A commitment

I've recently decided that every day--after school and whatever homework I have, of course--I will write a thousand words. A thousand words a day is very reasonable to me and that way I won't be tempted to do anything else (writing blog entries, for example :p). And this way I'll probably have my REA submission done by this weekend.

This is all getting me in a fairly good mood. I just hope nothing happens that'll prevent me from writing my daily 1k words. I'll come back with an update in a couple of days on how it's going.

Also, be sure to stop by at Ed's new forum regarding publishing your writing. Just go to his blog and click on the link of his latest post that'll take you to the forum.

The Andrew

Everybody give a warm welcome to my good friend Andrew, a fellow wannabe author. Check out his website and give him a little more traffic, will ya? He's gettin' lonely. Also, note that the "Heil" was mispelled intentionally.

Anyway, yes, you presumed correctly. It is 2:40 in the morning. Andrew and I are pulling an all-nighter on the internet reserved to writing and screwing around in general. So far both of us have about a thousand words under our belts tonight--this morning, I mean. We started at...oh, about 10:30...then took a break at 11:50 and still haven't got back to work. Go us! We'll be great in another five years or so...working in cubicles with scant decoration, making blog entries and the such. I can see it now.

Oh well. Anyway, pay Andrew a visit. I'm sure he'll appreciate it.

PS: We were both pink bunnies this Halloween. Yes, I know. We are Gods.

Happy Thanksgiving and a whole bunch of other stuff!

Happy Turkeyday, everyone! I hope all of you have fun conversing with family, friends and new acquaintances! May you all fill up on turkey, yams, mashed potatoes, and whatever other festivities are present!

So far I'm having a fair Thanksgiving. Not that it hasn't gotten very far yet :p I've eaten breakfast, taken a shower, worked a little more on "Forlorn Tower," (My Razor-edged Arcanum submission) and have caught up with friends and online friends.

As for writing, I've restricted myself from every other submission I have to complete so that I can catch up on "Forlorn Tower." I sent in the first half of it to my friend Kyle last night and he thought it was some of the best writing I've ever done (And he's read damn near all of it). Anyway, I couldn't help but think myself that this was in fact some of my best writing. For some reason it just clicked when I started writing it. My characters are well-laid out, (Though they could do with a bit more physical description) my plot's pretty straight forward and simple, and, in my opinion, my narrative is awesome! The story is hard to stay away from for a while and I find myself cranking out a couple hundred words every time I sit down to write it. The only problem I see--which could be the story's undoing--is that the story lacks heroism, which is said to be the anthology's central theme. In the end, the main character does end up being a hero after being an asshole throughout the story, but still...the story doesn't seem that epic--it's more sword and sorcery.

Oh well. I'll give it more thought and maybe try to add a few more elements to make it seem more "heroic."

Well, that's about all. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everyone!

Birthday stuff

Well, I got lots of good stuff for my birthday. Mostly books, but I got a good DVD and some random clothes. Anyway, if you're curious, here's a list of what I received:

1. The Ruby Guardian by Thomas (YAY!!!)
2. Midnight by Dean Koontz
3. On Fire's Wings by Christie Golden
4. The Halo Novelizations Trilogy boxed set by Various
5. The Two Swords by That One Guy
6. Dawn of the Dead Remake (A really bad-ass movie)

Also, my grandparents (the wonderful people that they are) ordered The Paths of Darkness boxed set by RAS for me, as well as Gardens of the Moon by Stephen Erikson.

I also had some awesome cake.

Woot. A great birthday 'twas!

Four Days and Counting...

God, I wish I was one of those people who just completely forget about their birthday, because I'd be really surprised when someone shoots out of my closet and bellows, "Happy birthday!" But, alas, I am not, and I sit here counting the seconds, the minutes, the breaths, and baked potatoes until my birthday. November 22nd. JFK's tragic assassination and Rodney Dangerfield's comedic birthday.

Anyway, it's not so much my birthday I'm anxious for; it's mainly getting away from my family. The day after my birthday, I'll be leaving to spend Thanksgiving Vacation with my grandparents in their awesome mansion on the countryside of Stockton. There, I'll have the privilige of writing, reading in peace and without disruption, catching up with online buddies, updating my journal a bit more, perhaps changing the blog around, writing, getting presents, writing, doing basically what I want, getting presents, writing...

Anyhoot...ahem *straightens tie* As I was saying, I'll have a great time. Relaxation and time to complete all this writing (Mainly my second submission to The Undead and my submission to Razor-edged Arcanum, because both of those are the main anthologies I'd like to contribute to). There's not much else other than those handful of godsends. *silently hopes that he'll receive a copy of The Ruby Guardian as a birthday present*

Oh well. I think that's enough of this wallowing on my birthday. Farewell!

Eeeek. Stress is the work of Satan!

Don't you agree? Anyway, it's another week until my birthday. That'll also be the day when I get my computer back from it's operation. Unfortunately, I'll have to write like crazy in order to get those ***4*** stories in by the end of the holidays. Argh! Let's see, I've got my second Undead submission to finish, my submission to Razor-edged Arcanum to finish, my submission to a vampire and werewolf anthology to finish, as well as my submission that I haven't even started to Modern Magic.

Argh. I truly hope I'll complete all these in time.

IN OTHER NEWS: I put down The Darkness That Comes Before. It was horrible. It started out quite interesting with a cool and bad-ass sorcerer, then went downhill from there. All the characters--including the barbarians--talked like complete pansies. Also, there were so many factions and Schools and churches and nations that I just couldn't keep up with it all. Plus, it was just plain boring. I will not recommend it to anyone unless they want to read a historical essay on a fantasy world.

Well, that's about all. Other than that, I started the sequal to one of my favorite epic fantasies of all time, The Rover, called The Destruction of the Books.

Take care, all.

Writing Hiatus

Yeah, I know--it sucks!

Anyway, I suppose you all deserve an explanation. My computer's getting fixed up, so I won't be getting it back until another two weeks from now...my birthday. Also, I'm really starting to crack down on myself because of my grades. I'm working hard to raise them and get back to a regular 3.0-3.5 GPA status quo. It'll be long and difficult, but I'll manage. Of course, I'd have to manage it without my writing.

IN OTHER NEWS: I finished "Twilight Falling" by Paul S. Kemp, Book 1 of the Erevis Cale Trilogy. Wow. It was amazing. I can't tell you how much I love these characters. Absolutely awesome stuff. Kemp is a very, very talented author.

I also decided that I'm going to take a brief break from my usual FR reading. I just picked up "The Darkness That Comes Before" by R. Scott Bakker. It's different from what I usually read, but I'm still very interested in where the story is headed. I'll come back with another, more detailed review on it in a few days.

Once I'm done with this one I plan on returning to Erevis Cale in "Dawn of Night" book II in the Erevis Cale Trilogy. Then I'll move on to my other FR stuff that I have waiting for me.

Submitted

I submitted "Exposure" to The Undead last night. Jacob, the editor of The Undead, emailed me back, confirming that he received it and that I will receive a rejection/acception email after the deadline of January 1st or possibly before that.

Anyway, last night I cranked out a couple hundred words on my next submission called "Subway of the Damned". Though I haven't written that much on it, I think I have the style I want to go with for this story down.

Till next time, folks.

Updated!

Well, I've got all my links and whatnot posted. Now my life is complete. Though, I noticed while on certain computers that the links are all the way down at the bottom of the page. I tried to fix it, but it wouldn't listen to me. Oh well. Can someone email me or leave a comment so I know it looks alright? Thanks.

Inspiration, Frustration, & Irony

...My life's story.

Well, I came up with a plan for my NanoWrimo book about a week ago: basically, I'd write 1,500 to 2,000 words a night, so, in the end, I'd come up with around 50k words. Today is apparently November 1st, the start of the NanoWrimo competition. I should be at home typing, but alas, I am not. Instead, I'm on someone else's computer, typing this blog, waiting for my ride home.

Sitting next to me is my cousin Curtis, who's interesting himself in a nice zombie-shooting internet game. It's funny that this little game is inspiring me. I've already finished and edited my first submission to The Undead, entitled "Exposure", and I've just finished planning out my next submission to the anthology, called "Subway of the Damned". The anthology clearly states that each contributor can submit up to three stories total. Now, you must know that whenever I get inspiration from something, I feel almost compelled to write something down similar to it. This is what's getting me ticked. I've got a novel to write this month, a submission to The Undead to finish, a submission to Razor-Edged Arcanum to finish, and several other submissions to several other anthologies to complete. I just can't see myself getting all that writing done within the next two months, since most of the deadlines to these anthologies are around that time.

Well, it just looks like I'll have to sit tight, write my arse off, eat and drink moderately, isolate myself from society and friends, and learn how to crank out a bunch of crap in a small amount of time.

Oh well, ride's here. Gotta go.

(Hopefully I'll get that two thousand words out tonight--hopefully even more!).