David T. Allen's Blog, page 2

Japan Day 6: A 700-Year-Old Marketplace

It was a rainy day when we visited Nijo Castle, the Nishiki Market, and the Kit Kat Chocolatory. Luckily, our hostel provided a pile of free umbrellas. I spent the morning copying notes in my Pomera typewriter and spilling a pitcher of water in the common area.

After Leslie woke up, we headed to Kyoto Station to catch a train to Nijo Castle.

The pictures were taken on Saturday, November 14, 2015.

Nijo Castle

Nijo Castle, or Nijojo, was built in 1603 and is a UNESCO world heritage si...

Sprint 17: When Everything Changed

April was an atypical month that diverged from our plans, but with good reason. Leslie applied to a developer boot camp, Academy Pittsburgh, and was accepted! Meanwhile, I started my first contract gig.

Last Sprint

We had three objectives planned for April:

Take a break from writing. Focus on learning how to build video games. Find freelance work.

We failed the first two.

By the second week, I was already itching to get back to Raquel and Verne’s adventure, so I started writing.

We tried...

Japan Day 5: Kimono Selfies at Kiyomizu-dera

Our fifth day was filled with kind people, the historic streets of Kyoto, a temple that was built in the 700s, and a giant rabbit statue. We rounded out the night with a trip to Kyoto Station, my favorite station in all of Japan.

The pictures were taken on Friday, November 13, 2015.

Morning

Leslie caught the bug I caught just before we left America, so we decided to take it easy and just walk to temples around the hostel.

The amazake we had near Fushimi Inaria Taisha was nice on the...

Sprint 16: Beta Reader Feedback, Mexico, and Pinball

March was a whirlwind. It started with a well-timed trip to Mexico, followed by implementing feedback from nine beta readers, gardening, jury duty, releasing our short story in the Steampunk Fairy Tales collection, and lots of pinball.

Last Sprint

Nine beta readers provided feedback on the changes Leslie made in January. Our major focus was to implement their input and finish Echo Chamber Heist. We ended up writing two new scenes and removing large sections that no longer felt like they belon...

Self Publishing a Collection with other Authors

We recently contributed to the Steampunk Fairy Tales collection, which contains short stories from eight authors. In this article, I reflect on what it takes to go from idea to publication in three months.

Before you start

First, contact authors you know to gauge their interest in your project. Don’t invest too much time until you have a few bites from enthusiastic people with a history of getting things done.

Next, write a single page description that will be posted in a prominent place:

O...

Why Ru Paul’s Drag Race is Good for our Home

Every March, our house becomes nearly spotless. If you think this is the work of spring cleaning, you’re wrong.

March brings us the bounty that is RuPaul’s Drag Race and, frankly, I’m addicted. Being addicted, however, does nothing to combat my inability to sit still and watch TV. Thus, every Tuesday and Wednesday, I clean while catching up with both the main show and Untucked. Suddenly the kitchen is clean, the laundry is washed and put away, and the floors are vacuumed. It’s like magic.

...

Japan Day 4: Uji, or The First Time Leslie Drank Too Much Tea

Uji is a city in Japan that’s known for its green tea. Japan is a country known for its green tea. As you might imagine, there’s a lot of green tea in Uji. It also happens to be one of my favorite places.

We stopped by the phoenix temple, Byodo-in, which is featured on the back of the 10 coin, and ate at Nakamura Tokichi Honten, which is TripAdvisor’s #1 restaurant in Uji. Leslie found a mascot that left her squealing with joy. On our way back to the room, we encountered a cheer against domes...

Curing The “I’ve Read My Manuscript Too Many Times” Blues

We’ve been editing and re-reading our manuscript for days now. Leslie is a machine; she can pour over the same words all day, every day, and make significant improvements. I, however, am weak. I’ve had a hard time contributing lately because all I see are negatives. But, this morning, I found a way to cure it.

Stuck with the sniffles and the I’ve-read-our-manuscript-too-many-times blues, I went to Amazon to read samples from books that I know were commercially successful. Sure enough, I fo...

Sprint 15: Being “Funemployed”

February was the first month where both Leslie and I were “funemployed.” Thanks to the extra time, we accomplished far more than any month before.

Note: Dave has a job, it just hasn’t started yet (^-^).

Last Sprint

My major focus was to finish edits to Echo Chamber Heist based on my beta read and to critique every story from a soon-to-be published Steampunk Fairy Tales collection. My first two weeks were spent copying notes from my Nook into our manuscript. Book progress was slow because it...

The Legend of Korra: A Discovery in Several Ways

Recently, Dave and I started watching a new show: The Legend of Korra. I watched a few episodes of Avatar with my little cousin, and generally enjoyed them. As I’ve seen some funny images from The Legend of Korra over the years, I was geeked to sit down and finally give it a proper watch.

In some ways, it’s perfect. Its campiness tends to pull the punch on any excessive drama, and the tension is balanced with a very playful approach to story-telling. Despite all of these pluses, though, I occ...