Writing/Editing Update, August Edition

Well, that month went by fast. I'm happy to report that my efforts to properly schedule my work so that I don't go insane to make deadlines has continued to be successful. I'm working hard to ensure the trend continues. I've had September booked full for a couple weeks already, and October is almost full; …

Writing/Editing Update, July Edition

Every month I vow to post at least once in between these monthly writing/editing updates, and once more I haven't accomplished that minimal goal. Perhaps I shouldn't try to maintain multiple websites, a nearly always-behind podcast, and a social media presence while juggling full-time freelance editing with multiple personal writing projects . . . but …

Writing/Editing Update, June Edition

It's a holiday weekend, and I'm managing to get a day or two off. Part of the problem is I forget to schedule holidays. When I pick up a freelance gig that takes place over a holiday, I almost always forget to take that into account when I put together a work plan in my …

Writing/Editing Update, May Edition

Oof and blurgh. I often talk about being busy, the way most people do. You know, you ask someone, "How's work?" And the answer is frequently, "Oh, crazy. I can barely keep up. And Bill in accounting replaced all the flash drives with packs of Juicy Fruit gum. Again." Okay, maybe not that last part, …

Writing/Editing Update, April Edition

April was another full month on the copyediting front, but I still managed to edit and post a new episode of Generations Geek, the podcast I do with my daughter, in which we interviewed Erin Macdonald, the science consultant for the Star Trek TV series. In pandemic news, my wife, daughter, and I got our …

“In the Time of the Martians”: An Excerpt

Before I get to the excerpt, a little backstory on how "In the Time of the Martians" came about. I entered the world of media tie-in writing in 2004, when my Star Trek story "Full Circle" was published in Strange New Worlds VII. Media tie-in writing is, of course, writing based on characters and stories from …

Writing/Editing Update, March Edition

March continued the frenzied pace of February. Some extensions were required. I hate missing deadlines, but things happen, and you just need to keep your client or your editor in the loop. A previously planned week at my mom's (after we all quarantined, of course) complicated the situation. I had to work all day, every …

Writing/Editing Update, February Edition

I've been quite busy in the short month. I've started getting my self-published stuff, previously only on the Kindle, available for the Kobo, Nook, and Apple Book platforms as well. This entailed learning to create and edit ePub files, which has gone relatively smoothly. At some point I should do a post covering all those …

Writing/Editing Update, January Edition

Oof, it's February already! I seriously don't know how that happened. But I did manage to get some things done even though the month flew by and included an insurrection! Tales of the Weird World War. The cover is finally done! Take a look at it on my website. Now that that's finally taken care …

From the Vault: Gelatinous Pasta and Bad Mussels

We made a family vacation out of Shore Leave 30 (remember when conventions were an actual thing?), flying in early so we could do some general tourist stuff, since only the kid and I are sci-fi geeks. On our first night in downtown Baltimore at the Inner Harbor Holiday Inn, we decided to eat at …