The Journey of a Thousand Steps...

I hijacked this from my previous blog (whereon it was the only post since I didn't like that blog provider's layout). The original post date was April 3rd 2007.

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I've been putting off this, my first blog post, until I had something big, wise, and/or profound to say, but I think that defeats the purpose of a blog. Wisdom comes with time, usually crawling up through the cracks of everyday life.

To start, let's introduce me. I am a writer. Yet to be published, but then I haven't tried to be published all that much yet. Three years ago, I made the unsuccessful rounds with my first completed (some fifth or sixth started), novel--an epic fantasy. Life got in the way for a year, and then I began my study of the craft of writing. In the course of a year I read every book I could find on character, plot, viewpoint, setting, etc (some thirty or so books). The result of which: I learned much. I hope in time to share some of my gleanings here. I also learned that my first novel was terribly hackneyed, poorly plotted (by structure--the plot itself is still salvageable), and filled with awkward language. I plan on rewriting it from a blank page in the future. I think it's probably third or fourth in my novel queue right now.

My study of the craft improved the quality of my writing greatly and moved me into position to get one of my other gigs--line editor for Final Redoubt Press. There, I work with veteren game designer Robert J Defendi to produce a line of role playing modules statted for use in the HERO system, d20 System game, Rolemaster, and HARP. My role is to clean up everything Bob sends me and make it publishable. If I don't think it's publishable, I am the one who kills the project.

Like most writers, I have a day job (in addition to my work with Final Redoubt because editing for a small publisher is not the path to take if you want money right now). I work as a chemist in the quality assurance lab for a multinational company. It's good work with great benefits and decent pay, enough to support myself and my family. It also allows me to increase my skills other than chemistry. I am the safety officer for the lab, run the lab logistically since we lost our receptionist, and I'm the first line of IT. And all of that is in addition to my lab work, which admittedly, I don't usually have that much time for with my other duties.

I am married and have one child (two come August). I would go on about them, but it's usually best to withhold such personal information.That's enough for now. But hey, it the first step to adding content.
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My second child was, in fact, born on July 30th. When I posted this originally, I did so with a mood icon of "sick". That was, sadly enough the beginning of 4+ months of feeling like garbage. I think I'm beginning to recover now, though.