Category: Desert Stars

Semester endgame

Seven days!  Seven days! And then the semester is over!  Hallelujah! Unfortunately, in the course of those seven days, I’ve got three major papers to write. It’s going to suck. But then it’s over! Thank goodness.  This semester has been pretty crazy–not in terms of work, but in terms of motivation.  A lot of the… Continue reading Semester endgame

Productivity breakdown

I’ve been thinking a lot about the writing I accomplished in the past few semesters. In some ways, I worry that I’ve become a lot more disorganized and a lot less productive than I was a year ago. Back in winter ’08, I took a couple of really difficult classes, got up early each morning… Continue reading Productivity breakdown

Back in school

So, school has started again!  As fun as the vacation was, it’s good to be back. I think I’ve more or less finalized my schedule by now.  I’m taking an Arabic grammar class, a poli sci class on Islamic politics (taught by an Arab guy who drove ambulances in Lebanon during the Israeli invasion/occupation in… Continue reading Back in school

Finishing this novel is harder than I’d thought

So is trying to hit 3,000 words each day.  For the past week, I’ve been doing between 1,500 and 2,500 words every day, but lately it’s just been really hard.  I’m on break, and I know that I should have more time for this kind of stuff, but I don’t know. It has been a… Continue reading Finishing this novel is harder than I’d thought

The Mongol hordes…in SPACE!

A while ago, I wrote a post on this blog about what we were learning in History 240 about the Turks, the Seljuks, and the Mongols.  Fascinating stuff!  Really epic!  Genghis Khan, Tamarlane, Tugril Beg, and all the rest of those guys may have been bloody, totalitarian rulers, but they did some incredible stuff, especially… Continue reading The Mongol hordes…in SPACE!

Change of plans

So, it’s been two weeks since the end of Thanksgiving break, and things have changed quite a bit.  I’ve been struggling quite a bit with my story.  I could hardly get past the first chapter of the second section of the novel, and I’m at a critical point where I have to start introducing key… Continue reading Change of plans

Not bad…but not where I need to be, either

959 words isn’t bad.  But I want to be further along in the story than where I am.  I need to get Tristan out into space so that he can meet the space trading family, fit himself into their dynamic on the spaceship, develop a new romantic interest, find out about their religion, and be… Continue reading Not bad…but not where I need to be, either

Section one complete

Yes!  I finished section 1 of my novel Hero in Exile today (the rough draft, at least).  The main character, Tristen, just had everything he thought he knew pulled right out from under him, and now he’s on his way “home” to a world he knows nothing about.  New characters, new problems, change of scenery,… Continue reading Section one complete