My Year of Magical Reading:

Back at the beginning of the year, I devoted some time to the website 43 Things and created my list of 43 things. I've found several things I've done in the past, and since starting the list I've accomplished 5 of my "things" - and assuming I make it 6 more days without a cigarette, I'll have accomplished 6!

Anyway, one of my things, which I completed yesterday, was to "Read 50 Books in 2008." Early in the year, I began to get worried about my prospects, so I began counting audiobooks as well, but I actually ended up making it without audiobooks - I have read 50 actual books this year (not counting books read to my 3-year old).

My point in posting about this is not to brag, although I must admit I'm fairly proud of this accomplishment. Granted, some of the books were very short, but others were very long and complex, so I figure it basically evens out. The point of it all was to expose myself to ideas, and I did that in spades.

I'll post my general "year in review" blog in a few days, but these books - the fact that I took the time out of a busy year to expose myself to diverse topics, to just reflect on my life and the world I live in - has colored everything else. It has made a year that was rich with love also rich with wisdom.

One of the books, Making Your Dreams Come True, is of special interest ... not because it was necessarily the best book, but because it makes you really think about the purpose or your life. My "mission statement" after finishing that book was pretty clear to me:

To teach and to learn

The goal to read 50 books, which I'd come up with months before I read that book, was a reflection of the purpose of my life, and I hadn't even realized it at the time. I worked for Project SEED and strove to be a writer, eventually getting a job as the About.com Physics Guide, based on this purpose ... and all the time, I was completely unaware of it on a conscious level. I went to a liberal arts college to learn physics and philosophy (and some math), and before that to the Indiana Academy ... even back then, I was being guided by a principle that I'd never articulated.

Below is a list of my 50 books and the 22 audiobooks that I've read this year! (The list is basically in the order I read/listened to them. * indicates an audiobook.) Feel free to e-mail me if you would like to know whether any particular book is worth reading.

1. The Faiths of the Founding Fathers David L. Holmes
2. Sky Horizon by David Brin
3. Endless Universe: Beyond the Big Bang by Paul J. Steinhardt & Neil Turok
4. Physics of the Impossible by Michio Kaku
5. Why Science? by James Trefil
6. Multiple Streams of Income* by Robert G. Allen
7. The Physics of Superheroes by James Kakalios
8. Love + Sex with Robots by David Levy
9. Education of an Accidental CEO* by David Novak
10. The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron
11. Liberal Fascism by Jonah Goldberg
12. Lion in the White House: A Life of Theodore Roosevelt* by Aida Donald
13. A Short History of Nearly Everything* by Bill Bryson
14. A Mind at a Time* by Dr. Mel Levine
15. The Myth of Laziness* by Dr. Mel Levine
16. 15 Secrets Every Network Marketer Must Know by Dr. Joe Rubino & John Terhune
17. George W. Bush and the Bush Family Dynasty* by Bill Minutaglio
18. Our Endangered Values* by President Jimmy Carter
19. Five Minds for the Future by Howard Gardner
20. The Appeal* by John Grisham
21. The Gospel According to Science Fiction by Gabriel McKee
22. The One Minute Father by Spencer Johnson, M.D.
23. The 5 Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me by Richard Paul Evans
24. The One Minute Millionaire by Robert G. Allen & Mark Victor Hansen
25. FairTax: The Truth by Neal Boortz, Congressman John Linder, & Rob Woodall
26. Changing Minds: The Art and Science of Changing Your Own and Other People's Minds by Howard Gardner
27. Nothing Down for the 2000's* by Robert G. Allen
28. Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
29. The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
30. Creating Wealth* by Robert G. Allen
31. First, Break All the Rules* by Marcus Buckingham & Curt Coffman
32. The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil by Phil Zombardo
33. Think and Grow Rich (21st Century Edition)* by Napoleon Hill
34. The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
35. Rich Dad, Poor Dad* by Robert Kiyosaki
36. Out of Our Minds: Learning to Be Creative by Sir Ken Robinson
37. Making Your Dreams Come True by Marcia Weider
38. The Tower by Ricahrd Paul Evans
39. The Spyglass by Richard Paul Evans
40. The Call of the Wild* by Jack London
41. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull
42. Acres of Diamonds by Russel D. Conwell
43. The Christmas Candle by Richard Paul Evans
44. Swordbird by Nancy Yi Fan
45. Creativity, Wisdom, & Trusteeship: Exploring the Role of Education edited by Anna Craft, Howard Gardner, & Guy Claxton
46. The Future of the Internet and How to Stop It by Johnathan Zittrain
47. Me to We: Finding Meaning in a Material World by Craig Keilburger & Marc Keilburger
48. Walden* by Henry David Thoreau
49. The Yiddish Policeman's Union* by Michael Chabon
50. Spider Star by Mike Brotherton
51. Yes!: 50 Scientifically Proven Ways to be Persuasive by Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin, & Robert B. Cialdini
52. A Sense of the Mysterious: Science and the Human Spirit by Alan Lightman
53. Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman* by Richard P. Feynman
54. What Do You Care What Other People Think?* by Richard P. Feynman (this is the basis of the Matthew Broderick film Infinity, which I also watched this year)
55. The Trouble with Physics: The Rise of String Theory, the Fall of Science, and What Comes Next by Lee Smolin
56. Warped Passages: Unraveling the Mysteries of the Universe's Hidden Dimensions by Lisa Randall
57. Fabric of the Cosmos: Space, Time, and the Fabric of Reality by Brian Greene
58. The Cosmic Landscape: String Theory and the Illusion of Intelligent Design by Leonard Susskind
59. Quantum Physics & Theology: An Unexpected Kinship by John Polkinghorne
60. Parallel Worlds: A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos by Michio Kaku
61. Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln* by Doris Kearns Goodwin
62. Not Even Wrong: The Failure of String Theory and the Search for Unity in Physical Law by Peter Woit
63. Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior* by Ori Brafman and Rom Brafman
64. The Christmas Box by Richard Paul Evans
65. Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and Thriving at Work, Home, and School* by John Medina
66. Many Worlds in One: The Search for Other Universes by Alex Vilenkin
67. A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking
68. The Power of Mentoring by the McGraw-Hill Companies
69. Hiding in the Mirror: The Mysterious Allure of Extra Dimensions, from Plato to String Theory and Beyond by Lawrence Krauss
70. Flatland by Edwin A. Abbott
71. Sphereland by Dionys Burger
72. The Black Hole War: My Battle with Stephen Hawking to Make the World Safe for Quantum Mechanics by Leonard Susskind
    
    
    
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To FairTax or Not To FairTax -

A couple of years ago, I read The Fairtax Book by radio host Neal Boortz, along with John Linder, the Georgia Congressman responsible for proposing the FairTax bill. I'm still not 100% convinced in the FairTax, but I was extremely pleased to see it coming up as a serious issue within the Republican primaries thanks to Mike Huckabee, who made it a major part of his platform.

In this new book, FairTax: The Truth, they return (along with Rob Woodall, Linder's Chief of Staff) to relate further advancements in the FairTax, as well as to deal a bit more directly with some of the criticisms.

For those unfamiliar with the FairTax, the basic reasons for the FairTax are as follows:

1. The current tax code allows politicians to covertly give benefits to one group and penalize other groups by modifications to the elaborate tax code. Ultimately, all of these penalties to corporations and industries trickle down in the cost of goods and services to the individual customers.

2. The current tax code, in the form of both income tax and payroll taxes (Medicare, Social Security, etc.), provide unequal distributions of taxation. Low income earners are burdened with payroll taxes on their earned wages while wealthy individuals are able to virtually avoid payroll taxes entirely since they earn low wages, but gain vast wealth from capital gains and other non-payroll taxed methods.

3. Currently a number of individuals in America do not participate as part of the federal tax basis. Specifically, tourists, illegal immigrants, people paid "off the books," and those involved in illegal activities are able to earn incomes without being any part of the federal taxation system.

The FairTax seeks to remedy this by eliminating the IRS, along with current income, payroll, corporate, capital gains, and estate tax laws. This would be replaced by a 23% inclusive consumption tax on all goods and services sold in the United States, expanding the tax basis considerably. (A 23% inclusive sales tax means that if you buy an item for $100, you just paid $23 in sales tax.)

The portion which makes this tax feasible (not to mention progressive) is that every legal resident of the United States would register the number of people in their household annually. Based upon this number, they would obtain a prebate every month up to the poverty level. In other words, everyone would be exempt from taxation on the necessities. People at the poverty level would have zero federal taxation, while those near it would have virtually none.

There are many nuances to the FairTax bill, although it is only 133 pages long, so it's relatively straightforward as far as legislation goes. The books do an excellent job of illuminating the key points, as does the Americans for Fair Taxation website. Of course, all of these are propaganda in favor of the FairTax. For an alternate account, I would consider the fairly balanced Unspinning the FairTax at FactCheck.org ... although in FairTax: The Truth, they address some of the issues brought up in this article (though not the article specifically ... just the issues in general) and, in my opinion, fairly handily deal with them.

10 Books That Changed My Life -

In the process of catching up on my BookWise training, I listened to a session in which our mentor Robert G. Allen asked "Have you ever read a book that changed your life?" The answer, for me, is a resounding yes.

• Foundation by Isaac Asimov
• Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens*
• Les Miserables by Victor Hugo
• Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card*
• Calculating God by Robert J. Sawyer
• Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling*
• American Gospel by Jon Meacham
• Misquoting Jesus by Bart Ehrman
  
• Multiple Streams of Income by Robert G. Allen*
  

* - Books indicated with an asterisk are also available through my BookWise bookstore. You can join as a Preferred Customer, completely free, and then search for books at great discounts, some as low as wholesale!

Several of these books touched me on multiple levels, triggering intellectual, professional, and spiritual paths of thought which have ultimately lead me to my current position in the world, of which I'm quite fond.

For example, Stranger in a Strange Land was the first book I read which touched on religious and spiritual themes. Even though I have, in the years since, come to believe that the spirituality Heinlein presents is fundamentally limited (not to mention chauvinistic), it still resonates with me as being the first introduction to a wider sense of spirituality beyond the strict confines of Christianity which, as a participant in American society, it is impossible to avoid.

Calculating God touches on religious themes in a very different way, but that was not its greatest impact on me. No, Calculating God was significant because it introduced me to the work of Robert J. Sawyer and ultimately lead to an opportunity to meet with him in person. He has proved to be something of a role model and mentor to me, and I have learned many lessons about the publishing industry from him. He has also helped to inspire me to continue writing in the face of difficult, disheartening times.

Books have a power to connect us to greater truths, to the deepest components of our own minds which are searching to transform into the next important phase of our lives. All of these books helped motivate and inspire me into a transformative phase of my life. What books have inspired you in this way?

Visions of a Futuristic God -

A couple of months ago, I learned about Gabriel McKee's The Gospel According to Science Fiction: From the Twilight Zone to the Final Frontier from the blog of my friend Robert J. Sawyer, himself something of a legend in the science fiction field whose books frequently address religious topics quite prominently. McKee has a Master of Theological Studies from Harvard Divinity School and maintains SF Gospel website and blog, so he clearly has the chops for the task.

While I was anticipating the book to be good, I have to admit that I was not quite anticipating the sheer scope of McKee's enterprise. Across 10 chapters and 250 pages, he covers nearly the full range of religious themes, from the institutions and rituals that comprise social religion to the innate logistics of the afterlife and apocalypse, to the very nature and purpose of belief.

Much of the book recounts specific examples from science fiction literature, film, and television ... examples which clearly illuminate the different aspects of religious experience. Some of the discussion are purely in the realm of science fiction, such as the analysis of godlike alien races, but still others go to the very heart of quintessential human experiences such as faith (or lack thereof) and the nature of free will (or lack thereof).

McKee's book is not merely a rehashing of these concepts but, in the terms of Howard Gardner's Five Minds of the Future, presents a true synthesis of them with the most fundamental questions of human existence. For example, consider this passage from the end of the chapter on faith vs. skepticism, entitled "Believing and Knowing":

"Far from being merely 'nonoverlapping magisteria' with nothing to do with one another, science and religious experience can in fact strengthen one another. In faith, the scientist can find a driving factor for exploration, a divine reason to inquire into the world's mysteries. In science, the believer can uncover the secrets of God's majesty, perhaps finding in subatomic particles or distant stars something mystical."

Though often skeptical of religious institutions and favoring rational explanations over faith-based ones, the literature of science fiction has always been deeply rooted in a search for meaning, for sense out of the seemingly chaotic universe. In this sense, it is the form of literature which most coincides with humanity's deepest spiritual foundation - looking into the heavens and asking "What is out there and what does it mean?"

Twenty-First Century Minds -

In Five Minds for the Future, Harvard psychology Howard Gardner - creator of the "eight intelligence" theory of the mind - describes the five types of mental processes which will prove to be the most crucial in performing well in the twenty-first century.

The first mind presented by Gardner is the disciplined mind, by which he refers to the idea of learning things as a discipline instead of merely as an unconnected series of facts and tasks. Part of the reason for this, to my mind, is that information and technology change so quickly in our age that learning a specific job isn't going to be as useful as learning a discipline. For example, learning the discipline of "information technology" would prove useful, whereas learning specifically how to encode for, say, an Oracle database may have more limited use in 10 years when technologies have radically changed. The keys to this sort of mind are being diligent and focusing on improvement and continuing education throughout your lifetime. If you ever feel like you can stop learning, stop growing, then your mind is not a disciplined man.

The second mind presented is the synthesizing mind, which is adept at drawing diverse information together in a cohesive manner. A synthesizing mind is selective and capable of drawing out the salient details of a topic, presenting them in any of a variety of forms: narrative, taxonomies, lists, rules, aphorisms, concepts, metaphors, images, themes, wordless embodiments (i.e. artistic metaphors, perhaps), theories, etc.

The creative mind extends the knowledge gained and puts a new spin on it, introduces some unique element to the mix that makes it different upon output than it was upon input. Gardner points out, however, that a creative mind that produces no output, that never puts these ideas into the "field" to "make judgements of quality and acceptability" is ultimately a wasted creative mind.

The next couple diverge, in that instead of talking about how a mind deals with information they relate to how minds interact with other minds. The respectful mind is about how to respond to differences among individuals and groups in a sympathetic and constructive manner. These differences will only grow in the future and ultimately we will all have to learn how best to deal with a wide range of diversity in all aspects of our life, even in aspects where the most progressive of us would prefer that things stay the same.

The final mind is the ethical mind, which goes a bit beyond being respectful and begins to deal with the individual's role as a good citizen in general. While the respectful mind focuses on individual interactions, the ethical mind focuses on interactions between an individual and the diverse roles that we assume in society - family roles, work roles, community roles, etc.

This one, of all of the minds presented, is the one that I'm least convinced of. Sure, it's great to be a good citizen and perform "good work" (one of Gardner's buzz phrases), but is this really inherent crucial in the same way the other sorts of minds are? Perhaps it is, though ... and perhaps I'll find out why when I read one of his other books, Good Work.

Fascism & Liberalism: Strange Bedfellows? -

The last month has been hectic, in ways that will shortly become apparent from changes to the site (as if the very re-emergence of the site over the last month hasn't been enough change!), I read Jonah Goldberg's book Liberal Fascism (again, motivated by Goldberg's appearance on The Daily Show). I was a bit disappointed in Stewart on this one, because he really didn't let Goldberg explain the premise of the book and pointedly ignored some fairly reasonable comments. He was talking at Goldberg, instead of to him. I was disappointed ... but I definitely wanted to read that book.

In Liberal Fascism, Goldberg makes the thesis that current liberalism dates back to the "progressive movement" of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Okay, no particular problem there. We expect such a historical tradition, right?

But then he proceeds to explain how the progressive movement was actually linked to Italian fascism (which is clearly distinct from Nazism, as he points out). In fact, as Goldberg points out, scholars can't even agree what the term fascist means. But whatever it means, it was not the evil that it has been portrayed in the years since. Italy, until it essentially lost sovereignty to Germany, actually protected Jews from persecution.

His whole point is that liberals are, in general, way too "liberal" about throwing around the word fascist to describe anything they disagree with, all the while not really having any understanding of what the word means. In fact, most liberals would be truly disgusted by some of the actions championed by "progressives" of the past, ranging from eugenics to clear support of corporate interests over individual liberty.

Goldberg is not attacking all liberals as being fascists. Oh, he doesn't like liberal politics, but that's not really his goal here. Instead, he's providing a thoughtful analysis of the historical evolution of liberal policies, and linking current liberal policy initiatives to their historical antecedents.

Perhaps one of the most entertaining aspects of the book, for me, was a very minor little side comment regarding World War I. It seems that, during this time, sauerkraut became temporarily referred to as "Liberty Cabbage" since America was at war with Germany. Granted, we were never at war with France, but it still bears similarities to the silliness regarding recent "Freedom Fries."

Goldberg's book didn't actually change my stance on a single issue, thankfully, but it did open my eyes to some of the historical roots, and possible dangers of extremism, that are inherent in the viewpoints I do hold. I think it's an insightful book, for both liberals and conservatives ... so long as they're willing to actually explore the ideas of the book instead of just embracing their own ideologies.

Electronic Love? -

Lately, a lot of my book choices have come from The Daily Show and The Colbert Report. One of these books was David Levy's Love + Sex With Robots. The book is an intriguing analysis and ultimately one which I cannot fault, in general. Basically, Levy argues that the upcoming advances in robotic technologies will result in a certain subset of the population falling in love with robots and having sex with them. It may seem like something out of Buffy: The Vampire Slayer or Battlestar Galactica, but Levy believes that the technology is quickly reaching the stage where it will be a reality.

Levy begins by laying out the research into the various reasons why people fall in love. This can be broken down into ten basic reasons:

• Similarity
• Desirable characteristics
• Reciprocal liking
• Social influences
• Filling needs
• Arousal/Unusualness
• Specific cues
• Readiness for entering a relationship
• Being alone w/ object of love
• Mystery

A quick look at these reasons will make it clear that the majority of them could, in theory, be applied to sufficiently advanced robots. A sophisticated robot could be designed to have any combination of physical traits, to have a personality which matches your own, to portray a reciprocity of emotion, etc. In fact, the largest hurdle is probably the "social influences," but such things change over time and by 2060 or so, who knows what social influences will be at work.

He goes on to discuss situations in which individuals love non-humans ... specifically, the emotional attachment formed with their pets. He also proceeds to discuss the wide range of ways in which people form emotional attachments to electronic devices, and of course love over the internet.

Here's an example of how serious these emotional attachments have already become: The Tamagotchi is a little "virtual pet" from Japan in the shape of a small, flattened egg which contains a video screen. On the video screen is your pet, and through the pushing of buttons you feed it, take it for walks, pet it, etc. If you fail to care for your Tamagotchi, it can actually wither away and die, which is a very sad experience. So sad, in fact, that orthodox Hebrews wanted to care for the Tamagotchi on Saturday, their Sabbath, when they are not even allowed to turn on and off light switches! The sole work that is allowed on Saturday is work in order to sustain a living soul.

So there had to actually be a ruling, from high-ups in the rabbinical organization of orthodox Judaism, about whether or not a Tamagotchi had a living soul!

Their conclusion is (hopefully) obvious, but still, it demonstrates the power of emotional attachments to these electronic beings. Just as you would feed your cat or dog on the Sabbath, many felt that you should equally be able to sustain the "life" of your Tamagotchi. And we know that some people care more for their cat or dog than they do for any other people. Now, imagine that they had a robot who could laugh at their jokes, express wonder at their intellect, and be impressed by the size of their ... well, you get the idea.

Some people, of course, would never allow themselves to see past the illusion, but with all of these factors laid out, it becomes clear that there would certainly be a subset of the population that would very likely fall in love with a robot. The robot would, of course, not love them back, but it would give the illusion that it does ... and maybe that's enough for some people.

Changes Afoot -

Well, though I've let this blog sit defunct for nearly two years, I have not forgotten it. My work as the About.com Guide to Physics has taken up much of that time, as has falling in love and various other matters.

For those who have not heard, I have gotten engaged to my girlfriend of one year, Amber. We are anticipating a wedding in the fall, though still waiting for details to be hashed out, largely related to financial matters. I for one am looking forward tremendously to the marriage ... not quite so much to the wedding itself.

She's quite supportive of my various interests, especially my writing. She's a fan, in other words. Not necessarily a fan of science fiction in general, but a fan of my stuff. This is a plus, in my book, as it indicates that she has excellent taste and obvious refinement. Remember, therefore, that if you want to be cool, you'll read my stuff and like it! You may begin with "Diminished Capacity," which is available at the Abyss & Apex website, or the About Physics site, as your fancy suits you.

For those not interested in science fiction or physics, but still wanting to be cool, I have the entire Philosopher's Stone site and a bit of a MySpace page. In short, I'm all over this crazy World Wide Web like white on rice, my friends! Beware. Be very ware.

So check out the site, check out my writing, and see if anything I say is of any significance. Frequently, probably not. But every once in a while ... very rarely ... I may hit upon some nugget of eternal truth. And I, for one, wouldn't want to miss that!

Things Congress Should Be Doing:

I'm going to be oddly topical today. Congress is dealing with two "major" issues at present: a Constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one woman (i.e. outlaw gay marriage federally) and legally ban flag burning. While I realize that these are the top concerns of 3% of the population (according to a survey cited on the Al Franken radio show - take it for what it's worth), I have a few other issues which might be more relevant:

• Tax glamour- (Paris Hilton) and power-mad (that Kennedy rapist cousin) millionaire heirs and heiresses, so that I'm not still paying for the damn Iraq War when I'm 90 years old.
• Catch Osama Bin Laden - seriously, people, he's a 6 foot tall man on dialysis who gets more airtime than Anna Nicole Smith, how hard can this be?
• Tell the Pentagon to put the Geneva Convention rules back in the Military Field Manual - if you hadn't heard of this one, it's true: the new version of the Military Field Manual will not include the Geneva Convention provisions against mistreating and humiliating detained prisoners.
• Actually debate the FAIR Tax, and see what happens. I'm extremely undecided on it, but it's an actual issue which has a bearing on everyone's daily life, which would be a nice change of pace for Congress to deal with.
• Look into the President's rampant use of the "signing statement" - these are (figuratively) little executive post-its that he can stick on bills saying that he interprets them a certain way. He has used them on roughly 10% of the bills he's signed into law, which is more than all previous American Presidents put together, something which is now coming to the attention of the American Bar Association.
• Deal with steroid use in baseball - I'm guessing more Americans care about this than gay marriage or flag burning put together.
• Didn't someone important in the government say something about going to Mars at some point? Maybe you guys should look into that.
• Four words: Leave no child behind
• Cure something! I don't care if it's cancer, HIV, or halitosis, but this would be a better use of your time.
• Annex Mexico and be done with it! Then we can burn their flags, to get it out of our system.

MAJOR UPDATE - FEBRUARY TO APRIL:

Well, it's been three months since my last update, so I guess it's about time for a new one, and boy is there a lot of material to cover:

February was crazy, with me getting a cold that lasted nearly two weeks. In addition, my washing machine went haywire and flooded my basement. As such, very little writing got done in February. In addition, I had to spend a week in Sacramento, California, for work. Here are the stats on story submissions for February:

• Four stories submitted
  
• Six stories rejected
  

March was a recovery month, as I tried to catch up on the various things I'd let slide during February. I had a hand surgery and I sprained my ankle, including an awkward step a week later that caused a re-strain. In addition, a number of work deadlines began to bombard me, so I got very little writing work done. The March stats are:

• Eight stories submitted
  
• Four stories rejected
  
• Notified that I had been selected as a candidate for the position of About.com Physics Guide
  

April, however, was something of a recovery period for me. I began work on the About.com Physics site and got accepted, which focused my attention on writing yet again. I also began to work heavily on "Poor Richard's Fire" and finished it in time to submit it to an alternate history themed magazine just under the deadline. April's stats are much more impressive:

• Training and acceptance as the About.com Physics Guide
  
• Extensive work on the About.com Physics Guidesite
  
• Five stories submitted
  
• Seven stories rejected
  
• Two previously-accepted stories released to find a new market, due to publication difficulties
  
• I received word that there would be no finalists in the Writers of the Future anthology for 2005, which means that my story "Salvage" will not be included and is free to be shopped around to new markets.
• Completed "Poor Richard's Fire," with a total of approximately 7,500 words. I was startlingly impressed by the quality of this piece, as I was really worried about getting the colonial language right, and I think I did a very fair job at it.
  

FEBRUARY GOALS:

I'm going to go for a bit more ambitious goals this month.

• Complete "final" draft of "Diminished Capacity" and submit it
• Complete "final" draft of "The Hero's Widow" and submit it
• Complete second draft of "Frozen in a Memory" and get to some health care, psychologist, and neurologist friends of mine for feedback on the science of it.
• Write first draft of "Poor Richard's Fire"
• Refresh memory on current status of my halted novel Soulless and write at least 5,000 more words on it.
  
• Write an article for EpicSFF.com
• Review 2 books for FantasyBookSpot.com

JANUARY ACHIEVEMENTS:

"NASAR One Billion" revised and submitted (3,000 words)
"The Hero's Widow" first draft written (7,500 words)
"Frozen in a Dream" first draft written (10,200 words)
FantasyBookSpot.com reviews of Tong Lashing and Finding Serenity
"A Time Before History" article at EpicSFF.com

Total January submissions: 7
Total January rejections: 2
(also Beyond the Mundane anthology cancelled, so not really a rejection)
Total January acceptances: 1
(Black Gate article, submitted in Dec. 05)
Total outstanding submissions: 14
(as of end of the month)

I've been extremely pleased with this month. I didn't get "Diminished Capacity" completely revised, but that's partly because I have a couple of colleagues reading it who haven't gotten their comments to me. Another change from my goals was that I worked on "Frozen in a Memory" instead of "Poor Richard's Fire" this month, though I exceeded goals in finishing it instead of merely beginning it. This is an auspicious start to 2006, and I look forward to seeing what the rest of the year will bring.

QUICK UPDATE:

Today saw the writing of 2,900 words (2,458 by Microsoft Word count) in "Frozen in a Memory" (previously referenced as "Frozen in a Dream," but titles are fickle things). Total so far is roughly 4,960 words (4,168 by Microsoft Word count) and the story has reached its turning point, where it begins careening downhill like a runaway train . . . hopefully in a good way. We'll see tomorrow.

I also completed the revisions on my 3,000 word story for the upcoming Houston, We Have Bubbas anthology. The Bubbas stories are always entertaining, and I had fun with this one. I was even more shocked because the basic theme of the story was related to the cover story in this month's Popular Science magazine! The story was completely done before I got the issue, so imagine my surprise. I suppose that means I'm timely or something. Anyway, this story will be heading out to the fine editors at Yard Dog Press on Monday.

Finally, I got around to writing two reviews for FantasyBookSpot.com. I reviewed Peter David's Tong Lashing, which was loads of fun, and also Finding Serenity, a collection of essays about the tragically defunct television show Firefly.

In between all of this, I watched two films that I picked up on DVD from the library. One was Tom Selleck's intriguing portrayal of Eisenhower in Ike: Countdown to D-Day. The other was Under a Tuscan Sun . . . which had Diane Lane, making it worth watching.

Last week, incidentally, I watched Inventing the Abbotts, a film which features Jennifer Connelly with upper body nudity. This was, I felt, the only thing remarkable about that film, and certainly my only cause to recommend it to anyone.

MLK WEEKEND - DAY 3:

The third day was a lot less productive than the two earlier days. Specifically, I got no writing done. I did, however, get some housework accomplished. Laundry is now clean. Yippee!

I also got halfway through Tong Lashing. Very amusing book. I'm looking forward to reviewing it for FantasyBookSpot.com.

MLK WEEKEND - DAY 2:

The weekend continues and I keep performing up to, and perhaps a bit beyond, my expectations.

• Finished reading Mammoth and wrote a review for FantasyBookSpot.com, only to discover that it had already been reviewed. Kind of disappointing, although the book itself was quite enjoyable. Silly me, I'll have to keep closer tabs next time. Unfortunately, when I realized the review had already been written, I closed the file without saving it. I could have tried to shop it around a bit. Alas, my absent-mindedness strikes again.
  
• Researched Alzheimer Disease and dementia for my next SF story, "Frozen in a Dream." This included reading two chapters of Oliver Sacks' An Anthropologist on Mars. Very well written book, full of intriguing case studies. Some of it was familiar, in concept, from my college course in Abnormal Psychology. The chapter "The Last Hippie" pertains to a man who cannot create new long term memories and constantly lives in the late sixties. "The Landscape of His Dreams" deals with an artist who is obsessed with the Italian village of his youth, and can only come to terms with the obsession through his artwork. Both have profoundly impacted the direction I'm going in "Frozen in a Dream."
  
• Began writing on "Frozen in a Dream." Wrote the first two scenes, which come out to a bit over 4 pages - 1,970 words (Microsoft Word count 1,698 words).
  
• I decided to delay work on "Poor Richard's Fire" while I do more research. I have the concept, but not an actual plot yet. I will begin it in February, as I hope to submit it in April. Sometimes I start without a clear idea of the end, but the plot somehow works itself out of the characters and the setting. Still, with a short story, it's vastly preferable to know exactly what your target is if you're going to retain the necessary brevity.
  
• Began reading Tong Lashing: Sir Apropos of Nothing Book 3 by Peter David. The first one was hilarious; the second one entertaining. Hopefully this one will provide an upward trend. It contains a territory called the Wata' Waste and the Ho Clan, with their leader, Skang Kei Ho. How can you go wrong with elements like that?

MLK WEEKEND- DAY 1:

In an effort to force myself to get work done this weekend, I'll be documenting my activities. Day one has proven to be relatively productive.

In addition to getting some laundry done, I've also done a fairly comprehensive update of my webpage. I'm going to try to do this from now on as soon as some new material, either an article, story, or review, becomes available. This is, of course, in addition to my attempts to keep the blog more frequently updated.

I finished the first draft of "Hero's Widow." It comes in at a whopping 8,700 words (Microsoft Word count of 7,575 words), which is significantly more than I was expecting. Of that, 4,050 words (Microsoft Word count of 3,525 words) were written today, from about 2:00 to 7:00 pm. It includes a very moving finale, I think, and one of the most vivid action sequences that I think I've ever written. Now it will sit in a folder for a few weeks, so I can revise it with a bit of distance. I'll probably get back to it in February, and hopefully will be able to reduce it a bit. If not, there is a market that's specifically looking for stories of roughly this length, although I'm not sure if it's "epic" enough for that anthology. It was conceived as sort of an "anti-epic fantasy," about the people who are not the great adventurers of the realm. But, honestly, I'm not sure how much I can take out of it.

The remainder of tonight (it's only 7:00 pm, after all) will be devoted to reading John Varley's Mammoth. If I have enough time, I'll also write the review of it tonight, post it to FantasyBookSpot.com, and update my website with a link. The review might be a bit ambitious, though, since I still have half the book to read, but it has been going at a good clip when I've actually gotten a chance to read it.

NEW YEAR HOUSEKEEPING FOR THE SOUL:

The past year has been mad crazy, but there are some intriguing, nice things about it, with respect to my writing prospects.

• Wrote 7 new stories in 2005.
• Submitted two stories to the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest. One was a finalist (only 5 chosen each quarter) and one was a quarter-finalist (top 10% in a quarter).
• Attended the Banff Centre for the Arts "Writing with Style" workshop, instructed by Robert J. Sawyer.
• "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel" in the International House of Bubbas anthology.
• "Abraham Lincoln's Children" in ChimeraWorld #2 or, as I like to call it, the anthology of unfortunate cover art. Available in both print-on-demand and e-book.
• "Fantastic Revisions: An Introduction to Fantastic Adventure History" in Internet Review of Science Fiction .
• Column on EpicSFF.com, one article of which was cited by the MSNBC science editor, Alan Boyle, in his blog following Hurricane Katrina.
• Approached by FantasyBookSpot.com to become an Associate Reviewer.
• Video game review in City Slab: Urban Tales of the Grotesque.

And what, you may ask, is upcoming in 2006? Well, much is unknown, but here's what I'm currently planning:

• My superhero story, "Sibling Enmity," has been accepted to Cyber-Age Adventures print magazine.
• My apocalyptic tale, "Even Odds," has been accepted to the Revelations anthology.
• Currently have good prospects on a gaming article with Black Gate magazine.
• Ongoing writing for EpicSFF.com and FantasyBookSpot.com
• Dedicate myself to writing 1,000 words a day toward something publishable (i.e. the blog doesn't count).

I will attempt to be more consistent in posting, and will in fact record statistics related to my writing on a monthly basis, along with projections of what I hope to do the upcoming month. That's the plan, at least.

January goals:

• Complete revisions of "NASAR One Billion" and submit to the Houston, We Have Bubbas anthology.
• Complete revisions of "Diminished Capacity" and submit to a market (probably Writers of the Future).
• Complete first draft of "The Hero's Widow"
• Begin first draft of "Poor Richard's Fire"
• Review 2 books for FantasyBookSpot.com
• Write an article for EpicSFF.com

SOME HOLIDAY SUGGESTIONS:

So it's getting close to Christmas, and you may still be looking for that perfect holiday gift! Well, look no further. There are three anthologies available which feature the fiction of the someday-award-winning author Andrew Zimmerman Jones. Possible to be of collectable values in some circles, some day, these anthologies feature the original published work of an upcoming author.

Seriously, though, the anthologies are relatively cheap and entertaining. You can order autographed copies directly from me, although I cannot guarantee at the moment that I have them in stock and can get them out in time for the holidays.

International House of Bubbas -
A plague has destroyed society, leaving only the rednecks and people mutated into horrible yuppie zombies. This third volume in the Bubbas anthology series turns the Bubbas into globetrotters as the ever expansive mythos spreads beyond the borders of the good ole' U.S. of A. AZJ chimes in with a tale of east meets west with the appropriate title "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel."
Available from Yard Dog Press .

Also, a quick reminder that my debut anthology, The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse: Flatulence, Halitosis, Incest, and ... Ned, is still available for purchase, either through Yard Dog Press or Amazon.com (see link at right). My story in this one is a tale of the evil that resides within us all, entitled "Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted."

Chimeraworld #2 -
This anthology of surreal fiction features "Abraham Lincoln's Children," the story that I read to a collection of poets and sci-fi/fantasy authors at the Banff Centre for the Arts Writing with Style workshop, to a surprisingly receptive ovation. For some reason, this dark-sf tale of insect obsession touched a cord with the assembled Canadian poets. It's a niche market, but it's one that I'm happy to aim toward, since I'm fond of both Canadians and poets.
Available in print-on-demand and ebook formats from Lulu.com

UPDATE ON LIFE:

Things are going fairly well, all things considered. I have the following sales pending publication:

"Abraham Lincoln's Children" - Chimera World #2 (anthology)
"Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel" - International House of Bubbas (anthology)
"Sibling Enmity" - Cyber-Age Adventures (magazine)
"Even Odds" - Revelations (anthology)
"Fantastic Revisions: An Introduction to Fantastic Adventure History" - Internet Review of Science Fiction (e-zine, non-fiction)

In addition, my story "Salvage" qualified as a Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, the most prestigious amateur-level contest for genre fiction. (Yes, I still easily qualify for amateur-level by pretty much any measure.) There is still a possibility that it will be published in the annual anthology, if the winning stories run short and they need filler, basically.

I will be attending GenCon Indianapolis from August 18-21 (though on Thursday & Friday I will be there only in the evenings).

In September, I will be attending the Banff Centre for the Arts' Writing with Style workshop, with Hugo & Nebula award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer. There I will be workshopping a short story, and also resuming work on my stalled novel Soulless. I also hope to get a couple of stories finished over this same time period for anthologies that have submission periods ending in October.

Things are obviously busy. Such is life. I will attempt to post again next week with some more news.

MORE AZJ ZOMBIES:

In a reprise of my first sale ("Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted" in The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse anthology), I've had a story accepted to Yard Dog Press's third "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" anthology, International House of Bubbas. The story is entitled "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel." The next steps are to sign the contract and do some suggested revisions. It's so nice to work with a publishing house that actually provides clear contracts and an editor who actually provides editorial direction. The deadline for all of this is mid-May, but I like to get such things taken care of well ahead of time. The turnaround on the FBotA was relatively quick, so hopefully these will also show up soon.

Ironically, considering that the anthology is about zombies, I just got an interesting link today. Below are my results from the intriguing Zombie Survival Test, thanks to the help of the lovely and talented horror author Angeline Hawkes-Craig, who posted it on the Horror Writers Association bulletin board. (This is posted code from my test results -- that guy in the picture isn't me. I have no idea who he is. )

---

Official Survivor
Congratulations! You scored 81%!

Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.

The test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

(AZJ Note: This seems like 2 variables to me, but I didn't write the damn thing. )

You scored higher than 86% on survivalpoints

Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid

THE RETURN OF QUANTUM LEAP:

While this is probably not news to anyone who cares but me, I've just discovered that the science fiction time travel television show, Quantum Leap, will be coming to the Sci-Fi Channel. According to a posting at Dark Horizons, it will return in the form of a 2-hour telefilm. In it, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) attempts to re-establish contact with Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), who lost contact with the Quantum Leap program in the series finale of the original series. They re-establish contact briefly, but then lose touch. Sam's daughter, Sammy Jo, then leaps after him, presumably to become lost in time herself and set right what once went wrong. If the film is successful, the plan is to then have a full series following the leaping of Sammy Jo.

Apparently, Scott Bakula was going to have a role in the 2-hour movie, but the plan is for the series to focus on Sammy Jo. (Sammy Jo, incidentally, was established in the original series. In a multi-part storyline, Sam established a strong connection with a woman throughout her life and fathered a child with her, though she didn't realize it was him, of course. Al reveals, at the end, that Sammy Jo works for Project Quantum Leap.)

With the recent announcement that Star Trek: Enterprise is being cancelled at the end of this season, the question becomes whether or not Bakula will perhaps become a more dominant part of the upcoming series than previously planned. The Quantum Leap Revival Initiative website indicates that, as of January 23, the movie was still in pre-production. If that's the case, perhaps there's a chance for changes to the plot of the movie, or the subsequent series, to include Bakula in a more prominent role. Only time, it seems, will tell.

AN EXPERIMENT BEGINS:

Well, as anyone who frequents this website can tell, I've begun implementing some blog advertisements. This is partly a step of self-motivation -- I intend to make this website more appealing to write for by making it into a profit-making venture.

The current string of ads are available through Google Adsense, a website which I discovered while reading an article in Discover magazine. The idea to exploit the phenomenon of ads spread slowly through me, and I decided to give it a try.

This metamorphosis was helped along by reading Thomas W. Malone's fascinating book, The Future of Work, which I have reviewed at both Amazon.com and Epinions.com. The book discusses the trend in today's business culture toward a decentralized system, wherein the employee sets more of the rules. I've always felt like this market-like system of the internet was one of its more appealing aspects. If you need a service, you can find someone willing to offer it.

My skills have always tended toward ideas, toward the intellectual analysis and classification of the world. In short, I sit around and think... and occasionally people tell me that the way that I think it worthwhile. So, I'm trying to make some profit from it, just as someone with the skill of throwing a baseball will attempt to make profit from it -- either from the Big Leagues or just from coaching at a local high school.

I will be intrigued to watch how the ads change over time, as I begin talking about more and more different topics. For example, what will this posting -- about decentralized business and advertisements -- do to the ads placed on this site, as they analyze the content of the posting and determine appropriate ads to place there?

MY FIRST CONVENTION PANEL:

The good news is that it's over. I finally participated on the panel of a science fiction convention. ConFusion 31 in Troy, MI. The panel I was on was the Books: Why Bother? panel. I had offered to participate on a panel back in early December, but made it clear that I'd had only small press publications. I was under the impression that the panel would discuss various aspects of the small press industry.

Basically, the panel diverged laterally into a discussion of print versus e-books. The panel was fun, and it was a pleasure to meet my co-panelists, only one of whom I had met previously (and I doubt he remembered me). I felt that I held my own, although it was clear to me that I had less to contribute than others on the panel. As I said by way of introducing myself to the crowd, I was very much the novice of the group... and I felt it. Still, I was able to offer my own insights and comments to the discussion, as a techno-geek who yet resists the e-book revolution.

Mind you, I don't inherently have a problem with e-books in principle. In fact, in principle, I love them. I can carry around an entire library in my pocket with e-books! I should fall in love with something like that.

But, for whatever reason, it just doesn't do much for me. I've read some novels in e-book format, most notably Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. (For those who don't know, this is a legend in the e-book community. Cory somehow convinced Tor Books to let him co-release his first novel online as a free e-book. From what I've heard, it was a great success. He's since released many of his short stories and his second novel in a similar fashion and, apparently, is doing well with it. You can find out more about Cory's work at his website, Craphound.com)

The one thing that I wish had been explored more, and it was briefly touched on, was the ability of electronic media to expand on the conventional notion of a "book" and make it somehow more profound. One of the best exploiters of the internet to expand on the book, in my opinion, is Robert J. Sawyer's site. On it, he includes related information from his vast cache of internet information to expand on the ideas from his novels. Thus, the pages for his upcoming novel on uploaded consciousness cross-links to the transcript of debate he had over the possibility of whether or not uploaded consciousness could actually happen. Similarly, he occasionally has links to book reviews, interviews, or essays that are related to the work being discussed. I would like to see him go further, and link to more resources outside of his website... ultimately, this is what I would like to do with the Philosopher's Stone site. I'd like to turn it into a clearinghouse of links for ideas and theories that I'm interested in, preferably all cross-related through my own writings, both fiction and non-fiction.

Jordan came to the convention with me. It was her first, and though there were moments that she enjoyed tremendously, I think that she was overall frightened by the geek quotient. It is always distressing, although I like to joke that part of the reason I go there is so that I can feel cool. The truth is, of course, that I like to be among my own people... though I do think I have a bit more social savvy than many in fandom, though I think that's a relatively low bar to aim for.

My writing is going poorly. The weather in Indiana has caused a lot of commotion. I'm just on the verge of getting the house cleaned up following the several days of snow-induced depression over the last couple of weeks. There are still felled treelimbs from the freezing rain of 1/5/05 that I will probably have to spend this weekend clearing out, with the help of a neighbor's chainsaw.

Still, I was able to start today on a new project, a high fantasy story that I will hopefully complete in time to submit to an upcoming anthology of assassin-themed stories. Also, I am compiling a list of books for research on a new series of alternate history stories that take place during the Crusades.

Well, that's all I can think of for the moment. I do have some plans, as always, for upcoming modifications to the website. One of these is to start three new blogs: one for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror book reviews, one for Science commentary & announcements, and one for Political/World events commentary & announcements. This one will remain for random chatter, of course. Whether or not this plan actually gets implemented remains to be seen, but I think it would motivate me to find more to talk about if I had several blogs with well-defined purposes like that.

Probably, such an attempt at revision would be accompanied by a wholehearted attempt to fundamentally redesign the website.

Does such ambition exist? We shall see!

CHILDREN'S STORY AVAILABLE:

My first published children's story, "The Secret of King Kong Mountain," is now available in the December 2004 issue of KidVisions webzine. This story is based on a hill in Vincennes, Indiana, in Hillcrest Park near where I grew up... a hill called King Kong Mountain. It was fun, as a child, to ride bicycles down this treacherous slope.

The rest of the story is purely fictional.

In other interesting news, I got an intriguing e-mail yesterday from the editor of an upcoming anthology. I had submitted a story to this anthology some months ago. The editor requested a revision for me to go on to the last round of picks. I made the requested changes and sent it back into him. Then, on October 25, he publicly announced the table of contents for the anthology -- and I wasn't on it. While I never received either an official acceptance or rejection, I took this as a pretty definite sign that I wouldn't be appearing in the anthology. I proceeded to submit the story to another market, this one that actually pays for the stories.

Yesterday, this editor sends me an e-mail saying that he needs me to let him know what I want the artist to do for the artwork associated with my story. I inform him of my confusion, since I wasn't on the table of contents and tell him that I'd like to pull the story, as it's been submitted elsewhere. He responds with apologies, saying he's sorry he can't use the story, and wishing me well -- but no actual explanation of what went awry with the table of contents and my absence from it.

Very strange stuff, and it only reinforces my determination to try and work exclusively with paying markets in the future. The royalties-only, print-on-demand, market is littered with people who, despite the best of intentions, just aren't able to handle the logistics of editing an anthology in a professional way. Working in the publishing industry now, I see how much goes into it and you really have to make it a priority if you're going to turn out a quality product.

ANOTHER STORY PUBLISHED:

My birthday week just keeps getting better, as I discover today that I am in the Table of Contents for ChimeraWorld 2. This is a dark fiction anthology edited by Mike Philbin (previously known under the nom de plum Herzan Chimera, thus the anthology title) and published through Cyber-Pulp Books. I don't yet know the precise release date of the anthology and, in truth, I didn't even get final confirmation from the editor about my acceptance, but only found out because the contents happened to get posted to a mailing list that I'm on. My story was chosen out of a list of nearly 100 submissions, and this is the first time I've had a statistic like that to know where I fell.

The story that made it into CW2 was "Abraham Lincoln's Children," a story that was originally written for an anthology that was dual themed - vampires and cockroaches. I wrote this story, which I refer to as "dark science fiction," to play on the two themes of the anthology in a hopefully unconventional way. It was rejected, and I was honestly doubtful that such a peculiar tale would find a home anywhere else. It seems that my concern was unfounded, as it marks my third appearance in a paid print medium.

More details about the publication will be posted when the anthology is actual released for distribution. It will be made available in both ebook and trade paperback (print on demand) versions, to suite a wide range of readers.

HALLOWEEN COMES EARLY:


Well, it does this year for me, at least -- with a touch of Christmas thrown in. When you consider that this Thursday is my birthday, it's almost as if a guiding hand were at work. A friend told me that the chaos of this summer was just a prelude to a groundswell of good things, and I'm beginning to believe him.

My second "official" story, "Ascension," is being released in Cyber-Pulp's Halloween Anthology 3.0. This is an annual charity anthology produced by Bob Gunner at Cyber-Pulp Books.

Unfortunately, the anthology doesn't pay anything, but the proceeds go to The Read Foundation of New York City, which I have personally never heard of before but which appears to be an incredibly worthwhile organization. It helps underprivileged children read, which is something I am wholly in favor of.

In other good news, I have found that an article I wrote reviewing the online game City of Heroes will be published in issue #6 of City Slab magazine. My hope is that this will become a regular gaming column in the magazine, which would be a wonderful notch on my writing belt.

Work still goes well, with the possibility on the horizon of full employment with CTB/McGraw-Hill, along with the benefits associated (i.e. 401(k), health/dental plans, discounts, etc.). I'm keeping my fingers crossed about that.

There are currently three anthologies being edited that have stories of mine in the final round of selections. I'm also keeping my fingers crossed about them. I should hear the final word in the next few weeks -- one of them is already well past the deadline, but the editor has had a number of personal health issues.

I would be remiss if I were not to mention the passing of Christopher Reeve yesterday. I will confess that I was never the biggest Christopher Reeve fan. I was generally unimpressed with him as Superman, though I did always enjoy Somewhere in Time. When he had his accident, though, I became a fan. I doubt it would be possible for someone to take a tragedy like that and deal with it any better than he did.

I do wonder if this will have any bearing on the upcoming election. It is possible that the death of Christopher Reeves will push stem cell research even further into the forefront of the national debate, just in time for it to become an even-more-major campaign issue than it was going to be previously. It would be intriguing if his death tilted a close election in the direction of John Kerry, who has clearly stated that increased stem cell research would be a goal of his. Thus, in death, he would have somehow helped to reach the political and social change that he spent the last decade of his life lobbying for.

To those close to him, I'm sure that such possibilities would be cold comfort, but I can't help thinking that it would give his death a meaning that most of us will never have, just as his life did.

I do hope that they take some time to put together a memorial vignette or something to run after Smallville this week. Perhaps some sort of announcement of a research foundation his family would like donations sent to... it seems appropriate.

NEW WRITING EXPERIENCE:

What, you may ask, is this new experience? Well, I can honestly say it's one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.

Yesterday, I arrived home from work and checked the mail, as I'm prone to do. What should I find there but an envelope from Yard Dog Press ... the publishers of The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse, my debut anthology. In the envelope was a check for my royalties from the first half of the year.

I honestly wasn't sure if I'd ever see such a check. I had received an advance from them and, though it was small, I wasn't sure what sort of sales figures a small press anthology like FBotA would end up with. Still don't, actually. I'd have expected the pay stub to include some sort of information about total sales over that period times my percentage of the royalties minus the amount of my advance that was still waiting to be paid out, or something similar. I'd be interested to know if the book sold 100 or 250 copies to date. To be honest, I'm not even sure what the original print run was.

I hear horror stories (the real kind) about authors never getting paid from unscrupulous "publishers." Just the other day there was a posting on the HWA board about an anthology from a couple of years back that none of the authors ever got free copies of.

I got paid an advance, received a contributor's copy, got a discount on copies for resell, and continue to get royalties. I judge that this means not only have I been published in an anthology, but in a successful anthology.

Again, copies of the anthology can be obtained at AZJ's Four Bubbas page, signed by yours truly. Do not miss out on this monumental, phenomenal, and truly world-changing event. Granted, the world that is changed is a fictional one, but it's entertaining nonetheless.

WORK GOES WELL & OTHER MATTERS OF STATE:

As discussed earlier, I am currently working at a new job. I enjoy it immensely. Little other news on that front.

Last night I purchased STAR WARS: BATTLEFRONT at the urging of my senior-year roommate, Xavier "Bad Luck" Rodriguez. He was a QualityAssurance Game Tester on it. An intriguing game. I'll probably be posting an Epinions review on it this evening, which I will link through the website. My instinct is to say that it's an okay game individually, but that I bet with a large number of players through Xbox Live or some other multi-player venue it is a lot more enjoyable, as the actions of the players have more sway on the overall outcome of the battle. As it stands, I don't feel like I necessarily have that much control over what ultimately happens.

The saga of trying to join two lives together in matrimonial bliss continues. The pressures of work and relationship weigh heavy. If anyone out there has a pipeline to the almighty, prayers would be appreciated at all times.

One of the anthologies that I'm waiting to hear back on a submission to is past its stated response deadline. This is the third extension they've posted about pushing the response deadline back and they're late on it. At this rate the apocalypse will arrive before this apocalyptic anthology (no, not another Bubbas one) arrives.

Just keeping everyone in the loop.

THE GOOD NEWS:

It has only been just over two months since my last post, which means that I could, conceivably, possibly, actually keep some semblance of presence on this journal while doing all other things in my life. Dare I dream? We shall see.

Even further good news is that the renovations from the water damage is done on our house. We have beautifully painted rooms with some nice new additions of upgraded lighting fixtures and such. There is still some work being done on the dining room table which was carelessly damaged by one of the workmen, but once that is completed the entire fiasco will be behind us.

My job situation has also reached a high note. I am currently employed with CTB/McGraw-Hill as a Mathematics Content Editor. This means that I edit the mathematics standardized tests in such a way to match with the state standards that are being tested on. If the tests suck, it's not my fault -- talk to your representatives at the state level.

This is a fine job. Currently, I'm technically a temporary employ through Kelly Services. A position has opened for a full-time employee of CTB/McGraw-Hill in this position, however, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm chosen for that.

Even more good news (yes, I am aware that this quantity of good news is abnormal, and I am duly disturbed by it) is that I have two stories which have been essentially accepted for publication. I'm waiting on some replies and details before I announce the full specifics of the publications. I've also got two stories which have made it to the final round of story selection in their respective anthologies. One came back for corrections, which I made and submitted, making me one of 16 finalists. The other, last I heard, was down to 20 stories the editor was deciding between. I will post more when I get more details.

On the matter of my impending marriage to Jennifer Jordan Sipes, things are going well. I promise that a picture of her will someday appear on my website to prove that she is not imaginary, although that requires me getting around to a scanner sometime which I've been woefully lax on.

We've set a date. The details will be posted in the weeks to come. We are currently constructing a website for the wedding, although only those who are invited will have significant access to it. Some pictures and information may get posted more generally, since the size of the guest list is being heavily influenced by the venue decisions and we will sadly have to cut significantly. I do apologize that we do not have the means to invite everyone whom we know and care for.

There it is -- the general state of things with me. Hopefully more good news will keep coming. Until then, remember that The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse, featuring my first profitably published story, "Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted," is still on sale, with free shipping, directly from me!!!

LIFE HAPPENS, AND THIS TIME IT'S GOOD...

As per usual on this thing, I seem to be falling tragically behind on keeping up with my journals... It seems like a lifetime ago that I made my last post, and it's certainly not because I haven't had things to share. Rather, it is more appropriate to say that I've had so much to share that I've wanted to really wait until I had time to sit down and think about it before making a posting... and then more things happen... then more things...

Well, you get the idea.

I will be endeavoring to keep things more up to date, if only so I can keep track of them myself, since it would be the height of arrogance to think there's actually an audience out there avidly waiting to hear of the next stage in my adventure of life.

(If there is, please e-mail me at azj@azjones.info and let me know you exist... I will do my best to keep this more entertaining for you.)

Anyway, I'll post the abbreviated version of things now and speak in greater detail at some later point, hopefully in the upcoming days.

1. I've fallen in love with a wonderful woman, whom I've known for many years. Since high school, in fact. Her name is Jennifer Jordan Sipes.

2. I've gotten engaged to Jordan.

3. We bought a house in Anderson, IN.

4. I got fired, because they found out I was probably leaving in the fall anyway.

5. Four days after closing on the house, there was a massive water leak upstairs that flooded the house. Fortunately, there was little furniture moved in and virtually no personal property was damaged. We do, however, have about $15,000 in work being done by the insurance company, including a new vanity in the master bedroom, new ceilings and painting in most of the house, new floors in the downstairs bathroom and kitchen, and some new lighting and ceiling fans.

So I sit now in my office, which will be much more colorful in a few days, but which now is in a state of quasi-construction with exposed drywall for a ceiling ... the painter comes in on Thursday.

Thus is my life. It is grand. Despite all of the chaos, the euphoria of #1 & 2 above are enough to make it so that I am happy more often than sad which, those who know me can attest, is a rare enough thing.

Until next time...

NOVEL PROGRESS:

My extremely ambitious goal was to reach 25,000 words on Soulless this weekend. Didn't quite make it. I'm at a little above 20,000.

Today I went to see the new romantic comedy How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughy. I've got to give kudos to this film. It was incredibly entertaining. The problem with this type of film is that the relationship is almost never believable. Through an elaborate scenario, they justify why these two end up with each other, and the pair have enough chemistry and personal quirks to make a charming couple. Also, I laughed my ass off.

DARE WE HOPE:

Well, I'm being relatively successful at keeping up on this blog so far.

The week has been a lot of work at the day job. I've had to give finals to my four classes and grade them, as well as begin on various end of term paperwork. Hectic time.

In addition, I've just found out that I'm being transferred to Prince George County, Maryland. All of the timeline and logistical information still has to be sorted out, but we're starting an office there, on a temporary basis at first, to train local teachers in our methodology. This would be an intriguing prospect if it turned into something longer-term. We'll have to see how that goes. I'll keep the world updated.

Unfortunately, I'm not quite as successful at keeping up on the writing of Soulless in the wake of all this work, but it is progressing. I'm now on Chapter Eleven, having gotten around 18,000 words or so done. My hope is to be at 25,000 by the end of the weekend, although I expect that is a bit too ambitious.

Already, I see some things that I'll want to change in the second draft. I'm having to try hard not to tinker as I go. I like to brute force my first draft of a story, then let it sit for a while before digging into it with serious revisions. This also gives the opportunity for me to do a lot more research into related areas.

Speaking of research, I just read John Horgan's fascinating book The Undiscovered Mind which outlines the various shortcomings of current psychology, psychiatry, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, evolutionary psychology, behavioral genetics ... in short, the various failures of every field of science attempting to understand the human mind. He's very realistic in his treatment of these matters, pointing out that a lot of the hype they get in the media and science writing circles isn't exactly warranted by the findings that they actually obtain. Fascinating book that I must recommend.

Not much to say right now, and I'm aiming to write about 7,000 words in the next 30 or so hours, so I should probably get typing.

Until next time...

In an effort to keep things on this site up to date, I'll be blogging more frequently nowadays.

Started the actual writing on Soulless yesterday morning. I've now got about 10,000 words (6 chapters) done on it. If I can keep this momentum, then I figure I'll be done roughly the end of March. I'm fairly impressed with how it's unfolding. A few of the narrative things I was concerned about, but I think they'll work. Some things I've had to leave out because they don't flow that well yet. Right now my plan is just purely getting the story down on paper. I'm sure there will be heavy revision.

What's happening thus far: A mysterious series of murders, a controversial legislation about to go up for a vote, and an author digging into a scientist's past. In addition, we have some family tensions. Two more subplots have been hinted at and will be developed more strongly in the next chapter. The fictional science has been outlined in theory and practice, but without a lot of tying the two aspects together ... i.e. I've been able to avoid the mechanics of how the science is working.

One reference source that had a surprisingly strong influence on the storyline is David Brin's The Transparent Society. Privacy is now a major theme in the book, and the accessibility of information is having significant impacts on how I handle the entire murder investigation.