Doug Farren's Blog, page 4
December 3, 2017
Collision Course update
Even though I have a lot of news, I will try to be brief -- I know your time is precious.
Collision Course is now moving along swiftly. It currently stands at 52,000 words and the story is finally starting to come together nicely. There is a good chance I will be done with this by the end of the year. I have a short week next week and I'm on vacation after that. I intend to write as much as possible during my vacation.
My studies of JavaScript have become quite intense. I started my programming life as an assembly programmer (Z80 ASM if you're curious). I then transitioned to C which ran under DOS 3.2. For the past 25 years, I've been heavily involved in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) as well as VB6 (which is now no longer supported). JavaScript is very different than any of those languages and it's been a bit of a struggle to learn. I could have decided to go the JQuery route but I would rather have a solid understanding of JavaScript first because JQuery is nothing more than a JavaScript library. It's finally beginning to sink in and I will be starting to write code I can play around with in the very near future. The interesting part about JavaScript is that it runs only in a browser (as far as I know). I would love to see a compiled version of this language as it is very powerful.
The news coming out of Washington has caused me to do something I've never done before -- register to vote. Yes, you heard me correctly, I've never registered to vote. I have always disliked politics and I dislike politicians even more. I never registered because I felt I would never have enough information to make an informed decision on the issues being voted upon. That changed when the current administration took control. Congress is writing bills that no longer serve the people. They are being controlled by big business and no longer listening to those who put them in office. Last week, they refused to allow the Democrats time to read the disgraceful bill they created going so far as to vote on a 500+ bill without any debate, no full discussion, no CBO score, and with hand-scribbled notes and half-ass promises made in the shadows of the night.
Don't take my word for it. Don't take the word of a single media outlet either. Go to the source and read the bill (if they make it available). Listen to multiple newscasts. Read more than one article. Get the facts and you will see for yourself that our Congress no longer works for the people who put them there. I for one have had enough and I will be voting to put the people who have allowed this to happen out of office by casting a vote in 2018. If you care about the future of this country, you will do the same.
America used to be looked up to by the rest of the world. Now, people laugh at us. We are the only nation on Earth not in agreement with the Paris accords. Our "democracy" has been analyzed and we are now viewed as an "oligarchy". We no longer support higher education, refuse foreign scientists and engineers entry based on the religion of their country of origin, harass people because of their beliefs, and ignore the social issues that are tearing this country apart. It's time for a change.
If you don't like what you see, make your voice heard. Vote. I intend to do so.
Collision Course is now moving along swiftly. It currently stands at 52,000 words and the story is finally starting to come together nicely. There is a good chance I will be done with this by the end of the year. I have a short week next week and I'm on vacation after that. I intend to write as much as possible during my vacation.
My studies of JavaScript have become quite intense. I started my programming life as an assembly programmer (Z80 ASM if you're curious). I then transitioned to C which ran under DOS 3.2. For the past 25 years, I've been heavily involved in VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) as well as VB6 (which is now no longer supported). JavaScript is very different than any of those languages and it's been a bit of a struggle to learn. I could have decided to go the JQuery route but I would rather have a solid understanding of JavaScript first because JQuery is nothing more than a JavaScript library. It's finally beginning to sink in and I will be starting to write code I can play around with in the very near future. The interesting part about JavaScript is that it runs only in a browser (as far as I know). I would love to see a compiled version of this language as it is very powerful.
The news coming out of Washington has caused me to do something I've never done before -- register to vote. Yes, you heard me correctly, I've never registered to vote. I have always disliked politics and I dislike politicians even more. I never registered because I felt I would never have enough information to make an informed decision on the issues being voted upon. That changed when the current administration took control. Congress is writing bills that no longer serve the people. They are being controlled by big business and no longer listening to those who put them in office. Last week, they refused to allow the Democrats time to read the disgraceful bill they created going so far as to vote on a 500+ bill without any debate, no full discussion, no CBO score, and with hand-scribbled notes and half-ass promises made in the shadows of the night.
Don't take my word for it. Don't take the word of a single media outlet either. Go to the source and read the bill (if they make it available). Listen to multiple newscasts. Read more than one article. Get the facts and you will see for yourself that our Congress no longer works for the people who put them there. I for one have had enough and I will be voting to put the people who have allowed this to happen out of office by casting a vote in 2018. If you care about the future of this country, you will do the same.
America used to be looked up to by the rest of the world. Now, people laugh at us. We are the only nation on Earth not in agreement with the Paris accords. Our "democracy" has been analyzed and we are now viewed as an "oligarchy". We no longer support higher education, refuse foreign scientists and engineers entry based on the religion of their country of origin, harass people because of their beliefs, and ignore the social issues that are tearing this country apart. It's time for a change.
If you don't like what you see, make your voice heard. Vote. I intend to do so.
November 23, 2017
Happy Thanksgiving!
Today is the day of the year when American families gather together to consume too much turkey, ham, and all sorts of sugary delights. We are supposed to use the day to give thanks for what we have and to thank others for what they have done. But why limit thanking others to a single day out of the year? The historical facts surrounding the first Thanksgiving are now being questioned. The Huffington Post has a good article concerning this that is worth reading. And, just like Christmas, our society has commercialized certain holidays to the point where the average person no longer understands the original purpose of the holiday. One may as well change the name of Thanksgiving to Black Friday Preparation Day and Christmas to Gift Giving Day.
As far as writing goes, I've made good progress on Collision Course and I'm well into the second half of the new novel. The two timelines are now properly aligned and I believe I have a way to end the story. I don't know when I will be done though as I have competing priorities these days. I've started reading a 1,000+ book on JavaScript as well as an 800 page book on JavaScript and JQuery. I'm also still working my way through several books on CSS and HTML. It's a lot of reading and a lot of learning but I've set my mind to learning how to do website development and I'm not backing down.
The other day, I signed up for the Cleveland Concoction which begins March 9th and runs for 3 days. This convention is unique in that they have what's called the Author Alley where they take books from attending authors and sell them to the convention goers. This is a fantastic idea and I applaud them for doing this. This will be the first time I've attended and if the sales are good I will return. For most self-published authors, conventions are not worth the money unless you just want to go to the convention to enjoy yourself. The Cleveland Concoction might prove to be different.
The other convention that has proven to be a success for me is the Northeast Ohio Geek Expo. I've attended this event for the past two years and each time I made more in sales than it cost me to attend. For a self-published author, this is an event worth attending especially since it is local to me. I treat my writing as a business and every financial decision associated with attending a convention is subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. If the result is a negative cash-flow, I don't spend the money.
I have a lot of reading to do as well as a turkey to cook. Time to end this and get back to learning.
As far as writing goes, I've made good progress on Collision Course and I'm well into the second half of the new novel. The two timelines are now properly aligned and I believe I have a way to end the story. I don't know when I will be done though as I have competing priorities these days. I've started reading a 1,000+ book on JavaScript as well as an 800 page book on JavaScript and JQuery. I'm also still working my way through several books on CSS and HTML. It's a lot of reading and a lot of learning but I've set my mind to learning how to do website development and I'm not backing down.
The other day, I signed up for the Cleveland Concoction which begins March 9th and runs for 3 days. This convention is unique in that they have what's called the Author Alley where they take books from attending authors and sell them to the convention goers. This is a fantastic idea and I applaud them for doing this. This will be the first time I've attended and if the sales are good I will return. For most self-published authors, conventions are not worth the money unless you just want to go to the convention to enjoy yourself. The Cleveland Concoction might prove to be different.
The other convention that has proven to be a success for me is the Northeast Ohio Geek Expo. I've attended this event for the past two years and each time I made more in sales than it cost me to attend. For a self-published author, this is an event worth attending especially since it is local to me. I treat my writing as a business and every financial decision associated with attending a convention is subjected to a cost-benefit analysis. If the result is a negative cash-flow, I don't spend the money.
I have a lot of reading to do as well as a turkey to cook. Time to end this and get back to learning.
November 11, 2017
Snow
This has been a very busy week. It has not been a productive week for writing though. I had something to occupy my time every day. Yesterday (a day off), Cheryl and I just sort of lounged around the house. I never once fired up my writing computer and barely touched the cell phone. It was a day to just kick back, get some reading done, and relax. I had been working on a very complex piece of programming at work and I think my brain just needed a break.
Wednesday, I blew all the leaves out to the street. Thursday morning, the leaf sucker truck rolled by and made them go away. Unfortunately, my one remaining tree with leaves on it decided that Thursday morning was the time to drop its leaves--all of them! So, I spent Thursday blowing leaves again. Friday morning, it snowed for the first time this winter.
The good news is that the house and yard are now prepped for winter and I have a couple days left in the weekend. But now I must decide if I want to write or continue to learn more about the amazingly powerful jQuery programming language. It's a toss-up as to which I like more; writing or programming. Before I took up writing, I would sit and read programming books pretty much any chance I got. Then, I discovered the joy of self-publishing and writing became my new passion. But things are swinging back around.
One of the driving forces behind a writer is the knowledge that the stories he or she creates are going to be enjoyed by others. Our species developed language so we could pass on knowledge and experience to our fellow humans. We began doing so by telling stories and now it is deeply rooted in our behavior. What do you do when you go to a party or are just sitting with your friends? What activity can bring work on an important project to a halt as everyone gathers around the water cooler? Storytelling!
But, without an audience, even the most die-hard writer begins to question if spending hundreds of hours working on a story is worth their time. The itch to write will never go away, but when sales are low for weeks and months on end, the writer finds that the itch doesn't need to be scratched as often. I will eventually finish Collision Course, especially since I am more than half-way done with it. But I'm on the fence regarding whether or not I want to start another book after that. The odds are good that I will--but one never knows.
Wednesday, I blew all the leaves out to the street. Thursday morning, the leaf sucker truck rolled by and made them go away. Unfortunately, my one remaining tree with leaves on it decided that Thursday morning was the time to drop its leaves--all of them! So, I spent Thursday blowing leaves again. Friday morning, it snowed for the first time this winter.
The good news is that the house and yard are now prepped for winter and I have a couple days left in the weekend. But now I must decide if I want to write or continue to learn more about the amazingly powerful jQuery programming language. It's a toss-up as to which I like more; writing or programming. Before I took up writing, I would sit and read programming books pretty much any chance I got. Then, I discovered the joy of self-publishing and writing became my new passion. But things are swinging back around.
One of the driving forces behind a writer is the knowledge that the stories he or she creates are going to be enjoyed by others. Our species developed language so we could pass on knowledge and experience to our fellow humans. We began doing so by telling stories and now it is deeply rooted in our behavior. What do you do when you go to a party or are just sitting with your friends? What activity can bring work on an important project to a halt as everyone gathers around the water cooler? Storytelling!
But, without an audience, even the most die-hard writer begins to question if spending hundreds of hours working on a story is worth their time. The itch to write will never go away, but when sales are low for weeks and months on end, the writer finds that the itch doesn't need to be scratched as often. I will eventually finish Collision Course, especially since I am more than half-way done with it. But I'm on the fence regarding whether or not I want to start another book after that. The odds are good that I will--but one never knows.
November 5, 2017
Geek Expo 2017
I spent all day yesterday at the 2017 Geek Expo which was held at the Ashtabula Towne Square Mall here in Ohio. Last year, the event was only 1 day long and was held at the Spire Institute (an Olympic training center about 2 miles from my house). This year's event is two days and is in a closed department store at a slowly failing mall. The floor space this year for vendors is enormous and things are much more spread out and there was a large turnout.
I sold a few books and met a few fans. I chatted with lots of good-natured people and got to see all sorts of interesting costumes walk by including a fully functional Dalek. Dragons were well represented. I head back there today. Keep reading to see some pictures of the event.
A fellow author (Andi Lawencovna) shared the table with me for most of the event. She will also be there today. Even though we write vastly different material, we always find things in common to talk about. I'm looking forward to spending another day at the Expo.
I also managed to get some writing done. I finally finished revising one of the two timelines in Collision Course making the actions of the characters in that timeline more plausible. I then turned to the task of synching that timeline up with the other one. Using Aeon timeline, I plotted out the first point of convergence which occurs at the start of one of the chapters. There is a section near the end of that chapter that now carries a large note reading: THIS CANNOT BE HERE! THIS PARAGRAPH DESCRIBES AN EVENT THAT HAPPENS 9 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES LATER.
Today, I will be working on trying to fix that snafu. Word of advice to my future self: The next time I write a story, even if I don't think I will need a timeline -- make a timeline! Sure, it takes a little bit of time. But it will save a lot of time by keeping the sequencing of events clearly laid out and aligned.
As a side note, my best friend living in Minnesota texted me a picture of the 6 inches of new snow they had yesterday morning. As I write this, the temperature is on its way up to a high of 66, I can hear thunder approaching, and we are under a flash flood watch. This is not normal people!
Here are some pictures from the Geek Expo:
I sold a few books and met a few fans. I chatted with lots of good-natured people and got to see all sorts of interesting costumes walk by including a fully functional Dalek. Dragons were well represented. I head back there today. Keep reading to see some pictures of the event.
A fellow author (Andi Lawencovna) shared the table with me for most of the event. She will also be there today. Even though we write vastly different material, we always find things in common to talk about. I'm looking forward to spending another day at the Expo.
I also managed to get some writing done. I finally finished revising one of the two timelines in Collision Course making the actions of the characters in that timeline more plausible. I then turned to the task of synching that timeline up with the other one. Using Aeon timeline, I plotted out the first point of convergence which occurs at the start of one of the chapters. There is a section near the end of that chapter that now carries a large note reading: THIS CANNOT BE HERE! THIS PARAGRAPH DESCRIBES AN EVENT THAT HAPPENS 9 HOURS AND 20 MINUTES LATER.
Today, I will be working on trying to fix that snafu. Word of advice to my future self: The next time I write a story, even if I don't think I will need a timeline -- make a timeline! Sure, it takes a little bit of time. But it will save a lot of time by keeping the sequencing of events clearly laid out and aligned.
As a side note, my best friend living in Minnesota texted me a picture of the 6 inches of new snow they had yesterday morning. As I write this, the temperature is on its way up to a high of 66, I can hear thunder approaching, and we are under a flash flood watch. This is not normal people!
Here are some pictures from the Geek Expo:
October 28, 2017
10-28-17 Still rewriting
The rewriting of Collision Course continues. Not only were the two arcs way out of synch, but the storyline in one of the arcs just wouldn't work. While reading the chapters associated with one of them, I discovered that the characters were not behaving correctly. How did this happen? Probably because I've been working on this for longer than normal and I took longer breaks in between to learn about web programming. My normal time for writing a first draft is about 8 months and this one has been going on for longer than that.
The good news is that in addition to fixing things, I've been adding chapters. That means the word count is going up putting me almost exactly half-way through what I would consider a normal-sized book. Bear in mind, this is only a mystical target that does not have to be reached. I don't add fill-in words just to hit my target. When the book is done, it's done no matter how many words are there.
I am at day two into a three-day weekend and I hope to have things straightened out by Monday. If not, it looks like my wife's schedule will allow me to squeeze in a few more writing days during the week. In the meantime, I've mostly put my website learning on hold until I at least get this book whipped back into shape.
The good news is that in addition to fixing things, I've been adding chapters. That means the word count is going up putting me almost exactly half-way through what I would consider a normal-sized book. Bear in mind, this is only a mystical target that does not have to be reached. I don't add fill-in words just to hit my target. When the book is done, it's done no matter how many words are there.
I am at day two into a three-day weekend and I hope to have things straightened out by Monday. If not, it looks like my wife's schedule will allow me to squeeze in a few more writing days during the week. In the meantime, I've mostly put my website learning on hold until I at least get this book whipped back into shape.
October 17, 2017
10-17-2017 Rewriting
Many of my novels are written using two or more timelines that eventually converge at some point. Keeping these two timelines synchronized can be a pain in the neck especially if you're a seat of the pants writer like me. That's one reason I bought Aeon Timeline. Unfortunately, I didn't start a timeline when I started work on Collision Course and now I'm paying for that oversight.
About a week and a half ago I discovered that my parallel timelines were way out of sync and I needed to go back and do some serious rewriting. This time, I created a timeline in Aeon Timeline. I'm having to move entire chapters, insert new ones, and cut and paste huge blocks of text to get things to line up. Doing this in Microsoft Word would be a chore especially because I also need to constantly refer to my notes. Scrivener keeps my notes in a window at the bottom of my screen and allows me to simply drag chapters around, move blocks to a holding area, and do all the editing I need.
Additional writing in my novel will not happen until I get the timeline fixed. I'm not sure how long this is going to take especially since my time to write is limited these days.
Also, I'd like to remind anyone who reads this to check out my website and take a look at the Tools page where I've put a bunch of calculations I've found useful when writing science fiction. If you find an error or you would like to see any other calculators added, please let me know.
About a week and a half ago I discovered that my parallel timelines were way out of sync and I needed to go back and do some serious rewriting. This time, I created a timeline in Aeon Timeline. I'm having to move entire chapters, insert new ones, and cut and paste huge blocks of text to get things to line up. Doing this in Microsoft Word would be a chore especially because I also need to constantly refer to my notes. Scrivener keeps my notes in a window at the bottom of my screen and allows me to simply drag chapters around, move blocks to a holding area, and do all the editing I need.
Additional writing in my novel will not happen until I get the timeline fixed. I'm not sure how long this is going to take especially since my time to write is limited these days.
Also, I'd like to remind anyone who reads this to check out my website and take a look at the Tools page where I've put a bunch of calculations I've found useful when writing science fiction. If you find an error or you would like to see any other calculators added, please let me know.
October 6, 2017
10-06-2017
My science fiction calculation web page is live! This has been a goal of mine for many years and today it's become a reality. When I started writing science fiction, one of the things I prided myself in was trying to keep the science as real as possible. To do this, I built an Excel spreadsheet with all sorts of useful numbers and calculations. I've always wanted to put these calculations and numbers on a website but the old host of my site did not allow me to use JavaScript.
Some time ago, I embarked on a program to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When I had a workable website up and running on my local PC, I opened an account with a different host and moved my site to them. About two weeks ago, I learned enough about JavaScript to feel confident in building my long awaited calculator page. It went live today.
You can view the site at: dougfarren.com. Feedback is always welcome.
The entire site has been hand-coded and has been purposefully built to be clean and easy to use. The code is responsive allowing it to display properly on anything from a cell phone to a high-end computer system. I have also used code that should be understandable by almost any browser.
Enjoy!
Some time ago, I embarked on a program to learn HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. When I had a workable website up and running on my local PC, I opened an account with a different host and moved my site to them. About two weeks ago, I learned enough about JavaScript to feel confident in building my long awaited calculator page. It went live today.
You can view the site at: dougfarren.com. Feedback is always welcome.
The entire site has been hand-coded and has been purposefully built to be clean and easy to use. The code is responsive allowing it to display properly on anything from a cell phone to a high-end computer system. I have also used code that should be understandable by almost any browser.
Enjoy!
October 3, 2017
10-03-2017
Today was a no writing day. Even though I'm on vacation, I went into work to run the Monthly Performance Report. This report must be completed within the first week of every month. I do the work management portion. It used to take my predecessor three long days to generate the data. I have a computer program that spits out the needed numbers in less than five minutes. The numbers must be transferred to our reporting system and I'm the person designated to enter them. I also attended a short training session I'd signed up for before going on vacation.
As soon as I got home, I began working outside getting the yard ready for winter. Seemed strange though since it was almost 80 degrees outside. But I was on vacation and the work needed to be done.
I did just recently finish reading Creating a Website: The Missing Manual. I highly recommend it. One of the last chapters was on JavaScript. Based on the examples given, I felt confident enough to begin building a web page I've been wanting to build for years--my science fiction calculator. Yesterday, I built the first of the pages and after a few trials and errors managed to get it working. My goal is to have this series of pages ready to be rolled out by the time I'm done with my vacation. That will be a cause for celebration because I've been wanting to put the spreadsheet I've used for many used into the public domain for a long long time.
As soon as I got home, I began working outside getting the yard ready for winter. Seemed strange though since it was almost 80 degrees outside. But I was on vacation and the work needed to be done.
I did just recently finish reading Creating a Website: The Missing Manual. I highly recommend it. One of the last chapters was on JavaScript. Based on the examples given, I felt confident enough to begin building a web page I've been wanting to build for years--my science fiction calculator. Yesterday, I built the first of the pages and after a few trials and errors managed to get it working. My goal is to have this series of pages ready to be rolled out by the time I'm done with my vacation. That will be a cause for celebration because I've been wanting to put the spreadsheet I've used for many used into the public domain for a long long time.
September 29, 2017
09-29-2017
The fun thing about being a SOP (Seat Of your Pants) writer is the times when the story takes off on a different track than I anticipated. This usually happens when my characters are engaged in a conversation. While writing one such conversation this morning in Collision Course, the characters made some comments that have added a new layer of interest to the story. I was simply writing down what the characters would naturally say and the result is a new twist to the story. I love it!
If you ever want to learn a difficult subject and you learn best by reading a book, you've got to check out the Missing Manual series. I am nearing the end of Creating a Website the Missing Manual. I've learned plenty from this well-written book. It is now filled with little stickies poking out from the edges of the pages so I can find the good stuff inside when I need it. Even though the chapter on JavaScript is tiny compared to the monster Missing Manual I have on the entire language, I believe I've learned enough to begin to design my science fiction calculator on my website. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I am on vacation as of today and I will have every morning for the next week to write and work more on my website. There are days when I wish I had a jack built into the back of my skull so I could just upload the knowledge I crave. Often, I need to keep myself from reading too fast because I know that doing so will not help me learn. Until our technology gives us the ability to upload information directly into our brains, I will just have to remind myself that learning takes time.
If you ever want to learn a difficult subject and you learn best by reading a book, you've got to check out the Missing Manual series. I am nearing the end of Creating a Website the Missing Manual. I've learned plenty from this well-written book. It is now filled with little stickies poking out from the edges of the pages so I can find the good stuff inside when I need it. Even though the chapter on JavaScript is tiny compared to the monster Missing Manual I have on the entire language, I believe I've learned enough to begin to design my science fiction calculator on my website. I can't wait to see how it turns out.
I am on vacation as of today and I will have every morning for the next week to write and work more on my website. There are days when I wish I had a jack built into the back of my skull so I could just upload the knowledge I crave. Often, I need to keep myself from reading too fast because I know that doing so will not help me learn. Until our technology gives us the ability to upload information directly into our brains, I will just have to remind myself that learning takes time.
September 26, 2017
9-26-17
Just a quick update: I've been reading up on website development and wanted to set up a forum on my new author website. Before trying that, I think I'll figure out how to link this blog with the site and also include all the little tips and tricks I've learned over the years about self-publishing. The website is still in its infancy but more things will be added as time permits so keep checking back.
Some time ago, I switched from doing weekly posts to less than weekly. That will most likely change as I've decided to try to blog more and to blog about what's been going on in my writing and working life. Linking this to my website should also help make the site a place to visit more often.
Finally, the long-term goal of the new website is to build my science-fiction calculator into the site. That's going to take some time but please have a little patience as I do have a full-time job and a book to write.
Some time ago, I switched from doing weekly posts to less than weekly. That will most likely change as I've decided to try to blog more and to blog about what's been going on in my writing and working life. Linking this to my website should also help make the site a place to visit more often.
Finally, the long-term goal of the new website is to build my science-fiction calculator into the site. That's going to take some time but please have a little patience as I do have a full-time job and a book to write.
