Vampires and Robots

It's been a minute, hasn't it? Seems like only a decade ago I was posting silly diet tips in an attempt to move the ol' blog in some direction that wasn't entirely book related. Wait, that was only a year ago? Oh. Well then... 2020 was one hell of a year, but I can't see any indication that 2021 is going to be anything less than a zillion times worse. That I didn't once drag out the computer and make any posts commenting on the state of the world since last February is telling in its own way. It isn't that I didn't have anything to say, but rather that I didn't have a drop of energy left to spend on anything long form. Truth be told, I still don't. But I think it's time to look back on the last year or so and talk a bit about where I was and what I was dealing with at what point in this unprecedented timeline from hell. I can't guarantee any of this will make sense and I sure as hell ain't going into it with any hopeful optimism about...

Ten years ago, I stood on a scale and saw a number that I hadn't previously seen in my adult life. It was a one. A one that was followed by two nines, but that didn't matter. It was a one, and not a two, which had been the only number I'd assumed I'd ever see and I was pretty amazed. I was certain that number meant the end to a number of real and perceived issues and that my life was about to become so perfect that I'd never have another bad day as long as I lived. Ten years later, I recognize a pattern of expecting everything to be one hundred percent hunky dory if only (insert pipe dream here) were to happen. Most recently was my pie in the sky aspiration of my house magically remaining clean thanks to the installation of my new kitchen. While it is handy to have convenient drawers for everything, we still cook, we still have a dog that insists on shedding, and space for more dishes in the sink just means more can pile up. But this isn't meant to be a deep...

Hi folks. It's been a long-ass time since I've posted anything, hasn't it? Well, there's a reason or two. Mostly, I haven't had the time. I've been working a whole lot and as such, I haven't had a lot of time to do anything creative, let alone launch any projects. But I haven't been doing exactly nothing, despite the title of my last post back in April. I did actually start writing again and I'd hoped to have a new book out by the end of the year. Likely, I won't, but there's a pretty good reason for that as well. But first, we need to have a frank discussion about Amazon.  Understand, when I first realized back in 2012 that self-publishing my latest book as an ebook was the best and most logical direction for my intentions, I spent countless hours researching the best way to do this without being scammed. I did something that I would have thought was a no-brainer and read the terms of service for a number of publishing companies and...

Hooray for referencing my own story title in this post title! How meta of me! Anyway, on with the blog: At the moment, it's been over a year since I finished any serious writing. A year ago, after finishing The Kyroibi Trilogy, I'd planned to take some time off and get used to the day job before jumping back into what had become normal for the previous five years, which was multiple releases per year. Obviously, that didn't happen.  Instead, I shifted focus to drawing because drawing was something I could do that was fun and didn't take as much of my brain as writing. But then, drawing went from fun to business when I decided on a lark to set up a Zazzle shop, and I'll be honest, I burned out on that a lot quicker than I did writing, mainly because I'd been there and done that.  This year, I've taken baby steps towards writing again. I promised to have something to publish by the end of the year and I'd like to keep that promise if at all ...

Warning: this post is going to be personal in nature. If you don't want to read what is likely to be a long-winded and meandering post about my physical*, mental, and emotional state, then I suggest skipping this entry. *Edited—after realizing how some of this will sound—to add: by physical i mean my health, not my appearance. I've no issue with how I look and do not require validation on that front, despite what you may take away from something I say later on in this post. Unless you've been following my ramblings from the days well before I began publishing (and to the three of you that I know have, thank you so much for your support), you probably don't know that I am a semi-healthy unhealthy human. Confused? Let me explain: From about mid-high school to my early 30s, I was overweight, I smoked for the majority of that time, I ate like crap, I all but ODed on caffeine every day, and although I didn't drink all the time, when I did, it was often to exce...