Equivalence of Fandom

A while ago I was at a party at a friend’s house, and it was mostly other members of my MSE course in Halifax.  As we were chatting away and generally having a good time, one of my compatriots noted my Starfleet TNG delta-shield cufflinks.  She shook her head and dismissed them as my geeky silliness.  I pointed out to her that it was no different from someone wearing a jersey from their favourite hockey team.  She indignantly claimed it was somehow not the same, though whey I asked why she had no real answer other than ‘it just isn’t.’

I’m not going to make some ranting post about people disparaging geeks because that’s just old and doesn't really do anything.  I just found it interesting that there’s a perception that one piece of fandom (pro sports) is some how more legitimate than another (sci-fi).  Granted, to the followers of each, their particular thing is more legit.  Likely, many pro sports have more fans than a lot of sci-fi.  Fair enough.  I no more want to go watch hockey than she wants to sit down to a TNG or DS9 marathon.  Roger out, we’ll go our separate ways on that.  It was the way it was commented on, as if it were something beyond the norm, that I found a bit irksome.  Especially considering everyone in my course knows I’m the resident geek.  Everyone has their fandom (or they should).  Life is pretty boring and empty if there’s nothing you’re passionate about. 

(Funny aside: when I did ask how long a hockey game was (really, I had no idea), a classmate says ‘three periods.’  I know he was being helpful, but my confused look probably indicated an actual unit of time would have helped more.)

Wil Wheaton put up a good video about why it’s good to be a geek in his blog here, (or just google it).  Be passionate about something.  Writing, costuming, sports, whatever.  Otherwise, what are you really doing with your time?

Pathfinder Beginner Box

Last Christmas (2011, not 2012), I got for each of my daughters the Pathfinder RPG beginner box. For those who do not know, Pathfinder is a roleplaying game, successor to the popular Dungeons & Dragons game.  I like Pathfinder better, but it's a matter of taste.

The next day, we had our inaugural game with myself as GM.  To say the girls liked it would be an understatement of monumental proportions.  Since then, working around my sailing schedule of course, we’ve managed a few more games.  They finished the adventure that comes with the box  and I wrote an interlude adventure to move them to the next adventure locale.  They’ve had a blast playing, and I’ve finally been able to give them something that’s been a part of my life since I was 12 years old.

It is gratifying that I can share this thing called roleplaying games with them.  Good, old-fashioned players-around-the-table gaming.  Firing up the imagination and letting it take you to worlds unknown, where everyone gets to take part in telling the story.  I love it.  They love it.  It’s the passing of the torch, so they can have the same fun I’ve had for over 28 years now.  I also like playing games with them, they’re fun and aren’t yet experienced enough to have seen a lot.  When I describe the dragon, or the castle, or the dank crypt they’ve entered there’s that sense of wonder.  The same sense that I had when I started playing. 

I also am glad they like it so much.  Hopefully my oldest will start a campaign of her own.  Right now I GM for her and a few of her friends, which has been a big hit.  I think she would enjoy gamemastering, but she just has to get off her butt and do it.  She will, I think, and hopefully it will lead to years of adventuring, all in their own minds.

I laugh some days, as when others are telling tales of their youths, a host of my tales take place in fictional environments.  Talking of the grand schemes, the nail-biting escapes and crazy rolls when you toss the dice calling ‘twenty!’ and it actually comes up.  It certainly kept us out of trouble in our teen years (though I’d say we weren’t really prone to trouble anyway) and exercised our minds enormously.  It also taught teamwork, social interaction (i.e. you have to be civil at the gaming table) and as a gaming group we bonded to the point where we’re all ‘uncles/aunts’ to each others kids.

Since then both kids want to start/have started Warhammer 40000 armies, and we all have had a few good games of FFG’s X-Wing miniatures game.  I am raising two geeky, gamer girls and we all couldn’t be happier about it.  It also means I get to play with my kids more often, which is never bad.

Fixing the landscape

So here’s a picture of the gaming table.  

You’ve seen it before, covered in wargames terrain.  However, this time there’s some sorting going on.  With the help of my youngest, we’ve broken the stuff down into trees, hedgerows, battlefield kit, rocks, buildings and (for lack of a better term) elaborate pieces.  The trees, rocks, battlefield kit and hedgerows will all go in small bins to keep the dust off and make storage easier.  It should also keep them in better condition, once I’ve fixed them up.  Here's a bunch of trees, with sand added to their bases:

The buildings all need some sort of repair, and then to be painted, but they can still go on a shelf.  The elaborate pieces, almost entirely being made of some form of Styrofoam, will need repair.  Two (or more) moves have not been kind to some of them. 

Thus, the remainder of this week will bring out the white glue, paint and modelling flock so as to bring all the terrain pieces up to an attractive and playable condition. 

As much as I have to assemble and paint models, which is still the primary activity, the last few games have been played with fully finished terrain (well, less the scuffs, scrapes and dents I plan to fix).  It reinforced the idea that having a core of good terrain pieces makes battles so much more cinematic.  Besides, if one is going to paint a bunch of toy soldiers to a high standard, why not give them the battlefield they deserve?

Rebuilding

Whew.  Passed my Phase VI board, which means promotion to Lieutenant and a break from all the studying.  I tell you, I almost didn't know what to do with myself, going from a work all day - study all night schedule to a regular workday with time after.  Still, my board was "very strong" according to the Commander who chaired it, so I'll take that one to the bank!

That was on March 26th.  Since then I've been playing catch up with all the plans, tasks and other life stuff.  Immediately my 'to do' list of 50+ items sprang out to attack me.  I pushed it around and made it a bit less onerous, but gradually clawed through the important stuff.  That and, most importantly, made time for my family, who I'm pretty sure had forgotten what I looked like for a while.  That's what happens when you cloister yourself in for several weeks.

Today I got some words down.  Not a lot, nothing epic, but I took the time to get back into the story, figure out where I was and just started the next scene.  Boy did it feel good.  Feels like I'm getting back to the things that matter.

I've also planned another session of Pathfinder (the roleplaying game) and am resurrecting the Council of Thieves adventure path.  Add to that some planned model painting and some game-playing with my kids, and life is back to normal.  My latest project is this:

I've pulled out all my wargaming terrain, and plan to repair all the broken or otherwise damaged pieces.  Once done, I'll stack it back on the shelves you can see in the background.  The gaming room is in a bit of flux, but that's only because we had to get our hot water tank replaced, so lots of things are in weird places.  That big box on end is actually our Christmas tree.  The library wraps around the gaming area, thus all the books to the right.  In the lower left you'll see Cassandra, one of our cats, giving me the laser beam eyes.  

Garfield came down to join us, and was promptly inspected by Cassandra.  

That's it for now.  This week is all about regaining the story of Queen's Legacy, and getting some sorting done to bring the gaming area back to snuff.

Tumbleweeds

Tumbleweeds are what you might see here for a bit.  Running up the last bit before my Marine Systems Engineering Officer Phase VI board, which means study, study, study.  Still have more drawings of systems and write-ups to get done, so the blogging may be a bit sparse.

That said, once done, promotion!  That and no more drawings, practice boards, studying... ugh.  Not for a while at least.  Then back to the book, back to normal.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled netsurfing.

2013 Goals

Happy January everyone!
I hope that your holiday celebrations (Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, etc) were fruitful, engaging, relaxing or whatever your pleasure was over the past month or so.  Mine were certainly fun, and I'll be putting up some photos and musings from them in a bit.  Now it's on to a new year, and new plans.

As I've said before, resolutions aren't really my style.  I do, though, plan some goals for the calendar year.  Why the calendar year?  Why not?  So, in no particular order, here's my main goals for this year...

1) Finish my package and pass my oral board as a Marine Systems Engineering Officer.  That's coming up first, and the extra pay of promotion will help pay the bills.

2) Finish Queen's Legacy.  I've been pounding away on this for waaaaaaaaary too long.  Not that there's anything wrong with the progress I've made, but I want to get the draft done.  DONE.  (yes, repeating it in caps doesn't make it better, but it's only behind #1 because #1 is the day job)

3) Finish painting an army for Warhammer, Warmachine or one of the other wargames I play.  I say this because painting models fuels my muse, and is one of my biggest creative outlets, aside from writing.

That's it for the year.  Frankly, that's enough.  Those are my main, overarching goals.  In between is where day to day life happens.  I don't include things like 'spend more time with family' or 'play with the kids more' because in truth, I do that a lot anyway.  I'm always up for family time, especially now that the kids are playing the games I play, but that's another post I have planned.

That's it for now, only three days left of leave, and time to get some homework done.

Why Tuesday sucks

I was just archiving a bunch of things, and generally puttering about my office/gaming room, and I found some old records from the last company I worked for, ICD.  (Great company, by the way.  The Magna auto parts group is generally well run and a good place to work.)

One of the things I remember is laughing with the then health and safety coordinator, Glen, about how Tuesday is the worst day of the week.  Why it was so funny then, I don't know, but it's good for a chuckle.

Here's why (tongue firmly in cheek):

Wednesday: your're halfway there, can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thursday: this was payday for us, and we got paid weekly at the time.  Now, I guess it's further along than Wednesday, but it may be giving Tuesday some competition now.

Friday: TGIF!  Plus, you're always working like mad to get stuff done and put out all the fires that erupt right before the weekend (double if it's a long weekend).

Saturday & Sunday: if I have to explain these two...

Monday: usually spent catching up from Friday's madness, as well as sorting out the week-that-will-be, and new crises occur.  Despite being the first working day of the week, it usually went by really, really fast.

Tuesday: not enough craziness to make the day go by fast, and ideally most of your fires are contained by now.  You're not yet halfway through the week, and time just seems to dilate as the day goes on.  It's slow, boring and serves up only wretched paperwork and those reports you've been 'getting to' for the last two weeks.

There you have it.  Incontrovertible evidence that, many motivational posters notwhithstanding (and many lolcats too), Tuesday, not Monday, is the worst day of the week.

That's all I've got for today.

Sunday

The last week has been really busy, so I'm not going to say much today.  Missed my Thursday deadline, but like I said, some days (or weeks) are going to be like a kick in the junk.

On the bright side, I'm now over 60k words into Queen's Legacy.  On the dark side, it's taken what I think is an inordinate time to do so.  However, that's astern of me, so no point in worrying about it.  Today I beat a mildly vexing scene into submission and made over 700 words.  I'm going to take that to the bank tonight.

Also: Mount Washington already has 1.3m of snow!  Early opening, and my skis are waxed and ready.

That's all for now, watch this space tomorrow for something pithy and more interesting.

Goal setting

Today I pulled out my goals list for 2012.  Now that the ship is staying alongside, I can actually think about it.  It’s pretty similar to 2011, with some things scratched out and some added.  Actually, it’s the exact same piece of paper.  Every now and again I’ll look at the goals I have and make adjustments or revisions.  I’ve blogged before about how I generally don’t make ‘New Year’s resolutions’ per se.  However, I like to have a few, overarching goals that I’m steadily working towards.

This year’s goals are:

1. Finish Queen's Legacy (1st draught)

2. Finish organizing the house (this one will make other military households laugh)

3. Have more finished models than I started with this year (even one will do)

4. Assemble all the models waiting in the pile

I’ve already readjusted for this year.  Why?  Well, I looked at the goals I had, and realized that I have a pile of models in boxes that I have yet to put together.  I’m also short on space at home.  Thus, I changed the painting goal to one of assembly, so I can get everything built and on the shelf.  The exception is those models that need to be painted during assembly, like troop transports.  Those, though, can be made into sub-assemblies.

The point of that is to show that goals can and should be flexible.  Adjust and adapt to what you think you can do.  Right now, I may not get the ‘sort out the house’ goal accomplished as the sailing schedule for my ship was pretty busy this year.  We’ll see.  At least I have a target.

This brings me to the nature of goals.  Make them things you can actually do.  Not just within the realm of possibility, but within your ability and means at the time.  Also, don’t lie to yourself about them.  If you get them done, great.  If not, then adapt your plan.  Just keep working towards them and don’t make excuses to yourself.  I’ve been working on Queen’s Legacy for a helluva long time.  Changing jobs to the Navy, not enough ass-in-chair time and other reasons have caused that.  Mostly insufficient ass-in-chair time, and really, that’s all on me.  Same as with changing modelling from painting to assembly.  I won’t be able to do both, so I picked the one I need to do before the other.

Don’t confuse goals with a mission or vision.  It was a key distinction when I worked in industry, and remains so in the military.  Your vision or mission may be the ultimate end state.  For example, if I had to put my vision of my (future) career as an author into words, it would be something like: “To continue to gain readership and make a living by producing quality stories that people want to read.”  That says nothing about how to get there.  It’s a nice vision, but it’s something to keep on a plaque somewhere in the office.  Goals are the nuts and bolts steps of how to get there (or stay there).

The point of my ramblings:

1. Set goals, but be flexible
2. Make sure your goals fit your vision, but also that they are doable.
3. Don’t confuse your goals with your vision (and vice versa)

Creative regeneration

I’ve been bad the past week. 

Okay, those with gutter minds (like mine) can just stop the giggles.  I’ll wait.

…

Okay, now, what I really mean by that is I’ve given myself a week off of writing.  That sounds counterproductive, you’re thinking.  And you’d be almost right.

Instead of having my daily writing goal, I took that out of my agenda and replaced it with painting time.  That is, painting wargaming miniatures.  Why?  Well, to be honest, I found that the constant push to get writing done coupled with our sailing time, I was a little burned out.  So, to regenerate my creative juices, I figured I’d do something different and fun for which I had little pressure to produce.  I’m not saying my ‘ass in chair’ time is all that awesome (that’s another post entirely), but sometimes it’s nice to have the pressure off for a bit.

I also find it relaxing to sit and paint models.  Throw on some music, and I’ve got a happy evening going on.  It’s something creative, something I’m good at, and at the end of an evening or several nights, I usually have something completed.  Very different from the book, which is a longer term endeavour.  That sense of creative completion is very important to me.  It gives a feeling of success that just makes you feel better.

What has this done?  Well, I found this weekend, by the time I was done everything I was doing, I felt like I had gotten some creative bugs out of my system, and was starting to think about the book in the off hours (meaning the times I wasn’t actually writing it).  This is a good thing, because now I’m looking forward to writing more rather than feeling like I’m just heading back to the computer to slog through a scene that won’t end.  No doubt about it, I love putting a story together, and playing in my world and with my characters.  However, it is work, and sometimes I just have to push through to the other side and get it done, knowing I’ll fix it in revision.  

That said, I get the same feeling of success from making a scene work in the book, or finishing a particularly vexing one that I had to wrangle into existence.  It may not be that ‘finish factor’ but it’s something.

Now I’m starting to ramble, which will lead to digressions, which will completely shatter the original topic.  Thus, on that note, I’m done for today.

Storyboarding

A few days ago, I sat down to write.  It was a pretty cool scene, at least the way I outlined it. However, as I sat down and began to put words onto the screen, it started to wind it’s way into a straggly thread and I started to lose the flow of events.

The solution?  Storyboarding.

Now, this wasn’t the kind of storyboarding like they do for movies and TV.  Believe me, I only wish I had the artistic ability to draw anything even close to that.  Instead, I used a flowchart.  I just charted the direction I wanted the action to go, and filled in details around each piece of action.

This gave me the basic flow, and where the action would happen.  The paper itself becomes the time axis, and that way I can make sure not only of the flow of action, but also that everything happens in the appropriate time.

Did it help?  Yes.  Granted, I deviated from the plan a bit, but frankly, that’s become an expected thing.  As much as I plot the whole book out scene-by-scene, each scene evolves and grows (or shrinks) as I write it.  Nevertheless, I found graphically plotting out the sequence of events worked wonders in enhancing my scene descriptions.  I have a feeling I’ll use this technique more and more, especially for complicated battle scenes. I wouldn't be surprised if I ended up using action figures or RPG miniatures to help block out a scene.

The Return

Aaaaaaand … we’re back!

After a long time away, I’ve decided to refresh the blog a bit.  You may have noticed the new look, and eventually I’ll figure out the adding links business.  Probably add in some other details and generally freshen up the place.

Also, post more frequently.

Now that the ship is alongside pre-refit, that should happen.  Of course, I could always get posted to another one, so we’ll see.  If I’m lucky I’ll get a backlog put up to carry through.  If not, then there may be a few dry spells.

Be that as it may, I know both my vaguely loyal readers (hey, my wife and mom count as readers!) will be happy to have any updates.

So, for now, expect a few updates a week.  More if I find something interesting, less if I’m super busy.

I’m also going to diversify the content.  While writing and creating is the primary purpose of this blog, I’m going to add more geeky hobby stuff and probably more rants and thoughts too.  Why?  Well, first because I can.  Second, if I only post word counts or similar things, I can’t imagine you find it any more thrilling than I would to read.  Also, being yet-unpublished, my advice amounts to a diary of the methods I’m using.  At the end, we can decide if it actually worked.

So sit back, open a BEvERage of your choice, and maybe you’ll find something interesting (or at least hang out for some laughs).  Chime in on the topics that interest you (or grind your gears), and let’s have some fun.

Captain America - A Review

I saw the film Captain America a few days ago, and frankly, it was excellent. 

A few caveats; I'll admit, I can be easy to entertain.  Put a good (or even decent) story in front of me, well acted and throw in some cool scenery, and you've probably got me for about two hours.  This does not mean I don't enjoy good films, I just feel no need to be a snob about 'art' films vs. blockbusters.  Entertain me for the two hours and I'm good.

Also, I've never cared that much for The Avengers as a comic book.  It's okay, but never hooked me, y'know?

That said, Captain America the film hit all the right buttons.  The acting was well done, the visuals were great, neither overshadowing the film or lacking.  The overall plot was good, and even had a few surprises.

*Possible spoilers ahead, read at your own peril.*

What really made this film, was the story 'moments.'  Times where they worked to bring out the characters but did so in the story.  The characterization of the Captain/Steve Rogers:
Doctor Erskine: "do you want to kill Nazis?"
Steve Rogers: "I don't want to kill anyone, but I hate bullies, no matter where they're from"
(Okay, I'm probably not remembering the dialogue verbatim, but you get the point)

Same at the end, where he's on the radio to his girlfriend and they make a date, even as he flies the plane into the arctic icecap.  The final scene is well done too.  At every turn, and kudos to Chris Evans for the portrayal, they reinforce his character without hitting the viewer over the head with it.  They wrote a story that wraps itself around both the characters and the plot, showing them both smoothly.

This is where the film succeeded and went beyond my expectations.  It was well worth the fare.

That said, stop with the 3D already!  It wasn't necessary in this film, and most films don't need it either.  It won't save a bad story, and a good story stands on its own with or without 3D.  I had laser surgery to get rid of my glasses, I certainly don't want to put them on again for your film!

*ahem*

Thor, the preceding 'Avengers movie' was similarly successful.  I'll give Captain America the win for being better written, but one thing I like about both is they set out to do something (i.e. introduce their respective characters) and did so very successfully.  They didn't try to overreach their goal, and by the end of each film I felt satisfied with the story and its outcome, and each film succeeded in its mission.

Also, if you haven't seen it yet, wait aaaaaaalllllllll the way to the very end of the credits and there's a teaser.  You won't be sorry.

That's my nutshell review.  Good movie, go see it.
That and I like to see examples of good writing, where the plot, characters and settings interweave and reinforce each other, rather than glaringly standing out saying 'look at me!'  It's the kind of thing I want to accomplish in my writing, and I've always preferred it in my reading.

A Wet Head

Today I am in the process of reshaping my beret.  As anyone I did basic training with will tell you, my beret and my head have waged a never-ending battle.  Then, the dress regs changed and we were allowed to wear the ship's ballcaps off-base.  Yay!  My beret slid to the bottom of a drawer, biding its time, waiting for the chance to make my head look ridiculous.

Well, today I pulled it out in preparation for our journey to England, where we shall be on training for the last four months of the year.  Apparently they don't like ballcaps, so back to the beret it is.  Now I've been sitting in my chair reading, with a soaking wet beret on my head so as to reshape it.  This time, I've learned a few tricks and seem to be winning.  However, it is a canny thing, that beret, and I shall have to keep a close eye upon it.

This week as been slow, as I've mostly been readying my packing/repacking lists and sorting plans for England.  True, we don't leave for another month, but I've got leave back home in between and a chance to swap out some of my kit for things at home.  Frankly, being away from home is a pain in the butt when you've got to prepare to travel to a third location.  That and some days have just been wasted.  I didn't get as much writing done as I desired, but this weekend shall be the time I make up for it.  Hell, Wednesday I didn't do a think.  I sat in my chair after supper to read for a half hour while digesting, and woke up hours later and crawled over and into bed.  Very sad, but at least I felt great the next day.  Sometimes you gotta listen to the body.

I also tried more barefoot-style running.  After that first time, my calves were screaming in protest for the next three days.  This time, not so much, though experience told me to stretch a bit extra afterwards.  That and my legs didn't feel like a group of dwarves had surrounded them and beaten them with warhammers, so maybe this style of running is for me.  More data will tell.

That's about it for now.  Have to get to some more writing.  My recent successes (read: useful daily word counts) seem to beget success.  This is nothing new, as with many things, the more success you have, the more you are spurred to do it.  Happens all the time with painting models.

With that, I leave you to write words and fight with my beret.

Some random coolness

I have nothing for today, must write not blog.

For your pleasure, the Millennium Falcon, 'cause, why not.

This bit of coolness brought to you by my lack of werewithal to bring you actual content.

But it is cool, isn't it?

A day of victory

Today was what I like to think of a day of victory.

On the writing side, I bashed out over two thousand words.  In a mere two hours.  I took my laptop to the park near the Admiralty House museum on base and sat in the shade and just slipped into the zone.  It was good but reality did come calling.

On the professional side, I passed my Naval Engineering Indoctrination board.  Actually I passed it last Wednesday, but I'm including it here because I feel pretty good about the whole weekend.  Since it's my blog, I can do that.  :-)

I even tried an experiment when I did my workout today.  I've been reading about the concept of 'barefoot running' lately.  Now, you must know, normally I hate running.  Can't stand it.  It's too slow (and I admit I'm no sprinter) compared to my beloved bicycle or inline skates, it's too boring unless you can find a trail to run, and frankly, it tends to hurt.  After a friend sent a few articles about running barefoot, using the body's natural running stance (more of a midfoot hit rather than a heel hit), and looking at some interesting shoes (Vibram Five Fingers - www.vibramfivefingers.com, not endorsing, just passing the interest), I decided to try the whole idea out.  I went to the track over by the base hospital and spent the first ten minutes of my run barefoot (on the grassy part, not interested in the gravel portion, thanks), then put shoes back on and continued for the remainder.

Observations; I found that the barefoot stance was more natural, and wasn't as jarring as a heel hit that one uses with a more traditional running shoe.  I definitely used some muscles that haven't been used much lately (hello calf muscles!), but it was very interesting.  I can honestly say it didn't suck as much as I find running normally does.  That said, the track was still boring.  I'd be interesting to try a trail, but would want some shoes and before I actually lay out money for these odd 'foot-gloves' I think I'll continue my experiment for a while. 

The benefit of running for me is that in the military, it's an easy piece of kit (i.e. shoes) to take with you, and you can do it anywhere, from a treadmill to a flight deck. 

Add to all of that some laundry done and I think I'm going to toast myself with a nice, cold beer.  Tomorrow is another day, and another good one for writing.  Now if only it wasn't so thrice-cursedly hot.

Switch in focus

Success this weekend.  Roughly 1500 words.  It started with an agonizing ripping of even the most willing verb onto the page, and by the time the weekend was done I was pouring them out.  Well, relatively speaking.  There was studying to be done as well.

This next week promises to be a busy one.  Exam on Friday so studying and preps will take the lion's share of time.  Words shall have to wait.  Once this week is done, though, I can regain balance.

That's it for now.  Just happy to crank some words out and finish a scene that was being ... fussy, for want of a better term.  Oh, and I just looked at the bottom of the page.  Page 100!  Whooo! (yeah, I'll take the small victories.)

Words vs words vs words

Nothing like being on the opposite coast from home to give you time to write. I'm in Halifax right now on another training course. Seems endless some days, but that's what you get when you change trades.

The downside: my family is still on the west coast. This sucks, but my wife and I decided that any course (or combination of courses) under a year would be a 'no move' if possible. Saves on the upheaval.

The upside: I have only my course to worry about, and the after hours are free to write.

Have I been ironclad in my discipline and written every day? Heh. This is me we're talking about here folks. However, despite my procrastinative tendencies (yep, I did just make that word up), I have actually managed to churn out more words. When added to the pile I've done since the last time I posted, I'm cruising right along.

(And no, there's no reason besides life and other craziness why the last post was so long ago. Deal.)

So now here I am, a naval engineer now instead of MARS, and ready to finish the book this year. I'd say earlier, but courses and other job-related things (those things that pay the bills right now) have a terrible habit of getting in the way.

An interesting thought came to me as I was walking back from the grocery store. I was laughing to myself (inwardly, of course, else people do tend to look at you funny and cross the street) as I carried my parcels down the street. Why was I laughing? Well, I was thinking about Queen's Legacy, and how I'll definitely need to rework things in revision. Then I wondered how my words could ever be as good as many of the published writers I read every day. Then my mind turns back to the fact that all those people are just people, like me, who have put a lot of work, practice and effort into their writing. So my mind returns to its original confident state, thinking that with enough work and practice, so too can I go there.

The point of my rambling is not to draw down the accomplishments of published writers, many of whom I enjoy and/or revere. Rather, to remind myself that it is mere mortals who write these words, and pour hours of effort and work into their texts. Like any other profession, it's skills are learned through doing. I can do this. Maybe no one will want to read my works. Maybe they will. I'll not know unless I finish, and get them out there.

That's my thoughts for today. If you've stuck through my rambling, then good on you. Right now I think it's time to get back to writing, then some technical drawings.

Resolutions

Another batch of words today. All is good. Now on to ironing, shining, and homework to get ready for a week of class.

Normally I don't make New Year's resolutions. I have nothing against the idea, just that I figure any day can be 'day zero' if you want it to be. Maybe just the length of vacation I had this year makes it feel a bit different, or something. However, this year I've resolved to plug at writing every chance I get. 15 minutes here, an hour there, etc.

Will I finish the book this year? I don't know.

I do know that if I don't get back on the horse I've neglected for too long, I definitely will NOT finish. That is not acceptable.

Hit the stride today

First off, Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and Happy any other reason you can think of. Good mood today, and I'm lookin' to share the joy.

I hit a pretty good stride today. The last entry was what, July? Yep. After a whirlwind in August of getting my family moved to the west coast, then slamming into the MARS III course like a winged brick hitting the ground, I've had the holidays to reclaim my writing.

Well, that and actually dig my way through all the boxes and such to get at my stuff. Let's just say the movers made a mess of everything. Just put it wherever, and it took three days just to bring order to the madness and get sorted enough to have bedrooms, living room and kitchen that could be productive. Oh well, part of the job, I guess.

That said, I did pass the course, so now I'm in MARS IV, and if all goes well, I'll be in the fleet sometime in May/June. Yay me! First, let's pass the course. Gonna screw with the writing something fierce, but balance, young padawan, balance.

On the writing front, I got fully reacquainted with the WIP, and tonight I'm bashing out some serious forward progress. Not sure how many words yet, but at least a thousand or so. Just taking a break to get some tea and loosen the mind a touch. I didn't revise anything, just reread some bits, checked my references, and carried on. Well, I did add a note on the hardcopy I had to include some description of the main character at one point. Realized I didn't have any! I'll get that on revision, but it's good to remember. Not such a good thing to forget. Just as I promised myself not to go back all the time, I also promised to make notes and have a list of things to remember, whether it's names for bit-players I made up on the fly, or just what colour someone's horse is. It's small things, but if they get mixed up, it just makes me wince as a reader.

Right then, enough of my rambling, just rejoining the blogosphere. Pipe the carry on.