The Write Journey

A New Year, A New Blog, A New Beginning

I originally began blogging about five years ago. At the time I did it as a lark just to see what all the hype was about. From there, as I began to enjoy it, I used it as a place to share news about my writing career, to express my thoughts on various issues, personal and social, that were on my mind, and to talk about anything else that came to mind. But as my life got busier, I strayed away from the blog, and the updates grew fewer and farther between.

Then one day my webshost moved my site to a new server, breaking my old blog and sending it on a mind tripping journey back to the old days of 2004. For months I've been contemplating fixing the blog, but as usual, I've been busy. My writing has also suffered somewhat in recent months, and as 2007 rapidly approached, the itch to write more turned into a private resolution and a feral calling that I knew I had to answer.

Also during that time I wrote my lastedt book, A Writer's Journey in Poetry & Prose, a book that explores my life in general, but mostly focused on my life journey over the last ten years as a writer, and how my writing influenced my personal growth as a human being. I found the book far easier to write than I ever expected, and as the itch to blog again increased, I decided to start over with a new blog with a new name and a new purpose.

And so here we are, The Write Journey is born! While I'll still use it to talk about whatever's on my mind, the main focus will be to be a journal of the writing life, the ups and downs, the frustrations and rewards, that all come with this difficult gig. I am going to try to be fairly consistent in updating this blog, and I hope to not only share my own personal experiences, but to drop some knowledge on you as well that will help both writers and self publishers, and explore all the things that you need to know about them.

I hope to hear from you, my audience (*ignoring the sound of crickets and paint drying*), because the more feedback you give me, the more encouraged I'll be about keeping this blog up to date.

We're going on a new journey, folks, and it should be one hell of a ride!

- GBB

Where oh where has my WheelMan been?

I know y'all thought I'd fallen off the face of the earth, or had been kidnapped by aliens, or gone on a tech sabbatical or something, right? Well, turns out that I'm still here!

So, where have I been? First, I've been working as a service provider for my own books' publisher, Lulu.com. As many of you know, I've always loved doing layout and graphic design, which I, did for my own books and thoroughly enjoyed. So now I get to do rhis kind of work for others, and it's been such an enjoyable and rewarding experience! I've met a lot of cool and interesting people, and made a lot of new friends. It's also kept me VERY busy the last three+ months. But best of all, I've recently had a lot of my own dreams come true, so now I feel like I'm giving back by helping other aspiring authors make rheir dreams come true.

In other news, I've continued to write for Audacity Magazine, kept promoting Phoenix Tales, whose sales have been modest, but steady, and been interviewed “Cover to Cover” radio show hosts Mike and Evo, which is still available via podcast at: Dragonpage.com. In addition, I've just had three stories of mine, one a new, original story, published in the the inaugual issue of the Speculative Fiction Centre 2005 Anthology "Horizons, and I'm starting work on some new projects as well.

Wow! That sounds like even more stuff than I thought. :) Anyway, that's my atory and I'm sticking to it. I hope to not be such a stranger from now on, because I've got lots more stuff to share. Will be writing again soon.

As Winnie the Pooh's friend would say, TTFN (Ta Ta For Now)! :)

- The WheelMan

Two more days to the launch of Phoenix Tales!

I've been working hard to get everything ready for the official launch of my new book, "Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death & Life," and I'm getting very anxious/excited/nervous about it. I think the book will do very well, but of course when you self-publish, you're automatically fighting an uphill battle. Also, I've gone over the book again, again, and again, and I keep feeling paranoid that I've somehow overlooked some error that's going to stand out like a huge zit on a bare forehead. Or maybe the book really sucks despite what Mr. Anthony (see previous post) says.

But then I take a deep breath (or three), and reassure myself that I am a capable writer, that I've polished the book as much as I possibly can without scraping off the cover, and that in the end everything will be all right.

I recently tallied the number of copies of "Crossroads and Other Tales" I've sold so far, and it comes to a grand total of 41. Not a very impressive number, but considering that it was really published as a first step in testing the self-publishing waters, that I've learned a lot about the publishing/promotional process since then, and especially knowing that the average POD (Print-On-Demand) book sells around 70 copies, I'm very happy. Plus, it's still on the market of course, and hopefully more sales will come in the future. But this new book I believe is so much better, and my hopes for it are VERY high. I guess only time will tell.

I'm going to post the book's description below:

"My Left Foot", the remake

Ever see that movie "My Left Foot"? Well, me either, but yesterday I decided to star in a remake of the film when I stupidly ran over a sofa and injured my left foot. I got it caught as I was pulling my wheelchair up beside the sofa and twisted my foot upward, somehow injuring the ball joint or whatever it's called on the side of my foot. No swelling, and it's much less achy today than it was yesterday, but it's stiff and sore all around my foot. It's nothing worse than I've had in the past, but it's also not something I'm used to anymore. That's both good and bad. Great that I get few fractures anymore. But bad because when I get fractures now, it seems much tougher to deal with.

Of course I'll take a fracture here or there over one every week any day. I guess the old saying applies to Osteogenesis as well, and I apparently I needed a reminder.

"The more things change, the more they stay the same."

- The WheelMan

Where the heck have I been?

I'm sure many of you have been wondering just that. Well, I'm still around. I've just been busy working to finish my next book, "Phoenix Tales: Tales of Death & Life." It's getting closer to completion, and I'll be telling you more about over the coming weeks, but I'll give you a sneak peak at the front cover below.

I think this collection will be much better than my first one. I'm anxious to get it out there for y'all to check out!

More soon.

Oh, and Happy New Year everyone!

- The WheelMan

New Edition to the Family

Here's a picture of my new baby (Dell Dimension 8400):

• 2 Gig DDR2 SDRAM at 400MHz
• 3.0GHz Intel Pentium 4 530 HT procesor
• 160 Gig serial ATA hard drive
• Sony 48x CD-RW, • NEC 16X DVD+RW
• 128MB PCI Express x16 ATI Radeon X300 SE
• Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card
• 19" Dell UltraSharp 1905FP Flat Panel
• Dell Enhanced Multimedia Keyboard
• Dell 5650 5.1 Speaker Set

Isn't she precious? ;)

- The WheelMan

About Birth and Death

Last Thursday I celebrated my 39th birthday. On the following Sunday, my parents and I were summoned to a hospital in an adjoining county to stand at the bedside of my estranged aunt, basically just to wait for the doctor to come up to officially pronounce her dead.

It was weird to stand there beside her, see her lying there appearing to be asleep and listen to the mechanical-rhythm of her respirator-driven breathing, her flesh cold, knowing that she was already gone on to whatever awaits the soul once it leaves it's physical body. She led a hard and troubled life, and yet died far too young at only sixty years old of a bad heart. It was so surreal just to stand there with other family members and chit chat while we just watched her. She was once my favorite aunt until due to her own life choices she became estranged to us. I don't feel the deeper sadness that I probably should feel because of both the long estrangement, and also, in my personal beliefs anyway, I feel like that now she's finaly at peace.

So many thoughts have been going through my mind this week. How could someone so beautiful and talented just throw it all away on a life of addiction and poverty? Why is it that often those who are most closely related to us in blood are the ones we can least count on or get along with? How did we human beings grow to take life for granted to the point that often we only realize how much someome's meant to us after they are gone? And why is it that the cost and process of laying our loved ones to rest as procedurally convoluted and materialistically jaded as most every other aspect of life seems to be these days?

That's two aunt's I've lost this year (my Dad's oldest and youngest sisters). My first aunt's death brought me back in contact with family members I hadn't seen since I was a child, and it seems that there are always some reunions. As I said to a cousin after my other aunt died, it's bad that it takes moments like this to bring us all together. People always agree and then say that things will change. But then they never do.

Three things scare me sometimes about life and human nature. First, it's worrisome how easily we get so caught up in "Self" that we completely eschew the beauty and responsibility of sharing the world with others. Second, if we're so unappreciative of Life now, where will be in twenty years from now? And lastly, I find the very thought of what a massive and humbling event it will take to get humanity as a whole to come to their senses truly terrifying.

I'm not a pessimist by any means, nor do I aspire to ever be one. But I am a realist, and unfortunately, sometimes reality isn't very pretty. I have to wonder if more of us were willing to face that fact head on, perhaps we could make the world a better place.

I just hope and pray that my two aunts are now in a form of this paradise, wherever they may be....

- The WheelMan

A Semi-"Dark" Tip?

For anyone who wants to purchase software that's just way to expensive for you (as I've chronicled in my last two posts), here is a tip that might help you as it did me.

Many software packages have what's called an "Academic" version, which is a version purchased for either for a member of an educational institution, or by students of qualified academic institutions. The Academic versions are available at major discounts (often at as much as a 70% discount off the reatail price!). In my case, I purchased the Adobe Creative Suite Premium 1.1, which retails for $1,229, for only $359 from CCV Software. In my case, my sister happens to be taking more courses at a local college, so I purchased the software in her name. You do have to provide a school ID, but other than that, there wasn't any undue hassle involved. Licenses and academic requirements vary, so you should study those carefully before pursuing this route. Once you've purchased the software, you're free to register it under your own name and then do what you want with it (see note below). There are a few things I need to point out, however.

One, the only difference between the Academic version and the retail version is the licensing. You're not supposed to use the retail version to make money, and I don't think this would be an issue for most of us. I do NOT recommend you do this if you're buying the software specifically to run a full-fledged graphic studio (or whatever business applies in your particular software's case).

Two, there are places on the Internet (including vendors who sell through Amazon) that sell many expensive software packages for even less than the Academic pricing. I studied this option carefully, and I finally determined that almost always it involves pirated software, or otherwise "used" copies which you may not be able to register with the manufacturer. Also, there are websites claiming to sell OEM versions of software (as in copies usually bundled with computers which aren't intended for sale as stand alone products). Since Adobe Creative Suite doesn't have an OEM version, this means that any adverised deals as such are either outright frauds or pirated versions of the software. I don't advise going this route either, but of course that's ultimately up to you. But doing so could result in a ripoff, put your credit card at risk, as well as potentially winding you up in jail.

Finally, I've gone over Adobe's site thoroughly, and although Academic pricing is only available to qualified students (K12 and above), and is indeed intended for educational purposes only, I think it's fair to say that they aren't overly concerned with the average user or what he or she may do with their software. Oh, and DO NOT take anything I've said as a free license to rip off Adobe or any other company, or to falsify info in order to obtain expensive software. I only advise purchasing through a truly valid user ID, with the full cooperation and consent of the person whose ID you use (if you aren't a student yourself, of course). As I said in my earlier posts, I just don't feel that an average user who simply wishes to acquire the software for his own personal use should be prevented from pursuing their dreams due to exhorbitant pricing meant for true, commercial users.

As soon as I get my new computer system (no dark tips on pricing there I'm afraid), I'll be well on my way to making some of my own dreams come true. Hopefully this tip can help someone else also.

- The WheelMan

"For the Love of Learning..."

Yes, I know the old O'Jays song actually says "For the Love of Money," but as I was thinking of a title for this post, that song came to mind. I LOVE learning, and I think I sometimes forget that until I watch a history or science program on TV, learn a new programming trick for the web, a new artistic technique in Photoshop, or read a book on any of the above topics or others.

I started reading Physicist Brian Greene's "The Fabric of the Cosmos" this week, and it's really excited me in a way I haven't experienced in a while. I won't do a review yet until I finish it, but suffice it to say, I'm slowly absording the concepts about the true nature and relationship of space and time, and I can almost "feel" my view of the universe expanding. I've already come up with ideas for a couple of stories, and I'm only about three chapters into the book. Actually grasping onto what the universe is believed to be comprised of and picturing it in my mind, is challenging to say the least (neither a physicist nor scientist am I), but it also opens up room for some possibilities that rival any wondrous adventure Captain Kirk and crew have ever been on. The sad thing is that there's so much for we humans to learn, and so little time (relatively speaking) for us to learn it.

Regardless of whether you are of a spiritual bent or not, I think we all have one basic nagging question churning in our gut: "Why are we here?" It's amazing to learn about the process of looking for that answer and hundreds more. The sad thing is that I, nor any of you, will probably live long enough to actually see the ffinal answers.

But then maybe God'll have the Cliff Notes version of "All The Universe's Secrets" waiting for ua on the other side. :)

- The WheelMan

Plunging full circle

A few years ago I was an avid user of the Netscape browser, finding it much more reliable than the older versions of Microsoft's Internet Explorer at the time. Over time IE improved and Netscape faded, but I didn't want to go through the hassle of moving my old bookmarks to IE, where I thought they would be harder to organize and manage.

Then one day Leo Laporte demonstrated how you could easily manage IE bookmarks by going right into the folder and moving them around like regular files, and I switched immediately. I clung to my Netscape 4.7 for a while as well, but as it became outdated (and as Netscape 6.0 stunk), I became a full time IE user.

Fast forward to the present. Netscape is still apparently a mess, but now so is Internet Explorer. I haven't been overly concerned with IE's security flaws, really, because I have my system pretty tightly secured. And yet, because of the utter wreck Microsoft has made of IE, even going to a trusted site isn't all that sure a thing, as it may be an Microsoft server, which itself has been secretly compromised.

So today, after having only briefly played around with Netscape's successor, Mozilla Firefox, and after discovering how easy it was to go in and manage all my bookmarks in the browser, I finally took the plunge and threw myself into it head first into this new and fast browser that is touted so highly on G4TechTV's The Screen Savers and the presently defunct Leo Laporte hosted help show, Call For Help.

In just the few hours I've been using Firefox, I'm already liking the tabbed browsing capability that makes handling multiple browser windows so much easier. Also, just the overall look and feel is clean and quick and smooth, and I've arranged my bookmarks in an even tidier fashion than I've ever had them on IE. Cool!

Some are saying to completely remove IE from your systems, but I think that's bull. You do need it in order to update Windows (which you MUST do regularly), and besides, if you're that IE phobic, then you should probably be using another operating system anyway, like Linux, or just change over to the Mac computer platform completely. In any event, I've now come full circle back to my browsing roots, and regardless of security or other concerns, I'm finding using a new browser to be a total blast.

That's why I LOVE being a geek! :)

- The WheelMan