Trope Tuesday: Arcadia

What happens when you cross the Ghibli Hills with the Call to Agriculture?  You get Arcadia, a simple, uncomplicated utopia where people keep to the good old ways and live in harmony with nature.  As home sweet home for the farm boy and the country mouse, it’s often the starting point for the hero’s journey, though you’ll… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Arcadia

Back in Utah…again!

So Sunday afternoon, I boarded a train with most of my earthly possessions (at least, all of the ones I care to enjoy for the next year) and headed out to Utah.  I arrived Tuesday night, without a car, a job, or a place to live, but things have been working out really well so… Continue reading Back in Utah…again!

4:04 hours and 2.8k words. Not bad!

You know, sometimes I miss the days when I would churn out 1,000+ badly written words and throw up a badly written blog post, still reeling in awe from a white-hot creative heat. Well, I think those days are coming back!  Except hopefully, my writing has improved since then.  Today was the first day I… Continue reading 4:04 hours and 2.8k words. Not bad!

A new daily writing approach

So last summer, I decided to stop tracking my daily writing word count.  There were a lot of reasons for this, mostly having to do with the way it led me to focus on the wrong things and beat myself up in ways that were ultimately counterproductive. The trouble is, I’d structured almost my whole… Continue reading A new daily writing approach

A not-so-obligatory New Year’s resolution

First of all, happy New Years!  I hope you’re all looking forward to 2013 as much as I am.  Last year was full of awesome life-changing experiences, but I have a feeling that this one is going to be even better. So after chatting about resolutions with some old friends, I’ve decided that a good… Continue reading A not-so-obligatory New Year’s resolution

Trope Tuesday: Terraforming

One of the problems with interplanetary colonization is that Earth-like worlds are fairly rare (though possibly not as rare as we once thought).  In our own solar system, the only other world that comes anywhere close (Mars) is a radiation-blasted desert with only the barest hint of an atmosphere and a surface temperature colder than… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Terraforming

Trope Tuesday: Settling the (Final) Frontier

I love stories about colonization, especially when they’re set in space.  There’s just something about a small group of rugged pioneers striking out into the harsh, unforgiving wilderness to make a new life for themselves.  Maybe it’s just something about my American heritage, or all those 4x games I played as a kid, but I doubt… Continue reading Trope Tuesday: Settling the (Final) Frontier

STAR WANDERERS: HOMEWORLD is now available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords!

That’s right!  Part IV of the Star Wanderers series is available for $2.99 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.  You can also find it listed on Goodreads here.  Newsletter subscribers should get the Smashwords coupon code in an hour or two. From the book description: THEY’VE FINALLY FOUND A WORLD TO CALL HOME—BUT FIRST,… Continue reading STAR WANDERERS: HOMEWORLD is now available on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Smashwords!

Oh hey! Happy Thanksgiving!

Funny how holidays creep up on you when you’re in a foreign country. We have Friday off here in Georgia, due to an Orthodox religious holiday.  I’ll probably head east and check out the Stalin museum, maybe Mtskheta and Qazbegi depending on the weather.  A friend of mine in Tbilisi said she’d get me a… Continue reading Oh hey! Happy Thanksgiving!