Showing posts with label 2017. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2017. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 21, 2017

A Great Silence.

Yes it's been a while.



    I will admit, my writing has suffered recently.  Between starting the new job, school, studying for my Security+ (which I passed, thank you very much) My writing has been put  a little to the side.  I am presently, for the record sitting as follows.

    Grimmack- Farming to Agents, due to lack of positive response so far I am thinking about hitting it with another round of edits.  I am happy with where it is, sitting at 50k words which is about right for a book for adolescents, but I might be able to make the world pop and throw more detail in.  One of the demons I wrestle with when I write is detail.  I am actually one of those that is sparse in there writing and I end up adding such stuff in later.

     Dragon's Apprentice- I want to do one more quick edit through this, and then I will start farming it out as well.  My only hesitation is that if it does get picked up, I will have to return to this world after a bit of an absence.  That is a personal worry though, as I am still constantly stuck with ideas about this story in my head, and I know where I want to go with the next two books.

      Under a Broken Moon- I am about two thirds done with this book, and about ready to finish writing it up.  It is kind of irritating that I've stopped at a point where the action for the final confrontation is about to happen.  This story is unique for me, because though I have ideas for continuations, it is in my heart, only a self contained book.  I may write some continuations some time, but when I finish it, I will be done with Elias, Jill, and Jaiden for some time.

     I am debating dredging up my oldest book I finished, "Son of the Vampire" (I wrote it before Twilight was a thing so chill) and working on editing it as well.  This would be to A. See if I can change the story to fit Jaiden as we know him in "Under a Broken Moon" and B. to see if I can make that story into something from the broken mess it is.  It was my first attempt at writing and it shows throughout the story.  That being said, I still love the ideas behind the story, and where I was going to go with it, and that might be tied into where I take the story of Broken Moon forward eventually.  We will see.

    Other than that, I have officially graduated for DATC, which is a large personal achievement for me.  I am going to do the whole graduation ceremony and everything, (I didn't go to my High School one, as I graduated late so this will be a new experience for me) and I am going to be looking at going to WGU after I do Project+ and Cloud Based Administrator classes, above my graduation.

     My family has the goal to find and move into a bigger house some time this summer.  So, right now we are looking at getting my present residence, and it's fourteen years of wear and tear fixed along with the slow process of starting to dejunk.  This is going to be an interesting experience I feel, as the only time I have moved, has been at the beginning of my marriage when we didn't have nearly as much stuff.  I am going to learn some lessons here I think.



     The big question is, how are things going with ya'll?  How is your writing going and what are your challenges.

Ben Marble

If you would like to support Ben Marble and his pack of Discotheque penguins, consider purchasing one of his short stories at Amazon.com.



 

Monday, January 2, 2017

New Years Goals and Resolutions.

I am not a big fan of New Years Goals.



     It is not that I think it is bad to make goals and resolutions for yourself, but I think it should be an ongoing process throughout the year that you can look at as needed.  We all live this messy little thing called life, which means from time to time plans have to be adjusted or changed.  At times we all have the big eyes syndrome where we take on more than we can chew.

     So, for this year I am going to restate my goals that I am working on.  I am presently working on Marketing Grimmack a little, (I could be better) I have one more full edit of "The Dragon's Apprentice" to do. (I plan on having it ready in the next month or so.) and I want to finish the story I am working on (Demon Skies is my working title) by June.

     As far as school goes, I want to be done with my certifications at DATC.  I graduate sometime this month as long as I pass my CompTIA security+ but I plan on getting my Project+, Cloud based Administrators, Linux and Cisco certifications.  All in all that means almost a year longer than I originally planned.  After that I will be looking at my Bachelor's degree in Computer Science with a focus on Network administration.  My goal is to get that by the time I am 40, which gives me two years.  If I don't beat that I intend to be close.

    With my family I will have all new fun challenges.  My oldest will be learning to drive this year.  If I wasn't getting grey hair yet, that will do it.  I would like to go camping sometime this summer.  I haven't really been in years but once, and it would be nice to expand my children's experience a little more.  There are a lot of nice places out here in Utah, several that I went to as a child and it would be nice to give my children a bit more outdoor experience.

    That is pretty much my list of things I am looking at.  For some of you it might seem simple, for some it might look like a lot.  I have said it before, life is about priorities.  You have to keep them straight if you want to accomplish your goals.  Right now my main focus is education and bettering my situation.  (My career change and current job is a big step, but I don't want to become complacent.)

     How is your new year looking?  Have you set any goals for new projects or writing?  What about your personal life?  Expanding your personal experience can only benefit the words you type out or scribble down on paper.  What do you plan on doing different or better?



    And most of all, how are you going to enjoy your new year?

Happy 2017 everybody.
Ben Marble

If you would like to support Ben Marble and his desire to construct a wild snowman habitat, consider purchasing one of his short stories at Amazon.com.  Including his newest short, "The Trap."