hello, my friends. it is in fact thursday night, about 11pm. my wife is asleep, the kids that are here are asleep, and my faithful companion, my cat jeph, is hovering. so i guess it is time to write some things down.

first off, welcome to my newest follower, Abey. We went to high school together, didn't know each other too well. LARP'd together in college (wouldn't admit that to too many people). keep up randomly. nice to see you.

the new anthology is coming along nicely. my wife says she likes the shorts better than the manuscript. perhaps i should listen, make that my priority. i am, of course, quite wary to post any real details on the innertubes, for fear of any individuals or organizations requisitioning them for their own. but as soon as i feel safe, i promise to give my friendly followers the first taste of... wait for it... Hard Earth. that's the working title. because it is earth, in some alternate time. and it is hard. hard to live there, i mean.

someone asked me today (and maybe she'll read this) how to get into a career in video games. the only real advice i could give was to master the english language (not that i am the best example, not really using any sort of proper capitalization, punctuation, or grammar techniques). half of my job is telling developers how to spell and punctuate. the other half is figuring out how to prank my boss (i know you're reading this...).

i hope everyone is well. we're supposed to be going on the wagon tomorrow. mostly so i can get some sleep, maybe lose a few pounds. it is the soda that's killing me, i know it, but i think i may have permanently fucked up my lungs after smoking for twelve years. so maybe that will kill me before any sugar will. not before the first book is published though.

so i guess i'm going to settle down for the evening, since the creative juices aren't flowing. maybe put in a film. i'm either going to watch the hurt locker or dante 01. hurt locker is by kathryn bigelow, up for a bunch of academy awards (sorry james cameron, your ex-wife's movie is going to kick the shit out of avatar at the academy awards, i hope). dante 01 is french, which means it is a bit snotty, but directed by the same guy who made delicatessen and city of lost children, so it already is better than half of the american movies i've seen this year.

good night to all of my friends, and i promise in my next post to drop a little reveal about the anthology... beware "rost them'al".

until something changes, i remain grim.