David R. Michael's Blog, page 23
September 12, 2011
My Gl!tchCon Weekend
My son, Davis, and I attended Gl!tchCon this past weekend. Davis attended to support the 405th and to wear the Master Chief/Halo Reach/Spartan armor he's been working on for the past six months.
He won 1st Place in the Cosplay Contest:
Here is the weekend in photographs:
GlitchCon Day 1
GlitchCon Day 2
GlitchCon Day 3
Time to get back to work!
-David
Related Posts:
Slow Motion ProgressI HaZ LogOI Like Publishing
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, September 5, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Tuesday
Line edited Gunwitch chapter 2.
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total
Publishing/Marketing
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson.
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – "Insanity"Now Available – "The Perfect Hiding Place"
September 7, 2011
My Latest Heresy: I Don't Want to Write Fulltime
For the simple, selfish reason that I don't want to do *anything* fulltime.
It might sound flighty, but it's how I do things (or don't). The results speak for themselves, I think. Since my last fulltime job in 1999, I've designed and developed The Journal versions 3, 4, and 5 (and beyond), including finding time to do bug-fixes and additional development within each release version–and providing daily customer support via email.
In that time I've also finished multiple video games in a variety of scopes (and abandoned a number of video game projects for various reasons). In that time I've written five novels and a silly number of short stories, plus a couple of nonfiction books. I taught myself photography. I'm (still) learning how to be an indie publisher. Currently, I'm also learning to paint (despite vowing not to).
I've often wondered (and probably more than once just on this blog) how much more successful, how much further along any given potential career track I would be by now if I could focus on just one thing for more than a few months. I would certainly get my software done sooner (The Journal 3 was 14 man-months spread over three years; The Journal 5 was 18 man-months spread over two years).
But, no, I tend to shift my focus almost seasonally.
I'm a programmer, a software developer (no, they're not the same thing), a writer, a game designer, a photographer, an indie publisher, and all those personal things that all of us are but often forget to mention when someone asks us, "So, what is it you do?": father, husband, brother, child, friend, neighbor, etc.
How do I fit it all in?
I don't.
Well, not every day. That would be impossible. Or, if possible, really grueling.
Thus, I tend to let my focus drift a bit.
I recognized the revolving nature of my interests and focus early in my professional career (AKA, the 1990′s). I was working fulltime then, so my job was something I had to do most of the week. But the rest of my time I would cycle through periods of programming, writing, and gaming. Some projects would cause one of those periods to stick around longer than normal, but there was always a revolution coming.
Hell, I don't even listen to the same music all the time. Just this year I've gone through European dance metal, punk music of the 1990′s and early 2K's, black metal, speed metal, techno and just today I've listened to both Blue October (Any Man in Amercia) and Against Me (White Crosses).
I don't know why I forget this basic fact of my personality every so often. Maybe because I still buy into the American idea of "doing" only one thing. Maybe because I'm still an optimist about myself and my future.
At the beginning of this year, I really thought I would spend all year writing and publishing.
I should have known better.
I'm not being negative, or down on myself. This is more me being amused at myself. Admitting my foibles with a chuckle and a shake of my head. How could I not have known this was how it would go?
I should know better than make plans based on me doing the same thing, having the same focus, for more than six to nine months at a stretch.
I plan to pick up daily (or near-daily) writing next week, continuing through the end of 2011. But this won't be fulltime writing.
Instead, I will be targeting 1000-ish words per day. I can usually do that in about an hour to 90 minutes. This will allow me time to continue working on my new project for The Journal *and* get both Gunwitch and GoSH1 published before the end of the year. It should even be enough writing to finish one more novel before New Years, which would be cool.
When I start setting goals and making plans for 2012, I will try to keep all this in mind. But December has my birthday, and I get so excited about the New Year, so I'll probably bite off more than I can chew once again.
-David
Related Posts:
The Day Job Strikes Back!My 2010 Writing GoalsSigils Update and Existential Artist Personality Bullsh*t
September 5, 2011
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, August 29, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Line edited Gunwitch chapter 1.
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total
Publishing/Marketing
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
Financing the American Dream: A Cultural History of Consumer Credit by Lendol Calder.
Questioner's Shadow by Mark Fassett.
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – "Insanity"Now Available – "The Perfect Hiding Place"
August 30, 2011
Another Part of My Current Not Writing
Back in January/February, I started playing Warmachine, a tabletop fantasy wargame. In the confusion and chaos of waiting for and then having a baby, I funnelled a lot of creativity into my growing Cryx army. Here's my latest bad boy, Lich Lord Terminus:
Lich Lord Terminus
I'm quite proud of how he turned out.
I think I'm getting a handle on how to expose the detail of the model while still steadfastly refusing to be "realistic" in my color scheme. When I first started Warmachine, I decided that I would avoid realisim. I would use a metallic, corroded gold paint scheme. Sort of like an old chess set. A radioactive, old chess set.
Over the months, I've experimented with different ways to paint the models (even using spraypaint for a while), though sticking with my original choice of colors. In the past few weeks, I simplified the painting process and figured out how to better integrate the green (called "Necrotite Green"). I like the green. It provides an "edge" and keeps the model from being boring.
Lich Lord Terminus, above, is the largest model I've painted and is, I think, one of the best I've painted–if I do say so myself.
If you're curious what the "studio"/standard paintjob for the model is:
I like mine better.
I expect to spend less time on the army and more time writing in the second half of September. Until then, I will still be working to get Gunwitch and GoSH1 ready to publish.
-David
Related Posts:
My Growing Art CollectionA Bit More DavidRM BackstoryI HaZ LogO
August 29, 2011
Routine Recovery
Today, for the first time since March, I did my Monday morning work out. I had suspended my weight training routine back in March due to a lingering wrist injury, and because I was wanting to focus on finishing GoSH1. Then there was late pregnancy stuff going on. Then a new baby going on.
Alan Ryker's recent post about his lifting milestone inspired me to get off my butt and get the work out happening again.
Life has pretty much returned to normal. Or as normal as an 8-week-old will allow. So I'm looking to get back into my normal daily routines. Like weight training. And writing. And working on The Journal.
I haven't changed my weight training routine. I'll still be working out 4 days a week, with each day focusing on a different (ish) set of muscles. In a nutshell:
Day 1 – Chest & Triceps (bench press, incline bench press, French curls)
Day 2 – Biceps & Legs (ezbar curls, incline dumbbell curls, squats, lying leg curls)
Day 3 – Shoulders & Abs (bench shoulder press, upright barbell rows, incline situps, incline twist setups)
Day 4 – Back (bent over barbell rows, pull ups, deadlifts)
I have a power rack and bench, an Olympic barbell (7′, 45lbs), an Olympic bar (5′, 30 lbs), an Olympic ezcurl bar (20 lbs), and two Olympic dumbbells (13 lbs each). I have more 2-inch free weights than I really need (go go garage sale shopping), plus a set of cast iron dumbbells from 2 lbs to 20 lbs. And I have a slant board for situps of various types. I started accumulating all this just after my 39th birthday, and now it takes up a good chunk of the upstairs game room.
For every exercise I do a warmup set of 8 reps, usually at 1/3-1/2 target weight. Then I do two sets of 6-8 reps at the target weight.
This week, since I'm getting back into it, I will be "moving the bars around". I won't be adding any weight at all. Just performing the sets with empty bars. I'm still doing the warmup set, though, so this week I'll be doing 3 sets of 8 reps each at minimum weight. Next week I'll start adding weights again, slowly. 5 lbs/week for some exercises, 10 lbs/week for others. Being 42, and working out essentially alone (though the family is usually in the house somewhere), I prefer to take things slow and easy.
My logs show my peak lifts at:
Bench Press – 145 lbs
EZ Bar Curls – 100 lbs
Barbell Squats – 225 lbs
Deadlifts – 245 lbs
At 6′ 2″ tall, 195 lbs, I won't be using those numbers to join the USA Olympic lifting team, but I'm pleased with the progress I've managed over the past few years.
I expect to get the other parts of my routine in place over the next couple weeks. Until then, I'll continue touching on the writing and publishing in a piecemeal fashion. I'm hoping by the end of September to be clicking along on all to-do-lists again.
-David
Related Posts:
The Day Job Strikes Back!I Have Big Plans for 2011More Planning Than Writing
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, August 22, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Tuesday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 10, 11.
Wednesday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 12.
Thursday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 13, 14, 15.
Friday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22.
Saturday
Sunday
Total
Publishing/Marketing
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
In Cheap We Trust by Lauren Weber.
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – "Insanity"Now Available – "The Perfect Hiding Place"
August 23, 2011
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, August 15, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 3, 4.
Tuesday
Wednesday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 5.
Thursday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 6, 7, 8.
Friday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 9.
Saturday
Sunday
Total
Publishing/Marketing
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – "Insanity"Now Available – "The Perfect Hiding Place"
August 19, 2011
Slow Motion Progress
As the progress report for last week showed, I've started editing Gunwitch. I've done more this week, though not as much as I had planned. Still, it's progress.
Once I have this editing pass done, I'll still have:
Line editing
Ebook formatting
POD formatting
Ebook & POD proofing
Other misc tasks (like finalizing my choice of title)
All of that should be done, and the book released before the end of September. Which is a bit later than I originally anticipated, but, well, babies happen.
Somewhere between line editing and formatting, I'll probably start giving GoSH1 it's first real edit, getting it ready for first readers. More news on that later. Further, somewhere/somewhen in all of this late summer publishing activity, I'll even start writing again.
The cover artwork for Gunwitch is nearing completion. The artist released a sneak peak/tease this week on his blog:
Have a great weekend!
-David
Related Posts:
I Like PublishingGunwitch Editing BeginsPublishing Seemed Less Work When I Didn't Know Any Better
August 15, 2011
Writing Progress Report
Writing progress report for the week starting Monday, August 8, 2011.
Writing Project
Words
Monday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 1.
Tuesday
Edited Gunwitch chapter 2.
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Total
Publishing/Marketing
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Reading List
Afterthoughts by Lawrence Block.
Dexter by Design by Jeff Lindsay.
Spend 'Til the End by by Laurence Kotlikoff and Scott Burns.
Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay.
Dearly Devoted Dexter by Jeff Lindsay.
Playing to Win: Becoming the Champion by David Sirlin.
Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2011.
Related Posts:
9 Months of Indie PublishingNow Available – "Insanity"Now Available – "Effie Two-Five"
