Scott Walker's Blog: Scott Is Writing (probably), page 2

The Tiny Alley in My Office

Pssssst.

I have a secret: my office now contains a tiny alley.

And not just a tiny alley - a tiny Japanese alley. With tiny lights. And tiny plants. And tiny doors and windows.

It sits on my desk within arm’s reach, and when I need a little mental distraction, I turn on its lights.

As far as I can tell, it’s not haunted (but it might be - who knows when some yokai will decide it’s a lovely home?). I don’t hear the plucked notes of a samisen or a biwa floating out of it (yet). I haven’t seen any tiny...

I Don't Like Writing

Okay, so yeah, uber clicky-baitey title, guilty as charged. But there’s actually a grain of truth in there. Hear me out.

For almost two year, I’ve been more or less writing full time. Publishing? Not so much (a little, but no where near what I had hoped or planned to publish).

Still, I’ve wrestled tens of thousands of words out of the ether and flung them at my computer’s hard drive. Multiple novel drafts. Hours and hours of editing stories I wrote years ago. Countless revisions on a TV pitch. My ...

"Folklore Tales of Old Japan" status: published!

After crushing through 30K+ words in the first half of last November for NaNoWriMo, I promptly shelved my first draft collection of short stories based on Japanese myths, legends, and folklore. My thoughts at the time were to swing back around to the urban fantasy novel I’d finished earlier in the year — the novel that needed a ton of work at the plot level. The plot level I wound up futtzing with but mostly ignoring until last month (a topic for another blog post).

Flashback to a pre-Covid-19 lo...

Flippin', Switchin', and Pressin' the Millenium Falcon's Buttons

First off, yes, it’s actually spelled “Millenium” (don’t you even THINK about auto-correcting, MacPro).

Second, yes, there are a ton of buttons, dials, switches, and doo-dads (and yes, that’s an actual engineering term LOOK IT UP). Not all of them were used across the arc of Star Wars movies, but many were.

How many? Well, you can check out the video below, but you’re going to want to stay for the end because…I don’t want to spoil it if you haven’t figured it out. It’s worth it.

Still with me? Cool...

"Daily Story Seeds" Now in Print!

I dont know a single writer who didnt feel at least a little giddy with joy after holding, for the first time, a printed version of a book they wrote.

Almost two months ago, I got to have that experience myself, after receiving a print proof copy of the physical version of Daily Story Seeds in the mail. The giddiness wore off somewhat quickly, as the cover of the print proof wasnt quite right (I have since learned the importance of bleeding when it comes to print book covers and Amazons KDP...

NanoWriMo - Once Again into the (Writing) Breach

UPDATE 11/21/19: After hitting 30K+ by day 14 and realizing I could continue writing - and easily hit 50K by Nov 30th - I decided the best decision right now wasnt to write another 20K of first draft material. What I needed to do was edit and publish the half dozen first drafts I already had laying around on my hard drive (some of which were from previous NaNoWriMos).

So thats what Im doing. Not sure if Im going to polish off a 40K novella I wrote last year or finish up the 6 short stories I...

Halo Outpost Discovery

A belated but heartfelt post about the Halo Outpost Discovery experience that toured the U.S. over the summer. I managed to catch the final installation in September at the Anaheim Convention Center.

The Spartan who started it all

As someone who has played Halo since its release in 2001, its a bit of a surprise to realize Ive had the Master Chief, Cortana, and the Covenant rattling around inside my head for nearly two decades. Also surprising is that its taken this long for Microsoft/343...

Finding The Unexpected in Ireland

I spent half of July in Ireland. At least, thats what my stack of credit card receipts and cell phone full of photos would have you believe.

I hopped the pond expecting windy and cool coastlines, almost daily rain, and a nearly perpetual grey overcast. Instead, it was sunny, warm, and humid. I almost want a refund.

Almost.

As with the best of travels abroad, it was the unexpected and the unlooked for that made the most impact on me. I had few goals outside of have a pint in a pub, listen to some...

Etiquette and Escalators in Japan

On my first trip to Japan, I found myself in a large Tokyo subway station at the bottom of a nose-bleedingly high escalator. I was already running late for a meeting, and missing my connecting train would mean an awkward, if not deserved, explanation on time management (or the lack thereof).

Pedestrians filled the escalator, though they were neatly separated into two groups: the majority, who were standing to the left, and the minority, who were valiantly slogged up the moving steps at slow...

My 98K+ Word First Draft Is Done

An hour ago I typed The End on the first draft of my first-ever urban fantasy novel. Okay, I didnt literally do that (does anyone do that anymore?), but I did call it done.

This draft is also the longest thing Ive ever written.

Whoo-hoo! Time to celebrate!

ORDER A LARGE PIZZA WITH PEPPERONI AND BACON! MIX UP A GIMLET! BINGE WATCH GOOD OMENS! LIGHT THE BEACONS OF GONDOR! PRANK CALL THE TARDIS (Is your multi-phase time displacement converter running?)! SHOOT OFF SOME FIREWORKS ON ENDOR! ( < - - - ed. note: not necessarily in that order)

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< - - - ed. note: not necessarily in that order)