Some time has passed since my last blog post or posted anything for that matter on my blog. It feels like since I finished the first draft of my novella that I’ve been taking a break from everything. Maybe it’s all this heat in the summer that circuits my mind to say, “Hey, it’s summer, let’s play video games and watch TV.” Hehe, let’s chalk it up to that.
I am working on my novella (or short novel) and have made changes, corrections, and adding to fill gaps and passages. I recently talked to a friend who runs an editing and publishing company about what it would take to have my project looked evaluated. I sent him several pages for him to evaluate.
I’m not as productive as I should be—quite non-optimal, in fact—but I’m not going to put myself down because I am working on other stuff. In particular to the podcast I’m co-hosting with two other guys. It’s called “If They Won’t Listen,” a show where three guys discuss current and personal events with the occasional guest to talk about their interests.
We had one guest who was a traveling hiker where she talked about the locations she’s hiked and how she got into it. Another guest was a toy collector and even customized his toys.
Check out our YouTube channel and our PodBean page.
In our show, we have a spin-off where the other host and I are watching all the Star Trek movies, and we recap them on the show. We call it “SPACE: Made in a Hollywood Basement,” which references a line from “Californication” by The Red Hot Chili Peppers. This is my first time watching a lot of these Star Trek films with the original cast, and we finished The Voyage Home, where the Enterprise crew rescues whales from the 1980s to have it speak to a space probe disturbing the peace on the planet Earth.
We still have two more movies featuring the original cast, and then we’re moving on to watch Galaxy Quest, followed by the J.J. Abrams’s Star Trek trilogy. Then after we finish those we’re moving onto the movies featuring the cast from The Next Generation.
At least I’m doing something besides playing video games and watching the movies.
My wife, however, is making herself known as a craft artist in our area. It began with her taking a violin, spray painting it one solid color, and gluing fake flowers around it. After making a post about it, her followers on the socials took to it with much enthusiasm. It has motivated her to make more stuff, including decorating a deer head. She’s posting her work on her Instagram as “Hayleymakesstuff.” Please go check it out.
She makes her art in our living room while having Star Trek: The Next Generation playing in the background. That’s her operating basis when it comes to crafting her art pieces.
Her work is featured at a local café/bakery, and was shown at a small showcase called “Artist for a Better World.”
So far, she’s already sold three of her pieces for a couple hundred dollars. I’m proud of her and doing that! I believe that qualifies her as a professional artist now! Go check out her Instagram: @hayelymakesstuff
Good on her for creating all this stuff! Here’s to her future with that!
I should get back into creating things again. Go back and write more things. It doesn’t have to be great and grand novels or novellas, but I should write something. If I want to keep calling myself a writer, then I should be writing, right? Damn right! I’ve had some ideas pop into my head about writing fan fiction stories. I think that’s an idea in the right direction. As I said, I don’t need to write all this original work, but writing stories with establish characters and settings is a fun creative outlet.
I’ve consumed a lot of Star Trek and movies from the DC Universe, so there’s always that’s always a jumping off place as it’s fresh in my head.
One other idea has been swimming around in my head: and that’s doing Solo roleplaying in a sci-fi setting. I’ve read this sci-fi roleplaying game (RPG) engine called “The Cepheus Engine” which is based in another system. Unlike the contemporary Dungeons and Dragons, this system two six-sided dice where the results of 8 or higher means success.
I’ve created a character and gave him a name, career, and a back story. His name is Lt. Len Motti, an officer of the Sovereign Navy, and is thrown an extraordinary circumstance. Sooner or later, I should organize my thoughts and the campaign and have at it.
Hopefully, this doesn’t interfere when I want to resume my Dungeons and Dragons campaign with my wife and friends. So much I want to do this year, I better make sure that everything in my life is organize.
Still Foxes 