Random Musings

It’s been a while

So it’s been a little while. Hell, it’s been a long while, really. No, not THAT. I mean since I last wrote. The folks who know me know that in recent years I’ve tackled project after project after project. From the time I took on editor duties at the now defunct DVDinmypants.com to this holiday season it’s been a relentless stream of projects. Four years of Books both published and pending. Anthologies. Articles. Freelance stuff. Music. And lots more. All while holding down a full-time job, trying to be a good family man, and attempting to have something resembling a social life. Shortly into the holidays, I finally hit the wall. Hard. I realized I had to take some time off. Since the completion of…
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Writing through a rough patch

There are times when the words don’t come, and what words that do come make you cringe. You sit down and work, you reach your writing goals each day, but you hate every last bit of work you produce. I’m in the midst of one of those rough patches. For the last week or so I’ve wanted to toss my work-in-progress in the trash. It’s not writer’s block — writer’s block is bullshit — it’s something else. It’s “this sucks, this story sucks, these words suck, why am I bothering with this?” I hate that feeling. I’ve mentioned a few times before that I’m wrapping up a readable draft of a dystopian science fiction novel. I’ve gone back and forth between hoping people find it…
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Am I crazy?

Driving home from work the other evening and ideas are rolling through my head. Sitting at a traffic light and it occurs to me, “Say, I should self-publish a science fiction anthology next year, maybe something with a Mars theme. Invite writers to submit stories, do it via CreateSpace and list it at Amazon. Yeah, that would be fun.” What the bloody hell is WRONG with me?

Idea Overload

So here’s a problem I still haven’t learned to cope with: Idea overload. Whatever I happen to be working on at any given moment, well, I’d rather be working on the next thing instead. Sometimes even the thing after that thing. There are always too many projects that appeal to me; too many stories I want to write; too many things I want to try. At times it’s a little overwhelming. It’s overwhelming RIGHT NOW because there are a solid half-dozen big writing projects I’d like to be working on … but I don’t, because attempting that juggling act is a Bad Idea. I handle it by doing my best to stay focused on just one or two major projects at once. Otherwise, I’d be…
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Okay, so I CAN wait to get it started

Waaaaaay back in February, I breathlessly posted about my desire to begin the second draft of a science fiction novel I’ve been kicking around. First draft was done. Readable. But needed work. First I planned to start the second draft early in the year and wrap it up by late spring. Then I pushed it back to March in order to slam out some other, shorter projects. Then Stuff Every Husband Should Know came up and took priority. Then I had to finish scripting Pitched! 2 so we could get it out in 2010. Then I took the rest of the summer off from writing because damn did I need a breather. So now, many endless months later, I finally start on Ye Olde Second…
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