Goodbye DC

So I have some crazy, unbelievable news to share: I got fired from my internship, under disputed circumstances.  That’s right: fired from my unpaid internship four weeks before it was scheduled to end. The exact reasons for the termination were never made completely clear to me, but I suspect politics played a significant role and… Continue reading Goodbye DC

Go to Tor.com and read this.

Brandon Sanderson’s story of how he decided to become a writer is very interest.  It goes back to elementary school, when he hated books and reading in general.  A wise teacher put a copy of Barbara Hambly’s Dragonsbane in his hand, and it started a chain reaction that led to him becoming a bestselling writer.… Continue reading Go to Tor.com and read this.

Major project shift

I’ve got this goal to finish my current work-in-progress, To Search the Starry Sea, by May 1st 2010.  However, the deeper I get into the story, the more I realize how many problems it has–how much it sucks, in other words. Normally, this wouldn’t keep me from dropping the project or putting it on hold.… Continue reading Major project shift

I’m published!

That’s right–my first published story just came out in issue 58 of The Leading Edge.  I am happy to say that after three years of formally pursuing my career as a writer, I am now a published author! The story is titled Decision LZ1527, and it’s about a guy asking a girl out on a date–as… Continue reading I’m published!

End of the apprenticeship

I got in a long conversation with my roommate tonight, where we talked about girls, government, the economy, 2010 elections, corporatism, Ursula K. Le Guin, and all other kinds of good stuff.  Towards the end, we got to talking about my goals to be a full time writer, and I showed him the record I’ve… Continue reading End of the apprenticeship

“This is my culture; this is my community”

So back at World Fantasy in San Jose, I picked up a bookmark for a science  fiction club in the Washington DC area, WSFA.  I figured that since I was headed out there, I should check it out.  Last night, I went to my first meeting. Getting there was quite an adventure.  The meeting was… Continue reading “This is my culture; this is my community”

Got a bite!

Just yesterday, I got a response to a query for Genesis Earth that I emailed to an agent at Nelson Literary Agency, LLC.  Apparently, my query piqued their interest and they wanted to see the first 30 pages of my manuscript! It’s not a huge development, of course–they haven’t requested the full, just a partial–but… Continue reading Got a bite!

Thoughts on writing characters

A couple months ago, I was listening to one of my personal recordings of Brandon Sanderson’s English 318 lectures from last  year’s class.  The topic was writing characters. Brandon outlined several techniques for making characters sympathetic.  He also outlined how to round them out: give them flaws and handicaps, as well as little quirks to… Continue reading Thoughts on writing characters

It’s full of stars!

I have a confession to make… I should have been writing these past three hours.  I really should have been writing.  But a couple of days ago, I downloaded this awesome program called Celestia.  And when I say awesome, I mean awesome! Imagine Google Earth.  Now, imagine Google Earth…for the Universe. I told you it… Continue reading It’s full of stars!

Career chat at high tea

So my Turkish supervisor at WINEP took us new interns (all four of us) out to the Mayflower hotel last week for high tea, where we talked about how things have been going for us at the institute so far.  It was interesting–the first time this Mormon boy has been out to tea, particularly in… Continue reading Career chat at high tea