Ira Heinichen's Blog, page 265

“By Any Other Name” – Chapter 4

The events of this story take place in the Starstuff Universe some years before (or after?) those of the Starstuff Trilogy.

The crowd was silent. I was standing with my mouth open.

Balta, the legend of PMC-117 was a woman. An old one at that. And crazy.

Only now did I stop and take her in completely. Her hair was gray, rather wild, like her steely eyes. Her face was a map of rivers, valleys and canyons, the deepest of which were over her nose and forehead. They gave her a perpe...

“By Any Other Name” – Chapter 3

The events of this story take place in the Starstuff Universe some years before (or after?) those of the Starstuff Trilogy.

“You’re a thief, aren’t you?”

In the low light of the chamber, I could see a dirty face behind the golden gun. It was smeared with dirt, starstuff dust, and grime. Two dark eyes stuck in the middle of it, glittering like wet stones.

It was a woman.

“Not me,” I shot back. I swiped at the metal box. “You are. That’s my box. It’s not for you.”

“Can’t nobody t...

Day 1,831: Halfway…

Well…today wasn’t quite the beast-slaying I wanted it to be when I imagined it last night…but it was a success. Several things made themselves very clear today, and let me also say that I wrote 4,000 words. And good words. I wasn’t all that happy with my words yesterday. I was today. I actually found a groove today for a good three hours. What was educational was how I lost it.

This is what I learned today, or at the very least reinforced what I’ve learned before:

-The first hour of work for...

Day 1,830: Slay the Beast

Tomorrow, I’m attempting somewhat to slay the beast.

It’s been a long, long time since I had a marathon writing day. They’re an important part of ye old writing life. Certainly not something to rely on the REGULAR…but there comes a point in any project where the marathon day must come into play. Often several points. Right? Right.

Well, I need to work on that kind of stamina. Even if I crash and burn tomorrow…which isn’t going to happen…I need to know that I have that reserve in there. So, th...

Day 1,829: Fear, My Friend

I’m afraid.

I’m afraid of failure. I’m afraid that I will set a goal, set a timeline, and as has happened so many times before with my writing, I will not meet it. I’ll fall short.

I’m also afraid of success. If I succeed, then expectations follow. Responsibilities. Pressure. As another author friend, further along the path than I said: you can’t lose an audience if you don’t have one yet.

People scoff at the idea of being afraid of success, but that shit is real. Trust me. It may manifest it...

Day 1,828: Happy Spooky Day!

Happy Spooky Day, everyone!

Day 1,827: Five Years and a Day

I’ve been doing this blog for five years now…plus a day. I missed the anniversary last night!

Day 1,826: Travel and Murder

Whew.

Okay…so today was a travel day. Got up early, even though pops and I talked for a long time last night, and “hustled” my parents out the door so we could go have breakfast together. I put “hustled” in quotes because it took half an hour, but that is excellent for my family

Day 1,825: Dunes

Today was really cool. I went out with my family up to Arcata, and there’s this new section of the beach there where these giant sand dunes are, what’s not a new section of the beach but they’ve turned this area into a park now and you can go there. It was so pretty. It was a perfect day today. We stopped at a hole in the wall on our way up there, and got sandwiches and hiked out to the dunes and ate our sandwiches. It was just a really nice day.

I’m actually writing right now on my iPhone bu...

Day 1,824: Happy Birthday, Dad

Happy Birthday to quite literally the best man I know: my dad.

I’m keeping this entry short tonight because it’s already 2am and I’ve been up since 5:30am (with a one hour nap before dinner)…but I owe so much of who I am as a grown adult man to my father. He’s one of the kindest, most genuine, strong, smart and generous people on this planet, and I’m *incredibly* lucky to have had him as a role model growing up. So lucky.

With that, it’s time for bed. More tomorrow, I promise!