Making It To The End

It's been a tough month for writing, but tonight, I swore that the month couldn't end without me finishing my most recent story. I spent more than an hour on it, wrote 1,248 words...the last two of them being "the end." Take that February, you didn't win everything.

First Readers

Okay, everyone, I'm looking for people who are interested in being "first readers" of my stuff. It's free stories to read...but it's also a bit of work too.

Let me explain what that would entail. When I write a story, I would send it to you to read. What you would do while reading is keep an eye out for any typos or grammar problems, any sentence or phrasing that is confusing or awkward, look for any factual errors or plot inconsistencies, and any parts that you are bored by. You could also tell me about what you thought was strong in the story and what was weak, so that I can discover what my weaknesses might be and work on them, and know what my strengths are, and play them up.

Seems to me that this is pretty important for me to become a better writer. Rish Outfield reads my stuff, and gives me his notes, but that's probably not enough. I could use some more voices to help me out.

So, anyone interested?

Dunesteef Episode 169: TWSC – Calamari Stakeout by Austin Malone

New Episode of The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine now available!

The Trench is the only waterway that a ship can take to get to the western continent. Unfortunately, there at the entrance, between the twin peaks of Seidar and Phaestia, prowls Ol’ Sly, a gigantic squid creature that would like nothing more than to crack a ship open like a jaca fruit, and pick the sailors out and eat them like the sweet seeds. Small Fry and the Admiral have a plan, though. They mean to take down Ol’ Sly once and for all, and open the western continent to their ships.

Afterward, Rish and I try to decide what really is the worst way to wake up, live squid or porcupine covered in hair gel? Oh, and song. You have been warned.

Special thanks to Justin Charles for producing the story and doing the episode art, and to Julie Hoverson for lending her voice to the tale.

Head over to Dunesteef and check it out (EDIT: Now that the feed is gone, the only way to hear the show is over on the Dunesteef Podcast YouTube page, which I am embedding below).

Fitness Challenge 2015 #2

Okay, it's weigh-in day #4. My goals that I made in my spreadsheet require me to be down four pounds per week. I had a couple of weeks above four, however, so I was already a pound and a half above my goal.

Weigh-ins for the contest are kind of weird, because I have to do them at work. Usually I weigh myself on the way into the shower, so I don't have the weight of my clothes included in the total. It leaves me a little screwed up all the time, because I'm weighing myself at home and then at work, and the numbers are different, and I get confused.

But anyway, I came to work today...went to the bathroom and evacuated everything to make sure I weighed as little as possible...and then I went to the scale. I hopped on, watched the number appear and smiled. I'd made it under the goal I'd set earlier when I'd made my spreadsheet, a pound and a half under that goal! When I entered the total into my spreadsheet, I discovered that I'd lost exactly four pounds. So, I'd nailed my goal in both cases.

I'm pretty happy about the progress. Since I started trying, I hit my goal or exceeded it every week. I moved from last place, to tenth, and then to fifth. I've lost 13.6 pounds, and my overall weight-loss percentage is 4.51.

Last week's leader was at 4.22. So, my percentage puts me ahead of what he was at last week. Unfortunately, I'm sure he lost more weight this week. Moving up the charts from here on out is going to be pretty difficult.

I'm not going to go all "everybody wins, because every one is special" on you or anything, but if I don't win, I won't be upset, because this contest is just the beginning for me. The race is against me and me alone. The others involved are just along for the ride to give me motivation, because I do like a little competition.

And so far, it's working.

RIP Leonard Nimoy

Oh no...Leonard Nimoy died. This makes me really sad, and I was never even a big Star Trek guy either. I can't imagine how Rish Outfield feels right now.

What's That Stand For?

I know that FTW stands for "For The Win." What does it say about me that my first guess about it was that it stood for "F@#$ The World?" Sadly, I still think that every time I see FTW, and I have to remind myself that that's not it.

Dentist Appointment

The dentist abused me greatly today. My jaw hurts so much I can't manage to chew anything. I'm getting awfully hungry, though. How hungry do you think I'll have to be to crunch away on things despite the agony?