Isn’t it ironic….

2008 started with the specter of unfinished goals and family illness. I found out that my dad had cancer. I confronted his mortality head on and in doing so confronted my own. Faced with death, I chose to live, to deal, to move on. And so I started putting words together in this blog. Day after day I wrote or tried to. The story that came out was like nothing I ever thought I would write. But it made me what I always wanted to be but was to afraid to be, a writer. And if I could write, I could exercise, I could repair my relationship with my dad. I stopped worrying about the time lost and concentrated on the time I had, right now, to do whatever I wanted to do. I learned that Depression is a real thing, a beast that robbed me of strength but that could be, if not slain, then tamed.

Then dad had an operation.

Pulled through.

I saw him for what he was and not what I thought he should be and I saw a little of what he really  saw in me instead of what I thought he saw.

Then it seemed that the cancer had returned.

But not really.

And I wrote a first draft.

Plus a TV series bible.

And competed in NaNo (and won!)

Connected with other struggling writers across the electronic ether.

Discovered old friends.

Forgave myself for my short comings.

Discovered a future full of possibilities.

The value of making the routine of life your own.

The joy of setting goals and accomplishing them.

Saw history being made.

In the spirit of all that and more I set a few goals for the upcoming year:

• To finish Neither Here nor There….
• To get an agent
• To get published
• To keep writing
• To keep working out in order to reach a healthy weight
• To continue my search for mental health
• To find the courage to confront all lives ills head on
• To re-connect with old friends and make new ones
• To expand my horizons
• To find a better job
• To live life to the fullest
• To boldly go where I never gone before in mind, body and soul

A year ago I would have said that the above was nothing but bullshit, but not today. This year, this 2008, has been the best year I had in a decade, at least and I plan to make 2009, come what may, even better.

Rocking on Xmas Eve!

A rainy Xmas Eve here in the tropics. A bit depressing, but what the hell! Time to rock this Xmas Eve!

Resources for Writers

Inspired by recent posts on research by writers  I decided to compile a short list of the go to online resources that I use while writing. These are simply places for quick answers and clues and by no means do they substitute for in depth research and analysis.

In no particular order:

• Wikipedia: A quick and surprisingly in depth online resource. Of course all the warnings about the malleability of any site that can be edited freely by users apply.  Also great for fans of popular works, such as games (WoW), franchises (Star Wars) or novels (Harry Potter). Each one tends to have their own wikis.
• Google Earth: Installed it on my machine and found it to be very helpful. Great to see real life location at a moment notice with reams of added links and info, such as travel times, nearby features (hotels, airports, tourist attractions and even volcanic/earthquake zones!)
• YouTube/Google Video: Want to see what someone swinging a samurai sword looks like? Missed an episode of the History Channel about the Battle of Midway? Want the latest review of the new hybrid sedan? You can find all manner of videos, including complete documentaries from around from the BBC to the Discovery Channel.
• Merriam-Webster Online: A great place to double check your spelling (and your spellchecker). Great if you have it installed on your browsers search engine window (Firefox has one).
• Clipmarks/Digg/StumbleUpon: Clip sites that take snippets from other websites. Great places to find interesting story ideas or stumble on new sites. Clipmarks and Digg are pretty good when it comes to the latest science and technology news, a great resource for the aspiring science fiction writer. Note- You may beed to subscribe to the service in order to have access to some or all of its features.
• BBC: Threw this one in because you should have at least one, if not more news sites on your bookmarks, search engine window.
• deviantART: A great site for visual inspiration. If your looking for an artist to illustrate the cover of your next book this is a great place to start. Heavy emphasis on manga/anime, but other art forms such as photography are well represented.

Well that is just a rundown of my favorite online sources. I hope they help.

Now on a completely unrelated note, in order to test the embed video feature I’ll throw in a Halo inspire music video I made. I hope you like it:

My Life Tattooed on Someone Else’s Page

Something extremely weird happened to me a few nights back. I was reading my copy of Harry, A History by Melissa Anelli (which according to the front cover is the “Award-winning webmistress of the Leaky Cauldron” website) when I found myself.

Literally.

I read three pages that seemed ripped from my own life, the last three years of it to be exact.  Word for word what I had experienced in my life. Sure the setting was different and so was the person speaking (from Staten Island, NY to Carolina, P.R.Female-Male, ) but still… her circumstances, her feelings and the people around were an exact match to mine, down to the behavior of the people around her.

Now I have heard about identifying with a character or in this case an author (this is a work of non-fiction) but this was beyond surreal. And yet considering how transformative this last year has been for me with two first drafts under my belt and a guide to a Harry Potter-based TV series (plus about 12-14 hours of therapy) this bit of serendipity caps the year nicely. I do not believe in fate, as in I don’t leave things to chance or happenstance. But this is too much of a coincidence. Add my connection via this shared experience with one of the subjects of the book (one many a writer can relate too, the rags-to-riches story of one Joane (J.K.) Rowling and this may be the best Xmas gift I have ever received.

Strange this life of ours is. I wonder where will I read the next chapter of my life?

Recommended Writer’/Resource Site:  deviantART

My Favorite Writers Blogs

In no particular order I present a list of blogs of, about writing and for writers that I check everyday:

• Spittin’ (out words) Like a Llama: Colby’s great blog about family, friends and writing (sometimes). Careful she has a wicked yet delicious sense of humor!
• Fantastical Imagination: Book reviews, publishing tips and so much more. A joy to read.
• Gypsyscarlett’s Weblog: A writer that likes to help and encourage fellow writers and loves the Victorian age. Scope her out.
• K. S. Clay: K. S. Clay domain/site which includes her blog. Her forte is supernatural suspense.
• The Purple Patch: Amy’s blog about her struggles as a writer. Well worth the read.
• A Really Nice Murder Blog: LOL! The title says it all.
• Writers in the City: A NYC city mom with a flare for writing and funny blog post.

Go visit them and enjoy!

The Post NaNo Blues (or a convinient excuse for why I ain’t done $#@!)

I finished NaNo! Huzzah! Hooray! Yippe-kay yay!

Now that we got that out of the way, lets get down to business. Procrastination, that evil hobgoblin (wait, has anyone known a hobgoblin that is not evil, except in a D&D campaign, never mind) that hunts writers everywhere. Yes, right now I should be working THE novel (you can scroll down the page and you can click on the link and read the first first chapter), polishing the final chapters, expanding the sub plots and generally preparing for the upcoming Beta. Instead I am writing about what I am not doing, should be doing but clearly I am not.

Now what does this have to do with NaNo?

Nothing much really. Yes, NaNo was challenging, exhausting and exhilarating. Makes it the third project I’ve written this year (so far).  And while I was pounding away at it I set Neither Here nor There…. to the side, intent on finishing the second draft just as soon crossed the finish line on November 30th. So I guess I am suffering from the post-NaNo/major project blues. Coming down from the nerve racking high of transferring your thoughts from neurons to electrons. I’m still writing, mind you. I sit down every day and scribble notes while zipping coffee while planning my next project. Yet the idea of completing the second draft terrifies me.

Truth is am afraid of what comes next.

The Beta.

The point where your precious little creation goes semi-public. When you throw the baby with the bath water into the middle of the pool and hope it can swim across before the resident alligator tears it to pieces. The time to face the facts (as Amy so eloquently put it in the comment section of her blog):

• Will they hate it?
• Can I really write?
• Are my characters interesting? (especially my sometimes whiney main character)
• Is it *fixable*? (that worries me less, but still…)

Above all else, do I have a story worthy of publication. That is the big one. I have no illusions (no real illusions anyway) of instant success but it would be nice to have a book that sells and puts me in the path transforming my writing into a worthwhile career (OK, by illusions I meant not instant million dollar advances, just so that we are clear on that). Maybe a movie deal down the line (an indy movie OK). Who knows. But guess what, none of that will happen unless I get cracking. So without further ado, I’m getting back to work.

See ya!