The blog was down for a few days. According to the lovely lady at GoDaddy tech support, they “Made a change that didn’t affect 99% of our users”. But me, of course… I’m never in the good 1%.
Back online. Added links to a podcast of my short story “Forgotten” to the Writing page. Also added Instagram as a new place to find me on the net, to the Contact page.
Toasted Cake has published a podcast of my flash fiction piece “Forgotten”. Tina Connolly does a wonderful job with the reading. You can give it a listen HERE.
I finished this one some time ago, and have finally got around to posting it to the Model Building page of the website. You can see it HERE.
I’ve got another build or two that I’ve finished in the past year that have yet to be posted, and another two projects that are nearing completion. Now that I’ve upgraded my computer and got a newer version of Photoshop up and running, I’ll get around to adding them in due time.
Writing, and any art, is a ritual. Show up at the same time every day, sit at your desk or stand in your studio. Keep showing up and your muse will show up as well, and all will be right with the world.
But what happens when you or your muse get bored with the same ol’?
This is the third year that Kristen and I have done the Reboot Camp in Tamarindo, Costa Rica, with Michael Andreula. We came here for the work out, and work out we do. Every morning we’re up with the sunrise and do a full hour on the beach, punching and kicking with a group of other morning warriors, working with hand and knee pads, round house kicking in the surf, yoga stretches in the sand. Breakfast and decompress immediately after it all, and then it’s 10 a.m. and I’m in a hammock on a rooftop deck with a view of the Pacific, writing.
Something about the workout clears my mind, a sort of meditation. Regular meditation has never Continue reading
When I took my first serious fiction class at The New School, Alice Turner was my teacher. She knew all about plot and pacing and intent. When a student presented work to the class, though, she wouldn’t speak in those technical terminologies, she’d simply say “Wouldn’t it work better like this?” or say very directly, “What are you trying to say with this?” (I heard that one a few times). One evening as we waited for class to start and the room to empty, she and I sat on a bench in the hallway and she asked me what I wanted to do with my writing. I told her I wanted to make it my living. She nodded, smiled, said it was tough, but that if I wanted it I needed to not give up, no matter what the people like her said. Besides teaching that class, Alice also introduced me to my writing group, Altered Fluid, and without her and them I don’t know what I would’ve done. Probably not have written as much as I have. Over the years I saw Alice around at readings and parties, and she always had a smile, a kind word, and she always asked how the writing was going. I’m going to miss her.
My latest piece has been published by the New York Times. “Civil War Submarines” delves into the history of the submarines other than the famous CSS Hunley. As it turns out, the Union Navy was the first to field submersibles during the war, and several at that. In the South, dozens of other submersible craft were planned, started, and tested, with several entering combat.
You can read the article HERE on the New York Times’ website.
I’ve posted a review of “Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway” over on the USS Yorktown website. This is a book I’ve had on my shelf for years, but my detour into all things Civil War pulled me away from my studies of the Pacific war. Really glad I got around to this, as it’s a truly ground-breaking treatment on the battle from the Japanese point of view.
I’ve added a PDF copy of my short story “Before the Wind” to the Writing page. The piece was first published by Eschatology Magazine’s website, but they have recently ceased operation and taken down most of their website. To maintain a record and keep the piece “out there”, I’ve added it. You can download it on the Writing page.
There isn’t a lot of surface area to mask on the Nautilus, but some of what there is happens to be quite intricate. For the forward bridge area, the two “gator eyes” looking protrusions, I decided to leave the clear plastic/glass out for better visibility of the small interior that I built. Continue reading
I’ve learned something over the past several days: whatever skill at soldering I once had — gleaned through lessons from my father and repair schools whilst in the Navy — has all been lost. While soldering these simple connections for this model I cursed a lot, burned even more, and even completely cooked an LED from the inside out. I finally got the wiring and lights hooked up and into the model, but it wasn’t a fun process. I either need to practice this skill, or I need to start buying pre-wired lighting kits.
The setup is simple, though, and that probably saved my sanity Continue reading