Comfortably Numb...

It's been one of those months. You know the kind, where life, career and romance all seem to be non-existent and your time somehow seems to be equally split between sleeping and staring blankly at the same four walls? If it wasn't for my friends I'd have been certifiable weeks ago.

I'm fortunate enough to have some good friends, who've put up with a lot of prima-donna BS from me in the last few months. I don't tell them how much it's appreciated anywhere near enough and as in all friendships, sometimes things don't run as smoothly as they could. I love them all dearly, and hope to still be calling them friends when I'm older and more decrepid. Thank you guys, if you're reading.

For a number of reasons I've decided to re-invent myself a little. Part of this change will be the promised redesign of the blog, along with the opening of an official Fallen Skies blog. It's always been part of my plan to have a web presence for the series, though the idea itself's gone through a few changes over time. As things stand, the FS blog will probably end up as a geek-haven; I'm currently in the process of compiling a reference file for the books to keep track of the story-arcs and character developments. If any of you out there have any suggestions about potential site content feel free to leave a comment about them or e-mail me.

Speaking of writing, I've been lax with that recently and fallen behind schedule a little, so for the next few days I intend to hammer away at the second story. I've got the synopsis and chapter breakdown finished, and have two-and-a-half first-draft chapters, so it shouldn't be too hard to catch up. I was hoping to have the first draft completed by next weekend but that's looking doubtful. I need to re-learn how to balance work, social-life and writing again following the change of jobs.

On the plus side I've started work on the role-playing game again. I've stripped it right back to the basics and rebuilt it. So far it's going through the stress-testing phase, and I'm still finding bits that really aren't needed, but it seems to be shaping up okay. I'm still undecided whether or not to distribute it and if so how, but I'll probably post the decision here in the long run. If anybody's interested in play-testing the first draft, drop me a line.

Anyway, that's enough random navel-gazing from me. I have a few things to do and not enough time to do them in.

Take care Sleepsville. I'll rant again soon, I promise.

Edit: I've just noticed this blog had it's first birthday yesterday. Yay.

It's Alive!!!!

Okay, I admit it! I've been remiss in my duty as a 'blogger'. I know I've not posted since the announcement about the book launch, but as a friend has reminded me on several occasions it's better to blog well every now and then rather than to blog badly on a regular basis. That and I haven't really felt like saying much.

Now, I'm not saying there haven't been things to rant about. There's been so much happening in the world that I really am struggling to keep up. So instead of jumping on my soap-box at every opportunity I've simply sat back and waited. I have been patient.

Along the way I've been tidying up some of the threads for Fallen Skies and working on the second book. I still can't decide whether they should be classed as short fiction, novellas, novels, or a serialisation. Maybe all four. I'm slightly ahead of my self-imposed deadline, which is good, and aside from a massive redesign of two of the three major characters early in the process I've not really hit any obstacles yet. That's also good.

Book one's slowly simmering. I've had some good feedback from the people who've read it so far and even the criticisms that have been passed on were expected. The best description I've been given so far is "...a throwaway book..." A lot of authors would be appaled to hear their first published novel (novella/short fiction/episode) referred to in such a manner but I love it. It's what I wanted to write, a story that somebody could read in an hour or two and not need to think too hard.

I will be adding an ISBN to the thing soon, I can promise that. I knew when I set out that self-publishing would be slow, and expected to make a few slips to begin with. Friends have voiced concern, and that's really been appreciated, but I'm trying to be as realistic as I can with my expectations, so as yet I've not been disappointed with any part of the process. Financially frustrated, yes; unexpectedly set-back, no. There's still a long road ahead of me.

I've also been thinking about my dark-fantasy series. I am going to return to that project before too long, though probably not this side of summer. I've got a fairly strict game-plan laid out that calls for me to be making a decision about how to sell the series around the end of Summer next year, so I've still got a year before I have to dust off the manuscript and breathe life back into the old beast. Whether I decide to self-publish it or go in search of a mainstream launch will depend on a number of factors but either way I'll be hoping to have the first book out by 2010. Like I said, a long road.

And in between all that I'm back in the job market. For a number of reasons, all personal, I'm leaving my current job as of tomorrow, and I'll be honest it is a bit of a shame to say goodbye. It's not as bad as when I left my last job, but I have got to know some cool people, and I hope to keep in touch with them. Who knows, when I've sorted out the rest of my life I might even go back there. If they'll have me.

All in all, life could be stranger. If you don't believe me now just keep watching this space. Which reminds me, I promised a redesign of the page last time I was here, didn't I? I guess I'd better get started on it then, hadn't I?

Can't hang around, Sleepsville, I have a template to design.