Triplets

So, in rapping with my dear friends Iris and Bucho in the comments of my last post, something about which I'd been quietly meditating for a few days came up.

Iris indicated a reticence to work on more than one project at once, while Bucho made a great point about how multiple projects can, in a cool way, inform each other.

See, I've got three unfinished novels lying there, and a deep passion for each. One is a sequel to my last novel, another is the first steps into my own space opera, while the third is, I think, another horror/suspense piece. I think.

In any case, I'd been contemplating attacking two at once, and either alternating days on them, or just letting my passion go where it takes me, so long as I bang out that all-important page-a-day.

What's influenced this, as well, is my contemplation of how 'me time' works nowadays, as this would be the window in which I would tackle such an enterprise. The context of 'me' changes drastically not only when you partner with a mate for life, but when the two of you collaborate on an offspring or several. Being that I've extended what I 'need' in order to continue a reasonably palpable existence by bringing these two under my 'great umbrella of life,' this fundamentally alters what 'me' is, and thus 'me time' becomes something that is paroled with a severely diminished fervency. View this not as a complaint, but as a topic on which I'm meditating.

In any case, I just want to fucking write.

If I want it badly enough, I'll do it. Kinda like my recent surge in body maintenance.

I commented, previously, that I'm interested in trying to write first thing in the morning. I may have some quiet time in which I've not quite piqued the interest of the rest of the world, and the timing is in such proximity to the dream world, that I can't help but wonder if that aspect might be conducive to some pleasant surprises in my writing.

Alas, I despise getting up before 7AM, so we'll see. Otherwise, mayhap I'll just make some time in the hour or so before bed.

Yeah, so I'm eager to get cranking on something. I've got solid footholds on two of them, and some reworking to do on the space opera. I just made some odd decisions in its first few chapters, and need to clean that up. I'm thinking that one's shelved for a bit, while I'll push on the other two immediately. I may even fold the 'horror/suspense' novel into the Endless Wars universe. We'll see.

When do you write?

-Blaine

coming to you live from my ipad

I am sitting shotgun while my wife drives. The mobile wifi is deployed and I am thumb-typing on the iPad just to see how I like it. I don't think I do.

We'll see.

I've finished an incredibly hard work week. I clocked nearly sixty hours, and most of those were spent firefighting emergencie while still making sure planned server deployments still happened. I love being a sysadmin, but firefighting for a whole week sucks.

Because I was being shit on for extended hours this week, very little happened with the space opera novel.

Known ally and hetero lifemate John had a great suggestion last weekend.

He's always been very kind to me in regards to my horror shorts, and suggested I publish an ebook-only collection of them for a few bucks.

I think this is a fantastic idea, and am going to sift through some old shit to see what's really there and see if this really is a feasible idea.

Anyway, just wanted to check in and see if I really could post from the road!

-Blaine

What Scares You?

Today will be a short post, since I got totally ass-raped at work (figuratively, of course; I'm not paid enough to allow sodomy).

What are the scariest moments you've ever experienced, whether it be in real life, in a game, while watching a film, reading a book, etc?

One of the things I'm always trying to crack is what scares people. There's something about fear that absolutely intrigues me. Fear, for me, is almost akin to spicy Indian food, where I'm always begging for it, but then when it's served to me, I can barely tolerate the intensity of it.

I love having the shit scared out of me, but when it comes to games, I hit my tolerance level, and sometimes have to walk away. I can only beat Silent Hill games when I have someone with me. People have laughed at me as I launch out of my seat, screaming, during certain moments in the early games of that series.

I've barricaded my bedroom door after watching 3 Amityville documentaries in one night.

I've gone hunting in the yard (knife in hand) for aliens after watching too many abduction stories and seeing aliens through my sliding door (or so I thought at the time.)

I don't go in the ocean for fear of being eaten by a shark, but stand ready with a weapon, should my foolish ocean-going wife and son be attacked.

I also have a collection of short horror stories that I add to from time to time, and I'm always trying to find out what it is about 'what's under the bed?' and 'what's outside my window?' and 'what's that sound?' that keeps us up at night as children, and that we still sometimes fight against as adults.

My wife and I always debate this, since things like aliens, creatures, monsters, etc. don't scare her, but she won't watch any film that features people doing horrible things. People scare her, not creatures.

I, as I've explained, fear monsters. People, though, don't scare me in the slightest. I know I can hold my own in a fight, and I understand people. Aliens, sharks, the undead aren't something I can understand (or grok, if you rather), and there's something about their utterly inhuman existence that just terrifies me.

I don't know. I don't think I totally understand what 'fear' is, nor do I think I have a full grasp on what scares me the most.

So, please share your scariest memories, whether they be from real life, or from some form of media. I'm really interested to compare and contrast the responses, so fire away! Thanks!

-Blaine

Please be sure to check out my novel, the Endless Wars: the Descent! Thanks!