Rashid Darden's Blog, page 6

And we're back

Happy Sunday!

I've been sick for the past week with what I presume is a cold.  I am very, very tired and have a bit of a cough.  The sore throat is not nearly as bad as it was.

I've been working hard to complete the typesetting for Lazarus, Covenant, and Epiphany this week.  So far, so good.

People keep asking me when they will be available.  I literally cannot tell you the exact date.  The new way that I publish is through CreateSpace, a company owned by Amazon.  I can give a rough date of November 20, but it quote honestly could be earlier than that depending on how efficiently the typesetting and review process go, or later than that.

So rather than asking, just keep your eyes and ears open.  :-)

Bear with me as I get back into the habit of blogging more regularly.  I've mentioned that I am not a fan of my current website design, but I'm stuck with it until I can get the money together for an overhaul.

Finally, thank you all for the support over the years.  It takes a special kind of fan to support a self-published author whose work is four years overdue!

PS — For the people at StoryCasting.com – it's really me.  :-)

I really dislike my website.

I'm really, really unhappy with my website and feel that it was a waste of money.  Someone please rescue me.

Happy New Year!

Hey everyone!  Just a brief note to let you know I am still alive and rejuvenated for 2011!

As many of you know, I ran for a national position in Alpha Phi Omega last week and I did not win.  It was a pretty tough loss.  Even though I'm still sort of young in APO years, I definitely felt as though I was ready for the challenge and had proved it in my experience.  Unfortunately, the Nominating Committee didn't agree.  I was encouraged to run from the floor (which I initially said I didn't want to do), but I lost anyway.

I'm definitely not a sore loser.  At the same time, I've literally spent years of my life trying to convince more members of color to remain engaged in the work of the fraternity.  To lose to a slate which doesn't look like me or the many brothers I've tried to inspire over the years honestly hurts.

I still love APO, of course, but this one is going to take some time to heal from.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the convention overall, in spite of the downright disrespectful amounts of construction at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta.  One of the hotel restaurants was closed the whole time we were there, as was the convenient indoor walkway to the food court across the street.  My undergrads had a good time, though, and they won several awards.

The next convention will be in Anaheim in 2012.  I reckon I'll be there!

nothing to see here

Animated GIFs

I'm a member of several message board communities.  One of them has a lot of very talented people who know how to make animated GIFs.  I LOVE THEM.  This is one of my favorites of all time:

I don't know what movie it's from though.

i love my chapter

Freakin' NaNo….Freakin' Life

It's day 10 of NaNoWriMo and CLEARLY I am not a third of the way through this novel.  Ugh.  But in a sense, I knew I wouldn't complete 50k in thirty days this year.  Maybe I will if I allow myself time.

It's been an overwhelming month and even though I've prioritized properly, it just sucks that what I want to do gets the least amount of time.

Case in point:  I hate my job.  In the last version of my blog, I hated my job.  Before then, I hated that job, too.  There is a pattern here.  One would assume that if everything else changes, and I still hate my job, then common sense tells you that I am the common denominator.

But does that mean that I am a bad employee or does it mean that I am just not doing what I love?  I vote for the latter, though I would still argue that I also have just not been very lucky in the places that I've worked.

Still, I have to apply for jobs because I need a full-time gig.  I really do believe that I have a lot to offer a nonprofit organization, but in the past year, none of the ones which I've felt strongly about have felt the same way about me.

REMINISCENT OF MY LOVE LIFE.

Anyway, though I am slightly overwhelmed, I am still good, and quite happy with the content of my latest novel so far.  It's called Dark Nation and it's my first bit of speculative fiction.   Octavia Butler meets Dead Prez?  Just maybe.

NaNoWriMo

I am soooooo not freakin' ready for National Novel Writing Month.

Yeah… that's all.  lol

Okay, not really.

This will be the first year that I "officially" participate, which almost assures that I won't reach the goal.  This is also the first year that I try to write a novel while focusing on a lot of other things, including running for a national office in Alpha Phi Omega, finding full-time work, getting more photography clients, developing a client base for my consultancy, and you know, just basically trying to pay rent.

I think I owe it to myself and the people who enjoy my work to make sure that I consider myself a novelist first.  A novelist who happens to have to do other things to pay the bills.  Mentally, I am okay with that designation.  And I am okay with struggling for a while until I reach my ultimate goal.

It's still scary, though.

Halloween 2010

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I'm all scary and voodoo and stuff.

I had a nice little Halloween Pot Luck at my place last night.  It was a lot of fun — about 12 or so friends came over and we had a great time watching scary movies, eating, and drinking.

Had to pay homage to one of my favorite loa of Hatian Vodou, Baron Samedi.