A Big, Deathy Welcome to Walt!
...who is also something of an artist. Mike, you should check out Walt's page and see if his work is suitable for the FFP style.

Return of the Clockwork Inquisitor

In a surprising turn, Zeitgeist Games has plans to include "A Night in Maus" in the upcoming Wizards’ Cabal sourcebook. Even cooler, the editors suggested that the story will be illustrated, which is always a lot of fun. Royalties are great and all, but illustrations are where it’s at.

The editors also promised that the next story, “Son of Flame, Son of Hak,” will be posted soon. I’ll let you know as soon as I see something real.

Zeitgeist Games just hired some new hands, which should help with their workload. If you’ve submitted stories or proposals to ZG and never heard back from them, or toyed with the idea of submitting, now is the time. Hit them again and demonstrate your persistence.

A Note on Community
Elaine mentioned this in her blog, before she shut it down, but it bears repeating: writing is a lonely gig. This isn’t bad, per se, just the nature of the calling. You write alone, submit alone, and when you get the rejection, it is addressed to you and no one else.

But that doesn’t mean no one is on your side. Stop, take a minute and look around. This haphazard collection of artists, writers and designers, we all know what you’re going through. We’re in it together, we’re all chasing that same impossible dream.

That’s a pretty incredible thing. I remember getting into written fisticuffs with a certain Loghan Shadowhand, back in the day (and getting my vocabulary handed to me on a bloody shingle). I remember the day when Mother and Ashlock figured out they both listened to Rush. And the day Jeff thought I critiqued his discussion thread as “predictable.”

I can’t stress how valuable this group is. Out of a random 100 souls, probably three or four have aspirations to be writers. Out of a 100 would-be writers, maybe only one makes a go for it. That places you, and the fellows around you, in a very elite group.

It doesn’t make us better than anyone else. In fact, it probably only predisposes us for failure, melancholy and disappointment. But it also brands you in a certain way, makes you see the world in a different light, leaves you hungering for different dreams. For better or worse, you’re tainted.

Most of us have never met. Maybe we never will. But as Elaine Cunningham pointed out, it is rare – and valuable – to find other folks that can actually identify with this life. When you receive the inevitable rejections, you have an understanding audience. When one of us makes it, it spurs the rest of us to press that much harder.

It ain’t much, but it’s home.

Drywaller by Day, Author by Night,
Or, Why the Heck is Harley in Wyoming?!
So, Ms. H’s father remains very ill. She has been spending time back East with her family, and with her father, making the most of the time they have left. I miss my wife, but I wouldn’t deny her this for anything.

With H (the attractive one) gone, this leave the other H (me) to pay the bills for rent and what not, in one of the most expensive counties in the U.S.

Have I mentioned I’m a freelance writer? Well, right now, and for as long as it takes, I’m also a freelance drywaller. This means living out of my truck with a duffel bag full of clothes, a sleeping bag and pad, a laptop for writing (thanks to BWS!), and a fistful of software (thanks to MNTS/BWS!).

And you know, it’s not all that bad. I’d love to be with my wife, I’d love for her father to be healthy, but these aren’t things I can change. What I do have is a rare and marvelous opportunity to chase my dreams. In a lot of countries I’d be worried about where my next meal was coming from. Instead, I spend my evenings daydreaming about worlds that never were.

And that’s a pretty damn good life.

H vs. Tank, regarding Shared World Fiction
Tankgrrl: "You’re a literary whore!"
H: "Doesn’t mean I’m not good in the sack."

(Strained Metaphor Translation Service: Where you sell your writing has no relation to how good or bad your writing might be.)