Category Archives: Uncategorized

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Siblinghood of the World Blogger award

siblinghood-of-the-world-award

Thanks to Jessica M. Baumgartner (jessicamariebaumgartner.com), I’ve been nominated for the sibling of the world blogger award. Before I go an answer the questions though, go and check out her book By the Stars. There’s another one coming out pretty soon.

1. What do you like to eat when writing?

Carrots. Carrots and whiskey. Especially Alaska (Mat-Su valley) carrots and scotch. That’s what I’m doing right now.

2. If you could be any monster, which would you be?

Sully from Monster’s inc. He’s big and friendly with broad shoulders, nice teeth, and a shiny coat. That would make me feel super-good about myself.

3. Do you find that the psychological effects of writing warp reality at times?

Yes, sometimes and only when I get really into it. Most of things I’m working on now are tongue-in-cheek kinds of things and so the whole point is warped reality so it gives me a bit of distance from what’s going on. Reading actually tends to warp my reality more. Crime and Punishment made me feel like I was losing my mind.

4. Blanket, hoodie, or robe? (You can only choose one)

Hoodie!

5. What do you hate most about editing?

The part where I have to do editing. It sucks, necessary, yes, but still a pain.

6. What do you love most about the writing process?

Making shit up. I love the fact that there is a legitimate way you can daydream on paper and let other people in on it, without being a total weirdo. I mean think about it. I’m fantasizing about some romantic interlude, scratching that down on paper and then someone reads it, maybe even likes it – and somehow that’s not weird.

7. Caterpillars or butterflies?

Caterpillars are way creepier than butterflies. The whole thing is bizarre though. A worm that turns into a flying insect. The only thing stranger is the tadpole frog situation. It’s almost alien.

8. What are your thoughts on the possibility that the characters you create could be real on some plane of existence?

For the sake of my characters, I hope not, but the universe is a bizarre place and I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if one of my characters was trying to write me as a character in a book (a book that would suck, BTW.)

9. When sending work out for critiques how do you cope with waiting?

Whisky and more writing. It’s the only path. If I get feedback, that’s great-even if it’s tough. If not, that means the work really extra sucked, and that’s not awesome.

10. How do you celebrate when your work gets published?

I’ve never been, so I’ve never had occasion. I’ve been co-author on a lot of technical papers on subsistence in Alaska, which is cool, but it’s just work, so no celebration. If I did get one of my stories published though, I would celebrate with whiskey and more writing. It’s the only path.

Now, it’s time to pass along the joy of the blog award nomination. These awards are great because they allow us to connect and give us an excuse to talk about ourselves. So, here are my nominations:

Matt Bowes (pontiuscominius.wordpress.com)

Gabriel Penn (officialgabrielpenn.wordpress.com)

Emily Russel (pisscoffeeandvinegar.wordpress.com)

May B. B. (http://maybbooks.com/)

Tarquin Carlin (blogofmanycolours.wordpress.com)

Jeff Baumgartner (jbaumgartner13.wordpress.com)

I know I should have more, so if you feel like you’ve been left out, assume you’ve been nominated and feel free to berate me for not officially nominating you. If you’ve been nominated, just answer these questions and pass along the nomination with your own questions.

  1. Do you agree with Scully or Mulder, why?
  2. If you could write an episode for a TV show, which one would it be?
  3. How much time do you spend writing?
  4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?
  5. Why do you love/hate Star Wars?
  6. Do you have an elevator pitch for your work in progress (WIP), what is it?
  7. What’s your opinion of the #7?
  8. What was the last book you finished reading?
  9. What was the book that got you interested in reading?
  10. Why do you blog?

There are my 10 painless questions. Answer and send this along to some other bloggers!

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A progress report for today

This morning I got up, started the car, had my first cup of coffee then headed off to the coffee shop. The weekend morning coffee shop visit is new since the start of NaNoWriMo. I know that nano is over, but it felt like a good habit. I can’t say it’s a super productive time, I usually sit there and bullshit with a friend. That said, it does help me remain focused. I think I knocked out about 1000 or so words this morning. After that, I got NOTHING done – well, as far as writing is concerned. I spent the entire day with holiday decorations and housework. Tomorrow will be worse. It’s the kids christmas concert.

Over all, it was about as productive day as I could have hoped for. I still have an hour or so in the day, so I’m going to post this blog and get back to it. I need to get this story out, maybe I’ll get another five hundred words out.

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Tag, I’m it?

I was tagged by the most excellent L.M. Bryski (lmbryski.com) to answer some questions about myself and writing. So, here it goes. I can assure you, it’s boring so…You’ve been warned

When did you start writing? Was being a writer something you always aspired to?
A lot of times you hear folks talking about how they started writing when they were still in diapers and things. Not me. I started writing sometime in high-school. I didn’t do it a lot then and once I learned how to program computers, I wanted to apply stories to that. Still do actually. Becoming a game designer was where I started, but I realized that with the sorts of games I wanted to do, I was either going to do the programming (where I might make a living) or writing (where I won’t make a living). So, I went on programming, but didn’t make it into game programming. Instead, I’ve kept a pretty solid wall between programming and writing.

What genre do you write?
At the moment, I’m writing fantasy, but I’m not married to that. I like to tell good stories. If I found one outside of fantasy that I like, I’d write it.

Can you tell us a little about your current work in progress? When did you start working on this project?
I have 3 current projects. The first is a high-fantasy I’ve been chiseling away at for about a decade and it still needs an outrageous amount of work. The second is called Wine Bottles and Broomsticks, it really is my favorite at the moment, and the third is a steam-punk fantasy that doesn’t have a real good name and I’m only just now in the process of sketching it out. The Winebottles project is really my main project. I started it in early August and I’m about half-way through. I’m extremely impressed with myself over that story, actually. Not only is it not something I ever thought I’d write, it’s getting very good reviews from everyone I’ve shared it with so far. The last project is just now getting off the ground, it’s a steam-punk fantasy that I’m going to try to hammer out for NaNoWrimo

What was your first piece that you can remember writing? What was it about?
The first thing I can remember writing was back in high-school. It was a sci-fi short story I’d written for an english class. I don’t remember a lot about it, except that it had something to do with the foolishness of war.

What’s the best part of writing?
You know, I’m not sure I can say. It’s just something I like doing. I love all things related to making stuff, wood working, programming, small construction projects, cooking (I’m not great at this), and stuff like that. As far as I’m concerned, writing a story is the ultimate art of making (game programming is a pretty close 2nd though).

How much time a day/week do you get to write? When is the best time for you to write (morning or night?)
I’ve got a day job and kids. These things dominate my time and I don’t get nearly as much time as I’d like to write. On a super focused week, I might get between one and two hours a day for a day or two running. Normal weeks run about 30min before work and 30 min on lunch break, with maybe 5-10 minutes in the evening, with a few breaks in there. I usually miss Saturday, but sometimes I’ll get the chance to binge on Sunday. I generally write best when my concentration isn’t broken, which is really any time of day.

Did you go to college for writing?
Nope. I got my degree in computer science.

What bothers you more speeling errors; puncutation, errors, or errors for grammar?
I’m bothered by egregious infractions of all three, but minor errors I don’t much care about. If I have to read a second, third or fourth time to understand, it’s bad.

What is the best writing advice anyone has given you?
I don’t think I could pull out any specific advice that I would call the best I’d ever heard. I can, however, point out some of the worst advice I’ve ever come across. At some point in my digital travels I came across a bit of advice describing dialog tags other than the ‘he said and he asked’ as henous, especially when adverbs are involved. It sat wrong with me, so I pulled a few books off the shelf to take a look at what other authors do. Guess what, they were all employing dialog tags and adverbs. These books were good.

What advice would you give to another writer?
Just write. Don’t talk about it, do it. Listen to all advice you hear, remembering that it’s advice, you can take it or leave it, but if someone points something out, at least do them the favor of considering it.

What are your favorite writing sites or blogs that you turn to for help, tips or encouragement?
My favorite thing to do is bop around on twitter and other writer’s blogs. Jut seeing that others are thinking the same things I am, and experiencing some of the same difficulties keeps me going.

What is the best book you’ve read this year?
I dunno. Perhaps Coraline, by Neil Gaiman.

What is the best movie you’ve seen this year?
I can’t say that any one particular movie has stuck out in my mind as being the best. I don’t watch a tremendous amount of TV, but I would say that from the perspective of fantasy writing, I watched Jim Henson’s The Labryinth with a critical eye earlier this year and I was more satisfied with that story and the imagery than any other movie i’ve watched this year.

Who is your favorite author?
That’s a hard question. I’m going to go with Douglas Adams. I recently picked up the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy for the first time in a long time a month or two ago. The writing in the early part of the book is actually kind of terrible, but it’s funny and engaging, and that’s why I like it. Plus, there’s something about the hapless MC that I enjoy. It’s tough to do it right, but he does. I realized that after I started working on Wine Bottles and Broomsticks that my MC is an awful lot like Arthur Dent. It wasn’t really intentional, but that book most certainly had an influence on my writing.

What are your plans for the rest of the year in terms of your writing?
Re-write my precious high-fantasy The war of Shadows. That story needs a lot of help. I’m going to finish my first full draft of Wine Bottles and Broomsticks and start a second book in that series. In the mean time new chapters will go up on channillo.com monthly until I’m done. The third thing I’d like to do is get most of a full draft of a steam-punk fantasy written. That’s going to be my  NaNoWrimo project. Lofty goals, all of them, but It’s what I’m aiming at.

Where else can we find you online?
I’m on twitter @daveskoster
My blog: www.onwritingdragons.com
Facebook: Dave S. Koster
and Instagram @daveskoster

I absolutely can’t believe you made it to the end of this. Good for you – You deserve a glass of wine or something.

Cheers!

-Dave