Newborn Son

So, yup. One of those great life-changing events has occurred for me. My wife and I had our firstborn last month, and our little son is doing quite well.

Needless to say I’m thrilled, and happy, and sleep-deprived. But it’s all good.  Fatherhood definitely resets one’s priorities, and definitely in a positive direction. However, it also tests my resolve to continue my writing.

I know lots of you writers and bloggers out there are also parents, so I’d like to ask…how do you balance it all? When do you get your writing in? Your reading? Your editing? Your blogging? I eagerly await your experienced advice:)

Piracy and Editing

 

The freedom of the open sea. The wind at your back. Pirates and treasure just over the horizon.

These are but a few of the impressions lingering in my mind lately. After completing another round of drafts on my pirate novel Caesar’s Revenge, I’ve submitted it to a professional editor who is currently working on my manuscript. Her edits, in combination with the great feedback I’ve received from critique partners so far, has kept me both busy and inspired.

So what big projects are you working on this holiday season? What editorial process helps you along once you’ve completed your first few drafts? Interested in reading an excerpt of my current obsession/passion?  

Chaotic Good vs. Lawful Evil

If you’ve played DnD before you’re probably snickering. I’m of course referring to the DnD alignment that characters have within a game or universe, which you can explore further here. These personality attributes are great when trying to craft characters for your own books, regardless of genre.

For instance, my favorite combination is when you face two characters against one another where one is Chaotic Good and the other Lawful Evil. Essentially, a Chaotic Good character is a person that follows their own sense or right and wrong, but is often opposed to society’s law, wheres a Lawful Evil character is the exact opposite, respecting authority to a T, but failing to have an internal sense of morals. One of my favorite examples of this combination comes from the Star wars universe, namely Han Solo and Boba Fett.  

So what personality type are you? A goodie two-shoes Lawful Good or perhaps a Chaotic Neutral free spirit? What types of characters do you like to see in books?

The Giants Clinch It!

What more can I say? My home team clinched the World Series for the second time in three years. Go Giants!

It's been a great run, not to mention an inspiring time whether you're a writer or not. It's wonderful to see so many hard-earned dreams come true for people in other professions who have defied the odds in order to accomplish their goals. I think more than a few would-be writers can relate to that.

So, I'm on cloud nine right now. How about you? Any spectacular events happening in your neck of the woods? 

Next Big Thing Bloghop

1. What's the working title of your book?
Caesar's Revenge

2. Where did the idea for your book originate? 
It's been in my head so long...maybe past life memories;)

3. What genre does your book fall under? 
Historical Fiction

4.Which actors would you like to see in a movie of your book?
No one in particular. The villain from Serenity would be good. 

5. What's a one-sentence synopsis of your book?
Ex-slave, turned pirate, Black Caesar, captures his former master's ship and renames it the Revenge, but gets more than he bargained for when his mutinous crew attempts a near suicidal raid against his master's treasure fortress...from which no pirate crew has ever returned alive. 


6. Will you self-publish or traditional publish?
Traditional. 

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft?
I'm 3/4 done, at the rate of 1,000 words a day. 

8. What other books compare with your story?
Crichton's Pirate Latitudes and Stevenson's Treasure Island. 

9. Who/what inspired you to write this book?
Good pirate books and bad pirate movies...but for different reasons. 

10. What else would pique a reader's interest in your book?
It's a revenge tale, who wouldn't like to read that? ;)

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Giants Do the Impossible

 

Well, I know it’s been a while, but I’m pretty stoked about today’s post. My home team, the SF Giants, won the final game in their series to advance further into the playoffs! Drinks are on me!

Never before has a team come back from an 0-2 hole in a five game series and come back to win by sweeping their opponents on the road.  To top it off, Buster Posey hit a Grand Slam and will undoubtedly be MVP for the league. In addition, our other Bay Area team, the A’s are poised to try and do the same thing tonight in their game against Detroit.

Needless to say, I’m still happily in the throes of writing, but between a busy work schedule and doing some house remodeling things have been a bit hectic. I must admit, this big win by my favorite team of my favorite sport has given me that extra boost of inspiration to push through the week. So what great things give you a boost when you need it?

Tweeting with A Robot

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Sorry, I’ve been lax with my posts lately. Been super swamped at work. Also, devoting what time I have to getting my daily allotment of fiction writing into my schedule.

Lately, I’ve been getting tweets from the Mars Curiosity rover on the red planet. For those of you into NASA and space travel like I am this probably comes as no surprise. It’s funny to think that machines are now on social media and that they don’t even have to be earth-bound.

It gets me to thinking, if you could go anywhere where humans can’t typically go, where would it be? Investigate the bottom of the sea or maybe the heights of Mars? I for one would definitely want to see the Moon or Mars up close, but even a view of Earth from low orbit would suffice…all with a space suit of course!