tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76883678880633241172024-03-14T02:20:03.511-04:00Yet Another Writer's BlogSpencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.comBlogger221125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-24569077279300105042024-03-12T09:55:00.000-04:002024-03-12T09:55:12.201-04:00Work work work<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBtt_oSAHfPlGv-reov1N4-gj1zBkEXQS-EnwZ4aDhB9PMbuUmgaDx8IR9dVhdJ0Ff9b1AIJEQ5WtlDUYbwvIX89x81wVEpXwc877xe97YqJt1n92XKxPTrEpJTBqItxePndXJq11QIxp6Leg96COaIW4demt2nEUPVrGLqAj6LadhoVfBkV76Yr4-LC8/s260/workcat.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="260" data-original-width="260" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeBtt_oSAHfPlGv-reov1N4-gj1zBkEXQS-EnwZ4aDhB9PMbuUmgaDx8IR9dVhdJ0Ff9b1AIJEQ5WtlDUYbwvIX89x81wVEpXwc877xe97YqJt1n92XKxPTrEpJTBqItxePndXJq11QIxp6Leg96COaIW4demt2nEUPVrGLqAj6LadhoVfBkV76Yr4-LC8/s1600/workcat.gif" width="260" /></a></div><br /><p>I thought it would be a good idea to update you all on my current situation (even if most of you are just bots).</p><p>I have been hella busy.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We have a new kitten (8 months) who took a while to acclimate but now he always wants to play and loves yowling at random intervals. However, he is freaking adorable and super affectionate.</li></ul><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I have been teaching a bunch of junior high kids about writing! And not just "this is grammar" and "this is how you write a 5 paragraph essay" (though I did go over common grammatical errors yesterday), but how to write <i>professionally.</i> There is so much about writing novels that you simply don't learn in school. Hell, I didn't learn this stuff in college; I had to venture out on my own to teach myself. But no, I don't just stop with The Hero's Journey, Scene & Sequel (I formally petition we change that awful name to Action & Reaction thank you), or worldbuilding. I'm teaching them things like how you can't use any lyrics in your book without violating copyright, the different kinds of publishing, query letters, crowdfunding, how to give AND TAKE critique/criticism, formatting, etc. I want to teach them how to actually get a book published. My theory is that they don't teach you this stuff in college because most professors can publish through the university press or go through very different channels, so they simply don't know. I find it fulfilling, even if so far only 2 or 3 of the kids have actually turned in their assignments.</li></ul></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The next two weeks, I am single-parenting it again. Doesn't seem like a big deal? Yesterday, I didn't get to sit down at the computer until 10 pm.</li></ul></div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>But mostly I am working on Kickstarter. In case you were unaware, I am setting up a Kickstarter campaign to help fund my first novel (well, really, to help fund my career as a novelist). It is exciting! However, there's also a lot of learning, trial and error, logistics, planning, etc. In other words, work. I've got most of it ready (and I owe a huge amount of that to my brother (<a href="https://www.hixonart.com/" target="_blank">https://www.hixonart.com/</a>) and sister for doing most of the graphics and teaching me basic photoshop skills. <br /><br />We'll be offering the books, of course, in paperback, hardcover, e-book, and audiobook formats (as read by me). I'm also making these Soul Stone amulets that I think look awesome! I have a crazy expensive tier for one person to take where they get to collaborate with me to make a character for my fourth novel (which is the sequel to the first and the one I am ready to start drafting). My favorite thing, however, are the bookmarks!<br /><br />They all feature Surli, a Siri-esque digital assistant for demons who has an attitude (not quite Bad Janet from The Good Place but it's a good starting point). One each bookmark, she has a snarky comment about what you're reading and I adore them (and her). "Some of these words are hard. For you." "You're only <i>this</i> far? Ugh, you're so slow." "Is this smut? Does <i>Jesus </i>know you're reading this? I'm so proud of you!" Each physical copy will get at least one.<br /><br />I've also got some pretty awesome stretch goals, I think. Now, I'm still new to this whole world of book collecting, so I don't have any upgrades to the books (but I likely will in future campaigns), but I <i>do</i> have an amazing artist who will provide more sketched to purchase as well as a full-color image (but we've got to raise quite a bit for that). Backers can also unlock some free short stories that I have yet to write, so they will be exclusive to this campaign, at least for quite a while.<br /><br />What's left? Well, I need to finish mastering the audiobook (mostly there), I need to get a PO Box, I need figure out the logistics of providing signatures, I have to fix the audio on my video, I need to finish the images (we're still working on the bookmark mock-ups), I need to submit it for approval, I need to start campaigning and spreading the word...</li></ul></div><div>So, as you can see, I am a busy bee. And because of that, I will be signing off. Hope to see you all on the Kickstarter!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><p></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-61331589648167161572024-02-27T14:14:00.000-05:002024-02-27T14:14:14.893-05:00Updates and Scams and Kittens and Stuff<p> Hello, hello!</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, it's been a little bit, but I hope you (all 3 of you, you know who you are) can forgive me. It's been busy.</p><p>First, I have been working to get this Kickstarter campaign for <i>A Sinister Love</i> off the ground. I'm making amulets I call "soul stones" because that's a thing in my book, but so far they all seem to get strange bubble-like patterns beneath the cabochon and I do not know why. It appears days later. I've been using mod podge, but I may have to try out an alternative, like UV resin. OR it might be the image not sticking right to the amulet. It's not a huge deal, but I want to be able to make the best product I can for you!</p><p>I've also been working on the audio for the video that will play. My brother and sister are putting together the video and various images. I finally got the voice over recordings from the actress I hired, but they were raw and needed to be mastered. Luckily, I've become rather decent at that if I do say so myself, on account of having to do it to my audiobook (which is a lot longer than 30 seconds). Somehow, I was able to remove all the mouth noises, background sounds, artifacts, etc. and put all of it together into one file (it's 35 seconds but close enough). Then I looked around for royalty-free music. I played one and it sounded good, it almost matched, so I deleted the first 5 seconds (it was a build-up anyway) and suddenly it fit the audio *PERFECTLY*. I was almost in tears. I love it!</p><p>My artist, Graziel (maybe I should ask if she'd like a character with her name in the book), has provided me several more pieces of art to showcase other characters. Now I just need the cover image, Surli's image, and images of the merch... then I think we can start throwing it all together! At some point I need to record myself to add to the video, but that's not a big deal.</p><p>The goal is to have it up by March 8th. Mark your calendars. (Actually, I would like to launch it on March 4th... but we'll see if that's enough time).</p><p>We also got a new kitten! He's a grey, medium-hair fluffball filled who is turning out to be full of affection and playfulness. It's just taken him a few days to come out of hiding.</p><p>I've been secretly teaching myself something that I plan on showing off when I meet with the family in April. I just have to make sure I've got it down pat or I'll ruin the effect.</p><p>We have the memorial for my father in April, as well as the total solar eclipse AND the release of my book (yes, I put them both down for the same day).</p><p>I've been tossing around an idea in my head for a tiktok series where I tackle fan theories or incomplete shows coming from a writer's point of view. I noticed that there is no shortage of fan theories (for everything under the sun), but soooooo many of them would make for a terrible show. Though I also think I could add that I have ADHD. See, it never occurred to me that I could highlight this as a reason to buy my book. Then I found this Youtube series called "How To ADHD" and wow... it's definitely worth watching, whether you have ADHD or know someone who does (and you probably do). The one that really got me so far is about rejection sensitivity and avoidance. As she started describing it, I started to realize that it explains SO MUCH about the choices I've made in the past, from my relationships to my schooling to my writing. It also never occurred to me that someone with ADHD may have *stronger* emotions than other people. I just learned to mask mine.</p><p>But enough about that. I wanted to finish this post up with a little story about this time I thwarted a scam artist.</p><p>Yeah. I know. Random.</p><p>(Hello? ADHD!)</p><p>---------</p><p>I used to work in a school district in South Carolina. I was their grant writer, but I was new and so they wanted to train me (which in the end didn't work, but that's a story for another time). They found this big seminar where some expert was going to give those of us who signed up a workshop and lecture about grant writing.</p><p>Well, they were supposed to send me a packet with information (like which building on the campus they were going to use, the itinerary, etc.). I kinda needed it. But they sent me an incomplete packet which didn't have the all-important information. So I called them up in California and got to someone who said they would send me the packet right away and told me which building and room it was supposed to be in. But, being the inquisitive researcher that I am, I started to look this up. Something smelled fishy (namely I had a piece of conflicting information). Well, the room *had* been set aside for the seminar, but the group putting it all together canceled their reservation with exactly as much time as they needed to get their money back (I figured that part out). The event space owners had no clue. MAJOR red flag. So I researched the lecturer. He had been quickly contacted by the group and asked to give a lecture about grant writing, but knew almost nothing else, not even that the reservation had been canceled. ANOTHER major red flag. Then I researched the group.</p><p>They had done this many times in the past. Their M.O. was to call local professors and get them to show up to give a lecture with the promise of pay (which never happened), make it look and sound all official by having pamphlets and a location and stuff, get a bunch of people to sign up, then cancel their reservation and pull out *fast*. I tried calling them again, but never got an answer after that first time. I wonder why. This left the professors hanging in the breeze and looking like they were responsible when a bunch of people showed up to a locked building. The professors never saw any pay from it, either. But the kicker is this—they had done this about once a month for the past 6 or so months, but after the lecture I was signed up to go to, their schedule massively ramped up to 1 or even 2 a week all over the country. </p><p>I told the school district and called the bank to tell them about the scam. We were able to keep our $600 entry fee. And then I started sending out emails. You see, I managed to track down the location they were working out of. I no longer remember which agency or agencies I contacted with all the information I had. I also reported them to the BBB and began leaving scathing and truthful comments on every platform they had.</p><p>I don't know for certain that I shut down their operation, but I certainly did my best and would have made the cops' jobs easier.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-3381625938510066262024-01-29T11:26:00.005-05:002024-01-29T11:26:58.340-05:00Exciting news!<p> As I'm sure I've stated before (or maybe I haven't), I have a tentative date for the release of my debut novel, <i>A Sinister Love.</i> </p><p>April 8th! The solar eclipse!</p><p>I can't wait. It is exciting and daunting and nerve-wracking all at once. It may not be with a big publisher, but this is still a lifelong dream come true! </p><p>But we're also going to do a Kickstarter for it! We have some pretty good ideas for what to offer you all, but it is going to mean a lot of hard work in a short period of time.</p><p>It doesn't help that this is the first time I'll have been on the other side of a Kickstarter campaign.</p><p>Here's a list of the things I need to do for it... or at least some of the things.</p><p>1- Get a video<br /><span> My brother will take care of this, but I need to get him all the information, a breakdown/script of what will be in it. I also need to get interviews in for the video, as well as sounds effects, voice actor(s), etc. I will need to do some research.</span><br /></p><p><span>2- Make an outline of the campaign page<br /><span> I've dealt with plenty of Kickstarter campaigns as a host of the Board Game Rundown. We used to do a segment on what was new to crowdfunding, plus I've made connections with people who have run their own campaigns, both successfully and unsuccessfully. But this is the first time I'll be on the other side of the page. I'm looking at similar projects now to get an idea of what they do.</span><br /></span></p><p><span><span>3- Images<br /><span> Part of getting the outline of the page done is figuring out every single image in it so I can assign these to my sister or others to put together for me. This not only means a mock rendering of the novel in its various forms, but of all the merchandise as well. Plus there are headers, stretch goals, and other miscellaneous images that must be made.</span><br /></span></span></p><p><span><span><span>4 - Tiers<br /><span> Seems obvious, but it's not. Every KS has different levels of rewards you can earn for donating so much money. Offering too few can hurt sales, but so can offering too many. So, my current thought is:<br /></span></span></span></span></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>get on the mailing list</li><li>get the e-book and some bit of merch</li><li>get the audiobook and some bit of merch</li><li>get a signed paperback</li><li>get a signed hardcover<br /></li><li>book club tier</li></ul><div>I also want to offer a really awesome opportunity for 1 or 2 backers willing to pay. But I'm not going to say what it is. 😜</div><p></p><p><span><span><span>4- Merchandise!<br /><span> As a wise culture once said, "Merchandising! Merchandising! Where the *real* money from the movie is made." Well I don't know about that, but it certainly isn't going to hurt. Plus there are a lot of things I can offer. At the moment, I'm toying with a few ideas but I need to narrow and pin them down. I also realized that one of my characters, Surli (a snarky digital assistant), is perfect for merchandising. Options include: Surli pins, Surli bookmarks, Surli stickers, Surli thumb drives, postcards, coasters, signed digital copies of the cover art, soul stone jewelry, heck even a Surli plush (squeeze it and it insults you!). </span><br /></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span>5- Stretch goals<br /><span> Most crowdfunding campaigns do better if there are good stretch goals that are achievable. I've come up with a few that I am proud of. First, I have already asked my artist and she is more than willing to produce new art, so one or two of the stretch goals will be to break open new art prints as an add-on. She already did a second piece of art for the book, so one stretch goal might be to offer the choice between two different covers. Not only is more art going to be available, but with enough backers, I will offer non-digital prints of the signed art, even a metal print! Finally, with enough backers, everyone will get a free short story (or two) telling them more about the characters (I already have several in mind that I would love to write). </span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span>6- Shipping and other logistics<br /><span> Boring stuff, but super important. I've got to figure out how to ship everything. I'm just one guy, so if this operation goes viral, I'll need to have a plan for how to tackle that. I need to be able to estimate shipping costs to the various parts of the world (if I can find an overseas press, that might help with a lot of it, but they'd likely still have to mail me book covers I can sign and then mail back to them). There are a lot of logistics to consider, include pricing, what pledge manager to use, timing, monetary goal for the campaign, etc.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span>7- Risks<br /><span> Everything carries risks, even if you don't see them at first. I learned from some good friends who have also sold books via Kickstarter that some risks just can't be anticipated. No one could have guessed that a worldwide pandemic would cause the price of both shipping and PAPER to skyrocket, for instance. Now, there are ways to mitigate some of this (for instance, not including the cost of shipping in the campaign, just an estimate, and having the shipping cost be applied during the pledge manager part to eliminate some of the time between estimated shipping and actual shipping). I can only cross my fingers that something doesn't happen that will kill the campaign.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>8- Transparency<br /><span> I'm bad about updated as frequently as I should, but that would have to change the moment the KS campaign opens. The site would need to be transparent and truthful about timing, costs, shipping, etc. and I would need to keep the backers in the loop regularly.</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>9- LLC<br /><span> I'm not a businessman and I've never taken business classes. But it was brought to my attention that if I start offering a host of merchandise to go along with the book, it might behoove me to start my own business...</span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span><span>There's more, there's always more... and I'm already thinking towards the future.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></p><p>We are kicking around the idea of having a second Kickstarter later (or just part of the KS for the next book). Having a full-cast audiobook would be awesome. I would love to offer a leather-bound, gilt hardcover with ribbon bookmark and illustrations throughout. Plus, I might be able to figure out some way to make an actual Surli, either an AI or some sort of Siri/Alexa modification. For a later KS campaign, where I have more than a month to pull it all together (and hopefully a bit of a following by then), I would have a second group of Stretch Goals—Social Goals! I've seen this used to great effect in the past. It would be some awesome stretch goal that is only unlocked when enough people fulfill a list of social requirements, spreading the word on social media while tagging someone (and maybe mentioning something related to the book), taking a picture of yourself with either devil horns or a halo and posting it online, etc. I even saw one campaign that included a bunch of puzzles to solve and those who solved them all got a free add-on (less "social" and more "get them excited").<br />Or, there's always the possibility of... a crossover with another IP...</p><p>So there you have it. For the next month I am going to be hella busy. I can't wait, to be honest, but it's still a bit intimidating.</p><p>Wish me and <i>A Sinister Love</i> luck! If you have an idea of some piece of merch you would like to see, post it in the comments below.</p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p><p><span><span><span><span><br /></span></span></span></span></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-41392200711924127792024-01-17T21:26:00.001-05:002024-01-17T21:26:20.385-05:00Satisfying Sounds in Audacity<p>I've been working rather hard on this audiobook.</p><p>Part of the problem is that I apparently make a lot of "mouth sounds." But I am also running into things like a purring cat, strange vibrations, and mispronunciations.</p><p>Now, mouth sounds are <i>supposed </i>to be easy to fix. My mouth sounds are not. I get the normal clicks that a "declicker" can catch, sure, but it doesn't get them all. I also get wet smacking sounds and guttural sounds that aren't so easy to fix. </p><p>Yet, I keep learning more about Audacity and either discovering or inventing new tricks to deal with them. Only a few have been able to get through.</p><p>A caveat: I am NOT an expert. I watched some of the experts. I am unwilling to spend an hour on less than 5 minutes of audio.</p><p>Here are some of the things I do.</p><p>Most of the mouth sounds are not actually during words. They're between words, <i>right</i> before or after a word. So if i copy a section of room silence (just record the empty room—you need this at the start and end of files anyway) and then paste it in place of the section between words (no matter HOW small), you'll take care of 90% of the sounds.</p><p>There's actually an easier trick I figured out on my own. There's something called a "low-pass filter." All this means is it turns the volume down (or off) on anything above a certain hertz (i.e. higher "notes") and lets the lower ones pass through. If I put the filter on to catch anything about, say, 150 Hz, and I use that only on the parts where I'm not speaking, it neatly eliminates almost every unwanted sound. What makes this easier is that I can then type ctrl-r and repeat it. No deleting for length is needed and if the room sound changes a little, it sounds much more natural.</p><p>But sometimes a sound is RIGHT where I'm talking. Chances are, if I do the trick above to either side of the word, my voice drowns out the rest and you can't hear it. And if it's short enough, and I zoom in far enough (and use "z" so it doesn't make artifacts), just deleting that section can usually remove the sound without really affecting my voice. But there are other things to do.</p><p>Audacity's "spectral" tools are neat and can be useful, or they can be useless. By right-clicking on the y-axis, I can change the view to "spectrum." This shows where the sounds are in hertz. Then I select the offending part and work up and down the word using "spectral delete" to figure out just WHERE that little bugger is hiding (if it isn't obvious). Once I find it, I undo everything and then use "spectral multi tool" on it. That often hides the sound without disturbing my voice too much. But this only works maybe 30% of the time. For instance, in the case of my purring cat, her purr is at the same hertz as the bulk of my voice, so anything I do to her purr affects my voice as well.</p><p>This is where I look for the "noise gate." The noise gate works kinda like the low- or high-pass filter, except instead of blocking a range of notes, it blocks a range of volume. Since her purr is a lot quieter than my voice, I play around with the settings until it blocks out her but doesn't affect me. Voila!</p><p>What if i can't find the sound on the spectrum and a filter would kill too much of the sound? Equalizer! Audacity has a variety of them. the graphic equalizer lets you turn up and down different frequency ranges. They say most unwanted sounds are in the 8k+ range, but a lot of mine are close to 3 or 4. Turning down a band or two for a short section usually doesn't affect my voice enough to be noticed by someone just listening to the book, and if it doesn't outright kill the sound, it can turn it down enough that it gets ignored. "Preview" is really good for this. I use it all the time.</p><p>If there's a short sound (like a click) that the declicker didn't get, but it's during part of a word where I simply can't mess around with my voice at all (like a "d"), or if I want to do things "the right way," I can use "repair." Right-click on the y-axis and change the view from amp to dB. Then zoom zoom zoom in. Find the offending section. Select just it or part of it (the tool can only fix really small areas) and use repair until it's all gone. When it works, it is freaking awesome. But so far, it is very hit or miss.</p><p>If you're having trouble finding just WHERE a sound is, I have a way. When you push play, the end of a selected section is often left off, but the beginning is always precise. So place the cursor before the sound and push play until you hear it. Then pause. Move the cursor further down and try it again. Keep doing that until you hit a section where you don't hear the sound and you know it is just before that part. Granted, there's often a clicky sound when you push play in the middle of the word, so you have to learn to tune that out.</p><p>Of course, there's another awesome way to get rid of an errant sound. I was having trouble with a strange vibration that went throughout an "s." It was a broad enough spectrum that if I removed it using the spectrum tools, my voice would sound like I was in a tin can. It was the same volume as my voice. It wasn't small, so repair wouldn't work. I was at a loss! So... I found another place where I used an "s" and copied it, then pasted that over the offending "s." Lo and behold, I couldn't tell I'd done anything and the vibration was gone. I've been able to use that trick for many letters and even entire words, but I have to be careful because the tone and volume of my voice might change between the original and the new sections. I ALWAYS play it back to make sure it sounds smooth.</p><p><br /></p><p>What if I realize I left off a bit of a word (like a "d" or "s")? Copy paste from another! But that doesn't work for everything. Sometimes, I slur my words together. I rush. Rushing is bad. "Hehad toooze" instead of "He had to ooze" (don't judge me, it's an example) sounds awful. I have a couple options.</p><p>The first is to take some (TINY bit) of the room noise and paste it between the words. However, that will sound terrible. So I use "fade out" and "fade in" on the ends of the two words. Often, that is enough to make it sound like a natural flow. </p><p>The second is a bit harder but sounds even better. Find where the two words should separate. Then make a divot between them. Turning down the volume a little and in increments can work but is time consuming and doesn't sound the best. There's a way to do it with one of the fade tools, but I haven't figured it all out yet (I believe it uses "adjustable fade"). But there's a cheat. I add room noise between the two words, then I fade either end like before. But instead of leaving some of the room noise there, I actually select the very tips of the two sections and delete them WITH the room noise. I gotta use "z" and I need to make sure both parts are at the same volume level (zoom in a lot), but what I end up with is a smooth divot between the words. It's enough that you'll easily differentiate the two words while listening to the book.</p><p>Hopefully this will help someone who is in a similar situation.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-53383153001886058592024-01-14T01:23:00.002-05:002024-01-14T01:23:51.302-05:00Sus Sounds<p> As you may be aware, I have been recording the audiobook of <i>A Sinister Love</i> and I’ve been learning a lot of things about audio editing and recording, especially about Audacity, which is the free software I’m using.</p><p>But there have been a few kinda creepy things that happened. </p><p>I use a Scarlet interface between my mic (which uses phantom power) and my computer. Now I was having trouble connecting my headphones to it (I needed.a 3.5 adapter). The day I got the adapter I needed, I was watching a clip from The Tonight Show on my iPad (which I use to read the book while I’m recording) while doing some chores first. Then I tried to hook up my headphones to the Scarlet, but I couldn’t figure out how to get sound. I <i>still </i>haven’t figured it out. But to appreciate what happened, I need to give my setup.</p><p>I use a Scarlet connected via USB to my Windows laptop. My headphones are connected via bluetooth to the laptop most of the time, but this time I had them connected to the Scarlet. The iPad is not part of this setup at all.</p><p>So I plugged the headphones in and couldn’t hear anything. I turned the volume up all the way… and suddenly I could hear, faintly and muffled, the clip from the Tonight Show that I’d been watching. I checked the iPad… it was no longer on that video or playing anything. My phone wasn’t playing anything. My computer didn’t even have that website open. If I plugged it into the computer, nothing. But I plugged it back into the Scarlet and I could hear it again.</p><p>It was a little freaky, but mostly a mystery.</p><p>However, after I had finished recording, I had to sit down and listen intently to every track to get rid of extraneous sounds and make it all sound good. I turned it up LOUD for this. There are a lot of mouth sounds to get rid of. I heard a conversation in the background of one of the tracks, but I’m always alone in the house when I record. I chalked it up to someone talking outside.</p><p>But late last night, as I was listening in where I heard some mouth sounds, I noticed a strange hum. I turned it up all the way.</p><p>It was a girl humming a song. She sounded young, 8 or less. There weren’t any words. But it was so quiet, it couldn’t have been from outside, not to mention there are no little girls on our street. It stopped a couple seconds after I noticed it (my voice would have masked any more of it before then), but I went back and listened three times.</p><p>I should have saved that bit of audio. I deleted it because that part of the recording was extraneous… and also because it freaked me the hell out.</p><p>It’s enough to make a guy believe in ghosts.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-79638254766918058862024-01-02T14:00:00.001-05:002024-01-02T14:00:00.131-05:00Scrooge: A Christmas Carol review<p> Last year, Netflix released an animated remake of a 1970 film called <i>Scrooge: A Christmas Carol.</i> It has not received very high ratings, but I am going to give my unpopular opinion right now and say it is actually SUPERIOR to the original story by Dickens.</p><p>Scandal! How <i>dare </i>he say that!</p><p>Let's start with the fact that <i>A Christmas Carol</i> was written in the 1840s and that Dickens is <i>extremely</i> overrated. If you read the story, it lacks punch or bite, at least compared to today's tales. the foreshadowing of Scrooge's death was meant to evoke mystery or fear, when all it does is scream, "IT'S EBENEZER! HE SNUFFED IT!"</p><p>The Netflix version keeps up a modern pacing. It's a musical (and the music has grown on me quite a bit). It removes some scenes and combines things to make the story more efficient without losing any of the meaning. The acting in it is actually very good (I was flabbergasted to see that Jacob Marley was played by Jonathan Price!). Of course everyone knows what happens, but the interesting thing is watching Scrooge change.</p><p>His change starts when he sees Belle again. Dickens doesn't even mention Belle until she is leaving him. There was no build-up, no foreshadowing, nothing. Her leaving him is tantamount to introducing a character just to kill them in the same scene and hope the audience gets a reaction out of it. The new version, however, shows him lighting up when he sees her face. It shows him as a young man with virtue, someone worthy of being loved. There's a song about how deeply in love the two of them were. throughout the movie, we see his pocketwatch, and here we learn it was a gift from her. Adding this all makes the next scene SO much more poignant.<br />In the original tale, Belle "releases him" of their engagement because he has changed; in his desire to prevent the vagaries of life from ruining him, he turned all his focus on greed. She hopes he feels some pain in this but knows it will be brief. Then Scrooge cries out for it to stop. But we don't really get any sense of what was going on as he watched the scene, there's no explanation as to WHY he wanted the scene to stop—was he tortured over losing her, over what he became, over how she saw him? Indeed, the last would have more merit than the others because the next scene we see Belle with a husband and kids being told how lonely Scrooge became and Scrooge does not like how they see him. We will get back to this bit later.<br />In the animated version, he *very* clearly regrets his actions. Scrooge attempted to distract the Spirit of Christmas Past (who is a fabulous character, by the way) because he didn't want her to bring him to that moment. BUT we also see how Jacob Marley was corrupting him. He was the reason Cratchit's family is poor (putting Bob Cratchit's father into debtor's prison)—another detail I adore—and in the same scene he discovers that Belle witnessed the entire thing. Now we can SEE he changed and how much it affected her. During the breakup song (possibly my favorite in the soundtrack), time freezes and he gets a moment without the Spirit to express how he *truly* felt, and begs his younger self to go with her. You can see that he had fallen in love with her all over again.</p><p>But more than that, we see WHY he hated Christmas so much. He had to work on Christmas (or study in the book), but in this version, his beloved sister also died in childbirth on Christmas (which resulted him despising his nephew whom he blames), he fell in love with Isabelle around Christmas, she broke up with him on Christmas... After we see just how much he wants his younger self to go with her, it's easy to believe the breakup hurt him deeply but he had to hide it all, harden himself.</p><p>Do you see yet why I prefer this newer version? Well, there's one more really major reason I've hinted at, but we'll get there.</p><p>Next is Christmas Present. Now, I will give the devil his due. I love how his own words are thrown back at him in the original tale when he shows concern for Tiny Tim, and I like the 2 children, Ignorance and Want (even though they were entirely unnecessary). Likewise, a great deal of time was spent showing that Scrooge would actually enjoy company and loved playing games, even when he wasn't seen nor heard.<br />But in the original tale, he is mostly distraught over what they all think of him. His nephew isn't quite as kind as he might be. This is in sharp contrast to the new version, where his nephew reminds him that he, too, loved Scrooge's sister, even though he didn't get to know her, that they were family, and that somewhere inside was the good person his mother adored. It's a much kinder Fred, but also shifts the focus from Scrooge to their relationship.<br />When we see the Cratchits, Scrooge shows concern over Tiny Tim. In the book, Tiny Tim is seen as frail, support by a crutch and "iron frame." Apparently that was enough for Scrooge to suddenly be worried about the child's welfare. In the movie, Tiny Tim is small and has a crutch, but also has coughing fits—the same ones his sister had but which she recovered from once their father paid for medicine. Again, in the original story we see little of Scrooge's reactions to what is going on when compared to pretty much ANY modern retelling. In this version, Tiny Tim busks for money with his sister and is a lovely singer, making Tiny Tim more than just "crutch-boy." And Scrooge turns away with tears in his eyes as he realizes HE could actually be helping the child, that Bob wasn't just giving him a line when he said his son needed medicine.</p><p>Finally, we come to Christmas Future and the biggest reason I think this version is superior to any other I've ever seen (sorry Muppets).<br />In the original story, Scrooge there are a bunch of scenes that are either completely useless or basically get summed up into one scene in the movie (along with a catchy tune, "Thank you very much."). Here I would like to point something out.<br />Dickens throws so much foreshadowing that Scrooge had to have been an absolute idiot if he didn't realize that he was the one who had died. That is a character flaw of Scrooge, likely willful disbelief. But what we get in the movie is called <i>dramatic irony.</i> That is when the audience knows something important that the characters don't know. Scrooge had NO WAY of knowing that the reason everyone was praising his name was because he had died, but the audience gets to see one of the characters literally dancing on his coffin. Scrooge is put in a GOOD mood.<br />The end, though, is the most important bit. The movie takes two scenes and combines them—learning of Tiny Tim's death and seeing his own grave. In the book, Scrooge has 0 reaction to learning of Tiny Tim's death. Seriously, after the little spark of worry he had earlier, he doesn't say a word about it. Instead he is more preoccupied with who the dead man was. He is led to his own grave where he immediately and rather anticlimactically embraces Christmas and Goodness and all that jazz. <br />In the movie, he follows the group of cheering townsfolk to the graveyard, but sees Bob Cratchit at Tiny Tim's grave. This makes him distraught more than anything else. This is where he asks if this is the vision of things that will come or things that may. He has pretty much made up his mind at that point to be a good person, because he knows he can actually *help* others. Then he is led to his grave (which also has a lovely scene of him seeing his own spirit in the same fashion as Jacob Marley's... and the gold coins on the eyes, such a delicious touch). But even AFTER seeing this, he says, "If I am doomed, so be it, but at least give me a chance to help the boy first!"</p><p>Did you see that? Let me spell it out. In Dicken's version, Scrooge was selfish and remained so. The entire reason he repented was over how people saw him. A- He didn't like how Belle's husband described him as lonely and wretched. B- He didn't like people stealing his stuff after he died. C- He didn't like that people were happy he was dead. D- He didn't like how his nephew and their friends talked about him.</p><p>For years I wondered if I was the only one who saw this. In all the other versions, it's the same. He wants to wipe his own name from the grave. But in this version? A- He accepts his death but pleads for a chance to help Tiny Tim. Tiny Tim's death—from a condition he saw his sister recover from—was the real impetus he had in changing his ways. B- He wants a chance to show his nephew Fred that person his sister had loved, to accept him as part of the family finally. C- When he looks down at his watch, he says, "I'm happy Isabelle found her happiness. I only hope I'm not too late to find my own." It shows he's moving on and finally letting go, that he's returning to the person she had fallen for in the first place. <br />It ties together all the people he started helping in a better way. I hope you agree with me that this is just superior. Scrooge: A Christmas Carol has pretty much ruined all other iterations of the story for me. </p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-40915388215116817632023-12-30T22:38:00.001-05:002023-12-30T22:38:59.116-05:00A Look Forward to 2024<p> Hello everyone!</p><p><br /></p><p>It's that time of year again... when none of us really know what time or year it is.</p><p>That's right! Tomorrow is New Year's Eve! Woot! Goodbye 2023, hello 2024!</p><p>It seems a lot of my friends have had a bad 2023. It's not secret that I had a pretty good 2023 (despite losing my dad). So I thought it would be good to look forward to 2024! I want to split it into goals (things I have some control over), hopes (things I have little control over), and resolutions (ongoing behavior).</p><p><br /></p><p>Goals:</p><p>Although I wanted to get published in 2023, it looks like I will get my book out in early 2024. So my biggest goals revolve around promoting myself and my book and driving up sales. I want to get my website running, get merch set up for it, get ads set up for it, promotional material, etc. etc. etc.</p><p>I have been working on an audiobook. My goal is to have it ready to go before mid-January. I may have to rerecord a couple chapters, though.</p><p>I have a second novel I'm working on. I want it published by July.</p><p>I have a children's book I'm working on. I would love for it to be finished and released in 2024.</p><p>I have a third novel I'm working on that I want published next year. </p><p>I want to have the fourth and fifth novels well on their ways so they can hit the market in 2025.</p><p>I would like to start working with a group I know on the audiobooks for numbers 2 and 3.</p><p>Hopes:</p><p>Of course my biggest hope next year is for <i>A Sinister Love</i> to be successful. But even if it isn't, I'm not going to stop writing novels any time soon.</p><p>I want the Board Game Rundown to at least double its subscribers. Getting a salary from it would be incredible.</p><p>Resolutions:</p><p>I have two main resolutions for 2024. The first is to read at least 12 books. I haven't been reading enough, especially for a serious novelist.</p><p>The second is to write 2 articles for the BGR a month.</p><p><br /></p><p>This all is a LOT of work. 2 years ago, his would have been an absolute pipedream. Hell, if you told me back in January that I would be poised to publish three books in 2024, I'd have thought you were lying. I am determined to make 2024 MY year.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-86928393036531167662023-12-19T17:42:00.001-05:002023-12-19T17:42:11.605-05:00TV and Book List<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I previously stated that I do not watch a lot of TV.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">But I thought it would be good to talk about what I do watch and read.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Let’s start with the TV.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I am an anime fan and have been for as long as I can remember (the early 80s). In recent years, though, I’ve become much more discerning in the anime I watch. It sort of exploded, and with that came a host of crap anime simply not worth my time (many of which are quite popular). One anime I am currently watching is </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">Spy X Family</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">. Not sure if that “x” is pronounced, I usually skip it. It’s about a fake family consisting of a spy husband from a neighboring country, an assassin wife of incredible strength, and a telepathic little girl that may be the cutest thing I’ve ever seen (sorry kids). Of course, none of them can let the others know the truth. The spy is wanted and his current assignment requires him to infiltrate the social circle of a certain politician, which is best done by having a child join a specific school and excel in their studies. So he adopts a girl who was experimented on (he doesn’t know that) and can read minds (and she’s deathly afraid that if anyone finds out, they’ll give her up and experiment on her again) to enroll her in the school. But the school requires a complete family, so he had to get a wife. The wife is worried that her solo lifestyle will become suspicious and she’ll get turned into the secret police. She was one of the best candidates on the spy’s list of potential wives, so when she showed interest, he asked if she’d help him make a fake family (she thinks it’s just to get the girl into school). And, of course, her brother clandestinely works for the secret police. The entire thing is wonderfully contrived and hilarious. One thing I noticed while watching it was that I would think “If I wrote this, I’d have such-and-such happen” and then THAT HAPPENED. So of course I want to see more.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I’m also watching </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">One-Punch Man</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">, an anime about a bald superhero who is a hero “for fun” but wants some sort of recognition… and challenge. The problem is, he’s so incredibly powerful that no one can hurt him and he can defeat any opponent with a single punch. I was worried this would suffer from some sort of power creep (as I call it, Dragonball Z syndrome), but, in reality, it makes fun of the power creep, as well as a bunch of famous stories and animes. It’s funny and worth checking out.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Beyond anime, I finally started watching </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">Good Omens</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"> on Amazon Prime. The story, based on the novel by the same name, is about an angel and demon who are attempting to stop the end of the world because they both LIKE it here. But Neil Gaiman (who wrote the novel with Terry Pratchett) is taking it further than the book. I must see this. Plus David Tennant is one of my favorite actors.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">It would be remiss of me to leave out the show I probably “watch” most often: </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">Bob Ross’ Joy of Painting</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">. Of course it is mesmerizing to watch a splash of color suddenly become a mountain. But I don’t really watch it as much as leave it on in the background while I am working. It’s not intrusive and provides enough background noise to distract the ADHD part of my brain.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">There are several shows that I cannot recommend enough, but as I am not currently watching, I will talk about them later.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">As for what I am reading…</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I am pleased to say I </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-style: italic;">finally</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"> finished </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">The Hunchback of Notre Dame </span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">(unabridged) by Victor Hugo. It only took me 30 years. Granted, I stopped halfway and only came back to it recently.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I’ve been reading some light novels, </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">Spice & Wolf</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"> by Isuna Hasekura. There are 24 or so as of this writing. They are short, easy reads, but I enjoy them. The premise is that a wolf “goddess” of harvest, Holo the Wisewolf, left her village and began traveling with a 25-year old merchant, Kraft Lawrence, to her homeland far in the north. Of course there’s a romance angle, but mostly Holo just loves teasing him. The reason I particularly like this series, though, is that it tackles something I’ve never seen in a novel before: economics. It’s almost entirely about business and economics and how they would work in a fantasy world and the ways people might try to work the system. Sounds boring, but it’s quite </span><span class="s3" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleItalicBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-style: italic;">fascinating</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">. There is an anime, but that only covers the first 4 or so books. </span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">The next thing on my reading list is </span><span class="s2" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleEmphasizedBody; font-size: 18.24px; font-weight: bold;">Her Unwelcome Inheritance</span><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"> by J. Aleksandr Wooton. This is the first book that my publisher released, and I know the author so I owe it a good reading. I will let you all know my impressions. (Of course, if I get the 10 or so Spice & Wolf books that I asked for for Christmas, it will be hard resisting their temptation.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">My New Years Resolution this year will be to read at least one novel a month. I might adjust this goal depending on how it goes.</span></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-26927493473148931202023-12-08T14:16:00.001-05:002023-12-08T14:16:47.351-05:00Getting Things Done <p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Well it has been a busy time, as per the norm around here. And this is of course made all the busier with the advent of Advent/Christmas.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">And yet, I managed to finish the penultimate round of edits (I think) of Novel #2. How do I do it?</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Neglect!</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">No, really, it requires putting things into a priority list and being willing to either cut corners or leave something undone for a while. I’ve posted before about how much work I have ahead of me (through every fault of my own), so I won’t go into the details. But in order to do these things, I’ve hired a maid to clean the house (and the basement remains a mess more or less… for now), I find quick and easy recipes for dinner (fall-back recipes and crockpot recipes are great, as well as frozen food), and I set aside a time for specific things (having a time limit helps me with doing the essentials first). This last one I am still working on.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">But it’s hard. I have a supportive wife (who works long hours but also helps with chores), and honestly, if I was single, I would likely be living in squalor. I am lucky that I don’t have to worry too much about money, while so many writers out there struggle to make a living.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I also have given some things up. TV has become rare. I don’t watch TV to unwind… I write or work on other projects. The closest thing I get to TV is watching youtube channels (science, late night comedians, or history typically) while I cook or do dishes. I used to roleplay online, but I’ve stopped that (and, if you are someone I RPed with, I apologize for disappearing). Once upon a time, I had a ton of hobbies and groups I partook in, but most of those have been put on an indeterminate hiatus.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">And why have I given all these things up? I normally would never condone surrendering hobbies.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">But being able to craft a novel, getting it ready for publication, improving a story through feedback and editing, working with artists…</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">It not only makes me happy, but it is deeply fulfilling.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I’ve always wanted to be a novelist. When I was a little kid, I wanted to be a substitute (everything, substitute everything) and a writer. When I got a bit older, I wanted to be a paleontologist and a writer (and when I say “older” I mean that one of the biggest reasons I’m not currently a paleontologist is because the university that had the program I was interested in never responded to my application). In college, I wanted to be an engineer and writer, then a technical writer and fiction writer.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">So it shouldn’t be surprising how excited I am to be on the cusp of achieving my lifelong dream.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">At the moment, I am working with the same artist on some supplementary art and eagerly awaiting my publisher to finalize the contract (hopefully in the next few days). I’m also recruiting my brother (a rather accomplished computer graphic artist) to help me with ads and promotional material.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Seriously, I’m so excited about this I’m showing random strangers I run into my cover art! If I’m lucky, I’ll be able to hold a physical copy of my book by Christmas. I might cry a little. Or a lot.</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">I think the next thing I am going to tackle is finishing the audiobook. I have the initial recordings done, but I need to make sure it is all satisfactory (no random cat meowing in the background, for instance), free of artifacts (pops and the like), and then meets the requirements of Audible (my low and high ranges are good, not the mid, and they require a certain amount of “silent room noise” before and after every track).</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">One thing I *could* use is a beta reader or two to go over the second novel for me. If you happen to be interested, leave a comment (no one is going to leave a comment).</span></p><p class="p2" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 23.6px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;"></span><br /></p><p class="p1" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-feature-settings: normal; font-kerning: auto; font-optical-sizing: auto; font-size-adjust: none; font-size: 18.2px; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; font-variation-settings: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;"><span class="s1" style="font-family: UICTFontTextStyleBody; font-size: 18.24px;">Now I must go. My time limit for blog-writing is nearly up.</span></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-57308637829996657612023-11-28T21:29:00.000-05:002023-11-28T21:29:02.138-05:00Rest<p> I am sad to say that my father has passed away.</p><p>He left us on November 21st.</p><p><a href="https://www.egan-ryan.com/obituary/David-Hixon">https://www.egan-ryan.com/obituary/David-Hixon</a></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-27732289250318762492023-11-20T01:12:00.002-05:002023-11-20T01:12:26.434-05:00Transitioning<p> This is a very strange and important time in my life.</p><p>I certainly had not anticipated being in Ohio this past weekend.</p><p>My plan had been to have my book just about ready to publish at this point so I could release it on Black Friday. That’s now 5 days away and I’m still waiting on things that are out of my hands. It may well be that I don’t make this deadline, but I won’t worry about something I have little control over. Plus, I am still riding the high of getting the final render of my art, finishing the rough draft of book #3, finishing the audio for the audiobook, having finished the plotting of book #4… For the first time in my life I feel like I could actually <i>be</i> something. This, writing, is what I was born to do, what I <i>want</i> to do. </p><p>But life is more than writing.</p><p>And it doesn’t last forever.</p><p>When I got a call from the hospice telling me my dad is in the final stages of his “transition,” I dropped everything (almost literally—I was helping a friend move) and made the 5-hour drive here. He hadn’t opened his eyes in a week, his body had started shutting down, and he hadn’t responded to anyone in days. They told me the end was “imminent.” When I arrived, he was only taking about 5 breaths a minute and his oxygen levels were very low. But he did open up his eyes and look at me. For about 3 minutes I could have believed that he was about to get up and ask what we were all standing around for. Now he is resting, the “little death” of sleep. </p><p>They call it “transitioning” and I can see why. It is comforting, for us and for our departing loved ones. For those of us who are religious, it reminds us of the hereafter. And it evokes a feeling of change. The change in the transitioner is obvious, but it is also a change for those left behind. We must take the lessons their life taught us and forge ahead, bringing their good with us. It is a time to think back on all the ways they changed us and vice versa.</p><p>There comes a point when there are more memories made than to be made—none of us really want to think about that and so we don’t, not until it is near the end. I may well be there now. Thinking back, dad has lived a good life. He was a good man, a good role model. At times, his was a lesson on what <i>not</i> to do, but even when he failed, he didn’t give up. When I pass, I want those made memories to be good ones, for me and for my loved ones.</p><p>So, it is not a bad thing that I will likely miss this deadline of mine. Even if I had total control over it, life events like this one are more important. But I will remember the lessons he taught me. I will not give up. This roller coaster of emotions is temporary and will pass. And perhaps the high of getting published is in some way negating the feeling of loss. I like to think, however, that it is the good memories doing that. As my dad continues his transition, and I continue my own, I will keep those good memories in mind.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-960002221906204952023-11-17T14:33:00.003-05:002023-11-17T14:34:30.697-05:00A Milestone<p> BEHOLD Hixonites. I HAVE RETURNED from my cave of hyperfocus. And I bring tidings of joy!</p><p>I have finished the rough draft of my third book! At the moment it is a little over 50k words long. I was getting a bit worried there, but I’m sure it will get longer once I go through it again.</p><p>That means in 2023 I have written and mostly edited a book (my second, “Fate & Fortune”), written a children’s book (working with the author, my good friend Monica Marier, on the pictures for it, “Brian Buys a Brachiosaurus”), recorded an audiobook, written several small “bathroom reader” type books (rough drafts), and finished the rough draft of another book (Book #3, “A Date with Destiny”)! And it’s only mid-November!</p><p>As soon as my cover artist finishes and the formatting is completed, I will also be able to say that I published my first book! I’ll be a published novelist!</p><p>I cannot express how pumped I am about this, not to mention how proud I am of myself.</p><p>So, I have a month and a half until 2024. What shall I accomplish?</p><p>Here’s a list of things I could tackle:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>finish editing Book #2 and send it off to an editor</li><li>hire a cover artist for Book #2</li><li>get my website up and running</li><li>make ads for Book #1 and figure out how to get them out there</li><li>look into events where I can sell (probably author signings and the like—getting a table will have to wait until I have more products to sell)</li><li>“master” the audio for my audiobook and figure out how to get it set up</li><li>record audio for Book #2 OR look into Forteller and see how that process works and its cost</li><li>figure out this whole “social media” thing to start getting my name out there more</li><li>get some short stories into some publications to start getting my name out there more</li><li>look into ARC readers (do I need them?)</li><li>start writing Book #4 (which I’ve already outlined and am SUPER stoked about writing—it continues the story of Scribble and Paul from Book #1. It will be titled “A Sinister Hope”)</li><li>start writing Book #4 (a creative nonfiction piece I’ve been trying to write for years. obviously whichever one I decide to write first will be #4)</li><li>figure out how to link ads to Amazon in such a way that it increases my profits</li><li>edit, format, and finish the bathroom readers</li><li>write more bathroom readers (I’m planning a series of them that, who knows, might become a compendium)</li><li>write and record music to play at the start and end of the audiobook</li></ul><div>I clearly will not be able to do all, or even most, of these things in the next month and a half, so I will need to prioritize. And I have several other novels in mind that I want to get to after these, so from the look of things, I have my work cut out for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>Oh yeah, there’s also Thanksgiving and Christmas, the Board Game Rundown, and family obligations. In addition, my father has Lewy Body Dementia (and probably Alzheimer’s). He’s currently in hospice and we do not know how long he has. For all the wonderful things happening right now, there are some pretty unpleasant ones, too.</div><div><br /></div><div>Until next time, keep reading, keep creating, and have a happy Thanksgiving!</div><p></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-17210280513595485882023-11-07T14:33:00.002-05:002023-11-07T14:33:22.360-05:00What I’m up to<p>For the longest time, year after year, I felt useless. There’s a Christmas song that asks what you’ve done this year, and I hated hearing it because my answer was always the same—nothing. I’d always have some excuse. To be perfectly frank, the reason came down to undiagnosed/medicated depression and unmedicated AHD.</p><p>At the beginning of this year, I took care of both of those problems.</p><p>So I thought it would be nice, on a personal level, to go over what I’ve accomplished this year.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I wrote a book in 4-5 months.</li><li>I was in charge of my lodge</li><li>I played music at church every week</li><li>I went to GenCon and Origins as part of the Board Game Rundown</li><li>I hired an editor and cover artist and am now weeks away from having my first book published</li><li>I recorded an audiobook</li><li>I write a kid’s book</li><li>I wrote 2 booklets about serial killers</li><li>I traveled to California AND France</li><li>I helped finally move my parents (an ongoing and massive affair)</li></ul><div>I certainly can’t say I have done nothing. But the year isn’t over. So here’s a look at what I am currently doing and planning.</div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I’m halfway-ish through writing a sequel to the book I wrote earlier this year</li><li>I am remastering the audiobook</li><li>I am working with an artist on the children’s book</li><li>I am editing book #2</li><li>I am working on a creative nonfiction book</li><li>I just finished outlining the sequel to my first book.</li><li>I’m working on an animation project with my brother and sister</li><li>I’m getting my website up and running</li><li>I have been training at the gym and have made many personal records</li></ul><div>My therapist says I bite off more than I can chew. I have to agree with her.</div></div><p style="text-align: left;">At the start of this year, I was determined to make 2023 my year. And I think I have. For the first time, I feel like I can actually do something, be something, like my dreams are really achievable.</p><p style="text-align: left;">With the book so close to be done and the outline to its sequel finally figured out, I feel like every day is Christmas. I haven’t felt like this in a long time. I’m so excited I can hardly sleep!</p><p></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-64505954154450184872023-10-31T14:36:00.001-04:002023-10-31T14:36:00.154-04:00A word on words<p> I remember when we entered “The Information Age.” It was around the late 90s. The internet was booming and data was the new big influence on the economy.</p><p>Then we entered “The Disinformation Age.” That started somewhere around 2010 or so, maybe earlier. We started seeing websites promoting conspiracy theories and <i>actual</i> “fake news.” Certain news agencies ramped up their political bias and began spreading outright lies or not reporting news that their political party did not like. There were a few major bad actors that most of this came from which were then spread far and wide. We began seeing “deep fakes” and photoshopped images. Over time, it became harder and harder to tell what was true, what was a reliable source.</p><p>And too many people don’t want the truth. They want comfort. They will believe anything so long as it aligns with their politics and makes them feel good about themselves. They’ll allow, ignore, or outright <i>defend</i> heinous acts because of some lie they read or watched. Hatred and bigotry became commonplace.</p><p>Then, in 2016, we entered “The post-Truth Era.” We are still there. Truth has become subjective to an absurd degree. If you repeat a lie loud enough and often enough, it “becomes” the truth in the eyes of those willing to listen. Little lies won’t cut the mustard; lies must be big and ridiculous. I have listened to conversations where otherwise intelligent people take some piece of untrue propaganda as obvious truth so they can vilify others. It is not commonplace for politicians to completely lie through their teeth and then get supported by their party’s media outlet to further spread the lies.</p><p><br /></p><p>But words matter. Truth matters. You can’t make something true by simply repeating it constantly. It is high time we entered “The Consequences Age.” We need to know that telling lies is not acceptable, that you can’t just get away with lying because it sounds good.</p><p>If we don’t tell the truth, then words have lost their meanings.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-83432126516715883142023-10-24T14:00:00.004-04:002023-10-24T14:00:00.150-04:00Back on Track<p> Hey-o, Hixonites!</p><p><br /></p><p>I’m proud to say that I have my cover artist working on my novel’s cover right now! It’ll take a bit, but that’s just how things roll sometimes.</p><p>I’m a little behind where I wanted to be (before Halloween) but I think I’ll be able to start selling by Thanksgiving. At least online.</p><p>Speaking of, I have so much to do for Halloween yet! I haven’t decorated or bought pumpkins or planned the party or figured out costumes…. I plan on hosting my wife’s department Halloween party dressed as Sweeney Todd and she’ll be Mrs. Lovett. We’ll serve meat pies (of course)!</p><p>But unfortunately I’ve been sick. This is the second week I’ve had <i>some</i>thing keeping me from doing the Rundown or really being myself. Last week, stomach issues, this week it’s a nasty cold that just won’t go away (it’s not COVID at least—I still haven’t had COVID). It’s been giving me headaches that have made it hard to look at screens.</p><p>Here’s hoping I’ll be healthy the rest of the year, what little of it remains.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-4643685387051942742023-10-17T12:25:00.003-04:002023-10-17T12:25:34.545-04:00France pt deux<p> So it has been a little bit since I was in France, but I promised a later update.</p><p>Since I stayed in Nantes for most of the trip, I did stuff in Nantes, not Paris. I DID go to Paris for a little over a day, though.</p><p>While in Nantes, I got to tour a castle (which gave a history of the city as well, the kids "loved" it). It was right in the center of the city next to the cathedral (it's a shame the cathedral won't reopen until next year at the earliest). To make up for the lack of cathedral, I dragged the kids with me to the Church of St. Nicholas, which was actually quite beautiful. Although the kids resisted at first, I could tell they were awed the moment they stepped inside.</p><p>I also went to their Natural History Museum and completely geeked out over the specimens (none were huge or famous, but they were all very interesting).</p><p>The kids and I went to the Isle of Machines, a warehouse that houses a bunch of robots and machines, which all imitate nature. THAT WAS AWESOME. We saw a robotic chameleon catch a fly, drove a giant ant, flew in a mechanical heron, and got to ride on a truly massive mechanical elephant. The kids loved. I loved it. I highly recommend it.</p><p>When we went, they also had a race (might've been the first annual race) between 2 mechanical dogs. They were big (like car-sized) and one of them drooled incessantly. The entire town turned out to see it.</p><p>Of course, there's a lot of culture in France... I had to shove it down my kids' throats. We went to an art museum and at first they were bored and awful. But then I had an inspiration. I saw a painting of Jesus walking down stairs towards a crowd with light shining down on him, turned to my daughter, and said, "What's everybody looking at? Is there something on my face?" She cracked up. We started making commentary for most of the pieces and the kids ended up enjoying themselves. We also found a new favorite piece of art... a crowd of people celebrating while they have a cat in a purrito and are force-feeding it (while the cat glares at everyone like it is planning their destruction). THIS WAS IN THE 1300s! People don't change. And neither do cats.</p><p>We ate a lot of crepe. We all had snails. We ate well. I was proud of the kids for trying new foods. Which, incidentally, McDonald's in France is very different. Reusable cups and french fry holders, bleu cheese burgers, different sauces on the burgers... it had a patisserie inside it!</p><p>As I said, we did spend a day in Paris, but I didn't realize that the Rugby World Cup started that weekend and Paris was FULL. We were able to walk the Champs des Elysee and get to the top of the Arc de Triomph, and went at the perfect time. While we looked out over the city, the Eiffel Tower lit up for us. It was awesome.</p><p>Unfortunately, pretty much everything else was booked. And they were booked for like a month out. Still, we walked around Paris, got to see Notre Dame (it is looking pretty good, only the central pillar collapsed, they saved the ceiling, and they plan on opening it to tourists again maybe next year), went to the Louvre (which was chaotic, huge and chaotic), got to be grifted (yeah, I saw you reach into my wallet and take that 20 out. I took it back and if I ever go back and they try that fake charity stuff with me again, I will absolutely go no-holds-barred on them), strolled along the Seine... It was a pretty good day.</p><p>So that was my trip to France in a nutshell. Thank you, Google Translate app, for the few instances where I actually needed you.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-86569452043802953002023-10-10T14:00:00.005-04:002023-10-10T14:00:00.146-04:00SetbacksWriting a novel is fun and I love it.<div><br /></div><div>Publishing that novel is definitely a job.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the last week I was supposed to get my manuscript back from my editor and have <i>amazing</i> cover art for it.</div><div>Instead, my editor needed an extension because she had to go to the hospital. On the plus side, she said that so far my novel is "brilliant." But it still means having to wait a little longer.</div><div>And this morning my cover artist canceled the contract because he is sick and cannot continue it. I will give them both the benefit of the doubt, as I think they are both talented and their work history is at a professional level. I am a bit concerned for the artist though; if he is sick enough to have canceled the contract outright and not ask for an extension, he could very well be seriously sick. </div><div><br /></div><div>I do hope they both get better soon. Hopefully I will be able to consider him for a future project.</div><div><br /></div><div>But this does mean I need to find a new cover artist.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now, I have a rather robust imagination. Apparently it is unusual to be able to not only hear your own inner monologue, but also "see" detailed, colored scenes as well as "smell", "taste", "hear," and "feel" them. This is a serious advantage when I am attempting to describe a scene, emotion, or situation. I can attack it from various angles, easily rewrite it, go as in-depth as I wish.<br />But for me it is also a disadvantage when it comes to art.</div><div>I don't think in *still* images. What looks good in my head might not look good on paper because in my head, nothing is static. I also default to "photorealistic" things; figuring out an <i>art style</i> is completely foreign for me.</div><div><br /></div><div>What this boils down to is that I end up scanning through hundreds of examples/samples of artists' works and rejecting the ones I <i>know</i> I don't want. That's easy... the first go around. But then I have to do it again on the ones that are left, and so on, until I have it narrowed down to one. That part is not so easy, partly because I'm not set on any specific style. And it all takes time.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can't take weeks to decide this time. So wish me luck. My busy schedule just got busier.</div>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-58982685808283930152023-10-03T14:00:00.003-04:002023-10-03T14:00:00.137-04:00France<p> As I write these words, I am sitting on the couch of a 5th floor apartment in Nantes, France.</p><p>I do love traveling, though doing so with kids is a challenge.</p><p>For starters, I have to find food they will eat, which is hard enough to do in out own country.</p><p>They also aren't so interested in some of the awesome museums and churches to visit, or in walking around (which, at the moment, is the way we are getting around).</p><p>But there are some pleasant surprises here.</p><p>First, though I did expect to find lots of people who speak English, even those who claim they don't can speak enough English to communicate. Lots of signs and menus are in both French and English. When I enter an establishment where someone doesn't speak English, they almost immediately direct me to their coworker who does.</p><p>Second, we showed up at an interesting time. There was a "dog race" between two giant, mechanical dogs that pulled in a huge amount of people. It was interesting. There's also a carnival next door to our apartment for the next week, which, of course, the kids want to go to and remind me of this constantly.</p><p>Sadly, the Cathedral is closed until 2024 or 2025 because someone started a fire in it back in 2020. :(</p><p>I was not expecting most places to be closed on Monday. I understand why many places advertise being open 7 days a week. They also have odd hours, often opening at 1 or even 4. </p><p>So far, I've been able to use Apple Pay pretty much everywhere. I doubt it will work at the carnival, though.</p><p>I'll update more later.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-40752112627741533492023-09-26T14:00:00.001-04:002023-09-26T14:00:00.137-04:00Yay Capitalism.<p> Hello Hixonites!</p><p><br /></p><p>Yes, I just came up with that term. You can all call yourselves that now.</p><p>I have been working hard to get this book done, though I'm working on other projects as well, and I'll be on vacation in a week so I'm trying to get done what I can before then.</p><p>As such, I thought it would be nice to finally utilize the domain name I've been paying for for several years now. I have a free site using Wix, and that's the same place I purchased my domain through.</p><p>What I find awkward is that I cannot use that domain, even though I'm paying for it, without upgrading from a free site to a not-so-free site. So what should cost something like $15/year will end up costing more like $219/year.</p><p>... yay.</p><p>Here's the rub. I want to be a successful writer, And making money takes money. I have no delusions that my debut novel will be some amazing, runaway bestseller or get any movie deals (but, honestly, it would make for an awesome movie or series). But I have to keep costs in mind.</p><p>If I sell my book at $15 and it costs, say, $7 to publish, that's a supposed net profit of $8. Let's take taxes out of that, assume 1/3, and that gives me a profit of about $5.33 per book sold. Now, there's going to be a cost to ship the book, most likely, and I don't know what that would be.<br />But now let's add in the cost of an editor and cover artist. For the sake of easy calculations, I'll estimate it all to $1200. Yeah, not cheap.<br />In order to pay for that, I need to sell about 225 books. BUT I also need to pay for advertising and I haven't looked into that, yet. How many more books must I sell just to break even?<br />Except now with this website nonsense, I wouldn't be breaking even. I'd need to sell at least 3 books per month to pay for the website.<br />If I go to a convention, I would need to pay for the table. Let's say it's $300. Just to pay for that table would require I sell 56 books.<br /></p><p>I'm a new author, with a debut novel, no agent, an indie press, and minimal fame (if you can call 3.3k subscribers to the Board Game Rundown "fame").</p><p>Seems fairly obvious that breaking even with one book it not going to happen for a long time, if at all. I *need* to get more books and gain an audience. If I can sell 1k books online, I'd be cooking.</p><p>But all this ignores one, final, deadly calculation.</p><p>My value. I did the calculations. My first novel took a long time to write, probably about a year, give or take, if you only count the days I was able to write. And taking the time spent, that could've been 6 months full-time. But my second novel took about 4 months to write, but that wasn't full-time. If I wrote it full time it might have taken a month. That's ~160 hours.<br />If I want to make just $15/hour, I'd need to sell 452 books per month BEYOND what I would need to sell to break even.</p><p>This is kinda daunting and depressing, is it not? Writing has been my life-long dream. It was always in my plans, even when I wanted to be a paleontologist. But unless I write a LOT or make it big, there really isn't much money in it. I'm blessed that I have a loving, supporting wife who makes a lot more money than I'll ever make (I'd need to sell well over 1k books a month just to get close). And I do know and have met authors who earn 6 figures writing.</p><p>If I lived in a society that places human values over money, artists would get a stipend. But how do we do that? Well, everyone is an artist deep down inside. Instead of subsidizing oil and corn or throwing ungodly amounts of money at military contractors (and before you claim that we need to have a strong military and lowering their budget would make us weak, I'll have you know that the Defense Department is the ONLY federal agency that has NEVER passed an audit), we should just give everyone enough money to survive.<br />Some of us would be happy just having enough to get by, but most of us would want to earn more than that. However, having enough to get by means we can take risks. If I wasn't married to my wife, I would need to have a full-time job and write on the side, which is very difficult to do. If I didn't have to worry about having food and shelter from the elements, I would probably just write books because I know that if I fail, I'm not going to starve to death or end up on the street.</p><p>Sadly, we have decided that human value is directly tied to your income. By that rubric, I am worthless scum, for I cost a lot more money than I bring in. Forget the fact that I'm a stay-at-home dad who does chores around the house all day, volunteers at numerous nonprofits, and plays music for my church pro bono. According to capitalism, none of those things matter.<br /></p><p>I like to think that they do. And so does art. Even if I touch just one person, I've made a difference with my writing. One of the things that keeps me going is the idea that my book(s) will be someone's favorite(s), they just don't know it yet. </p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-67302223582486341142023-09-19T14:00:00.004-04:002023-09-19T14:00:00.138-04:00The Forever Family EmergencyHello dear reader,<div><br /></div><div>I do say "reader" because if you are reading this, you are probably the only one.<br /><br />Something I've been going over with my therapist (yes, I have a therapist, everyone should have a therapist) is the fact that I tend to give myself far too much to day and then get overwhelmed. I need to give things a priority.</div><div><br /></div><div>Priorities change.</div><div><br /></div><div>As I'm getting ready to finish editing a novel on Friday night, I essentially get a desperate plea for help from my sister 250 miles away. Like a good person, I pack up and make the 4+ hour trek in the middle of the night.</div><div><br /></div><div>To truly understand this situation, you're going to need some background.</div><div><br /></div><div>My dad has hydrocephalus, which means there is essentially water on his brain, which is leading him to have dementia and what is more than likely Alzheimer's. Alzheimer's runs in his side of the family, so watching him deteriorate is like looking down the barrel of a gun that'll go off in 40 years.</div><div><br /></div><div>My mom has had... issues her whole life, and I recently discovered that they are all symptoms of a mental disorder called "OCPD" - Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder. This is not OCD. If you have OCD, you are compelled to do something but you don't really have a reason for it, you don't even want to be doing it but you don't have a choice. You must do it and if you don't it'll eat you up until you do. But with OCPD there is a thing you are compelled to do because it is Right and Good and only You can do it and Your Way is the Only Way to do it and No One Else can help you and God Help Anyone who tries to stop you. Another way of seeing it is that someone with OCD might seek treatment while someone with OCPD doesn't believe they have any condition at all and will likely resist treatment. It also comes with fun comorbidities, like hoarding. My mom has an issue with cleanliness... but she also has piles of crap everywhere, they're just sterile piles of crap. Oh, and then there's the manipulation, including breakdowns, lying, gaslighting, "I'm the victim" mentality, and undermining.</div><div><br /></div><div>She believes she can care for dad, but she can't. Even the doctors said it is not a safe situation. For instance, 3 weeks ago, he blacked out and had to go to the hospital, which turned into dangerous, life-saving surgery and a 20-day stay. In the end, this was going to be a good thing, as it meant dad was going to have the treatment he needed. But some social worker put in some hospital notes that my dad was being belligerent. Well, yeah, it's called "sun-downing" and "recovery from brain surgery." But because of that note, the social worker pretty much ensured that no memory-care facility will take him now. And while my mom and sister were checking out the only one that would take him (which turned out to be a hard no), another social worker tried to get dad discharged, which meant he would have to go to the terrible facility or home. </div><div><br /></div><div>So I drove there to try to help get him home. Of course they decide not to discharge him when I arrive, and I end up wasting a whole day just trying to deal with my mom's OCPD. I gave up writing, I gave up playing music for church, I gave up recording the Board Game Rundown to help get my dad home, and of course an hour after I leave, mom is trying to force my dad to do things he doesn't want to do and they are yelling at each other. If he gets too defensive or belligerent, he could seriously hurt her and not mean to.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is the problem. I would call APS but now I know it will do absolutely no good. And my mom still insists on doing this all on her own. She needs help, in-home care at the very least. But she'll never accept it. She won't give us enough information to start an insurance claim. She won't let us assist her. She can't give up her obsession with things being clean. She utterly refuses to do anything about the piles of junk that have sprung up (oh my word, this story is the TIP if a massive shitberg that I just don't have time to write here). And she almost immediately started to lie to me and my sister and try to gaslight us. If you know me and my history, you'll know I find lying to be abhorrent. It's bad enough my son does it, but he's 7. My mom!? </div><div><br /></div><div>This situation is much larger than I've revealed here. When I tell people (generally professionals, like therapists or the Alzheimer's Association doctors, what have you) the whole thing, the reaction is always the same: "That's a really tough situation you're in." Yeah, I know. I'm watching my dad's brain deteriorate, knowing that may well be my fate, while my mom just makes it all infinitely worse and prevents us from helping. Tough doesn't come close.</div><div><br /></div><div>This is all happening as I'm trying to get my first book published, starting an animation project with my brother and eldest sister, and trying to write/film a how-to-play. I'm feeling overwhelmed and my depression keeps trying to take hold again.</div><div><br /></div><div>I can't wait for writing to become a priority again.</div>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-16209055602189808032023-09-12T02:00:00.001-04:002023-09-12T02:00:00.182-04:00Editor Established!<p>I have procured an editor!</p><p>I am excited and I very much hope she is worth the cost. I'm also a bit nervous. But now, it is the waiting game.</p><p>Once she finishes, I get to go through all her notes and fix things. Hopefully that won't take too long. Then, COVER ART!</p><p>Of course... as I'm writing this, I realize now that I had intended to fix all those hyphens (- ) into m-dashes ( — )...</p><p>I thought I would give a quick overview of some of the ideas I have rattling around in here that I want to be made into books:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>An urban fantasy set in the same universe about a man trying to change his fate. (in editing stages as well)</li><li>A sequel to the previous book. (currently writing)</li><li>A sequel to my FIRST book. (been in the outlining stages for a while) which will bring in the previous two books as well.</li><li>Potential sequel to that one.</li><li>A creative nonfiction piece about my sister and having to deal with psychosis. (ALSO been in the outlining stages for a while, but I've got some research done on this one)</li><li>A fantasy book/series about a dragon cursed to live as a human. (rough)</li><li>A sci-fi about living on a planet that has been ejected from its star (rough)</li><li>A tongue-in-cheek non-fic about adulting</li><li>A fantasy series that I started writing ages ago.</li></ul><div>So there's certainly not much need for inspiration as far as what the next book will be...</div><p></p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-39954223801337127622023-09-05T14:00:00.001-04:002023-09-05T14:00:00.141-04:00Welcome to Life<p>I know only a handful of people will read this (unless I somehow become extremely lucky and gain fame and notoriety that would put Beyonce to shame). I know I have a lot of work ahead of me if I’m going to start gaining a readership. I once had a good 80 or so people reading this thing you know!</p><p>But I’m going to do it.</p><p>It’s scary. I remember hearing someone say “you aren’t really afraid of failing, you’re afraid of succeeding.” Well, no, I’m definitely afraid of failing. I’m afraid that I’m either a terrible writer whose beta readers, friends, and family have all been lying to, or that I will become just another story of an amazing author kept down by his inability to market himself. But in a sense I am also afraid of succeeding.</p><p>I don’t know what I’m doing when it comes to marketing and self-promotion. I used to be internet savvy, back when Numa Numa was still a thing. Not so much any longer. I’m using a few guideposts while looking for more. But I know I have my work cut out for me. I know it will be a ton of work that I’m unfamiliar with and might not be good at if I am going to succeed. And if I succeed, what will that do to the family dynamic? Our schedules will become complicated.</p><p>As an example, I am also one of the co-hosts of the Board Game Rundown on youtube and we’ve earned over 3.2k subscribers as of this writing. We’re talking about turning this gig into a paying job with hours and everything… which will mean writing and marketing and publishing and selling will all have to happen on off hours.</p><p>If I am successful, life will get complicated.</p><p>But I think it’s time for that. I’m 42, never had a real career, always had a hard time holding on to jobs (apparently have some self-respect is not something employers actually want), and have been spinning my wheels for 10 years. It is time I got my professional life started. I might be a late bloomer, but by God I’m going to bloom.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-50631263696255187512023-08-30T21:16:00.000-04:002023-08-30T21:16:07.434-04:00Paying the PiperSo I've done it.<div><br /></div><div>I pulled the trigger.</div><div><br /></div><div>I finished removing passive voice from my story and have inquired 7 editors for quotes.</div><div><br /></div><div>I got 5 of them back.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now I am sad. One of the problems with starting out on a venture is you have <i style="font-weight: bold;">no idea</i> what a good ballpark figure for expenses is.</div><div>I was told by some that they have good editors who will look at work for $200. The last time I got a quote from an editor (nearly 10 years ago), it was around $500. These professional editors, however, are looking more like $1,500 - $2,000 for my 100k novel. </div><div><br /></div><div>This starts to become an issue in terms of pricing. I do not want to take a massive loss on my first book (well, more than I have already but I will explain later). I have a publisher lined up who will charge $7 per copy, pretty much wholesale.</div><div><br /></div><div>Let's assume I sell this book at $15.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have to include any money I spend on advertising and other costs. So let's say in the end I have about $5 profit.</div><div><br /></div><div>I will need to sell 300-400 copies of my book to break even from the editing alone.</div><div>Ouch. For a first book from an unknown author, that is ouch.</div><div><br /></div><div>On top of that, there's the cost I haven't included...</div><div>my own worth.</div><div><br /></div><div>I have to take into consideration what my time is worth and how long it took to write the book. It's a $/hr thing.</div><div>Granted, my first book took a while, but my second took much, much less time. As I continue down this road, the time will likely decrease which will increase my $/hr. </div><div><br /></div><div>I eagerly await the estimates of the final two editors, and I will continue my search. There may yet be a decent editor out there who will charge a lot less.</div><div><br /></div><div>But at least one good thing came out of it. One of the editors, whose specialty is my genre, said the sample I gave her was entertaining. That's got to count for something.</div>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-49209867911680919642023-06-11T19:49:00.002-04:002023-06-11T19:49:13.196-04:00At the cusp<p>Things all seem to be so close to taking off. </p><p>The Board Game Rundown is going to be at Origins and this year we have our own booth! We’re getting to interview some big names and are making real connections. I cannot state how excited this makes me! It’s a hobby I love and I might be able to turn it into a real job! Plus, I get to spread awareness of board gaming as a sort of board game ambassador (I’ve essentially been doing this for decades–I frequently try to find what board game an interested person might enjoy).</p><p>I am looking for agents for my first book, <i>A Sinister Love.</i> I have finished writing a second book (just 5 months) and ready and eager to have readers give me some feedback. I have been brainstorming ideas for sequels to BOTH books, as well as a creative nonfiction book I’ve been aching to write for years. It feels like I’m just a few steps from making it as a writer, even though I know there’s so much work ahead and I cannot know how close I actually am.</p><p>At the same time, I’ve been practicing guitar a lot and am getting much better. I have plans for recording, possibly even offering my services online.</p><p>My brother and I are working on a script for an animation he is making. We have plans for more.</p><p><br /></p><p>I am close, but i cannot drop the ball. I have to keep going, and there’s a lot to do. I need to do my due diligence to the rundown. I need to start writing for magazines and the like. I need to push myself a little harder in my guitar playing (and learn to sight read).</p><p>I’m just a little worried that this is all for naught. Either nothing is going to pan out despite my best efforts, or I will sabotage myself. All I can do is plug away one day at a time.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7688367888063324117.post-50072632642490088252023-05-29T16:17:00.001-04:002023-05-29T16:17:29.150-04:00Juggling<p> I've actually been able to get things done recently, but this leaves me wondering... when am I going to slip up?</p><p>I'm juggling so many things, what if I forget something or an emergency crops up (as they are wont to do)? Will I be able to fix things and keep juggling, or will everything come crashing down?</p><p>At the moment, I am still figuring out some sort of schedule. I still have plans for things, so many things, but that's just adding more balls in the air for me to juggle. If I do that, I will <i>need</i> a good schedule. With summer coming on and my kids about to get out of school, my schedule is going to have to change. How will this alter things for me?</p><p>There are so many out there doing this on their own. I, however, am lucky that my wife is on my team. She understands and helps me treat this as my job. If she wasn't in my corner, my chances of being a successful writer would be dead in the water.</p><p>Today I went through a bunch of old things I'd written... from as young as the age of 4. It's very clear that writing was always something I was interested in and decent at. I am struck at how much they made me write in school compared to how much they make my kids write. But, no, I'm not going to save these things. There's not going to be some future researcher looking for my first writings - I have no delusions that I will ever be that famous or good. Yes, I want to have this story read by as many people as possible, enjoyed by them all, but fame and fortune are not my goal and never have been. Still, I need to be fairly compensated for this work. It's a career, not a hobby.</p>Spencer Hixonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04493920050391796836noreply@blogger.com0