Inspired on Multiple Projects

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There just aren’t enough hours in the day, are there? How to fit in all the needs of one day with all those literary aspirations? So what happens when you get inspired to write more than one book at a time?

Inspiration certainly isn’t a bad thing, but it can be demanding on your schedule. I find myself half way through one writing project and already dabbling into two others. Needless to say it doesn’t bode well for sleep.

So how do you balance multiple projects at once? Do you give in to your newest whims or do you make yourself finish your current project completely before moving on? Perhaps you’ve found some kind of compromise?

New Job!!!

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I recently accepted a new position as a Technical Writer at Gree, Inc. in San Francisco. Needless to say, I’m stoked to be working for one of the top social, mobile gaming companies in the world. Even after my years working at Facebook and Google, it rocks to be an employee at Gree!

Great benefits, great people, and lots of great opportunities are just the highlights.  I’m keeping pretty busy, so forgive me if my blog posts are erratic for the next week or two as I settle into my new job.  To learn more about Gree, just check them out on Wikipedia or play some of their new games, like “Zombie Jombie” for iPhone and “Dino Life” for Android.

So what’s happening in your life? I know lots of you are making big transitions, whether with kids, jobs, or places to live. How’s it all going?

Trip to New York and Boston

Hi, All. Just got back from a trip to New York and Boston where I visited my sister studying at NYU. Thanks for your patience while I was on this temporary hiatus.

New York and Boston rock this time of year, not too hot and not too cold. In New York we saw the Statue of Liberty, the 9/11 Memorial, Newsies on Broadway, and the Museum of Metropolitan Art.  In Boston we took the Freedom Trail, ate lots of great seafood, went to Fenway and Harvard, and did a daytrip out to picturesque Cape Ann. All in all, an awesome little vacation.

What are some places you like to go to in order to take a break or gain inspiration? Do you prefer museums on trips or nightclubs or something more outdoors? Where’s the next place you’d like to go when you get the chance?   

Hiatus

Sorry, for the lag time on my responses lately. I need to go on a brief hiatus for the next week or two, but when I get back I promise to have some new posts for you. Until then, take it easy:)

Favorite Plot Devices

What’s your favorite plot device? Maybe you like stories with a red herring thrown into the mystery? Or perhaps you like dramas with a convincing femme fatale?

One of my favorite plot elements is to run opposite characters into one another. Any situation where you can force two people who don’t really like one another to have to work together usually provides great tension. Everything from the characters in Pride and Prejudice to Star Wars use some element of throwing opposites at each other.

So what plot devices do you like to see? A talisman object in a quest, i.e. like Tolkien’s One Ring? Or maybe you prefer something more subtle, such as a film noir character who should be a bad guy, but does good things?  

Receiving Comments

How do you like to receive comments on your blog? How do you prefer to leave comments on others’ blogs? I’m always trying to find a happy medium with how people like to interact in the blog-o-sphere.

Way back when I used to respond to every comment on my blog right after it was posted, but I found that somewhat cumbersome. Now I make a single post with comments specified to each person at the end. On the one hand I don’t want to overburden people with lots of fluff, but I do respond to each and every comment by week’s end.

How do you typically respond to comments on your blog? One at a time, en masse, some other way? How do you balance it all on your blog?

Forbidden Books

Some books you’re not supposed to read. Considered dangerous or even evil. Depending on the country in which you live they may actually be banned.

I recently read some socially “forbidden” books, not because I agree with them, but because I wanted to form my own opinion about these books, without having to read what someone else wrote about them. I read Mein Kampf, and needless to say my wife gave me some very strange looks for reading something written by Hitler. Needless to say I abhor fascism and Nazism in every form, but I wanted to read this book so that I could form my own opinion on the subject and the man who indeed turned out to be truly evil. I also read the Koran, which many in the West shy away from, and even though I do not practice Islam, I found it enlightening on some subjects and disturbing on others. Such is my opinion, but I based it on my own reading and interpretations and not someone else’s.

What “forbidden” books have you read in the past? How do you evaluate controversial topics on your own? Do you feel that books that you disagree with should still be available in bookstores and libraries even if they contain offensive materials?