Gliese 581g: The first New Earth?

My friends, the revolution has begun. Scientists from UC Santa Cruz announced today the discovery of Gliese 581g, the first planet discovered in the habitable zone of its star.  Let me repeat: the first planet discovered in the habitable zone of its star. In this habitable zone, temperatures are just right to support life as… Continue reading Gliese 581g: The first New Earth?

Bed intruder song بالعربي

I can’t believe I just did this. An Arabic speaker asked, in a youtube comment, for a translation of the recent Antoine Dodson rapist song meme.  Since I didn’t have anything better to do was already busy procrastinating, I went ahead and made a rough translation.  Here it is: ومن الواضح أن لدينا في لينكولن… Continue reading Bed intruder song بالعربي

Update on things

Revised the first chapter of Mercenary Savior today.  I will probably revise it a couple more times before this draft is finished, but at least I’ve done it once. For some reason, most of my alpha readers didn’t give me too many comments to work with.  I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or… Continue reading Update on things

End in sight

Things are winding down for my current work in progress, Worlds Away from Home–or should I say winding up, since I’m just a chapter or two from the major climax?  In any case, by the end of the week, inshallah, the rough draft will be finished. <crosses fingers> It’s been tough, but I’m cautiously optimistic… Continue reading End in sight

Story Notebook #3 (part 2)

Alright, I said I’d finish running through my third story notebook, so here it is. After all, there’s no better time than now: The song, btw, is from Summoning of Spirits, quite possibly the best fanmade video game soundtrack that ocremix has put out. Oh, and it’s completely free; did I mention that? If you… Continue reading Story Notebook #3 (part 2)

Braving the unexpected rough spots

Right now, I’m going through this unexpected rough spot in my novel, where I know what’s supposed to happen (or at least I have enough of an idea to wing it fairly well), but the writing just isn’t coming.  This happens every time I hit the two thirds mark, and it really sucks. Currently, I’m… Continue reading Braving the unexpected rough spots

Forward to new ground

A couple days ago, I finished writing through the material I’d written for Worlds Away From Home back in 2008 before I dropped the project.  For the first time since March, I find myself drafting entirely new material. It’s a little bit unnerving; I’m a much better reviser, I feel, than straight up writer.  Revising… Continue reading Forward to new ground

Take me to Arabia

Recently, I’ve found myself nearly overwhelmed by the sudden urge to run away to the Middle East and go totally and irrevocably native.  It may pass, but I still want to go back there–really bad. So I looked up BYU’s TESOL certification program, and figured I could apply in January, start fall of ’11, and… Continue reading Take me to Arabia

Cover Letter Fail

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I volunteer as a slushpile reader for The Leading Edge.  We see some pretty bad stuff, such as stories written entirely in one-line paragraphs, or self-proclaimed “short stories” over 80 pages and 30 chapters long, or hilariously awkward phrases like “the copious softness of her breasts.” This, however, takes the cake.… Continue reading Cover Letter Fail