This is my sketch for the starship in 82 Eridani. It is described in the story as looking like a 16 penny nail flying through space head-first.
You can see some of my notes and adjustments made on the fly. You might also note that this is drawn on the back of a 7th grade History worksheet. A lot of those have been used as scratch paper for story details over the years.
I started off the year with a New Year’s resolution to write 8 pages a day. It’s now February and I am 128 pages behind! Even today, when I felt like I got some good writing in, I’m only on page four. There you go. Now at least I’m back into a groove. Feeling a little better certainly helps.
I’ve been experiencing something unusual for me. I’ve run out of names for characters. I usually keep a list of good character names, but I’ve used them all for 82 Eridani. Some stories don’t require much in the way of names. I use baby name web sites. But this story just calls out for some interesting names. I’m going to have to pour through my mythology books.
One interesting thing I noticed when I switched from Blogspot to WordPress is the amount of spam comments posted. I usually see four or five a week, and dutifully clean them off. Today, I looked and there were 74. I don’t remember how long it’s been since I last checked, what with my computer switch-over and all.
I don’t know what the point is of all the spam. I assume it’s to lure people to some disreputable sites and infect their systems with spyware, but having never followed one of those links, I don’t know for certain. In any case, nobody should be searching around the web without some good anti-malware protection. I’ve used Norton and McAfee in the past, but currently I’m using Kaspersky. When I switched over to my iMac, one of the first things I did was to download the new version of Kaspersky Internet Security. They say Macs are less a target than PCs, but I’m not taking any chances.
You shouldn’t either. There are several good Internet Security programs available online for free or nearly free. Google AVG or Avast, if you have nothing else already. Stay safe!
One of the coolest things about the iMac is Time Machine, built right in. It’s just way cool. I’ve got a new external hard drive that I’m designating as my time machine drive.
In the past, I have obsessively backed-stuff up all over the place. Now I can take a bit of a breather.
Fees.com was the first site where I posted on of my booksFeedbooks.com was the first site where I posted on of my books. It was what gave me the idea to write His Robot Girlfriend and distribute it. I still have it and the two Eaglethorpe Buxton free books on the site and HRG has been downloaded there more than 129,000 times.
Over the years, Feedbooks has had a wide variety of quality among their “Original Books”, for a while distributing some great free novels and then later being filled with relatively low quality erotica. It’s catch as catch can there.
However, if you are looking for some great old books, check out their “Public Domain” folder. It’s filled with some really good stuff and you can find a few gems that haven’t popped up elsewhere. http://www.feedbooks.com
I just got a message that I needed to renew my domain name– WesleyAllison.com. This reminded me that I have been publishing my blog on WordPress for almost a year. Prior to that I was on blogspot for almost four years. This August will be five years of daily blogging.
As I was writing the first paragraph, a notice popped up that my virus protection had been updated on the new computer. On my HP, last time I updated my virus protection, the whole thing crashed. I had to uninstall it, reboot, reinstall, and fiddle with a whole bunch of settings. That is one reason I decided to get an iMac. I wanted to turn it on and just have the computer work.
I actually managed to sit down and get some writing done yesterday and I’m going to try today. Sadly with five weeks in January, it means that there are three weeks between writers’ group meetings. My wife is filling in though. She doesn’t much care for sexually/violently graphic material, but she is being a good sport and listening anyway.
Well, she is all set up and in her place, ready to help me get started writing and doing whatever else I do on my computer.
It didn’t take me as long to migrate everything over as I thought it would, but I’m still learning some new tricks.
As misfortune would have it, my daughter dropped her laptop the other day and killed it, so she is inheriting my HP.
Well, I’ve got my important files transferred to my new iMac– my writing, my music, and my pictures. I’ve got a new version of Microsoft Word ready to go (one of the few perks of being a teacher is $10 MS Office: nice), so now I can get to writing.
I’m really happy with how 82 Eridani: Journey is coming along. I’ve finished chapter six, and I’m really starting to enjoy writing these characters like I did my people in Senta and the Steel Dragon.
I only have a smidgeon left of Astrid Maxxim, but I’m going to work on Journey until I feel like getting back to her. For some reason I’m just not ready to write the end of this book, so I’m going to follow my gut. As long as I get some writing done, I’ll be happy.
Here is a picture of the new computer. She’s sitting in front of the old one. As you can see, she is still getting settled and I am still getting used to her.
I’m sitting here trying to get my new computer set up. This is the first thing I’ve typed on it. Feels pretty good so far. Looks awesome… so sexy. Pics in the next few days. On the other hand, I’ve been sick for 21 days now and I’m about sick of being sick.
City of Amathar 