Progress, Pets and Punching Myself

The word of the week is nemophilist.

March 10 – Forward

Material concerns are dropping away this spring, it seems.

My family has repeatedly told me that they want me to be able to write, to be able to get the stories that are in my head out and in a form that I can make a living from.

It's astonishing how much that thought appeals to me.

Given that I'm not making very much of a wage working not very much in recent months, it's not a big stretch to go to just writing, period. However, unlike the time I spent in the summer of 2012 getting my novel's first draft onto paper, I won't have the graceful parachute of hard-won EI to help pay the bills. I certainly don't want to be a burden to my family, but I also don't want to drag my writing career along behind me while I struggle with working at a job that I'm not suited for anymore... and that pays someone with my working experience the same wage that any schmuck off the street would get.

Sure, it's not fair, but it is life.

Working for myself is the solution, but as many of you know, it's a slow and torturous road to supporting yourself. There are no shortcuts, no quick routes to not having to worry about your bills or your responsibilities. I do realize that I'm in a better position than most in some regards, in that I don't have any dependents or a spouse that I'm responsible for and that my family are all now independent financially beyond anything that I need to supplement.

The only person have to think about supporting right now is myself.

March 11 – Some Days ...

I needed a laugh today.

Well, not just one, since you should laugh fairly often. I do find humour in most situations can do my best to return to the levity lane when seriousness threatens to overtake me on the highway of life.

Cats can help you with this almost unconsciously, I've found.

While I haven't had a cat of my own for quite some time, I do hope that if and when I find a new place to reside in the future that it will allow pets. I have many fond memories of the many feline pets that I've had over the years and their companionship has meant quite a lot to me. Oftentimes, it's made the difference between a bad day in a good day and that's something very special in life, I believe.

So go ahead and have a laugh by watching the video below, created by engineers, of all people. Who better to scientifically analyze the Way Of The Cat and present it for your amusement?

March 12 – Further Progress!

My novel's really taking shape this spring.

Although I haven't been feeling all that well the last couple of days (I'm not sure why) I've done my very best to ignore the physical concentrate on the mental to get some work done.

Today that really seemed to pay off. I've known that the first dozen chapters of my novel are rather slow, as well as not in keeping with the overall tone of the rest the book. This is because I was feeling my way around the world as I was first writing it and once I hit my stride, the tone of the novel changed - for the better, I might add.

I finished rewriting the first chapter today and I'm astounded at how differently it reads. The changes may seem minor when looked at one by one, but they all add up to a much different tone and direction. The dynamism and action that was previously lacking are fully present now, with the post-apocalyptic feel of the chapter firmly in the background as it should be, instead of overshadowing everything with a morose air.

As well as making solid alterations like the ones above, I'm cutting and tweaking the entire novel chapter by chapter, scene by scene. This is to make room for all the additions and changes that need to go in throughout the entire length of the book, to weave all the many threads into a cohesive whole that will simply the reader's journey with a comprehensive uniformity in all aspects of the story.

So what I'm trying to say is that I'm truly excited to be able to show the finished book to you all very soon, later this year.

March 13 – Ouch!

My bicycle punched me today.

It's a first, I have to admit, but I'm surprised it hadn't happened before now.

I was leaning on the seat, checking the pressure level of my rear tire - as I always do - before heading to work. It was wet out and I was wearing my rain jacket as usual, which is fairly slick. I managed to lean at just the wrong angle and I slipped off the seat.

Which allowed the seat to punch me. Hard.

To be more accurate, the seat rolled, up from my waist into my left ribs in the space of a second. It compressed everything on that side of my body in a uniquely uncomfortable manner that I would liken to taking a rolling pin across your guts very quickly and without being all that gentle. 

It was, needless to say, not enjoyable.

After the initial pain subsided, I headed off to work, resolving to keep a close eye on things as I've never had this sort of injury before. I made sure not to strain myself by lifting anything unusual and by the end of the day, I was still sore on my left side but had no other noticeable symptoms of worsening damage. I finished too late for there to be any walk-in clinics open, unfortunately and I didn't want to wait all night at the hospital Emerg; no thanks.

We'll see how goes the next few days; not being someone who's played a lot of contact sports, I don't have a reference for this sort of injury. I'm hoping that it's akin to getting sucker-punched by a buddy instead of tackled by linebacker with a side of shoulder under the ribs.

March 14 – Starlog

I used to love reading science fiction magazines.

Back in the day, they were the only way to get news and extra information about science fiction and fantasy. The library certainly didn't have up-to-date information that a g33k like me devoured ravenously and there was no Internet like everybody takes for granted today. Sad to say, there were very few ways to get more information about one's geeky passions when I was growing up.

Magazines were what filled informational gap between newspapers and checking books out of the library, with the rare television special tossed in for good measure.

These were my Internet in the 1980's...

One such magazine was Starlog, which I adored but could never afford a subscription to and so I collected only the occasional issue to keep as my own. Full of science-fictiony goodness, I made sure that, for around a decade, I always checked out the latest issue at the library when it was available… if I hadn't already browsed through it on the magazine stand earlier in the month, that is.

Imagine my delight when I discovered THIS month that although Starlog is no more, the entire magazine run (several decades worth!) has been made available online… for free!

For now, I'll have to restrain myself to browsing here and there for nostalgia's sake. The temptation to go digging through years of back issues to souse out stories by my favorite authors is strong and I'll have to resist that in order to write my own stories this spring.

March 15 – The ESCAPE

I think I've found my 'Cabin In The Woods' - the good kind!

Actually, it's an RV, but I'm not going to quibble: it's an extremely impressive Tiny Home.

Built by Canoe Bay in Wisconsin, the Escape is a 400 ft.² mobile RV that looks exactly like a cedar wood cabin… if one was designed by a master architect. There are many more pictures on the well-made website, all of which show a design that has been executed flawlessly in terms of materials and use of space.

Perfection.

I would love to set up one of these here in Victoria, somewhere with a view of the woods and away from all the noisier activities of the city. Considering that the top-end model of the Escape is priced at around $125K USD before taxes and delivery, it's about a quarter the cost of the average detached family home here in the Greater Victoria Area.

There has apparently been a big and positive response from Canadians, so much so that Canoe Bay has added a special section just for us. Interestingly, Canadian RV laws mean that the porch of the Escape can be adjusted to serve as a second bedroom or office, which would be perfect for me as a writer's room.

Now I have to do is transition to making a living as a successful writer so I can afford to live in this perfect wooden palace.

March 16 – Injury Day

Turns out my bicycle punched me a little harder than I thought a few days ago.

Last night was extremely restless for me and I didn't sleep very well, as I couldn't find a comfortable position that my left side didn't ache in.

So I bit the bullet and called in sick to work today - injured, actually - and hustled down to the nearby walk-in clinic as soon as it opened. Luckily it wasn't busy and I was in and out quite fast

The doctor had good news: I haven't injured my spleen and she thinks that I've only affected my ribs, in one of several ways that would lead to my current uncomfortable soreness. She deftly recommends that I take a few days off work (ironically I don't work again until this Friday) as well as ordering up the usual tests to make sure I haven't managed to damage myself more than she thinks I might have. 

Well and good.

Pan Solo, anyone? Nice mashup...

After a stress-free sudden day off, I caught most of the Disney animated film Tangled on CBC in the evening. Not having seen the film before, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it told its story in addition to how good it looked. The character style was along the lines of the recent Disney blockbuster Frozen, both with big-eyed heroines and a clean overall animated look that I really enjoyed as it didn't get in the way of the story. I was interested to find that both films had identical ratings on RottenTomatoes.com, so they're very much cut from the same cloth.

Story is what it's all about. I found myself pulled happily into the time-tested tale of Rapunzel in Tangled, reacting to the joy and the terrors of the characters as they journeyed through the trials of their adventure. 

Being able to transport someone into the story and keep them there throughout is an art, something honed by time and practice into a gift that you give to everyone that experiences the final result of your craft.

For me, I'm a now little ways along in my own journey. My writing craft is taking shape and already I've seen the results, most recently with the Dark Crystal Authorquest contest. I couldn't be more pleased to have been one of the Editor's Choice finalists and I'll be using that recognition to spur my writing on this spring, to do the best I can and make my stories worthy of being heard.

Counting today (Sunday) I have five whole days off in a row this week, which is a lot better than saying I only worked two days at my retail job. Three of those days are going to be spent wholly writing, smoothing and shaping my novel even further. I have hundreds of things noted that need to be tweaked, so there's a lot to do and spring's almost here!