Initial Draft | Writing Fantasy Novels | Todd Newton

Attention (...don't call it a comeback)

2013-05-10T10:52:00.002-06:00

Not-writing is frustrating. Not-blogging-because-I-haven't-been-writing is a symptom of that, but one that's easily overcome.

I think I've made it pretty apparent with the sparse posts that I haven't had a lot to say. Nothing profound, relevant, or useful anyhow. Well fuck profundity, fuck relevance, and fuck usefulness; this is a blog, not a paid service. I can waste your time with my pontificating all I like.

Well... no, perhaps not.

I just prefer not to air my dirty laundry, publicly complain, or demand sympathy from strangers over what amounts to little more than a money-making hobby (regardless of how much I wish it were more of a lifestyle). At the very least I try to leave these things ambiguous (if you've read my past posts then you'll know what I mean). I avoid these things because it's pathetic, or at least it feels pathetic.

I think writers by their very nature are plagued by doubts and confidence woes, and I've harped on this the past so I'll spare you the warm-and-fuzzy. We probably all feel like we need to prove we can do it. To someone, to ourselves, to "the world" whatever that really means. We want to plant our flag in the unconquered territory and scream loudly, "MINE!"

More to the point, it's difficult to talk when you feel like you're just talking to yourself. It feels like no one cares, or at least that no one is interested, and that's a high hurdle to jump with the aforementioned natural doubts and confidence woes. Add on top of that that books, as a whole, are not (and haven't been) the most popular form of entertainment. Therefore, writing isn't a lucrative business. If people aren't reading you, not only does it feel like a personal failure to attract their attention but there's an easy excuse to lean on that does little more than make writing feel like a waste of time and effort.

I think I've proven to myself that I can write. Otherwise I would have stopped a long time ago; I wouldn't have written three books and dived into a fourth. That's not the issue, or not where the challenge lies anyway. It's not the propensity, or the capability, or even the "talent" to do something that drives us to do it. It's the desire to reach an end result, to fulfill a dream, to satisfy a goal.

For me, as with this blog, it's having something to say that prompts a reaction. Something that gets attention because it deserves attention.

My first three books said I was unclear, dissatisfied, and disgruntled with the answers religion had to offer. Starka may end The Ninth Avatar with a new ecumenical outlook, but my view of mankind is anything but one of a unified peaceful coexistence. Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell all but says everything you believe is crap, and yet you revel in it as if believing in it is some great accomplishment. Scions of the Shade drives home that you/we are all slaves to religion; true or false, right or wrong, it is present and constant in all our lives whether we believe in it or not.

Now that I've put most (if not all) of that behind me, what do I have to say? My "writing style" (if I can be so bold as to claim that I have one) is all about making my characters' lives harder. For a long time I think I used religion for this; it certainly made my life harder for quite a few years.

Did I have these things in mind as I wrote them? Probably, but buried beneath denial and resentment. I didn't write because I had a bone to pick, but unconsciously my characters became the voice that I didn't want to have. The jury will always be out on whether this is a good or bad thing, since my books have garnered neither sales nor following nor recognition. But, funnily enough, I really don't care about any of those things and never have. All I care about is an emotional reaction, but the right attitude only goes so far.

(Especially when no one is watching.)

Writing a novel is a lot like performing an amazing feat where you can't tell if the audience is listening, watching, or asleep. Attention is why writers do what they do. It's why pretty much anyone of any creative area does what they do. And it's not that "they want attention" in the sense of fame and notoriety (though I'm sure we'd all be happy with some of that) or because they're "attention whores," but they want their efforts to attract attention. They want to know that what they're doing has meaning to someone other than themselves.

What do I have left to write about? Do I have anything to say? Will it attract attention?

I guess we'll find out, because I'm not giving up. (Not yet anyway.)

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Nothing nice to say

2012-11-13T07:52:00.002-07:00

I've been out of the scene. Haven't been following blogs, haven't been reading articles, haven't really been reading. Still.

On a technicality, of the editing kind, I can barely say I've been writing... though it shouldn't really count in light of the fact that I just haven't felt strongly about it really all year.

A lot of things continue to bother me, and it's not just my run-of-the-mill motivational struggles. Honestly, it's facing down the lack of interest that I'm finding insurmountable at the moment. People not wanting to read what I write makes me want to give up. I know that sounds petty, whiny, and immature, but there you have it. I don't want to produce if there is no consumption. "Writing for myself" is something I could do without being passionate or serious, without calling myself an author.

Personal turmoil aside, I think this hiatus is going to last a bit longer, however I will finish editing Scions of the Shade and either self-publish or give a half-hearted attempt to querying it--possibly just to pass the time. The problem is that it doesn't help if I recede further rather than try harder, but there's no convincing evidence that either course of action will bring back the passion I used to feel when I believed in this.

So that's where I am right now. Someone else has been blogging, which spurred me to post something of my own (however inane or whiny it might be). No big insights here at the moment. Wagons still circled, but luckily we're not running out of food. How's that for mixing metaphors.

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Promoting your book via Social Media == Cargo Culting

2012-07-09T09:18:00.004-06:00

We've all heard the stories, seen the tweets, the Facebook pages with a million "likes." We want that. We want a huge following behind our books. We want fans eager to consume our next project the second it becomes available. We want forum discussions and blog posts postulating things about the worlds and characters we create. We want entire deviantart accounts devoted to fan art with our books as inspiration. We want ~~gold-shitting~~ unicorns and toy rockets.

In short, we want the world to notice us in spite of the improbability of this actually occurring, and it seems the general consensus on how to do that is to use social media channels. Other people have done it and been successful, so our attempts should be just as successful, right?

That, my friends, is Cargo Culting. From the article:

The term "cargo cult" has been used metaphorically to describe an attempt to recreate successful outcomes by replicating circumstances associated with those outcomes, although those circumstances are either unrelated to the causes of outcomes or insufficient to produce them by themselves.

(For some reason, the concept makes me think of that movie The Gods Must Be Crazy. I haven't seen it in probably twenty years, so I can't even remember what it's about except the vague recollection of natives getting dropped on by western civilization. Probably isn't even a relevant reference.)

A lot of the philosophy behind social media's popularity as a marketing channel is the Snowball Effect. You like something > one of your friends sees that you like something and they like it > one of their friends ... You get the idea. It sounds fantastic on paper, and this is "word of mouth" in action. So why doesn't it work?

Well, two reasons, really. The first is that most of the things you "like" are already popular. These are the things that get attention because people have already heard of them. Fifty Shades of Gray probably gets hundreds of likes per ~~hour~~ day, but it's already a huge smash. It doesn't need your "likes." You know what does? Quality fiction such as Michael Sullivan's Riyria Revelations. I say quality because these epic fantasy novels are not Twilight fanfic. I'm not kidding.

The other reason is actually simpler: no one cares what you like. Sure, you can recommend things to like-minded people, and they may pick them up, but chances are they've already heard of such things and just needed a little push, but people are generally wary about the entertainment they consume. They want to feel like they found that band or that book, that it belongs to them, and they get upset when it gets popular. Okay, so maybe only hipsters feel this way, but my point is that people don't really want to be directly told what to consume. (They want to be indirectly told, which is why advertising exists in the first place)

The simple fact is that creating a Twitter account, Facebook page, and custom website for your book are fine things to do, but you can't expect them to (on their own) garner you readers. It's great to have a presence, but you've got to build that presence and make people notice you.

Back to cargo culting. The reason social media is so popular as a marketing channel is because it's free. Word of mouth is free, and they're generally thought of as the same thing. But are they? I know a company who recently used a "tweeting service" to generate buzz. This service employs either bots or some type of computer-savvy immigrants willing to work for low wages (usually both) to tweet, retweet, like, and generally give the impression of popularity. Did/does it work? No. It absolutely does not work. It is cargo culting. It is assuming that just because a popular book has a facebook page and twitter account, having those will make your book popular. As documented by the thousands of Indie authors who still have day jobs, this just isn't true. At all.

To further clarify the illusion, have a look at this article: The Great Social Media Flim-Flam
(this paragraph sums it up best)

"If you’re a writer and you follow a bunch of other writers [which we all do], you will be fed a steady stream of commentary on how many words they wrote that day or how difficult it is to start writing without yet having their morning coffee. Or they’ll link you to yet-another blog post on the importance of persistence and not giving up. (Do writers not post on any other topic?) Is this helpful to pushing your book? On the less friendly side, you have the other writers who push their books in your face constantly and don’t bother with the chit-chat (takes up precious character space to say “hi.”) Do they really think endlessly hyping their books is going to intrigue me? With all the posts on all the writers’ sites that talk about how estranging that sort of self-serving behavior is, are they not reading those comments? Do they just not care? Are they selling books this way?"

My Twitter feed is so full of other authors that I barely deem it worth checking anymore. I don't know these people, they follow me because they did a search for people who have "writer" or "author" in their bio and followed me. Did they check out my books or my website? No, probably have no idea what kind of books I even write based on what some of them write. And I get new followers here and there without even posting on a regular basis. They just find me, follow me, and hope for the best.

The Indie author market is not so saturated that we can afford to all buy each others' books and live comfortably off of that. Still, I have an idea I may employ to see if it will actually make a dent in all this silence and confusion that is Promoting Your Book On The Internet.

But, seriously, take another look at Susan's post. Look at the [horrible] pie chart:

Only 11.8% of readers, according to Publishers Weekly, discover books via their various social networks. Blogs are just as low. The point of her article is why should we be putting so much time into something with such a low return on investment? and I couldn't agree more. I think social media as a marketing tool is ridiculous, and whoever had the idea in the first place should have been laughed out of the room.

So, then, how do we market books? Well, that's a work in progress and I think it always will be. People are doing some interesting things with Goodreads, and all that, but I think the simple truth we have to face is that people don't read books. It's incredibly rare that I meet a person who gives half a shit about books, much less reads them, who isn't planning on writing one themselves. We're all busy watching Netflix, or going to see Avengers for the twentieth time. Books are competing with more accessible forms of entertainment, and no one is spending money to market them because books don't really fly off the shelves like they used to.

Should we give up? Of course not, but we're going to have to figure something else out. Social media isn't it. I think, if we can just get people excited about reading again, we'd have more readers who'd buy more books. Easier said than done, but based on the pie chart the highest possible value comes from personal recommendations.

Maybe, just maybe, if we authors can get over ourselves and our fears enough to humbly approach those we know who read and recommend them our own books, they'll read. If they read, they might enjoy. If they enjoy, they might review or tell their friends (with their mouths, not their facebooks and twitters). This isn't a dig at anyone for "not supporting me," rather it's an earnest plea that if you do know an author, there is one very easy way to support them. If you read, read. If you review, review.

If you do neither, maybe it's about time you started.

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Back From Vacation, Back To Normal

2012-07-09T08:42:00.002-06:00

Inside the Toogood Winery horseshoe cave

Just got back from a much-needed vacation over the Independence Day ~~holiday~~ week. Actually, I got back Saturday, but I went to the Colorado Renaissance Festival yesterday, so it still felt like I was on vacation. Today it's back to the day job, back to normal.

Some people feel jaded about vacations just because "your problems will be there when you get back." Others feel like you take your problems with you, so there's no point in running away for a short while. I can't agree with either of these, not even with my general misanthropy. I think vacations, when used properly, are a great way to decompress and let go of your worries and stress for a while--which is exactly the point of them. If you can't just smile, for no particular reason, on your vacation... well, I feel sorry for you.

Smiling points for me this vacation were:

Swimming in a salt-water pool (natural chlorine kind) in the 100* heat
Driving 90+ mph in a Mazda RX-8 with the sunroof open, windows down, blaring my favorite tunes
Finally seeing some California wine country
Tasting amazing wines at the aforementioned country
Sushi

Of course, it wasn't all sunshine and rainbows. California is hot in July. It's different than the way Colorado is hot in July. And yes, sure, there are all kinds of things I could have complained about, could still complain about, things I wanted to do but didn't get the chance to, etc.

Didn't get any writing done, for example, and had little to no internet access. But you know what? That's okay. It's healthy to unplug (or semi-unplug) for a while, not berate yourself for filling up every waking moment with effort. Vacations are good for spending effortless time and not feeling the least bit bad about it.

So, now I'm back. I still have items on my to-do list for the year, and I feel a bit better about facing them now that I've had some time away. It's back to work, in all senses of the word, and back to normal. Hope you all had a great, safe holiday.

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Crickets...

2012-06-22T10:18:00.003-06:00

Been on a bit of a break from blogging, more so even than usual. Sorry about that.
I have a post planned, half-written, but those rarely turn out well. Blogging for me is about having a thought and expressing it immediately and fully. Planning and drafting don't really apply to my overall blogging strategy.

Even so, some content is better than no content. Hope you're all having a good summer.

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Interview: Sonje Jones, Author of "Chasing"

2012-06-07T08:32:00.000-06:00

Today, as promised, I have an interview for you.

I first met Sonje Jones through another writer, and I've followed her blog ever since. She's got attitude and she can write. Recently she announced that Chasing, book one of The Detective Series, was ready for consumption. I have consumed, and I'm here to tell you I enjoyed it and can't wait for the rest. First the book, then on to the interview.

Getting paid is the name of the game, and private investigator Cornelia Osgood—Oz to most—has found a client with deep pockets: the parents of local singer/songwriter Samantha Arden who has been getting threatening notes from what appears to be an obsessed fan. Oz works not only the Sam Arden stalker case but whatever else comes her way. These cases range from following cheating husbands to tracking down a lost cat.

All work and no play makes for a very boring detective, however, and Oz manages never to let too much time pass between trysts with the women who populate Everton. She probably shouldn’t also be sleeping with Sam Arden, the girl she’s being paid to protect, but if she abided by rules like that, she’d miss out on half the fun.

With Oz’s unpredictable schedule and lack of desire for commitment, she’s only managed long term relationships with three women: her mother, her sister, and her childhood friend, Abby O’Leary. But stress is placed on the relationships with her mother and sister because they are both getting married, and Oz doesn’t particularly approve of either groom. To make matters worse, she’s been wrangled into the role of maid of honor at their joint wedding. This forces Oz to consider the thing that scares her the most: wearing a pink, taffeta bridesmaid’s dress.

As the wedding approaches, the Sam Arden stalker case escalates. Oz enlists the help of fellow private eye (and former apprentice) Adam Erase to help find out who is behind the notes in order to stop the stalker before the threats become a reality.

Chasing is book number one of four in the Detective Series.

--From Amazon.com

About the Author:
Sonje Jones has spent the last couple of years working on a self-described series of four smutty lesbian detective novels. After signing a contract with a small publisher in July 2011, the two decided to go their separate ways in April 2012, and now Sonje is self-publishing the series. The first book, CHASING, was released last week as a Kindle edition, and she plans on releasing the other three within the next couple of months. In addition, she likes sunsets, single malt scotch and some other thing that starts with the letter S.

***

TN: Who or what made you want to write books in the first place?

SJ: I started creative writing (independent of school assignments) sometime in elementary school. I only remember that because I was praised for my writing, and let me assure you, I was a crap student as a child so any praise that came my way really stood out. When I was 18 years old, I wrote my first novel-length fiction, kind of by accident (I'd meant it to be a short story) which is the best way to undertake something big for the first time. What's that expression? Being too stupid to know you can't do it? That was me.

Anyway, once I'd done it, I had the confidence to write several other novels. All of them had literary aspirations. Eventually I grew tired of my own pretentiousness, and around that time, I took a class on detective fiction. It was such a relief! I felt like I could breathe, reading that stuff. I was a comparative literature major at the time, and let me tell you, comp lit majors don't read many (read: any) light and/or fun novels. If someone isn't going to tragically die and depress the hell out of everyone, they don't include it in the syllabus. I decided that I wanted to write some of that fun detective crap, something that didn't take itself seriously AT ALL, and that's when I started writing CHASING.

TN: What do you enjoy most about this particular genre? Do you think you'll stick with Detective Fiction indefinitely, or are you curious about exploring other avenues?

SJ: As I kind of said above, the main thing that I like about detective fiction is it doesn't take itself too seriously. The main point is to tell a story, and usually the detective/main character has some character flaws that interfere with her/his personal life. I've had a lot of fun with the character flaw aspect for my series.

However, I find writing detective fiction to be challenging. My wheelhouse is character development and personal interactions, and that's all well and good, but detective fiction doesn't actually need that. What it requires is a strong, tight, and compelling plot. Coming up with a hundred different things for my main character to do--not just feel and grow emotionally, but actually do things--has been a struggle for me. And plotting the big case! I'd rather stick pins under my fingernails than figure out another case: what happened, how it happened, why it happened--and let's not forget that I have to think of wrong things for my detective to think because it can't be too easy, can it? Ugh! I hate that shit! So no, I do not think I will continue writing detective fiction. That's why I felt confident calling this series, "The Detective Series." Because I'm not likely to write in this genre again!

TN: What, if anything, do you want readers to take from "Chasing?"

SJ: Mostly I just hope readers have fun reading it. When I left my pretentious literary phase, I also left behind the desire for my readers to "get something" from my writing.

TN: What makes you love your main character, Cornelia Osgood? What did you do to make her really stand out as a distinct, interesting personality?

SJ: She has a confidence in her failings that I find charming. To wit, I love it that she sleeps around and makes no apologies--even hiding under a table at one point to avoid a woman. I also love that her mother never gives her a break for...just about anything. In CHASING in particular, I love that she is who she is and isn't interested in being anything else. As you can deduce, unlike other P.I.s in literature, mine has a personal life and a family. I think she's a more complete person than you usually find in this genre.

TN: "Chasing" seems like it would work well as a standalone. What made you want to write a series, and do you feel like it has more of a global-story-arc feel or more of an episodic feel?

SJ: CHASING could definitely stand alone, and it was something I considered strongly upon completing it. I had originally conceived of the story as being a trilogy, although when I finished writing CHASING I knew the story would either end there with one book or go on to four books. In the end, I had more story to tell, so I told it. Books two, three and four of the series need each other in a way that book one does not. There is definitely a story arc that spans those three books as far the main character's growth and development. The episodic part of those three is that each of those books has its own self-contained "big case."

TN: What were the challenges and benefits of writing a series like "The Detective Series?" What do you feel like you learned that will apply to future projects?

SJ: As I mentioned earlier, the challenge was definitely plot for me, and even though I struggled there, it was a good struggle. Things should happen in books--they're much more interesting that way! One of my fatal flaws during my "pretentious literary" phase was that nothing really happened. The intricacies of plotting the twists and turns of a case, I am looking forward to putting behind me, but what I need to bring to future writing is a strong plot with characters who do things and don't just sit around and think and feel. Wow, I almost nodded off just thinking about my earlier books.

TN: When it comes to your writing and your books, how do you define "success?"

SJ: Finishing. When these books are all out there, that's it, that's success. I know there are a million things to do to promote them, and I'm hoping I can get it up enough to do, oh, maybe four or five of them, but all I want is to put this story out there. I'm certainly not doing this for fame or money.

TN: You've told me that you want to have all four books of The Detective Series released by July. What's next for Sonje Jones?

SJ: Let's be clear here that I want all four books released by the end of July, not July 1. I'm crazy but I'm not that crazy. Speaking of crazy though, I participated in the 3 Day Novel Contest last Labor Day weekend, and while I didn't write a novel, I wrote a 15k word story. I have another story in mind that I think will be about that long, and that's probably what I will write next. If I get another long short story idea, I might go ahead and package the three together for release. Besides that, there's probably 5-10 story ideas flitting around my mind. Which one will get picked? I don't know!

Thanks, Todd. You're a peach for having me on your blog--as well as reading then reviewing my book on Amazon.
***

Happy to do it, and more than happy to share it with my readers.

Speaking of which, what are you still doing here? Get your copy today!

Miscellany and upcoming on Initial Draft

2012-06-06T09:56:00.000-06:00

First, RIP Ray Bradbury. Moment of silence for the greatest Sci-Fi writer in history. We should all aspire for a career like his, and we should all aspire to die at 90+ years old.

That was quite a shocker this morning. What shocked me yesterday was that I'm 30% through manscript edits on Scions of the Shade. I can literally feel the book getting better, and I still have a long way to go. I think that after I get these MS edits in and fix the central conflict (consequences are coming across weakly), I'll focus some more effort on making the beginning as shiny as possible and clarifying Laurel's character. It's been pointed out that she waffles a bit between total-Rambo-badass and scared-little-girl. I'm oversimplifying, but there you go.

I'm working on an interview with Sonje Jones, author of Chasing (Book One of The Detective Series). Check it out on Amazon and Goodreads. Clearly I'm a fan. She's hard at work on finishing off the other three books in the series.

Thomas Redpool is doing his thing. Thanks to my Goodreads Giveaway, I now have five ratings and two reviews on that site. I don't know if I can fully express how important (and appreciated) reviews are. Buying the book is great, but buying is not reading. Please don't buy it for the cover alone; let me know what you think!

All else is basically business as usual. Once I get this editing done and decide where I'm going to query out Scions, I'll be looking again to the first draft of Rise of the Carrion (prequel to The Ninth Avatar) and hopefully finishing that up by the end of the year. I have some other standalone Fantasy projects queued up after that, and somewhere in there sits the sequel to The Ninth Avatar. I've wanted to expand the story in both directions, but I think the urge to do something new and different is too strong to fight.

Check back soon for that interview, and as always thanks for reading.

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2012 Summer Contests

2012-05-21T14:21:00.001-06:00

Win free books!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Ninth Avatar

by Todd Newton

Giveaway ends June 25, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Read, Review, & Win

Step 1: Read The Ninth Avatar.
Step 2: Post a review of The Ninth Avatar on either Amazon.com or Goodreads.com.
Step 3: Email me with a link to your review (this is your official entry, not the review itself).

Two lucky reviewers will receive signed copies of two Trapdoor Books:
CYBERKILL and NANOMAGICA.

This contest is open until July 31, 2012.

Click here to order your copy of Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell.

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Writing Books (specifically, The Art of War for Writers)

2012-05-14T08:29:00.000-06:00

Like most writers/authors you know, I ~~occasionally~~ read books on how to write (and how to write more effectively). Also most writers you know, I'm a bit eccentric and unconventional. Having pored through most of the standard texts, I've begun to branch out to the exciting fringes of "writing books." Recently I've acquired Sin & Syntax, a Strunk & White for the 21st century "hip" author, and (pictured left) The Art of War for Writers.

You'd think I'd be satisfied merely consuming the wisdom contained therein, that I would soak it in like a sponge and make the difference--that it would become a pivotal moment in my writing career that I could look back on one day and say, "It was then, and it was that book, that really made the difference." Sadly, this does not seem to be the case.

For all you non-authors out there reading this, let me clarify. Books on writing are like tools you buy to put in your garage. You might already have two full screwdriver sets, a table saw, a ratchet and all the drill bits you'll ever need, but you can definitely find a use for a staple gun, an X-ACTO knife, and a shop vac. This is why we read writing books--not because we don't already know how to write, but because a worker can always use more tools.

At some point, though, I feel like I crossed a threshold into excess. I stopped learning and started rolling my eyes at the "nothing new" approach to these full-of-duplicated-advice writing books. Maybe it was around the time I bought the last few writing books, or possibly even before that, but these days I don't feel like I'm getting a whole lot out of them. The same old screwdrivers and hammers and trowels. Not that there's anything wrong with the basics but, just as there's no How to Write a Sequel book, an endless focus on the basics is a recipe for perpetual amateur-hood. It occurred to me this weekend, as I was reading Art of War for Writers, that to be a professional one must profess that this is their intention, and act accordingly. After all, you can't be in a band unless you are, actually, in a band.

More to the point, this book caught my eye some time ago. I liked the idea of using the tactics and strategy of an ancient Chinese general as fuel for encouragement to write. They've been applied to business, made quite a splash in the 1990's, so why not writing? It's a struggle, and having a battle plan (despite my post on that particular subject) is a good idea. What relevance could they possibly have on the lonely creative process of crafting a novel? Quite a bit, more than you'd think, but not as much as I'd like.

I can hear you saying, "Get to the point, Todd." Fine. Here goes. The quote to begin the Tactics section of Art of War for Writers is as follows:

"Therefore, just as water retains no constant shape, so in warfare there are no constant conditions... He who can modify his tactics in relation to his opponent, and thereby succeed in winning, may be called a heaven-born captain." -Sun Tzu, The Art of War

What does that mean to you? To me it means being adaptive is the key to victory. When I think of all the reasons I don't write daily, this is the one that sticks in my brain: there are no constant conditions. Throughout my daily/weekly routine of "day job + sleep + a few hours of miscellany," the only constant is change. I don't wake up feeling the same every day. I don't leave work feeling the same every day. When I open my current manuscript document, I could be thinking about everything but writing. I'm unfocused. I'm not "in the zone" at all times.

(Some people refer to a muse in these cases, but I murdered that bitch in her sleep a long time ago.)

It occurs to me that that's precisely the point; being able to overcome these fluctuating circumstances and write/complete a novel is a sign of the sort of fortitude you want in an author (the kind that publishers like, at any rate). It also occurs to me that it's not so simple, but that's why I'm the one making excuses in the first place.

I suppose it's the same with any goal, whether it be exercise or stopping a habit or completing a project. Forcing your chosen activity to supersede other priorities (simplified: making/taking the necessary time and putting for the necessary effort during that time) is the key to success. It goes without saying that the more often you do so, the more progress you'll make toward completing your goal.

Which inevitably leads me to the same conclusion I've reached so many times before: intellectual awareness, or logical certainty, don't actually accomplish anything toward your goal. You can think about writing a novel all day long, but that isn't writing it. Not to rip off a famous slogan, but maybe the best advice there is remains, "Just do it."

And if declarative statements accomplished goals, I'd be thin, healthy, and a millionaire by now.

Have you read any good "writing books" lately?
Anyone have a motivation "secret" they're willing to share?
Comments below.

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If you take out the Dungeons and the Dragons...

2012-04-18T14:40:00.000-06:00

In my last post, I talked about the three words I fear as an author, but also about same-ness. This seems to be on everyone's minds a lot lately, as evidenced by this recent interview with Patrick Rothfuss (of The Name of the Wind fame). As fate seems eager to bash me over the head until I express my opinion, I also watched a Zero Punctuation review of Kingdom of Amalur: Reckoning, in which Yahtzee flayed fantasy in general for it's overuse of tropes.

The message is coming through loud and clear, guys:

"Stop copying Tolkien."

Unfortunately, as one might imagine, it's not so simple as that.

If you were to take out the magic, dragons, swords, damsels, goblins, orcs, elves, dwarves, vampires, werewolves, wizards, castles, faeries, weird languages (aka Ye Olde Tongue), farm-boy chosen-ones, pirates with hearts of gold, knights, what exactly are you left with? In short, if you gut what makes fantasy fantasy, then why write fantasy in the first place? If you take out the Dungeons and the Dragons, you're just left with &. Nobody wants that.

Everyone wants something different, but in making it different you run the risk of pulverizing what makes it familiar. You ignore that which makes it classifiable as "fantasy." Sometimes dragons and dwarves is, actually, what we want, and re-reading Lord of the Rings for the hundredth time isn't going to cut it. Oh, but Tolkien has covered all the bases when it comes to elves and orcs. Nothing can be done differently or better, added or subtracted, modified slightly to produce an also-good story?

Perhaps I'm making an extreme point, here. Let's say that instead of gutting dragons, you just change them to something else. Rather than majestic, fire-breathing lizards who fly and are commonly known for hoarding treasure and doling out sage-like advice to the occasional passerby, we envision a race of beasts called solocups who are majestic, fire-breathing lizards etc. While it has the potential to completely revamp popular culture (just think of the connotations of that Toby Keith ditty), all we've really done is used the Find-and-Replace feature in MS Word to change all instance of dragon to solocup.

Fine, you say. Don't make solocups be just dragons-with-a-different-name. Let's make them giant birds... but not call them rocs. Shit. Let's make them giant sea monsters... but not call them krakens. Fuckbeans. Let's make a race of humanoids who... have nothing to do with every other race of humanoids who've been created for Star Trek or some other well-known, many-raced universe.

Sure, I can write a story about a race of reptilian humanoids and call them solocups and say Jimbob is going on an adventure to find his place in the world. But, hey holy shit, it's been done before.

an Argonian from Skyrim

It's all been done before. And I don't just mean the neologisms. Fantasy is, by and large, based on mythology. The same mythology that folk tales and fairy tales are based on. It just so happens that, since Western writers are familiar with Western mythology, Western fantasy is full of dragons and elves and dwarves and wizards.

Not to criticize Rothfuss (as I really enjoyed The Name of the Wind both times I read it), but just because his story doesn't have elves and dwarves doesn't mean it breaks new ground. Wind is a story [about a story] in which a young boy, the smartest boy around, has his parents murdered by the biggest-baddest-most-villainest-motherfuckers around, then spends time as a beggar but with the help of some well-meaning cardboard characters finds his way to the Arcanum (which is a fancy name for a University of Magic). Wizards aren't wizards, they're Arcanists. Sympathy, a way to manipulate the bonds between natural forces, and the usage of Names are just fancy words to replace "magic." You get the point. Rothfuss himself, like the rest of us, doesn't fall too incredibly far from the tree. Even though he brilliantly wrote a fantastic story, he relies on renaming common concepts to avoid reinventing the wheel.

There's another side of the coin, however, in the Quest for Snowflakes (aka the Search for Uniqueness in a Derivative World, copyright forthcoming). As mentioned above, neologisms abound in fantasy. In this article, really a criticism of the Clarke Award shortlist, Christopher Priest points out that China fucking Mieville should be discounted because of them. According to Priest, "He also uses far too many neologisms or SF nonce-words, which drive home the fact that he is defined and limited by the expectations of a genre audience." (Special thanks to Only the Best SFF for their piece on Priest's article.)

I might be using a Flathead for a Phillips on this, but it sounds a lot to me like Priest expects us to write fantasy without making up our own terminology. He's just one guy, but I'm sure his opinion jives with what keeps more people from reading fantasy at all, e.g. having to learn an entire lexicon to understand who's doing what to whom and why. Your casual reader doesn't want to reference the bestiary to know what a solocup is every time one is mentioned, whereas most people (thanks to Hollywood and various authors) have a pretty firm grasp on what a dragon is.

Now, that's not to say I don't enjoy the occasional dragon-free fantasy, or seek out every farm-boy-turned-hero/chosen-one story I can get my hands on. There's a difference between beating a dead horse and cutting off a nice steak to roast on a spit. If a story full of familiar elements is done well, there's an interesting world full of compelling characters, the plot and conflict aren't copied and pasted straight out of the "here's what to do with fantasy" handbook (which I wish I'd written), and there's some excitement and entertainment to be found there, then it is a good story whether or not it has elves in it.

Maybe, just maybe, when people look for something to criticize, they land on the familiarity of fantasy rather than the quality of the story. Some people scoff at Terry Brooks because "he ripped off Tolkien," but I've never bought into that. Anyone who mentions the words elf, dwarf, or orc while describing them as lithe, gruff/beardy, and ruthless are in a very real sense "ripping off Tolkien." To deviate too far from familiarity runs the risk of the ridiculous, like writing sci-fi where spaceships are made of cheese instead of metal, or fantasy where people ride ligers instead of horses.

I don't mean to slight them, but I think if Rothfuss and others are sick of reading about dragons and dwarves then perhaps they should be a bit more selective in the genre(s) they choose to read. Prophecy, swords and sorcery, the eternal struggle between light and dark/good and evil/balance and chaos, mystical and majestic creatures... these things are at the very heart of fantasy for me, and I want them to stay that way. After all, if we weren't willing to play the game with the same pieces, chess wouldn't have survived as long as it has.

So, rather than trying to write something different, perhaps we should all be focusing on writing something worth reading in the first place. Your thoughts on this are welcome in the comments section below.

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Three Words I Fear (as an Author)

2012-04-12T10:22:00.000-06:00

There isn't a whole lot that I'd admit to being afraid of. Bees and heights, definitely, but those are fairly common things for people to be afraid of. Being a writer, it should come as no surprise that there are certain words I fear. Three of them, in a certain sequence, to be exact.

And no, they're not, "You suck, asshole." Me being the way I am, I've gotten used to that. Laugh, damnit; that was a joke.

No, the words I fear seeing, particularly when I scrounge for reviews of Thomas Redpool on Goodreads, are:

"More like this!"

You might think this is some weird "fear of success" post, but let me assure you that it isn't. I don't fear success. I think a fear of success is unhealthy and borderline ridiculous (as is a fear of failure, especially considering that "failure" just means giving up). However, as I've written a few times before, I probably define success a bit differently than others. Whereas some people view authorship as some quick path to fame and fortune, the only thing I care about is that people read my books.

To be clear: I don't care whether you buy or like my books, so long as you read them. That is success to me, and I feel like that's a healthy position to take on this whole writing-books thing. You might disagree. You're welcome to disagree.

More to the point, I fear "more like this" not because I don't want to write more religious satire, not because I don't want to write more fantasy, but because I don't want to write more like this.

I want people who've read The Ninth Avatar to read Thomas Redpool and say, "Wow, that was different," and vise-versa. Not necessarily in the "wow, his writing has improved" sense, though I hope under their shock comes that acknowledgement of improvement (or at least effort to improve), but in the sense that I'm not churning out the same thing repeatedly--particularly in an effort to "capitalize on a franchise" or some such nonsense.

If and when I release Rise of the Carrion, I want readers to notice how different the book is from The Ninth Avatar in theme, style, message, technique, or really anything--despite being a prequel. Should I venture again into religious satire territory, I hope to make different jokes and points than I made in Thomas Redpool, not just copy the same attitude and verve and paste it into a new manuscript.

Publishers may quake at the thought of an author having such an attitude, but I don't think readers do. And there are exceptions to this, I suppose, if you're carrying on a hugely arcing storyline and want each book to "feel" like the last, as in the epics of Diana Gabaldon and George R.R. Martin. At this point, I don't envision myself embarking on anything so grande. Mostly because I don't plan ahead all that well.

My next fantasy, Scions of the Shade, has two main protagonists and one of them is female. It's my earnest hope that readers struggle to draw parallels between Laurel and Starka, the female lead from The Ninth Avatar, because they are nothing alike (despite both being constructs of my imagination). I don't want Tysane, the male lead in Scions, to be compared to DaVille except to point out how different they are.

I don't want to tread the same ground, tell the same story, or anything that would run the risk of boring you. I like you too much to bore you.

Now, this not to say I'd begrudge the appreciation or scorn the sentiment. The reason I don't want this, honestly, is because I like to think of myself as ~~vastly and exceptionally~~ creative. Therefore, to do something not just similar (genre-wise or universe-wise) but the same, or close enough, is tantamount to admitting I have nothing worthwhile to offer. "Here's what I did before, I hope you like it just as much the second time around." That's just not me.

Even when I make mistakes, I make them differently.

Maybe I'm grandstanding a little, assuming I'll even get anyone to enjoy my work so much that they'll eagerly request more. Maybe I'm being a little egotistical here. That's fine. I'm allowed. Don't hold back what you have to say on account of my fears but, if you give it a second thought, all you really need to say is one word: "More."

That'll keep me going.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you come back again soon.

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One down (moving forward in 2012)

2012-04-11T13:25:00.001-06:00

Reflecting on my resolutions for this year, I can now say that I have done two of them. Thomas Redpool is published, and I tried my hand at vlogging. It's time to move on to the others, but not before I revel a little that I actually got something done that I put my mind toward.

Self-publishing a book, let me just say, is every kind of difficult there can possibly be. While not without its myriad benefits and rewards it is, at heart, a one-man-show when it comes to the "marketing" aspect. In many areas of my life I know I'm not the most patient of persons, but crossing my fingers and hoping for the best when my own efforts were involved has never been an easy thing to do. Fortunately, I have a natural inclination not to be a human obstacle, so I try not to be so in-your-face about

"Hey, buy my book! Why haven't you bought my book yet? You know I write books, right? You should buy it, it's really good!"

This is a double-edged sword since, while I'm not being incredibly obnoxious, my "message" isn't exactly reaching many ears. I've complained about this before, so I'm not going to give it much more real estate than I already have; just let me bitch for a minute that getting people to read books isn't exactly the easiest thing in the world.

And, to be clear, it isn't that my family and friends aren't supportive. That's the furthest thing from the truth. But I'd have to have a lot more family and friends if they're going to be the only ones buying/reading my books, eh?

Video blogging, on the other hand, only has one major drawback--and it's the same drawback that text blogging has. Content, or lack thereof. A person can blog their virtual ass off so long as they have something pertinent and relevant to say and, if the not-so-sudden influx of crickets around here have not tipped you off, I really haven't had all that much to share. Besides, I'm curious to see or hear any kind of information on exactly how helpful it is to put yourself on YouTube as opposed to just blogging. Seems to be that there's still a major hurdle to get over in that you need to get attention, and I'm pretty sure it's rare for a talking head to go viral (unless they're wearing a really nifty hat, perhaps?).

I usually refrain from public complaint ~~about my own problems~~. It doesn't accomplish anything, and tends to only lead to throwing temper tantrums that no one is paying attention to that either. Not a healthy or mature road to go down, and certainly not something you want to engage in if you want anyone to take you seriously (as an author or otherwise).

Things in publishing, as in most parts of life, move agonizingly slow. It takes a decent amount of time to write a quality manuscript, even longer to edit that into a publishable manuscript, and even longer to turn that into a real-life book... then comes the real waiting of seeing if anyone will buy it, read it, like it, review it, and so on. Any attempt to shortcut or bypass any of these things is asking for trouble, even if it's well-intended or flashy. Even if it achieves the result you want, it can leave an impression or stigma that you really don't want, and you need to make sure you're weighing consequences before you open your mouth [and insert both feet].

So that's what I have for today. One project published and for sale, the next nearly ready to be edited in earnest before it's queried out, then one more left to finish writing before the end of the year. Nothing but good stuff here, people.

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Five Copies of Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell up for grabs on Goodreads.com!

2012-04-04T14:27:00.000-06:00

Goodreads Book Giveaway

Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell

by Todd Newton

Giveaway ends May 04, 2012.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter to win

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Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell is now available!

2012-04-03T10:20:00.000-06:00

You need a good laugh, right? Sure, between the economy and the Republican primary, there's humor missing from your life. And, hey, if not, then everybody could use more laughs. You have a very exciting opportunity here. Not just laughs, but guffaws and cackles can be yours for merely a nominal fee.

Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell is the story of one man's afterlife. As the title implies, he arrives in Hell and soon finds it quite unlike what he expected. Did I mention Thomas was a complete asshole who deserves to be there? A likable one, to be sure, but quite a bastard nonetheless. Not the kind of person you'd want in charge of a McDonalds--let alone Armageddon--but the kind of person who says and does what many of us are thinking.

Considering the Rapture Index has us hurtling toward Kirk Cameron's Left Behind wet dream, I'd say your time to read a book about Hell is running out. Get your copy today and get laughing.

www.BuyThomasRedpool.com

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Response to "15 Reasons I Left Church"

2012-03-26T08:50:00.000-06:00

Stolen from the original post

Now, I'm not so daft as to declare it "religion week" just because I have a religious satire book hitting the virtual shelves [hopefully] this week. However, an article was recently suggested to me and (based on a few documentaries I watched) I feel that a response is in order. Please bear with my groping-for-relevance while I wait for my book to actually arrive and be approved for sale.

If you'd like to read up, check out Rachel Held Evans | 15 Reasons I Left Church.

Back? Good, because you just spent a few minutes being misled.

The title of the post implies something that the body, itself, contradicts. Rachel, as well-meaning as she seems to be, chronicled her discomfort with her church (in other words, a church) rather than the church (left of the capital C):

I left the church when I was twenty-seven. I am now thirty, and after trying unsuccessfully to start a house church, my husband and I are struggling to find a faith community in which we feel we belong.

She didn't leave the church (faith community), she stopped weekly attendance to a building. Semantics? Maybe.

That being said, I think she makes some valid points. Planning baby showers wouldn't be an effective way to spend one's time in any context in the face of a/the church's main purpose. Unless they're used as an evangelism tool, I suppose, and I doubt even Jesus would attend an event where people guess what the "poo" in a diaper actually is. Then again, maybe he enjoys those games. Who can say.

It's already been established that I have no faith in all things church. So it should be readily apparently why I left church, both in the faith community and building senses. Admittedly, my opinions are going to be biased in this direction, but having been "outside" for a while now, I've realized my biggest reason for discontentment. Rachel's blog post highlights it unintentionally well, actually.

Participation in the Christian church isn't mandatory, but it might as well be. If you don't subscribe to one of the 1500+ denominations of Christianity, or gods forbid you're an unrepentant Jew, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, or Atheist (but not Agnostic, because they're easy pickins for conversion), you're thought of as having something wrong with you. In the words of the least relevant celebrity, whose recent commentary on gays was less than well received, you're lost.

Of all the reasons I'm anti-church these days, the biggest one is because the presumption is that "church" is "right." The authority is on their side. The goal is to make everyone agree with them, which should be simple because they clearly know the proper way of things. Now, not every individual throws their spiritual weight around, but I've definitely known some who do. Some of them may even see this post on Facebook and wonder why I'm so ~~angry~~ ~~spiteful~~ vigorously against their deeply-held beliefs.

Nothing illustrates this better than my favorite of Rachel's reasons, by the way, is #10: I left the church because of my own selfishness and pride. The church is right, so clearly she's wrong for leaving it, and it's all her fault for being such a selfish and prideful person. It's not the church's fault she wasn't enriched, full of zeal, satisfied with her experience and accumulated knowledge and fellowship. Clearly it was just a matter of she wasn't trying hard enough.

Not much gets under my skin quite like this.

You can thank my feelings on the legacy from being brought up LDS, being encouraged to repeat the mantra "I know this church is true" as a child who couldn't have possibly known otherwise, and coming to disagree with every possible thing about said organization. It puts quite a damper on the whole "faith" thing, let me tell you.

My personal baggage aside, I feel that we should live in a secular society. One where you're allowed to be who you are without having people automatically assume there's something broken about you. Christians aren't perfect, nor are Muslims are Atheists, but presuming that any one group is right and that we should all just jump ship with what we're doing and join them before the Armageddon Clock chimes 13 (or we destroy ourselves with nuclear weapons) is one of the most ridiculous unspoken rules living in USAmerica goads you into following.

I used to cut the various churches some slack. They help people, right? They take your money from the collection plate and do good things (literally) with it. Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, house the homeless; those sorts of things that you obviously couldn't do all by yourself. Then I read a study on how a common church spends its money.

Donations account for 87% of a church's income, probably more in other cases.
About 77% of the budget goes to staff, overhead, and supplies.
Only 15-20% of the budget goes to missionary/support work.

Do that math sometime. I have. To say it's disappointing doesn't even begin to cover it. Make no mistake: your tithing pays for a building and people who work in it.

If you want a decent reason to leave church, do it because they care more about preaching than they do about helping. Do it because they build ever-more-enormous facilities in which to preach in lieu of helping. Do it because your money would be better-spent directly helping people, or going to actual charities who at maximum probably rent a single office in a run-down building in a run-down part of town... so they can more effectively use the money they collect to help people.

Now, that's not to say that I disagree with Rachel entirely. #15 is also one of my favorite reasons, but I don't see the point in disassociating yourself with the one part of an organization when the rest of it, probably even those sitting next to you in those pews, do subscribe to such ridiculous and exclusionary notions. It bothers me that people think they can draw such magical distinctions like, "I'm a Christian, but I'm not a Westboro Baptist (of GOD HATES FAGS fame) kind of Christian," or, "I'm a Christian, but not a fundamentalist Christians like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson (of blaming natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina on the ACLU, abortionists, feminists, gays and lesbians fame)." Why on earth would you want to call yourself the same thing those people do?

Because you have to. Something is wrong with you if you don't. Sure, you can disagree with them all you want, but you all still believe in the same god, read from the same book, and perform the same weekly ritual. People like me just don't understand it. Maybe now you'll have a better idea of why that is.

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Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell, the official (legal) cover

2012-03-16T07:58:00.000-06:00

The cover is done and ready to show the world:

Front Cover
(scroll to the bottom for the Wraparound version)

The formatting is also done, barring proof. Only a few more pages of edits need to be applied to the manuscript and Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell will be ready to proof, publish, and be consumed.

I like to think that, if Thomas actually existed, he'd be damn proud of this cover. While I do love the front, I have the say the wraparound effect is quite striking.

For those who don't know, I was writing this novel the same time as The Ninth Avatar in 2005, and I've been sort of working on it on and off ever since. This has been a long time coming, but I think TR is ready to hit the streets and raise some eyebrows.

If you haven't heard me talking about this novel, here's the rundown: this is a satire about an egotistical jackass who goes to Hell and ends up in charge of Armageddon... except someone has stolen his authority. It's intended to be funny, irreverent, and ~~occasionally~~ ~~intentionally~~ ~~overtly~~ ~~somewhat~~ mildly critical of religion or religious beliefs. And when I say that, I mean poking fun at certain things for how ridiculous they are, not at people for believing in them. Fine line, that. There's some action, some adventure, some gallows humor, some antics, sinning, spinning toilets, demons, and various other sources of entertainment.

If you only read one novel this year, it should be Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell. Heh.

Bust out your fucking penny jar; the initial price point (for 6x9 TPB copies) is going to be $7.99. Not sure on the ebook version yet. I'm trying to decide between doing the full e-suite with Smashwords or just doing the Kindle version through Amazon's KDP. I'll make a decision on that in the next week or two. Stay tuned for more announcements.

Full Wraparound Cover
(I couldn't be more pleased with how this turned out)

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Thinking in circles, idle hands, and recovery

2012-03-12T10:35:00.000-06:00

Haven't been posting as much this year. It's not that I haven't had a lot on my mind, just that not much of it is writing-related. As for the portion that is:

I remain mired in edits on Thomas Redpool Goes to Hell. That is, implementing edits and, the most tedious of all, manuscript formatting. It's been a while since I self-published the first time, so I've been disconnected from much of this last bit. Microsoft Word isn't exactly my best friend, particularly on a Mac (now), but I'm slogging through. The book will be better off for me putting in the work.

On the cover front, I'm actually looking at some near-complete designs right now (that I may post later with permission). It's difficult to contain my excitement, to be honest. A book is nothing without a cover, and this one is pretty damn awesome.
(Edit: Cover is being re-forged. Stay tuned.)

Soon after this release, which I still need to do some website-related things for, I'll be moving on to implementing edits for Scions of the Shade. These were looking fairly manageable until recently, whereupon my editor expressed concern and confusion about the major trouble aspect of the storyline. This is like saying my gas tank has a giant hole in it.

It's not troubling, though, because this is exactly what I want. Keep in mind that the edit phase is to point out flaws, not to confirm that what you've done is perfect or "good enough." There should always be room for improvement in your novel, and you shouldn't shirk from making those necessary changes that will make it more readable, enjoyable, and (last but not least) sell-able.

It's never going to stop being a blow to the ego that you didn't write it perfect the first (or the third, or the fifth) time. Editing is the inverse of writing; it's critical rather than creative, though sometimes you do need to get creative with it. To that end, it can either be a soul-crushing endeavor of hellish proportions, or it can be the thing that keeps a person from putting down (and refusing to finish) your book.

I'm also 50% through the Hunger Games trilogy. Short books, better than Twilight; do you need a third reason to read these? Okay, read them because Katniss is an easy character to sympathize with. Just don't read them expecting major resolution to the muttations (not a misspelling) at the end of Book 1, as I did/am.

News on Thomas Redpool as it develops. Beware the Ides of March!

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My vision of the future (technologically speaking)

2012-02-21T13:02:00.000-07:00

It's come up often enough in recent conversations that I'd like to post about technology, and what I think is coming in the very near future.

Who among us born in the late 70s/early 80s could predict that by adulthood we would be using portable electronic devices to speak to each other wherever we went? Back in the day, cable television and the Apple 2e were the paramount of technological achievement. Now we have the Internet, gaming consoles displaying graphics and movies in high definition, and cars that talk. We may lament that we don't have hoverboards, but we're still living in the future.

So, where do we go from here?

Being somewhat connected to the book & publishing industry, I'm well-aware that digital downloads are slowly but surely taking over. The cost and convenience is just too difficult to resist, particularly once you start using it. Sure, we may love the look, feel, and smell of our old tomes, but having moved a few boxes of them recently (which wouldn't have taken up 10% of my iPad space) I'd say that convenience factor is winning pretty damn heavily.

Games, too, are headed this direction. Being a fan of the Warriors franchise (by Koei, now Koei Tecmo), I noticed the outrage at the recent news that the NA release of Warriors Orochi 3 will be digital-only on the Playstation 3 (though there will be a retail/disc for the X360 version). The vitriol struck me as odd since it only makes good business sense to ditch the overhead of case, book, disc, and shipping. Why the entire industry hasn't moved further in this direction yet is beyond me.

Many of us who work, or have worked, in cubicles have heard the term "paperless office." Now, no one is so naive as to assume offices are ever truly paperless, but to a wide extent that seems to be the direction things are going. And why? For convenience. Your medical records are being scanned so that they can be easily emailed or downloaded by your doctor, rather than requested and either FedEx'd or faxed over hours/days later. Everyone from your bank to your utility providers are urging you to use paperless statements, online bill payment, and the only one suffering is the Post Office (due to decreased stamp demand).

Apple iTunes is the main method people use to acquire music. So much so, in fact, that online delivery methods (not just iTunes, but Amazon and others) have put entire franchises out of business--remember Media Play? Hell, you can hardly find a new release CD at Bestbuy or Walmart anymore (not that I shop frequently at the latter). Movies are headed that direction, too, though I think there are two major roadblocks.

First, though bandwidth has increased by about a million percent from the dialup age, it still takes a decent amount of time to download the full content of an HD disc (usually around 9 gigabytes of data). Slapping wireless on top of that, and multiple devices, can slow it down even further. This frustrates end users who want their content now. The more companies invest in fiberoptic cabling (to replace the old, shitty copper telephone wires) and other technologies, the less this will become an obstacle. It's improving all the time.

Second, there's still a barrier of entry for capacity. Your general user doesn't buy new devices very often. The machine you're viewing this on may have a very small hard drive, even. "Small" is now measured in two-digit gigabytes. Did you even know you can buy a 1 terabyte (1000 gigabytes) external hard drive for $100 or less? For those of us who remember a time when hard drive space was measured in megabytes, seeing a 1TB hard drive the size of a pack of hot dogs is quite mind-boggling. Not to mention, for those of us who grew up with cassettes... seeing an iPod no bigger than our thumb able to hold hours worth of music is practically miraculous.

So, where do I think we're going? Here are my Nostradamus-esque predictions:
1. We will be no further on the anti-piracy debate. We never will.
2. Within 5 years, Apple will make an iPhone the size of the latest iPod Shuffle, but instead of clipping onto your belt it will clip onto your ear like a bluetooth dongle. When you want to call someone, you'll say, "Call Todd," and Siri will do so.
3. Within 5 years, media sales will be at least 90% digital-download-only. Like I said before, it only makes good business sense.
4. Within 10 years, a company like Sony will introduce a true all-in-one product. Think of a television with not only an internet connection, but a 1TB hard drive able to run the Playstation operating system. Netflix, if it's still around, and Microsoft's XBOX will become content delivery systems rather than shippers of discs and console manufacturers. Hardware will become software. Note: Sony is just in the best position to do this (being a TV-maker already, along with blu-ray and Playstation devices) but I wouldn't put it past a company like Apple or Microsoft to partner with Toshiba or whoever to do the same, either before or after Sony does. Surround sound will just require a software install to wirelessly connect to your magically wireless speakers. Your laptop will automatically change display so that you're viewing it on your 80" wall-mounted flatscreen plasma or LCD. You can, of course, do both of these things now... at considerable expense or with requisite wiring, but it'll get easier in time.
5. Within 10 years, someone, somewhere will implement a wi-fi network that encompasses an entire city, and other cities will have adopted that model. AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint will have an absolute fucking fit, but it will be done. The Internet will phase out paying not only for long distance, but international calling as well. Skype, when combined with an iPhone or iPad, is already making a heavy dent in their bottom-lines.
6. Before I die, I will be able to download my entire consciousness into a cloud-based framework... so that I never die. Might give a whole new meaning to cyber-sex, eh?

What do you think is coming on the technological horizon?

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Vlog Episode 1 - I'm new at this

2012-02-15T12:03:00.000-07:00

As promised in my New Years Resolutions, here's a first stab at vlogging. It's nothing spectacular, but it gets the point across. Here's hoping the quality warrants a second stab.

Links to items mentioned in the video:
http://www.todd-newton.com/books/thomas-redpool-goes-to-hell
http://www.todd-newton.com/books/scions-of-the-shade
http://www.todd-newton.com/books/nine-pillars/rise-of-the-carrion
http://www.todd-newton.com/books/upcoming-projects.php

http://terribleminds.com/ramble/2012/01/03/25-things-writers-should-stop-doing/

http://www.trapdoorbooks.com/?page_id=3949
http://www.trapdoorbooks.com/?page_id=3937
http://www.trapdoorbooks.com/?page_id=3942
http://www.trapdoorbooks.com/?page_id=3947
http://www.trapdoorbooks.com/?page_id=3951
http://jonsprunk.com/

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Let's get political (a rant? a digression? avoid as necessary)

2012-02-14T09:20:00.000-07:00

Rather than posting about romance on Valentine's Day, I'm going to post about something infinitely more (and less) popular.

You may want to skip this [giant] post altogether.

No, really. It's long, sweary, ranty, and political.

It's said that one should never discuss religion or politics at the dinner table, mostly because people's stances on topics are defended like the Alamo (except with a lot more boiling oil). I ranted, semi-recently, on Facebook about politics based on some exposure to the GOP "debates" and I've been reading more and more Dailykos ever since.

To be honest, I'm a writer, not a politician. I'd make a terrible candidate, what with the skeletons in my closet resembling certain underground scenes in Pitch Black and my propensity for saying what I think rather than what my potential constituency would have me say. I have no desire to be a politician, for various reasons.

I heard a quote from a Colorado congressman on NPR this morning, that if he "didn't vote his district, someone else would," implying he'd be out of a job if he voted based on his own thoughts on issues. This would, I imagine, include not voting on his conscience, though 9 out of 10 politicians will tell you they do on such hot-buttons like abortion.

But that's the problem with representational government, isn't it? Who, exactly, do you represent? Do you vote in the best interest of the majority, the minority, the squeaky wheels, the biggest contributors, or do you go with what you think is best? Not to mention that it's territorial representation; the only way I can affect a Senate race in some other state would be to contribute money to a party or candidate to be used how they see fit. A drop in the bucket compared to what some might contribute, and yet Senators from other states vote on things that affect my daily life.

It's fair, but it's also unfair, and somehow we've survived over 200 years with this hybrid of a Democratic Republic (get it right, we don't live in a Democracy). With so many moving parts, moving so slowly, it's a wonder the entire thing hasn't fallen apart. It feels like every election, that's the big fear: "if you elect [my opponent], things will get worse to the point of catastrophe!" It's bullshit, and it's the same popularity contest whether it's an election for Student Council or US Senate.

At the same time, I'm well-aware of the fact that I don't have a complete understanding of the political system. Lobbying is something that people believe is necessary, but to me it seems like cheating. The assembly of a bill, earmarks, and the sheer breadth of it all is mind-boggling. Not to mention that congresspeople still get paid when bills don't pass (even though they've basically wasted hundreds if not thousands of hours in debate, filibustering, foot-dragging, knuckle-dragging, and every other kind of dragging I can think of).

Now that my own fervent ignorance has been declared, the only other item I wanted to profess today was my stance on certain major things. You can extrapolate from my reading of Dailykos that I'm somewhat liberal, and it's true: I lean more liberal than anything else. In fact, I'm not sure an area exists where I would agree with the conservative troupe. Here goes. These are not numbered because they are pretty much all of equal status for me.

I believe abortion should be safe, legal, and rare.
Some might call this pro-choice, but that's not good enough for me. Unfortunately, a person can be anti-choice, but I can't exactly call myself anti-life. Semantics. Regardless, in pursuit of this goal, I'm on board with providing any and all kinds of contraception to any female of any age at no cost, mandating sex education in all schools (not just public ones), government funding for Planned Parenthood, and pretty much everything else in this direction. I believe that men, as a whole, should stay the fuck out of the abortion debate in general, since it sure as hell isn't wreaking havoc on our reproductive systems and bodies and emotions. Whether it's a case of rape ("honest rape" as Ron Paul stated, or otherwise) or incest, or even as a method of birth control, I'm in no position to make that decision on someone else's behalf. Let the women decide how they want to run their own bodies. And anyone who professes belief that women get breast cancer because of abortion (regardless of hyperbolic logistics) deserves to get punched. Hard.

I believe in a graduated tax rate regardless of income type.
My income tax accounts for somewhere between 26-30% of my paychecks. The carrot/stick approach of if I made more money, particularly from capital gains, I would pay less in taxes, doesn't make sound financial sense for the common good. It's not that I'm all about the common good, but spending the money I pay in taxes on people who need it seems like an passively effective way to help others like any human should want. Hoarding money only benefits the hoarder; it doesn't "create jobs" and it doesn't "boost the economy." Now, if I could mandate the amount and manner that certain moneys should be spent by certain peoples, that would be a different story--but even I believe that's an incredible amount of overreaching. Taxes are the way to go, and fairness tempered by reasonability and common sense seems like the way to do it.

I believe in legalizing marijuana for recreational use, not just for medical use.
This has been such a no-brainer my entire life that it's staggering the issue has not been resolved. I don't know that I've ever heard a competent argument against it, quite frankly, since tobacco and alcohol (sans Prohibition) have been legal, recreational "drugs" for centuries. Why an arbitrary line should be drawn between alcohol and pot, I have no idea, but I think it's ridiculous and strange. At the basic level, the fact that it's illegal for me to grow (or, I suppose, acquire) a certain type of plant, for my own personal use that influences no one but me, is an absolute infringement on a basic freedom to control what I put in my own body. Slap a warning on it, sell it to 21-and-over, and let's all get on with our lives.

I believe that illegal immigration is a sticky, sticky problem.
Not only do illegal immigrants get taken advantage of in every conceivable way, they live in constant fear of deportation, and are absolutely demonized. I say let the children go to college with in-state tuition and become productive members of society. I say grant some measure of amnesty. At the same time, I marvel at the courage of these people; knowing USAmerica is in a severe recession and that the vast majority of citizens loathe and fear illegal immigrants, they still come here seeking opportunity because their lives are so horrible it's somehow not as bad here. That, by itself, should speak volumes. This is not going to be solved in my lifetime, but I sure as hell agree more with a friendly approach than a "get the fuck out of MY COUNTRY" approach.

I believe that prayer should be banned from public schools,
but why stop there? Prayer should be banned from all publicly-funded endeavors, particularly congressional sessions. "In God We Trust" should be taken off our currency. People need to know that it's okay to not be Christian. Evolution should be required curriculum in all schools, and "Intelligent" Design (aka Thinly Veiled Creationism) should be laughed out of existence. Anyone who believes in a Young Earth should band together, wall off their compound, and speak no more where I can hear them. The separation of Church and State should be complete and absolute, to the point where it doesn't require fervent Christian beliefs to get elected to public office--particularly President of the United States. "Handicapped Black Lesbian Jew" FTMFW. Oh, and faith-based organizations should have to pay taxes like everyone else. Exemptions for bullshit reasons are bullshit.

I believe in universal fucking healthcare.
The "fucking" part is important there because this argument is completely ridiculous. If you care more for the profits of corporations than for the health of your citizens, doesn't that make you kind of a fucking asshole? I'm not saying we need to do it exactly like Canada or other socialist nations, but they do seem to get by without complete societal fucking breakdown (whereas we're still stuck in argument over mythical Death Panels and fucking contraception). I want to feel like my government fucking cares about me, and how better for them to do so than to actually care whether I'm healthy or not? The kind of spare-no-expense, money-is-no-object kind of care that I'd get from a committed partnership such as my government. Oh, but where would the money come from? Oh yeah, fucking taxes. (Fuck.)

I believe campaigns and, subsequently, campaign finance are bullshit.
He who has the most money runs the most ads. Most of those ads are negative, giving rise to the expression "lesser of two evils" around every election time. Get a website, put what you stand for on the front page. Add a forum to it where you can discuss those stances with people. Don't be a dick. I figure this would cost about $100, far fewer figures than any campaign I've ever seen. Hell, buy a decent video camera and upload some YouTube videos that drive people to your website and forum. They don't have to be expensive videos. YouTube is [ad-driven] free. For a few thousand dollars, at most, you could get your message out there, allowing all that un-donated campaign money to be spent "stimulating" the economy. Stimulation is good, campaign ads are bad. Where the hell did we go wrong with this?

I believe in Internet privacy, anonymity, and the free sharing/distribution of assets and information.
I believe any attempt to regulate what I can say or post on a global, worldwide network is a waste of time, money, effort, resources, and attention. The Internet is an organic community that will figure itself out. Leave it the fuck alone or you're going to ruin it for everybody. Then what are we stuck with? Corded telephones. No more memes. No more Facebook. Did you really enjoy the 1980s that much?

I believe in term limits for all.
I'm sick of old, white men deciding what is best for me. I'm sick of people who have no idea what my life is like deciding what is best for me. I'm sick of people making decisions on how they perceive the 21st century, and where they think our country should head, rather than where we're actually heading. Congress needs a faster turnover, ruining the concept of Career Politician, because when you become one of those you have no choice but to become out of touch with the true daily life of a USAmerican. I want people who wear jeans and have tattoos represent me, not squeaky-clean people who won't go out their front door unless dolled up in a suit and tie with no hairs out of place. Not that I have anything against suits, but they don't inspire confidence in me the way they did to everyone in the previous century. Make a congressional "seat" an achievable goal for all citizens, not just those who attended law school and have the backing of the nearest millionaire. Term limits is a good place to start.

I believe, and this should come as no surprise, in swearing on the radio and television.
Not to mention other things that are overly regulated to no purpose other than to satisfy general moral and ethical standards of arbitrary and obsolete origin. British television is a lot more bold, and their society hasn't collapsed. Their youth aren't all hooligans, or at least no more hooliganesque than USAmerican youth already are. Play songs and televisions shows the way they were intended to be, not edited because Timmy's parents don't want to explain the word "fuck" and why he shouldn't use it in polite company. Stop fining people for being overly exuberant when they win an award. They fucking deserve to be happy. Stop freaking out about every wayward nipple or bulge. Educate, don't regulate, because a large percentage of the Internet is freely consumable porn anyway.

Okay, I should probably end it there, at least for now. This has already ballooned into way longer than I intended, but it felt good to get all that off my chest. Now you know what I stand for; agree/disagree as you see fit. Note, also, that I really don't hate or think less of people who disagree with me. That's one of the things I enjoy most about people who aren't me.

Let's talk.

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A non-writing update

2012-02-07T11:04:00.001-07:00

Riiight.

So, talk about upheaval.

January ended quickly, and February is passing right on by. I've been doing my damnedest to get caught up on the items I need to read so that I can move on to the things I need to edit ... so that I can move on to the things I need to write.

In the midst of all this, I've moved my own personal base of operations. This is a good thing in numerous ways. What isn't good is combining moving with shoveling snow (repeatedly), labor-intensive home improvement, and sleeping on a couch in the same weekend. I make it sound worse than it really is ... except for the shoveling. That never gets any easier.

All this to say I've been pretty busy so far this year. Things are happening; things are in motion and changing. Being the forced optimist that I am, I see more good things on the horizon. Not that I'd advise anyone to follow in the footsteps that got me to this place, but I'm quite satisfied with it.

The goal of any time of upheaval in life is to not lose who you are. It's tempting to "become someone else" to face down your issues. Someone stronger, perhaps, or someone who isn't as afraid of confrontation or loneliness or fiscal hardship. It's also tempting to lean on people and things more than strictly necessary for survival, to the point of integrating that dependency so much that it's required long after hardship has passed. All of these things subtract from a person, I think, whereas accomplishment within the bounds of self-reliance adds to a person.

A bit deep, but hopefully you get the point.

Time for an early lunch, braving the rest of the work day, and then surviving the afternoon commute in this snow-ridden metropolis called Denver. Thanks for your reading and support; I'll have more writing topics to share once I can focus on them again.

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Characters, Conflict; I couldn't have said it better myself

2012-01-24T08:22:00.001-07:00

(Edit: Added Post 5 on 2/12/12)

You can consider this lazy linkage. You can also consider it finding the truth in strange places.

Occasionally, I surf the [extremely liberal] political aggregator DailyKos. It turns out one of their writers is doing a post series on writing a novel (four so far, linked below). While the first post has a great illustration of story basics, the second post gives us this giant nugget of truth:

When writing a book, many people start with an idea – the conflict that the characters are going to face. In fact, that's often how people will describe a book, "it's about this guy in a raft with animals." But I want to suggest to you that when it comes to writing, characters should come close on the conflict. They had better, because when you start writing, it's going to make a huge difference whether that alien invasion is being faced by Elinor Dashwood or Captain Ahab. If you try to think too far down the road without knowing who is going to be leading your intrepid human resistance movement, you’re likely to end up with a different kind of conflict, one between your characters and your plot. That’s the kind of conflict you don’t want. Your story isn’t about the conflict. Your story is about how your character deals with that conflict. So get a character.

Wrap your head around that. Commit it to memory. If you want to start writing a novel, this paragraph should be the advice that guides you through the first few steps.

Mark has promised a post per week, but with the way the site aggregates it might be hard to just subscribe to that and avoid all the liberal jabberwockery. Here are the first four posts:

If I see another tidbit that speaks this well, I'll be sure to share. In the meantime, keep up the good work, readers.

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SOPA thoughts, because I didn't post on it when it was relevant

2012-01-20T17:45:00.000-07:00

I thought about, and wrote a few paragraphs on, the uniqueness of characters. Had I written the post, it would have been about how we humans aren't merely the sum of our parts, but the sum of our experiences, and that you need to make that clear in your fiction. A character tells their story best by doing, of course, but how they feel about what they've done also matters. Maybe I could have stretched that into an entire post. Guess we'll never know.

I also thought about, and wrote a few ranting paragraphs on, SOPA. Perhaps I can make a few of my better points on this.

If you're friends with me on Facebook, you might have noticed I believe it should, instead, be called DOPA. I believe you can discourage piracy, but you can't stop it. The high points of this post would have been how I don't believe our interests are best represented by a bunch of crotchety farts on capitol hill who barely know how to work an email account, and about the nature of digital "property." Unlike some of my cohorts, I do, to a certain extent, believe that "piracy" is a necessary component of this amazing tool we call the Internet. Except I believe it should go by its original name, sharing.

Where you fall in this argument is going to depend a lot on your ethics. Where I fall in this argument is that the music industry missed their chance, when Napster and broadband were first becoming popular, to seize and take advantage of this amazing delivery mechanism. If you make something easy to access, regardless of price, people are going to access it that way. If, however, you bar entry, all you really do is force people to get creative. Necessity is the mother of invention, after all.

But I am aware that piracy/sharing does not encompass only music. I think Henry Rollins said it best in one of his spoken word shows that I attended, "I'd rather have your time than your money." To be honest, if someone came right out and asked me if they could have a copy of my book--especially an electronic copy--I'd give it to them without hesitation. It's not that I'm not proud of my work. Quite the opposite, actually. I want you to read it, whether or not you paid for it.

Now, I'm not saying I have the only right answer. Hell, I'm not even saying that I'm right, but you're going to have a hard time convincing me otherwise. This is what I believe, and it's the reality that I live in. Unfortunately, it seems we are only allowed to have an anarchistic Internet, or an over-regulated one. Never mind the fact that people aren't "gone after" when it comes to piracy, I still think all this SOPA petition-signature-begging is fearmongering.

It should also be noted that I have a policy against signing petitions of any kind. Call me lazy or disbelieving, but I don't feel like it accomplishes a whole hell of a lot. Digression over.

Much like Metallica (in the Napster debacle) came out looking like shit, so too would any artist or government that "cracked down" on some vanilla internet user who innocently posted something to their blog or YouTube without the proper attribution or whatever. Will that stop people from being dicks? No, it never has, but at least it's a deterrent. Which brings me back to my original point.

The law, in a global sense, is not designed to stop you from committing crimes. It can't stop you. Not even the police can stop you, and they're not meant to. No, the law (and the police's response, and your potential prison sentence and/or fine) is merely meant to discourage you from committing crimes. Freedom doesn't mean you're only allowed to do good or positive things.

So, there are some of my thoughts on the topic of the week, and a bit of writing stuff too. If you agree or disagree, I'd love to hear about it.

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Going the Distance (displacement, and how it informs writing)

2012-01-07T16:45:00.002-07:00

Welcome to Literalton, Population 1

I'm continuing an unofficial series of topics, here, about how life informs the fiction we write. Check out Going the Distance (the emotional distance, that is) if you missed it.

Displacement is an ever-present theme in fiction. Whether it's Claire's journey across time (and, subsequently, Scotland) in Outlander or Frodo and company doing the ringly deed in LotR. People progress, but not always--or only--in the physical sense.

For my own part, I've been subject to (and caused) much displacement in my own life. It becomes most apparent to me when I see the NATIVE bumper stickers on the SUVs of proud Coloradans that I'll never be able to share in their sacred fraternity of living in the same territory in which I was born.

I'm fine with that. While they can be gently referred to as "chaos," as one of my tattoos symbolizes, the various difficulties and hardships have shaped me into a fairly interesting character. Or rather, I suppose my ability to survive them has. Perhaps that could be chalked up to good fortune, though. Doesn't really alter the outcome, either way.

I was born in a tiny town in northern California. I lived there, in this rural farming community, for twelve years before I even crossed the state boundary on a trip to Utah for my oldest sister's first wedding. Four years later, I was moved to Utah to live. This displacement, more than any in my life I think, informed who I am today.

Consider first the broad implications of such a move. California, despite being a burgeoning metropolis in the stereotypical sense, was relatively unknown to me--save for the boring, isolated area of my childhood. My high school burst at the seams with 300 students or less. Utah, Salt Lake City to be more specific, actually was a burgeoning metropolis in comparison. The high school that one shy, 16-year-old Todd entered boasted over 3000 students. I rarely saw the same person twice, much less could make a friend.

Beyond the noise and the crowd was the culture shock, as I'm sure you thought of first when I mentioned Utah. Having forsaken the LDS religion when I was 12 or 13, I was in no mood to pick it back up simply because I'd been migrated to what passes for the Mecca of Mormonism. It compounded my difficulties in making friends, however, since church is one place you can count on seeing the same faces on a regular basis.

To move on (both in story and in life), I briefly ran away the following year to Oklahoma City (a misadventure, to be sure), then returned, then went to live with my oldest brother south of San Francisco. Soon after that, I flew to New York City to then take a bus from New Jersey to Orlando and spend the next several months in Florida living off of cigarettes and ramen... possibly the occasional cheeseburger, pizza buffet, and box of macaroni & cheese. Mmm, healthy.

When I ultimately came to my senses with the realization that this was not heavily improving my station, I reluctantly returned to Utah... only to move to Colorado about seven years later, where I've been ever since. Where I'll end up next--or whether I'll even relocate at some future point--remains a matter of some speculation.

Note that this is merely my geographical displacement. I won't even get into the emotional portion.

The point of my overly long tale here is to say that it's hard for me to feel at home anywhere. I'm more used to things being in upheaval, in constant flow. I'm more familiar with displacement than I am with smooth safety, workaday routines, and lifelong bonds. One of my fondest expressions, and possibly more deplorable traits, is that I prefer to do things the hard way.

As such, the characters I write about don't get a lot of pleasure out of staying in one place and allowing circumstance to control them. Many, but not all, are fiercely independent souls because that's a trait I greatly respect and value. I'm far past it, now, but one never forgets the feelings of hunger and uncertainty when money is tight or non-existent. In my case, I was "fortunate" enough to have roommates who were slightly better off than me (not to mention old enough to provide the mechanism for my habit) and worked at a restaurant. If you've read any of my books, you'll notice neither of these boons appear in them.

What you will notice is that my characters are forced to rely on themselves consistently, even when others are involved. They are removed from their comfortable, or at least survivable, lives to face every challenge my creative mind can come up with. One of my other fond expressions is that my job is to make my characters' lives difficult, and I believe I do so with alacrity.

I don't do it sadistically, though. The hope, the purpose, is that the characters overcome those difficulties (as we all must, in life) to survive and succeed. While winning at life means you live to face another day, winning in fiction can be as protracted as the author wishes. Whether displacement is the cause of a character's distress, or the solution to it, the theme will recur so long as I feel like I have something to say with it.

Think about your own experience as you plan, as you write, and how it informs the lives of your characters. More than anything else, perhaps, being able to accurately and honestly describe how they feel will take your writing into the hearts of your readers. You can't write if you haven't lived, to throw out another saying I'm fond of, so don't feel ashamed to allow your own hardships and adventures to fuel what you write. Your readers will thank you for it.

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My Resolutions for 2012

2011-12-30T10:41:00.002-07:00

Historically speaking, I haven't been big on goal-setting. I like to think it's because I put my mind toward something and get it done, much like the main theme of Back to the Future encourages us to do.

While George McFly's sage advice will always ring true, sometimes it's helpful to visualize goals within the context of a list. Prioritize is a good word for it. Effective time management, if you want to get all technical and stuffed-shirt about it.

I thought I would actually try something different this year and join millions (billions?) of others in making New Years Resolutions for 2012. I have a solid list of both vague and specific goals to meet at some point during the year, and what better way to hold myself accountable than invite you all to read them?

Here goes.

#1 - Drink less
This is more of a general goal as far as bad habits, but it will serve best first as a reminder to save money and calories. I'm fairly frugal and selective in my drinking as it is, however, I do drink often (not always a lot, but often). More of a health goal than anything else, to be honest.

#2 - Lose 10 pounds
Like a rude houseguest that won't leave, I have been carrying a little extra around with me for too long now. There are multiple reasons for this (see #1 and #3), but it's high time I made it a priority to get that little bit healthier. I can be thankful that it's only 10, and not the 55 that I needed to lose (and lost) in 2004. Definitely a vanity goal.

#3 - Exercise at least 2 times a week
Oh, exercise, you elusive beast. Frankly, it's boring, and even more boring to do alone. Working out is usually the first thing to fall off my priority list even when I don't have anything "important" to do instead. I figure a goal of 2x per week isn't exactly going to put me out, and who knows after a few months of easy I can bump it up. Might even "splurge" on a gym membership (that I'll actually use).

#4 - Publish Thomas Redpool Goes To Hell
This one is already in progress, I'm just making it more tangible by declaring it. If I don't finish anything else on this list, at least I will be able to say I did this one. It'll most likely spawn a few posts before game time, so stay tuned.

#5 - Query Scions of the Shade
Another in progress goal, and kind of a gimme for 2012. To be completely honest, I have submitted it to two separate publishers (Trapdoor included) but it deserves another round of edits before I really pour all of my effort behind it. The novel is great, and I want it to be greater. This is one I want to see on the shelves, and I'm willing to put in the time and effort to make that happen.

#6 - Finish writing Rise of the Carrion
More of a reminder than anything. If I don't finish the first draft of this prequel by the end of the year, it will be because something went horribly awry.

#7 - Vlog (start video blogging)
Now, this may not be the most noble of causes, or the most exciting of endeavors, but it's something I've been contemplating for a while now. Since I got the macbook, it has become a lot easier to do. It's something I think would be fun for me to do, fun for you to watch, and all around an exploratory venture (not to mention a tempering of my self-esteem). If you keep following this blog, you'll be informed when this takes place.

And that's it, my list of 7 things to start or finish in 2012. Do you have a list, or do you plan to make one? Post a link in the comments.

This is me saying goodbye to 2011.

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