FAADS

Mid-Year Review of Éric’s 2024 New Year’s Resolutions

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Hello,

After a year off of resolutions, I made a whole bunch. Let’s see how I did.

Calvin: Well. it’s a New Year. And I’d say the first to hours haven’t been up to snuff.
Hobbes: Did you make any New Year’s resolutions?
Calvin: You bet! I resolved to quit hiding my feelings so much! From now on, the world’s gonna know exactly what I think of it!
Hobbes: Yes, you’ve certainly been the model of self-restraint and under-statement up until now.
Calvin: Well no more. And I’ve also resolved not to put up with sarcastic tigers.
Hobbes: If I see any, I’ll tell them.

1. Write a serial story. (Succeeding)

This year I’m writing the final chapter of Speakers of the Rebel Sun, as the serial story. It’s quite epic. I haven’t missed an update and all is going well, I think.

Go read: Red Day, Ere the Sun Rises

2. Finish Speakers of the Rebel Sun (Succeeding)

I’ve done some editing and I’m using the serial story to finish this up and it’s looking good. I have 2 other stories inside to write and then I’ll be done. So far it’s on track.

As for submission, I’m not sure. I’m going through some stuff due to a rejection and it’s got me rethinking what I want to do.

3. Finish Fanatics! Inevitable Honeymoon Crashers (Succeeding)

We are at Chapter 17 of 24 and moving along. It’s a little slower than before because we’re busier and I’m having a terrible year health wise.

4. Clean up FADDS and continue the re-skin towards making the Aetherverse the default setting. (Succeeding)

We’ve been playing a game in Everdome and it’s going well. I’ve expanded and cleaned a whole bunch of things and even created a Great Beast for my players to meet.

5. Play more Ukulele and Bass (Failing)

I’ve had multiple colds and infections which means I haven’t had motivation or a voice. I would like to get back to it. I’ve played maybe a few times a week at most.

6. Work weekly on my magical café (Failing)

I did super well in January on this and then it fell off. So many tiny things, sigh. I’ll try to get back to it.

7. Read at least 10 books (Succeeded)

I’ve managed 19 books so far and only about half of those are audiobooks. I’m still struggling to let myself read for pleasure but I’m getting there.

8. Be kind to myself (Failing)

There have been some major hurdles with health and with rejections and I’m having a hard time. I’m trying hard to see myself as worthy but I’ve spent so long thinking of myself as barely average that it’s hard.

9. Find time for me (Failing)

Gardening is helping but I constantly feel like I’m letting everyone down if I’m not doing something. I need to learn to relax and let things go. It might be time to start thinking about what I prioritize and how to rearrange my life.

10. Restart posting JenEric Movie Reviews (Succeeding)

I started posting again January 13th and have managed a weekly review since. Now I just have to keep it up. Thankfully it’s something fairly quick to write up.

So far so good with 5 Succeeding, 1 Succeeded, and only 4 Failing. I’m definitely seeing a trend of me prioritizing doing something for others over something for myself. I need to work on that.

Be kind and stay safe,

Éric

Éric’s 2024 New Year’s Resolutions

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Hello 2024,

I want you to know that I’m watching you closely and I think you need to be the “rebel” year where everything goes well for everyone. I think we all need one year to rest and have nice things happen.

I took 2023 off from making Resolutions because of my arm injury. I’ve improved significantly, and then in December 2023, I almost died from RSV.

The combination made me realize that I need to strive to improve and give myself goals. These resolutions aren’t cheap promises; they are things I want to do.

1. Write a serial story.

This is year 11 of me writing 1000 words a month for a serial story. I’m very proud of them and think they’ve helped me think on my feet.

I’m not sure what this year’s will be but I’m going to write 1000 words per month, and if I miss a month I have to write an extra chapter.

2. Finish Speaker of the Rebel Sun

I’ve been working on stories involving Hal the Sun Speaker and others in his universe for almost 11 years. I have 63000 words in a compilation book and I just need the big ending. I had planned on it being the serial story, but I’m not sure if 12000 words will be enough to tie everything together and end the series.

Either way, I’d like to have this done and ready for submission by the end of the year.

3. Finish Fanatics! Inevitable Honeymoon Crashers

Jen and I have been working on this one since early November and we’re a good 6 chapters in. Between health and life, it’s going slower than we’d like but it’s still moving. I’d love to see this done by July but I’ll be happy by end of year.

4. Clean up FADDS and continue the re-skin towards making the Aetherverse the default setting.

I’d like to get FADDS published sometime in the next decade. The rules are almost there and it just needs some cleaning up and re-skinning to set it in the Aetherverse. It’s the perfect combination since it has elements of fantasy, urban, sci-fi, and horror.

5. Play more Ukulele and Bass

I haven’t played in over a month because I’ve been too sick and dizzy but I’d like to get back into it. It’s a great way of relaxing.

6. Work weekly on my magical café

My wife and kids gave me a build your own thing (Christmas 2022) and it’s wonderful but takes a lot of tiny details. I asked for it and I think I was overly ambitious. I got frustrated and didn’t keep going but I’d like to finish it.

7. Read at least 10 books

I’m slowly working on letting myself read for pleasure. It’s been hard since COVID, and I’ve felt like it’s a selfish thing. I need to get over that and read for fun.

8. Be kind to myself

I’ve been really hard on myself the past few years, concentrating on what I couldn’t do instead of what I did. I’ve felt a little like a failure despite quantitative proof to the opposite. I need to be nicer to myself.

9. Find time for more

I need to find a few minutes everyday where I relax and take time for myself. I’ve been doing that more in the past month since if I didn’t, I’d collapse and it’s helping emotionally as well as physically.

10. Restart posting JenEric Movie Reviews

December 2nd was the last movie I managed to review. Unfortunately, with getting sick it’s taken a back seat. Both watching and reviewing. I’d like to restart hopefully by February and stick to a weekly schedule, but we’ll see.

I think this is a good set of goals, ambitious without being unreasonable.

What are your goals this year?

Éric

Parasnomnia Draft 1 is done. Time to Party?

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Hello,

So as the title says I’m finally done draft 1 of Parasomnia. This is the biggest novel I’ve written so far at just under 100,000 words (I hear my Fantasy writer friends laughing.)

It’s such a relief to be done. The last third of any novel is always massively stressful. Even though I know I can do it, there’s a tiny voice in the back of my head that says it’s ok to quit, nobody care about the book, I’m not a good enough writer yet for this idea. I’ve managed to ignore that voice 5 times now and when I write those last few words I’m always awash with relief.

Of course it’s not really done. In late October or November, I’ll pick it up and do a thorough rewrite and edit. The first chapter sucks. I thought I was writing a police procedural at the time and it doesn’t fit with the rest of the story. Also I think I’ve changed characters names throughout the book. I also need to add some foreshadowing.

Once the second draft is done, I’ll send it to the weditor and then do another cleanup. Once that’s done I’ll send it to Beta Reader 1, whoever that will be, and then Beta reader 2 (which I need to find).

The thing about writing, you’re never done. I might have finished this book but I have a list somewhere of several dozen book ideas, not to mention I’ve plotted out the next 6 Elizabeth Investigates books.

I like to write at work, when I have down time. Currently out of four people in my section, two are retiring and one is going back to school. As of October I’ll be doing the work of 4 people. Yikes. For that reason, I’m not jumping into another novel.

I do have a few stories planed and I’m getting close to play testing FADDS.

All in all things are looking good.

Is there anything you’ve read on my blog that you’d like to see expanded or turned into a novel?

Éric

Mid-Year Review 2014

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Welcome to the new Blog.

Have a look around. Check out the Travelling TARDIS, or if you’re feeling brave read both Travelling Tardis and Aspiring Something at the same time. Gasp… I know.

With a new address, I feel like it’s time to review the goals and resolutions I set forth last December.

Resolutions

“This year I resolve to do three things again, Write regularly (500 Words a Day of novels or stories), Continue Reading as much (30+ might be tiny compared to my wife who reads that in 3 months), improve my internet presence.”

I’ve pretty much followed the first one. I try to write at least 500 words a day. I’m not always successful but at this point I’m we’re in week 31 and I’ve written 85,000 words of Parasomnia. I write on weekdays so that means I’m ahead and that’s not even counting my blogs.

According to Goodreads I’m at 22 of 30 books for the year. However that does include three graphic novels and a very small book. I think I’m well on my way to reaching the 30 book mark that was my goal.

As for the third part of the resolution, I think I’ve been doing ok. I’ve managed to blog at least once a week and even twice most of the time.

Moving Forward

I think for my resolutions I’m going to do my best to keep doing what I’m doing. I’m within spitting distance of finishing Parasomnia and once that’s done I can start planning my next book, and writing a few short stories.

Projects

FADDS (Four Attribute Dual Dodecahedron System)

Between buying a house, extending the size of Parasomnia, and other valid excuses; I’ve barely touched FADDS. I have managed to finish Building the Second set of classes, built most of the Race builder, doubled the amount of Talents, and started work on cleaning up the language. It’s at 60 pages and 25000+ words, without counting the Beastiary.

I’m not sure if I’ll be able to have the site and PDF build for 2015 but I’ll try.

Project Kitchen Sink

The idea of a series of short stories that intertwine to make a larger more interesting novel still fascinates me. I’ve only written three stories and barely looked at it. I think this will take the backburner for a while.

The Dying World

This was my plan to write a Role Playing Game module. It will be epic but I think I’ll wait until I’m finished with FADDS before I write it. I still plan on having it be a rules-generic adventure that can be played in any system.

I hope to start work on this in mid-2015

Youtube

I still plan on doing a webshow but it’s a lot more complicated than I expected. I’m not sure when I’ll get to it but hopefully you’ll have some silly antics on film (Digital video) soon.

Websites

If you’re reading this than you know I’ve succeeded in combining certain parts of my and my wife’s online presence. For the moment I’m keeping JenEric Photo separate until I decide what to do with it.

My Tumblr will stay on its own.

I have added a Youtune Chanel and it has one video. I think I’ll wait until our view numbers are high enough to add a Forum.

This weekend’s job, after seeing Guardians of the Galaxy, is to build a commission request form that will act as a store. The idea is that my wife’s stock varies and with 2 giant cons coming soon she can’t take a lot of commissions. So using a form will allow us to decide what to accept. If we do accept your commission, we will then send you a Paypal bill. If you aren’t a Paypal user, fret not, because we also accept Perfect Money payments. Just check out this site on how to proceed with converting it.

Other Things

I’ve been up to a few other things since I made this list and I think it’s important to mention them, in case you thought I was slacking.

Parasomnia

A weird novel that I’m so close to finishing. I’m hoping to be done in two weeks or so. Once it’s done, I plan on ignoring it for a few months while I work on FADDS. I’ll then do a quick cleanup and send it to the Weditor for beta reading. After that it’ll do the circuit of other Beta-readers, or as I call them “The Best People on Earth”.

This book is different from what I’ve written before and has a lot more emotional depth for the characters. I’m not sure if it’s brilliant, horrible, or something in between. I’ll let you know in a few months. I’m also not sure if it’ll be publishable. It doesn’t fit into any normal category.

The Ridiculous Adventures of Felix Felicis

I wrote a short-short story for April Fool’s Day and people really enjoyed it but hated that it ended in a cliff-hanger. So I wrote two others that both end in equally ridiculous cliff-hangers. I plan on writing another part every month or so. It’s a lot of fun getting into the head of the grumpy main character.

Go and read it. It’s silly fun.

Conclusion

I think that I’m well on my way to meeting at least half my goals and resolutions.

I feel both frustrated and thankful that I have more projects and ideas than I can put down or get started on. As long as I keep getting ideas, I know life won’t be boring.

How have you done with your Goals and Resolutions?

Thanks and once again welcome to the new Blog,

Éric