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How not to write your first novel, Part 1

When I finally got serious about attempting to write my first novel in late August, 2018, I really had no idea what to expect. Fiction is quite a bit different than the normal Information Technology documentation, root cause analyses, and other technical writing that had been predominantly the type of output that was part of my daily job.

Oh, I had a rough idea of some of what would be required: would it be first person or third person, what genre, did I have a good idea of the target audience, and was my main character and story interesting enough to write about?

On the other hand, there were the intangibles that I had no answers for: could I actually generate the sheer number of words that would be necessary, would I be able to force myself to write every day with all the distractions that go along with having a family, and could I do this with no real training or guidance?

These were all good questions…unfortunately I didn’t have answers for all of them, and my naivete would make me suffer greatly. Even so, I decided to take the plunge and see what would happen. After all, if I never tried I would always wonder “what if“. In the end I certainly surprised myself, but the journey was rocky and scattered with pit-falls and land-mines. Much was learned along the way, and just how little I knew of the process, the rules, and the resources available to me (if only I had looked) would fill another book all by itself. That’s not to say I don’t have a lot still to learn, I do. Continue reading “How not to write your first novel, Part 1”

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The camera is a vacation essential

I picked up the photography bug while stationed in Germany during the very early 1990s. The US Army sent me to an air-base just outside of Stuttgart (a fascinating place all on its own) called Eckterdingen, where I would be joining the 45th Medical Company (AA), part of the 421st Medical Battalion. This unit was equipped with UH-60 Blackhawks and our primary mission was Medevac. I could go into my first impressions as the vehicle I was a passenger in pulled into the parking lot, but that is a story for another day.

I had many roommates during my deployment to Germany, but the one that influenced my time there the most was Corporal Paul Garrett. Like me he had an insatiable appetite to travel and explore Europe, and since he had already been there for a year he had lots of photos to share. We both wanted to take advantage of the fact that we were centrally located and had plenty of opportunities to get off base and take in what was around us. Most holidays in the Army were four day weekends and there was plenty of time to drive to whatever destination we had decided on. Neither of us had any illusions that we would be able to do so once we transitioned to civilian life after we got out of the military (this turned out to be inaccurate, in my case at least). Continue reading “The camera is a vacation essential”

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Vancouver, BC

Our daughter is taking Japanese as her language elective in high-school, and planning to do so all four years. This is all well and good (aside from the fact that neither my wife nor I can help with that in any way), but to make matters worse it just so happened that her Freshman year was the biennial class trip to Japan. To say I was unenthusiastic about allowing her to undertake such an adventure at the age of fifteen would be a huge trivialization of my feelings on the matter.

However, as usual, my inclinations were completely ignored and the wife and child proceeded to take the necessary steps to facilitate said trip. Granted, waiting until July 2020 would have been costlier (Tokyo Olympics), and her friends were already signed up (peer pressure). The trip was going to last eleven days and would fall in the middle of July 2018.

As the scheduled departure date drew near I realized that there was no reason for us to sit around in Spokane staring at each other and wishing for something…anything, to do. Now, I have lived in Spokane most of my life, and yet in all of that time I had never actually been to Vancouver, BC. Whistler? Check. Kelowna? Check. Banff? Check. Ainsworth Hot Springs? Check. Continue reading “Vancouver, BC”

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Las Rageous Music Festival

I am bummed out…no information is available yet regarding the line-up for Las Rageous 2019. You may be asking yourself “why does this make you sad Mr Blogger?”, and my response must be, “because I had such an amazing time at Las Rageous 2018, and I want to know what is in store for next year.”

That’s right, Daddy needs to know if he is going to spring for more VIP tickets. Perhaps a little background would clarify matters for those of you who are scratching your heads right now. Allow me to step back in time, please try to keep up as I explain.

My daughter was raised on a steady diet of the kinds of music I listen to: Metal, Industrial, Classic Rock, etc… When she was four, and strapped into the car-seat in the back of my car, my wife passed us in her Subaru. The child was head-banging and singing along to Prong. This, of course, simultaneously horrified and amused the spouse, while making her daddy proud.

Now, that’s not to say that the child was not exposed to, and clearly indoctrinated by, other sources of music…namely the aforementioned wife, and Disney/Nickelodeon and other purveyors of mind-numbing propaganda. Yet even so, she still likes my music. Continue reading “Las Rageous Music Festival”

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Why “Inadvertent Consequences”?

That’s easy, “Random Thoughts” was already taken…:) Seriously, that was the original name I was going to go with, but when I found out it belonged to another blogger, well…that complicated the process considerably. I then spent the better part of two hours trying out names using the tool BlueHost provides and not liking any of them.

Venting my frustrations and growling incoherently at the family didn’t seem to be the answer either, although it was pleasurable, so I sat down and started to think about how I had gotten to this point in my life. It occurred to me that had I not been laid-off, none of this would be happening. I’m fairly certain that providing the time, and peace of mind, necessary to do this was not on the agenda of my Director when I was let go…and yet it ultimately provided the impetus that I needed. As a consequence, I sit here sharing these thoughts with you, none of which was the actual intention of my being laid-off. Continue reading “Why “Inadvertent Consequences”?”

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Blog launch

So, I finally did it…although to be fair, my wife’s gentle “prodding” undoubtedly figured largely in doing so. The road that leads to this blog is somewhat convoluted, definitely unorganized, and likely will add unwanted stress to my daily existence. Ah well, c’est la vie.

I have always wanted to do something creative, be it photography, writing professionally, or doing reviews of my favorite things. Unfortunately, wanting to do something and actually having the time are two different things. Thus, being Mr. Procrastination, I never quite got around to doing so. Continue reading “Blog launch”

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