worky worky thick-sliced turkey

hi friends and family and others. just a little update.

so we're getting back to work next week. "paycheck" work, not "enjoyable, sit at home at my desk and write what i want but don't get paid for it" work. it was inevitable. summer is ending. the spice must flow.

following a few more blogs now, if you're looking to get some more from two kick-ass authors: neil gaiman and joe hill. i love both of these guys and can't wait to dive into Stories, a new book which features work from both of them.

so i hope you are all well. third short story is beginning to get itself down into the OneNote, slowly spooling out (if you recall, i fancy myself a writer as well).

for your enjoyment, here are a few pictures of me eating cookies that i made this morning. i did not tell the children, so i was able to sneak a few before i let them devour the rest.

ok. see you soon. i'm off to get some laundry done.

go there

"you must never be afraid to go there."

-harlan ellison

if you want to have exploding testicles in a story, put them in there.

i was sitting here, thinking about alternate timelines and parallel universes and what kind of fiction could be formed in one, separate for now from the fictional, alternate, parallel timeline and universe that i'm already working on. an idea was forming, slowly, painfully. involving a lot of research, a lot of maps.

then i got sidetracked, which as you know by now, happens a lot.

maps. i need to make a map of my little made-up fiction world. should it be a map of earth? a map of earth as i think it used to be? a map of some other earth as it is or used to be? in the fiction, we have already been to a few cities on one continent, with more cities referenced, more continents referenced even.

that got me thinking about scope. the scope of this thing that we've started working on ("we" of course references myself and all of my supporters and fans, for you are all in this with me). how big it can get. i realize i want it to get big, to continue to grow until it is a world, no a universe, jam-packed with people and histories of people. of places and maps to and from and of those places. not just one universe, but multiple universes. a "multiverse", if you'll permit me to use the term coined by Michael Moorcock.

after wrapping my brain around how big this project can be, my thoughts continued off onto another track. This big project. This work. Who is it for? Well, it's for me, of course. and for you. but is it for everyone? probably not. literary tastes aside, not everyone will like something that a writer creates. closing in a little bit though, could anyone pick up a some-day book written by me and read it? sure. would they enjoy it? hopefully. is it going to be age appropriate? if that age is ten, probably not.

i started on stephen king when i was eleven years old. i know what my kids are reading these days, and am ok with it for the most part (sigh... twilight). but is everything printed in a book appropriate for any kid to pick up and read? of course not. that's where parents come in. know what your kids are reading. i'm not saying sit down and read it first, but you can always find a summary somewhere, say online, or the inside cover or back of the book. or just flip through it. if you see the term "heaving bosom" or "purple-headed warrior", maybe your eight-year old shouldn't be reading that just yet.

that quote up there at the top of the page sums it up nicely. as a writer, if you think of something that you want to write down, don't be afraid to do so. as referenced twice now (once here and once from last week), the newest short features exploding testicles. am i going to take it out because some may find it offensive? no. am i going to let my child, of an age i don't feel is appropriate to be viewing the material, sit down and read it and show it to her friends? no.

don't be afraid to put words down just because you want a wider audience. does everyone want to read about exploding testicles? no. and i'm ok with that. initially i thought of this book of stories as "young adult fiction". after that last story, maybe i should remove the "young". or just trust parents to know what their children are getting after.

hope to see you all soon.

wednesday afternoon barbecue pork spectacular

hello all!

so i finished the first draft of the second story today, which i'm sure you're aware of if you're following me on twitter. if you're not following me on twitter, you should do so. go here.

now, i know that the two stories i have finished so far are only rough drafts. it still counts!

this second one, without giving too much away, turned out a lot more visceral than i originally intended, what with exploding testicles and all, but you can't be afraid to put what's in your head down on paper. you're only going to let yourself down if you hold back.

so far the stories have a common theme, if only in title, The Red Left Hand and Dead Man's Hand. Ok, so maybe there are hands in both of them, too. I guess they have a couple of things in common. Oh, and they're both about revenge, to a certain degree. Not "Revenge" starring Kevin Costner, either. There are no Kevin Costners present in my book so far.

i'd like to get three more stories done before i move forward with my self-publishing plans. looking for someone to do me a kick-ass cover, as well as some sketches to go along with the stories. money? maybe/probably not. credit for work? yes.

in other news, my plans to inundate myself with all things fantasy and sci-fi are moving along nicely. slowly, but nicely. my son and i have begun learning to play Warhammer Fantasy Battles, which is taking some time. he seems interested so far, and i even have another buddy interested, who went halvsies with me for the Battle for Skull Pass starter set. Painting the little figures is definitely going to take some practice. when i get my card-reader back i can post some pics of my painting attempts thus far.

let me take a moment to introduce you to a few of the blogs i've recently added to the "blogs i follow" section over there to the right.

garagehammer.net is a bimonthly podcast dedicated to all things Warhammer. they talk about all sorts of other stuff, too.

passageways appears to be a blog by a friend of mine relating to what his company, passageways does, along with media-related social commentary.

kitchen hooligan is a blog by another friend of mine relating his culinary adventures. also, recipes!

sexygamer is lisa foiles' blog. if you're a gamer you want to check it out! game reviews and industry commentary with a comical/sarcastic spin. also, she's super hot.

Giada's blog: Giada de Laurentiis is the hot little italian lady on Food Network. as my wife says, every guy knows who she is, but nobody knows "Barefoot Contessa" who is on right after her. actually the link is to her website, where there are pics of her.

on walkabout: another friend's site, seems to be a spot for him to drop his words and images for us to see. good stuff. he's a smart guy.

face of the cookie is Kiala Kazebee's blog. She writes for the Portland Mercury. She funny lady.

William Gibson is one of my favorite writers. in my opinion, he is one of the biggest impacters on "science fiction" and "cyberpunk" of the twentieth/twenty-first century.

my fingers hurt from all that hyperlinking. are you still with me? if so, here's a quick video of giada in a bikini:

i know. i know.

thanks to all of my friends and followers. let me know what you're thinking.