Tag: about

07/9/13

My Day Job…

I just updated my “About” page to reflect that I’m a full-time programmer.  Let me elaborate a little bit.

I currently work for a small electrical metering company.  I create windows applications and services, and web applications.  I help with other tasks as well, and I bring in doughnuts every Monday.  It’s a really nice environment, and I feel very comfortable and welcome in my workplace.

I want to emphasize that I’m in a really great job, because it was part of my plan in pursuing my writing career.

In 2011, I worked some place that wasn’t nearly so comfortable.  I was underpaid and unappreciated.  I was very unhappy.  I wasn’t writing much at all.  I’d pretty much given up on several dreams, and I was fairly depressed.

I was in this low state of mind when my friend Michael posted to Facebook that he had an extra ticket for WorldCon in Reno.  I’d heard of the Hugo awards, but I didn’t really know much about WorldCon.  I got the ticket, gave Michael a ride to Reno, and attended with very little in the way of expectations.

It was like I’d gone home.  I’d found my people.

I attended panels and took fastidious notes.  I rubbed shoulders with fans and authors, usually unable to distinguish one from the other.  I got to sit with and converse with Sheila Williams and Glen Cook.  I found people that shared a love of the same stories that I loved.  It was like waking up from a bad dream.

During this fantastic experience, I received a call from work, giving me some news I didn’t care for.  All they said was that they were moving my desk, and that the move wasn’t going to wait until I was back from Reno.  In the grand scheme of things, that’s not the worst thing in the world.  However, it struck a sour chord in me.  It was a reminder of the world I was temporarily separated from, that I would return to at the end of the convention.

I growled, grit my teeth, and then pushed the call to the back of my mind.  I enjoyed the rest of the con.

Eventually, the con ended, and I went home.  Then I went back to work and saw just how crummy my new work environment was.  And that was it.  I vowed to get away from that place and work somewhere that I’d be happier.  I was sure that if I was happier, I’d write more.

I’m definitely happier.  I have written more, but the words aren’t exactly flowing just yet.  I’ll talk more about that in another post.

07/8/13

In the beginning…

I think the first thing to establish is why I’m doing this.

For over 25 years, I’ve dabbled in writing.  I loved writing throughout school.  I loved writing out of school. For nearly a decade, my favorite pastime was playing in a game with some friends, where the whole point is to take turns, writing paragraphs to create interactive scenes.  In 2006, I went back to college to focus on writing.  It’s always been an important part of my life, and my talent and voice is something I take pride in.

Now that Westercon 66 has come and gone, I’ve decided to step it up a notch.  I’m going to write a little every day.  If I’m not working on my story, then I’ll write something here.  Some day, I want interested editors or publishers or readers to be able to look me up at this site, and be able to learn a little bit more about me and my writing.

This is a start.  This is the first stroke of the pen across the page.  Hopefully, the ink will continue to flow, and the imagination will continue to fire, and all the things that have been lodged in my heart and my mind will be freed for the world to see.

A blog seems like a good start.