Echoplex

My voice just echoes off these walls.

Silence has covered the digital walls here at the site and I’m afraid it’s no one’s fault but mine. Fortunately there’s a very good reason why I haven’t been posting much, as I’ve been busy with a number of things. One of them involves note-taking for an idea that struck me a couple of weeks ago in preparation for an inevitable story. I’ll be writing more about that soon. In the meantime, all I can do here is point you in the direction of this and this and this and tell you to think about it.

As for how I’ve been spending the rest of my time, well, most things haven’t changed. Still working every day, still going to bed semi-early and getting up too early. Something else has popped up on the radar, though, and it’s been stealing a good chunk of my time and energy.

I’m very happy to announce that, after being together for four years and engaged for over two, Erica and I are finally getting married. Now I’m off to gather addresses, airport and hotel information. I hope those of you here in the states enjoyed the 4th.

Until next time,

tags: ideas weddings

July 5, 2008 | Filed Under Blog | 3 Comments

Indigo Children

I joined Goodreads.com last week and linked up with some old friends while making a few new ones. I tried using LibraryThing for a while, but it didn’t really stick with me, so I was hesitant about this one. So far, though, it’s something I’ve started checking regularly – not just for the sake of curiosity and book recommendations, but for a means of cataloging my own personal library.

Here’s my Goodreads profile. Much to my surprise, ALT is actually on the site, so if you’ve read it, go leave your feedback.

I scribbled something down on a couple of post-it notes while at work on Friday. It’s something that’s been tumbling around my head for close to six months now and, even after reading it, I’m not sure what will come of it.

A word on comments: I’ve changed how the comments are posted to these blog entries. I used to not have any restrictions whatsoever – you could post whatever you liked, so long as you included a name and email address. I set it to require an email address so I could respond directly and privately. Naturally, when some folks like to be smart about it and put in a bogus email, I can’t respond. I’m afraid that’s not going to fly.

So, from now on, all comments will be moderated before they go live. If you don’t include a live email address, I’m going to delete your comment. It’s that simple. My apologies if this puts a dent in your anonymity, but I set up comments on the blog so I could interact with readers. If you absolutely have to remain anonymous, but put in your jabs anyway, you can email me directly.

On that note, I’m off to do lazy Sunday things. Enjoy what’s left of the weekend, folks.

Add 'Indigo Children' to Google Bookmarks

tags: books comments goodreads writing

June 22, 2008 | Filed Under Blog | 2 Comments

Stalling out into silence.

I’m borrowing this from Neil Gaiman’s blog:

Writers are people who write. By and large, they are not happy people. They’re not good at relationships. Often they’re drunks. And writing — good writing — does not get easier and easier with practice. It gets harder and harder — so eventually the writer must stall out into silence.The silence that waits for every writer and that, inevitably, if only with death (if we’re lucky the two may happen at the same time: but they are still two, and their coincidence is rare), the writer must fall into is angst-ridden and terrifying - and often drives us mad. (In a letter to Allen Tate, the poet Hart Crane once described writing as “dancing on dynamite.”) So if you’re not a writer, consider yourself fortunate.

Obviously I like this quote, or else I wouldn’t be posting it here. It also happens to be very, very true. While driving to work this morning, I was thinking about how I haven’t written anything since last week, since all that crap with the bank, and how I’ve just felt extremely unmotivated. I’m beginning to wonder if writing it all out by hand isn’t the best course of action to take. At times I feel overwhelmed by the story I have to tell. I thought breaking it up into smaller chunks would help. I thought about maybe going back, typing up the prologue and chapter one to see how it would look in print, and then go from there. Ultimately I’ve made no decision. Maybe I’ve reached a pocket of silence? Not death, of course, but perhaps I’m mentally tapped out at the moment? I’ve no shortage of ideas - in fact, there’s another one for a novel just screaming to get out, and I suppose if things don’t start moving again with imagiNATION, I may take it out of the box and tinker with it. We’ll see, though. I think I just need to take a few days and really meditate on chapter two, because it’s not going as well as I’d hoped. More on that soon.

I also realized I’ve not been doing much reading, either. I’m in the process of (slowly) reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the first time (yes, yes, I know I’m late to the party), as well as re-reading World War Z by Max Brooks. I also realized that Chuck Palahniuk’s latest novel has been out for two weeks and I completely forgot about it. And that’s when it hit me: I’ve no interest in reading it. That’s a first for me. Usually I’m there on day one and have finished the book in a matter of days. Now my reaction is simply “Meh.”

Seeing as how summer is here and I usually try to catch up on my reading, I’d love a whole number of recommendations. In the meantime I’ve got some story thinking to do.

’til next time,