Saturday, February 26, 2011

Uhhh, On Consistency

Yeah... So, I'm back. I'm sure those who've read the blog are just now recovering from the fact that i have once again posted. Don't worry; I'm fairly confident the world is not yet ending.

Here's how life has gone recently. I had a wonderful opportunity to participate in some lab research. Unfortunately, I came to a conclusion as a result that research is not for me. I had kind of looked at it as a punch-the-clock, earn-a-living job, and it is more of a be-passionate-about-it-or-be-miserable job. That sort of set me on the search for yet another career, which given that I haven't been successful in my efforts so far, means I am kind of frustrated. My current thoughts turn towards biomedical engineering. It pays well, very favorably to research, though not as well as medicine, and has the potential to let me write on the side. I still need to research the career path a bit more, but at least I am looking at options.

Writing-wise, I have been working on two different projects. First off, I am revising Wolfhound in order to try and submit it to a manuscript contest. It involves a bit of a time crunch, but I work best when face with a deadline, so at the very least I can put the novel into its final revision. If it fails to do much in the contest, I have started to wonder if I should go the e-publishing route with it. My reasons are that most agents don't seem to be interested in new science fiction due to the low profit margins sci fi gives. Publishers in general don't seem all that excited about action adventure sci fi either, but I suppose I could send out queries to them first. At the very least, I would rather have the book out there and possibly earning money and readers rather than just ending up sitting on my computer at home.

I have a lot more hope for my newest project however. My working title is The True Adventures of Hector Kingsley. In short, it's a steampunk detective novel centered on the investgations of Hector Kingsley, an experienced detective working in a world changed by the discovery of an extraordinary crystal called the Distillation, which has warped both the people and technology of Victorian London almost beyond recognition. The freedom of writing a steampunk novel has been wonderful, and I have managed to create a character voice that seems to work very, very well. My wife says it's because I always write "flowery", though I would prefer poetic as a descriptor. Sounds a bit more masculine that way. :) I am plunking away at a first draft, and the writing group has been helping me improve it as I go, so I hope that when I finish it I can have another novel to shop around. The next post will probably be a letter from Kingsley's point of view, so let me know what you think of it.

As for the family, our little baby is developing right on schedule. She will be arriving soon, maybe in the next few weeks, and both my wife and I couldn't be more excited. We are kind of all done with the pregnancy and waiting thing; we would just like to have our little girl to love and hold. Expect some posts on the nervousness/insecurities of my future parenthood sometime soon.

In any case, we are doing alright, and life has continued on. I suppose that's the best I could expect, and in reality I have been blessed in a lot of different ways. I just hope that I can live up to the opportunities I have, and that I can find my path clear to me. Wish me luck; I have a sneaky suspicion that I will need it. See ya!

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