When a story breaks about someone on YouTube earning a lot of money from making videos, it’s almost inevitable: someone’s going to say, “I’m gonna start making YouTube videos and making millions…” It’s usually said in such a manner that the person saying it is offended someone who gives a large part of their lives […]
The Sign Beneath the Door
In movies, roommates leave a bevvy of items on doorknobs to tell their roommate, “Hey, I have things going on in here, and I would appreciate it if you found another place to crash tonight…” I consider myself fortunate that the one roommate I had after high school was more likely to say, “Hey, I’m […]
I Don’t Belong Here
There’s a line in Radiohead’s song “Creep” that always settled somewhere deep within me: I don’t belong here… It’s a feeling I’ve struggled with for decades. There have been times, even among close friends, that I’ve felt like I don’t belong. I know part of it goes back to being heavily picked on when I […]
80 Days Revisited
On July 6, I gave myself 80s days to finish the current draft of the latest novel-in-progress. On July 31, the company where I work went through [another] large layoff. I was spared, but another technical writer in my group wasn’t. And guess who got his job on top of all the regular writing tasks […]
The September Silence 2017
As the 80-Day challenge to get the current draft of the novel-in-progress readable clicks along, it’s that time of the year: The September Silence. Named by a friend who missed seeing me on Facebook each September when I logged out to kick off my favorite writing time of the year (September – November), it has […]
80 Days
One of my favorite people to follow online is Alastair Humphreys. I have several of his books (and recommend Microadventures to anyone). Alastair recently tweeted about accepting an 80-day challenge. The challenge is geared more toward adventure, but Alastair decided to do something different. His challenge: finish the book he’s working on. Follow @MrMarkBeaumont on […]
Flawed Yet Perfect Things
One of my favorite novels (probably my favorite novel of all novels I’ve read) is Robert Olmstead’s A Trail of Heart’s Blood Wherever We Go. It is quirky, yet so normal. It’s lean in its writing, even though at times — admittedly — it goes on a bit long in scenes. But man, those moments […]
An Early Second Wind
For me, September is my writing new year. There’s just something about the arrival of the month that turns summer into fall that I love. Even though it stays hot in Texas into late October or early November, September is when it seems like I get a second writing wind just as the starting gun […]
D&D and Me
Life Changed in 1979 I would like the world to remember me as the guy who really enjoyed playing games and sharing his knowledge and his fun pastimes with everybody else. — Gary Gygax Chris Bichler opened the door for me in 1979, when I was in fifth grade. He told me his neighbor — […]
The Fight in My Mind
In junior high I was pulled out of several normal classes and put into L.D. L.D. stood for “learning disability.” (Seriously, that’s what they called it!) I was not a permanent resident like some students, but it was enough of an embarrassment to add to the already constant bullying I received during those years. Somewhere […]
This Fragile Time
I slept in this morning. I looked at the clock around 4:30 and thought, “Up now, or another hour of sleep?” I opted for another hour. I did the same thing at 5:30. (I like getting up between 5:00 and 5:30 to write on days I work from home.) When I got out of bed […]
The Gift of Stories
The most recent story on Not about Lumberjacks was written as a gift for a friend. If you have 6 minutes and want to listen to how the story came to be, go here. If not, here’s the quick version: a good friend in a writing group I was once in rolled his truck in […]
Writing Retreat #5
The fifth (annual) writing retreat has been booked. In April, the chosen Texas State Park is…Daingerfield State Park. My wife and I went camping at Daingerfield State Park the last weekend in October…and we loved it! In many ways, it felt like being up north — more like Wisconsin than East Texas. With access to […]
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