OK. You know that super-secret project I’ve had going for awhile now? The one that occasionally gets me off my lazy arse and actually makes me write something? Well, this is me unveiling said project. You wanted me to put up work for critiquing? Here you go. I’m hoping it’s the start of a weekly series, just a little something I post on the website on Wednesdays or Thursdays, something people can read quickly then comment on, a way for me to get more feedback on my writing style and keep my skills sharp. And, of course, I hope it’s enjoyable to read. I’ve never done anything like this before in my entire life, but I…actually feel pretty confident about it, which comes as a surprise. I figured I’d be really nervous. It’s been in the works for over a month now so I guess it’s kind of a relief to finally get it out there. Plus this is going to help keep me honest, because of course I’ll have so many loyal fans prodding me on and nagging me to get the new episode out there. How could I procrastinate with such a heavy responsibility?

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Without further ado, I present to you Dreamfall.

Have fun. (I did.)

p.s. If all the pink is annoying, keep in mind I’ll be revamping my website soon. I just really wanted to get this thing out before my mind exploded and, as such, didn’t have time to de-fluff the place.

Look for weekly updates via The Dead Robots’ Society homepage.

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In a recent blog post, Neil Gaiman discusses the topic of second drafts:

The second draft is where the fun is. In a first draft, you get to explode. The objective (at least for me) is to get it down on paper, somehow. Battle through the laziness and the not-enough-time and the this-is-rubbish and everything else, and just get it written. Whatever it takes. The second draft is where you go and gather together the fragments of the explosion and figure out what it is you did, and make it look like that was what you always meant to do.

The whole post is interesting (and he says more than the above snippet on the subject of second drafts). Also, it includes dancing bees; never a bad thing.

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Mur Lafferty writes:

I am thrilled to announce that I have signed a contract to release Playing For Keeps with Swarm Press! Swarm is an imprint of Permuted, the small horror press, and is launching this summer with three superhero titles, PFK being one. (For podcast fans, Matthew Wayne Selznick’s Brave Men Run is another title coming out from Swarm.)

This is fantastic news for Mur and for everyone that’s followed PFKvia I Should Be Writing since its inception.

Congratulations Mur! I’d raise a glass of gin in your honour, except I can’t stand the stuff, frankly. Oh well. There’s a bottle of single malt somewhere that’ll do as a substitute.

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Whilst I was hosting last night’s Dead Robots’ Society recording (and I’ve just realised that I’ve never done a full blog about that subject; I am made of FAIL and will rectify this some time soon) I mentioned my three-hundred and sixty-odd days of 2008 project (I used it as an example of what happens if you let your schedule slide).

Anyway, Justin and Amanda said I should post a link to the Flickr set, so here it is. You can subscribe to the feed therein to get updates or, if you prefer, you can subscribe to the blog feed and get said updates mixed in with all my other semi-coherent ramblings.

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Damn. Do I know how to neglect this thing, or what? Heh.

Unfortunately most of the things that are happening to me at the moment I’d either like to keep to myself or share with close friends, so blogging about them publicly seems a little dumb. Suffice it to say I’m exhausted but happy, with increased hours at work, a little more money, and the same friends I’ve loved hanging out with ever since I started this job. Wednesday is going to be my 7 month anniversary, which isn’t as pretty a number as 6 but there you have it. This weekend was awesome for various reasons, some of which involve large amounts of caffeine. (Well. Large for me. Since my sensitivity to caffeine is practically legendary the rest of you would probably laugh at how little I actually consumed, but whatever.)

Recently I’ve spent entirely too much money on clothing, though who can blame me when one of my favorite shops ever was absolutely bursting with $3, $5, and $7 racks full of adorable tops and jeans? You can’t beat getting a great pair of jeans for $7, I don’t care who you are. But the fact that my dad got a shiny new laptop and my mom got a shiny new iPod on Saturday, thus totally outstripping me on the technological front, has kind of made me realize I should probably start saving up if I actually want to catch up with the rest of the world and listen to my music on something that doesn’t look and feel like a paperweight. On the bright side, I can occasionally borrow my dad’s laptop when he isn’t using it, which might help my writing productivity. I’m a little behind on my Cool Secret Project, mostly because of work, but I haven’t abandoned it by any means so it’ll be nice getting back to that.

I also went to my very first play on Saturday, and even though it was a high school production and I got there about forty five minutes late, I enjoyed it anyway. ^_^ One of the boys I know at work was in the play too, so I had a great time cheering him on. Next time I’ll try and get there a little earlier so I don’t end up camping out on the steps upstairs during the first act… *grin*

And that’s pretty much all my news. Hope life is treating everyone well these days. It’s been good to me the past week.

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Also, please visit these fine links that Tracy was kind enough to share with us:

www.trhickman.com

www.dragonhearthproductions.com

www.killerbreakfast.com

Anyway, thanks for your patience, and please let us know if there is anything you would like to hear us discuss. Or, if you have an idea for an interview, please pass it along! I’m trying to book some tasty interviews myself, but it isn’t easy. It’s all for you, though, kind listeners. I live to serve…

Slightly behind the times, I thought I should spread the word of the News from Poughkeepsie, a new project from the Mighty Mur Lafferty.

To quote the Murster herself:

I’m going to blog an idea a day for 1 year. It will usually be in the form of a blog post, but it may be in the form of an audio or video podcast, delivered to you if you’re subscribed to the Murverse feed.

You can find said feed through the Murverse site. Go, read, enjoy, make use of (the ideas are under a Creative Commons attribution license). They’ve already got my idea cogs turning. Now all I need to do is find the time to put them to use (and also to stop my developer mind from using the brainjuice first; that bit’s a real battle).

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