for my family. It was our hope that 2016 would be an improvement, but so far it has been anything but...
I don't want to go into details, other than to say that no one is sick, but so far 2016 has kicked us in the ass over and over again, and I'm really getting tired of it.
All I have to say is...Is it 2017 yet?

January recap

Disharmony of the Spheres update
Nomadic Delirium Press titles now available as EPUB files through their store
Nomadic Delirium Press zines now available as EPUB files
Order e-books directly from the Nomadic Delirium Press website
E-books are now available on my website

E-books are now available on my website

Many of the short stories I've sold over the years are now available on my website as e-books.  In addition, some of the books I've written and edited are also available on the site.  This is a new store that I've set up, and it's just waiting for you to stop by and shop.  Go to http://jalanerwine.com/blog/shop/.  And if you shop between now and the end of the month, simply enter the coupon code "new" at checkout, and you'll get 25% off your entire cart.
I will be adding more titles to the store over the next few weeks, so keep stopping by and shopping often.

Order e-books directly from the Nomadic Delirium Press website

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
We've completed the e-book transition in our bookstore.  You can now order all but two of our e-book titles in EPUB format.  The two exceptions are Ephemeris supplements that don't translate into EPUB format very well, and actually need to be PDF books.
You can order any of our novels, magazines, collections, anthologies and game books in EPUB format, which is usable on a large number of e-readers, and is also easily translated into other formats like MOBI, which is what the Kindle uses.
So, what are you waiting for...start ordering your books now... http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/shop

Nomadic Delirium zines now available as EPUB files

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
A few days ago we posted that all of our novels, short story collections, and anthologies were now available as EPUB files through our store.  Now we're happy to add that all of our magazines are now available as EPUB files as well.  You can download issues of The Martian Wave, The Fifth Di..., or Spaceports & Spidersilk and start reading them right now.
Place your order today at: http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/shop

Nomadic Delirium Press titles now available as EPUB files through their store

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press website:
Since we started marketing e-books, we've been selling all of our e-books as PDF files through our website.  Granted, you could pick up other formats of our books from other sites, but we're now slowly working on converting all of our e-books into EPUB format, which is much easier to use when you're trying to read an e-book.
For the moment, we've made all of our fiction titles available in this format.  That means you can now download, Quantum Women, A Robot, a Cyborg, and a Martian Walk into a Spacebar, Taurin Tales, The Opium of the People, Marionettes on the Moon, Just Because, The Poet, and Seedlings on the Solar Winds. So, what are you waiting for...
http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/shop
Next we're going to be converting our magazines, and then we'll start on the RPG's and all of the supplements.  All future titles will be available through our website in this format as well.

Disharmony of the Spheres update

Taken from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog:
For those of you that are interested in submitting to our upcoming anthology, Disharmony of the Spheres, we've currently accepted just over 20,000 words of fiction.  We're looking for a final length of 60,000-80,000 words, but you never know how quickly it might fill up, so please get your submissions in...
Disharmony of the Spheres will be a science fiction anthology in which the main character must be battling some type of mental illness.  While we will consider stories where the character is dealing with an illness like schizophrenia or multiple personality disorder, what we really want to see is characters that are battling an illness like depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, etc.  This is meant to be an uplifting collection of stories, so the characters must overcome their illness to defeat whatever they’re up against.  They don’t necessarily have to overcome their illness completely, but they must show that even when suffering from a mental illness, a person can still achieve great things.
Story particulars: We want stories that are 2,000 words or longer.  All stories must be science fiction, and they must fit into the guidelines as outlined above.
What we’re paying: We will pay $5 per story for one time rights, and we will also pay two contributor copies.  This is less than we would normally pay for an anthology, but half of all of the profits from this book will be going to the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention organization, which helps to battle teen suicide.  We will consider reprints for this anthology.
Where to send your stories: All stories should be sent to editor (at) nomadicdeliriumpress (dot) com.  The subject line should include “Disharmony submission.”
Response times: We will respond to all submissions within two months.
Other questions: If you have any other questions, please feel free to send them to the address above.

December recap

The Fifth Di... 2015 bundle
The Fifth Di... 2015 bundle is now available from the Nomadic Delirium Press Bookstore
Exciting changes coming to The Fifth Di... in 2016
The NDP fiction bundle
Two weeks to go
No Force Awakening for me for a while
It was a good Christmas
Great deals
Spaceports & Spidersilk January 2016
2015 in review

2015 in review

From a personal standpoint, 2015 was pretty much one for the crapper. The highlights would be Rebecca getting her troublesome gallbladder removed, something that had to be done to keep her alive...but now there seem to be lasting side effects.  Also a highlight would be me getting on medical insurance, since the Affordable Care Act actually made our insurance cheaper.  This allowed me to get on pain medication for the chronic pain that was pretty much destroying my quality of life.  There were other highlights like birthdays and Eryn being named an Aurora Scholar, but for the most part, 2015 sucked.
We had three visits to the ER, one surgery, and one extended hospital stay that even with insurance are costing us thousands of dollars.  We also had the custody battle, which is finally resolved, but that cost us thousands of dollars in legal fees.  Neither one of us makes much at our "real" jobs, so this has put a huge strain on us.  Now as the year comes to a close, we find out that Rebecca's company is being bought out by the end of next year, which means she may be out of a job by this time next year.  There were certainly times this year when the only thing that kept me going were the love of my amazing wife and our wonderful girls.
Professionally, this year was a mixed year.  I actually wrote a few stories, none of which have sold yet.  In a lot of ways, I feel like a new writer starting all over again.  As an editor, I edited a collection called A Robot, a Cyborg, and a Martian Walk into a Space Bar, which has done fairly well.  It's not a bestseller, but we have made money off of the book.  I also edited Quantum Women by Tyree Campbell which came out towards the end of the year.  This year has also seen the growth of The Fifth Di..., a zine which I've edited for more than a decade.  Starting next year, the zine will actually be released in both electronic and print formats.  The coming year will also see the release of a collection by Laura Givens that I'm editing, a novel from Tyree Campbell, and two collections.  In the game design world, I've created several new supplements for the Ephemeris RPG, and there are some exciting new things coming for the game in the next couple of years.
So, out with 2015, and hopefully 2016 will be better...

Spaceports & Spidersilk January 2016

Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press blog...
The new year is almost upon us, and that means it's time for a new issue of Spaceports & Spidersilk...
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/604005
Spaceports & Spidersilk features some of the best science fiction and fantasy fiction and poetry for kids of all ages. The January 2016 issue will take you to places you might never have imagined. It will appeal to your inner child, and hopefully take you back to the places you loved as a child…and if you’re still a child, it will open your imagination to all kinds of new worlds.

Great deals

Borrowed from the Nomadic Delirium Press Blog:
There are still a few days left to pick up a PDF version of the January 2016 issue of Spaceports & Spidersilk for just 75 cents. You can get your copy at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/spaceports-spidersilk-january-2016/
While you’re at it, you can pick up all four 2015 PDF issues of Spaceports & Spidersilk for just $3 at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/spaceports-spidersilk-2015-bundle/
And if you’re getting all of that, you might as well grab all four 2015 PDF issues of The Fifth Di… for just $3 at http://nomadicdeliriumpress.com/blog/product/the-fifth-di-2015-bundle/

It was a good Christmas

Christmas has come and gone, and we actually had a very good Christmas this year.  Given how crappy the year had treated us so far, I was a little worried about the holiday, but things went well...other than Rebecca being sick, which because of all of the hours she's having to put in at work almost seems to be the norm.  The kids didn't get quite as many presents as usual, but they seemed to like them even more than usual.  We all ate too  much, played lots of games, and watched Harry Potter movies all day, so it was a good time.
Later in the night I was giving Eryn drum lessons, while the younger two tried to play with everything, and Rebecca refused to relax.  I kept telling her that I'd take care of the dishes, but she wouldn't listen...
Once the weather warms up, I'll be walking around in my Boba Fett letterman's jacket, and I'm walking around the house now in my R2-D2 slippers.  Most importantly, we enjoyed being together as a family, which is the most important part of the holiday season, no matter what holiday you celebrate.
Now reality has come back.  Rebecca is at work trying not to cough up a lung, and when she gets home, I'll be off to work.  Some things never seem to change.