Boredmormon

So it starts tomorrow

2011-10-30T20:01:00.000+13:00

And like normal I am nowhere near prepared. Its been said that people will take ninety percent of the time doing the first ten percent of the task. That leaves the bulk of the work to be done in the shortest amount of time.

So it was with my planning. I could finish off the rest of the work, but in the true spirit of NaNoWriMo I will wing it.

Wish me luck.

It all has to happen somewhere

2011-10-15T08:27:00.001+13:00

Yup, today I'm looking at setting. You may find it strange to look at setting this early, right after structure. But let me explain my reasons.

Setting is key to so many elements of a good story. For a start setting decides what can and can't happen. A plot about escaping a shipwreak only makes sense on a large body of water. An evil wizard taking over the world only works if magic exists. And try writing a romance without a predefined concept of gender.

Setting is also key to characters. Characters are born, grow up, live, love and die, all within the setting. A story in modern New York will have very different characters from one set in the ancient Mesapatonion jungle. You guessed it, time is just as important as place.

Some settings require more work then others. A completely fictional setting requires lots of work to make and keep it consistient. For example you can't have a literate population without both a paper and printing press equivilent. Okay, so thats one of my pet peeves that nobody else seems to notice, but you get the point. A familiar place will provide you with ready made details, but it will also constrain you. Everyone knows there is no alley way between first and fifth street.

My story will happen in a fictional modern earth city, it may look suspiciously similar to New Zealand. I want all the benefits of writing on earth, but none of the constraints of a real location. I'm somewhat nervous about this, my comfort zone is completely fictional locations. Current period. I might throw a chemical factory in the mix too.

Incidentally I will be trying out writing using the new beta of Scrivener for Windows. Set the structure up this morning.

Outline

2011-10-13T18:42:00.000+13:00

So here it is, the first stage of my planning process

Begining - 10,000 words - The good guys are hanging out
Middle - 30,000 words - The bad guys show up and make life diffficult for the good guys. The good guys fight back, but get it handed to them on a platter.
End - 10,000 words - Just when all hope is lost the good guys get their act together and manage to save the day. They live happily ever after.

This may seem like a trivial exercise. But it defines what the project is, and what it is not. For example, it is not a romance, by this stage a romance would already look completely different. Nor is not an epic.

Next I'll think about the where.

NaNoWriMo coming up again

2011-10-12T06:58:00.001+13:00

Its amazing how fast the year rolls around. Seems like it wasn't that long ago that I was writing The Adventures of Zeek, learning wonderful things about writing without an outline. But its just a few weeks until everything starts up again.

After last years effort I'm not expecting to come in anywhere near target. There is this thing called life that just keeps getting in the way. While I admire those that put writing as their top priority, its not something I'm willing to do. Got a wife and two kids who I love spending time with. Got a job I enjoy that pays me too much to slack off. I'm sure someone will visit, get sick, and I'll discover a new book or video game that can't wait.

So that's all my excuses out of the way in advance. Now I can stop worrying about them and get on with the job at hand.

Like normal I'm going to approach NaNoWriMo differently. Last year was about not having a plan. This year will be about ignoring physics. Completely. Pure fantasy with no regards to cost or consequences. Let their be earthquakes and volcanoes (without destroying the local ecosystem). Let there be walking through walls. Let there be epic battles between good and evil, just because one side is good and the other is evil.

I'm thinking something along the lines of X-Men. If you're lucky, and if my daughter keeps deciding that Daddy should be getting out of bed at five in the morning, I'll share the rest of my planning process here.

Please comment and share your thoughts. I'll include as many as possible in the project.

BM out

No More Mister Nice Guy

2011-08-07T20:02:00.002+12:00

I'm currently rereading Robin Hobb. One of my favorite authors. Very well thought out convoluted plots. Very distinct characters. From the Fool to Nighteyes to Captin Kennit, even the bad guys are well developed.

That's when the penny dropped. I have no bad guys, not a single one. Sure I have 'villians', characters who want something different from the hero. But none of them are evil, just moving in different directions.

A few days later I was sitting in a versatility workshop at work. The guy was presenting on different social styles. All these pennies could make me rich, if the Americans ever get their economy together. All of my characters are basically the same style. Sure, they have completely different backgrounds. They have different motivations and goals. But they go about problem solving the same way. They react to stress the same way. Deep down inside they are all the same person, me.

Are these the real reasons my manuscripts consistently stall twenty thousand words in?

I believe the solution is simple, I have to exaggerate my characters, make each one is unique deep down, not just on the surface. Of course none of this will happen unless I find some time to write. I love getting my paycheck each month, but full time work has some definite disadvantages.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Just like a choclolate milkshake...

2011-07-31T13:23:00.000+12:00

I got myself a Kindle the other day. Its one of the reasons I haven't posted in a while. The other one is lack of sleep due to the new baby. Good times.

The promoters will tell you the kindle is just like reading a real book. They are almost right. The secret is in the screen. In a traditional electronic screen is composed of thousands of lights, different combinations of on and off make up the picture. The kindle screen is composed of thousands of dots that can be black or white, each time you turn the page the kindle reorganizes the dots. Readers use an external light source, just like a regular book. Because it only uses power to turn the page the battery lasts ages (but not as long as the advertisements would have you believe). There is a parallax effect, but its barely noticeable after the first couple of pages.

Now for the crunchy bits.

The kindle can hold literally hold thousands of books. Organisation quickly becomes an issue. Amazon could have solved this quite easily using a folder like structure, the one we all understand and love. Instead they developed there own system, which quite frankly does not work. Its lacks the simplicity of scanning a bookshelf. The Kindle itself is difficult to customise in any way. Not as much of a downside as you might think, most of my time is spent reading.

The cost of new eBooks varies widely, there are plenty of free 'classics', there are plenty of 0.99c books, but best sellers are often more expensive then the print version. Somewhere someone is making an extortionate amount of money. It costs almost nothing to create an eBook, after all you have to digitalise everything for the printers in the first place. Based on simple economics its a bad idea, especially when you consider you can't lend the books, or pass them on to a second hand dealer.

I'm not advocating the practice, but does it surprise anyone that you can find pirated versions of all the bestsellers?

There are some big advantages over a traditional book. Turning pages is a breeze. You can read one handed, which is great when rocking a baby on the other arm, you can even leave it reading sitting on a bench. Its small size is also a bonus.

At this stage I'd recommend the kindle. Its managed to keep most of the joys of reading, and eliminate some of the pains. They just need to find a way to duplicate the smell.

Kaylee Violet Gubb

2011-06-16T22:03:00.000+12:00

We had a little baby girl this morning. She is beautiful, a little bit red and squishy, but beautiful all the same. For the ladies she weighs 4310g, that's 9 pound 8, a big little baby. She is feeding well and Mum is recovering.

Big thanks to both Nanas who helped out by taking care of Jade and Dad. Did have to kick them out of the hospital to let the patients sleep, but they were great when everyone was awake.

Jade is still unsure what to make of the new baby. At first she didn't want to get to close, but by bed time tonight Jade was giving Kaylee kisses, so cute to watch. Doesn't mind sharing Mum to much, huge relief to the parents.
The staff at the Taranaki Base Hospital were really good. We knew what was happening, and when. Thanks also to everyone who has offered us congratulations on facebook. I'll put new photos up as they come, the ones already up can be found here.

Tales for Canterbury

2011-06-13T07:15:00.000+12:00

I'll admit it, I've never read a short story outside of high school English class. And you can forget about poetry, the last poem I looked at was an acrostic at primary school, 'mother' down the left side of the page in a card. My mum told me it was brilliant, I still believe her. No, I've stayed strictly puritanical in the world of novels. Beginning to regret that now.
From Saturn's moons to Aladdin's ring to zombie apocalypse, and that's just in the first thirty pages, Tales for Canterbury has impressed me. Alternatly inspiring or distirbing, moving or sad, there are even a few that I didn't get at all, meaning there is something for every taste.

Sure, you can't sink your teeth into a completely new world in a short story. Its strange to read science fiction that doesn't care about physics. But I would highly reccomend Tales for Canterbury.

And now I'm off to try my hand at a short story.

An accountant moment

2011-06-04T15:22:00.001+12:00

One of my bosses at work loves to explain things using funny little jokes. I'm not sure how much it improves understanding, but it got me thinking. We were having an account moment.

Question: What is one and one?

Artist: Someting beautiful
Mathematician: Two
Engineer: Three, I always over design by a factor of fifty percent
Accountant: What would you like it to be?

And from some of my own roles

Student: Will this be on the exam?
Inner editor: What are one and one?
Writer: How did the ones get together? What would happen if they were separated? What if one was a two instead? Just look at the possbilities.
Plant manager: What does your operating procedure say?

And my wife

Graphic designer: Isn't it more about the space behind the ones?
Impressionist: Light, dappling in the shadows
Surrealist: A representation of inner dreams
Expectant mother: Too many days

(Okay, so I don't understand the art references, but that's beside the point.)

So what is one and one for you? I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.

Ahead of myself

2011-05-29T17:30:00.000+12:00

Way, way, way ahead of myself. For the short version click here. For the full story read on.

Last year I completed a kiwiwriters challenge. Write a novella in a month, focusing on word count over quality. It was a nice break from my longer term projects, and strangely liberating not having to worry about plot or internal consistency. The end result was Kazhure Genesis, a semi-epic fantasy tale about a young wizard who's world is threatened by war. Needed a lot of work, but I was quite pleased with it.

It made good sense to let it sit before I started editing it. In the meantime school got busy and baby one came along. The little usb stick didn't really stand a chance. Other projects came and went, we move first into our own home, then back to my parents, then into another city. The stick spent most of the time in an unopened box.

Baby two is due in a couple of weeks. That means unpacking boxes in a mad search for clothes, cloth nappies, blankets, creams and all the other things little people need. In the middle of it all I found a tiny red usb stick, and my novella in exactly the same state I left it.
Now I'm set up to sell the book through createspace. Why createspace instead of a traditional publisher? This one is an experiment. I've read lots about self publishing and print on demand, now its time to see if it works for me. Kazhure is a great one to try it with, because I don't have a huge amount of energy vested in it if it doesn't work.

Setting up the store is getting way ahead of myself. My inner editor is working overtime retrofitting a story arc. My external artist (aka my beautiful wife) wants to give the cover a makeover. It may be some time before publication.

Nevertheless the store is active. Yippee!

Money money money

2011-05-22T18:38:00.001+12:00

For the last few years I've been living off next to nothing. The student allowance in this country is about $160 a week. When you consider that board averages around $100 a week it doesn't leave much left to spend on basics, like food. And you can forget about luxuries like going to the movies. The numbers changed slightly once baby was born, but expenses went up too.

Now I'm finished my degree and working a full time job. My salary is comfortable. Its nice not to worry about money all the time. Sure we still have to keep a budget. But it has a little more wiggle room. Any wiggle room is more wiggle room.

But all of that pales in comparison to the corporate world. One of my roles is a project manager. I wanted some money for an experimental project. Disclosing actual amounts probably violates one of the forms I signed when I started, lets just say it was more then three months of the student allowance.

So I pluck up the courage to ask the capitial coordinator for money. He looks at me blankly. I'm thinking this is bad. I start to back down, remember I'm not even fully convinced this is going to work.

"Chump change," he says.

"What?"

"Chump change. Two grand will barely show up on the radar. And if it doesn't work it doesn't work."

Puts things in a little bit of perspecitve. But that was just the start.

A few weeks later I'm sitting in a training meeting with the global capital coordinater, a pay grade or two above our local coordinater. He's talking about project methodology for small to medium projects. Because I'm completely lost I interupt him.

"So what exactly do you define as a small to medium project?"

"Its done on the basis of cost"

"So ten thousand would be a small project and a medium project might be one hundered thousand?"

I get that same blank stare again. Turns out it doesn't count as a small project till its more then three hundered thousand. Medium cuts in somewhere between seven and ten million dollars.

Thats some perspective for you.

Life experience

2011-05-22T07:39:00.002+12:00

I read an interesting blog article about teenage writers. To sum up: You need life experience to write a story worth reading. Those without experience (ie young people) can write to get practice, but shouldn't try and get it published.

Okay, that's not exactly what the blog said, but the sentiment was there, buried between the lines. Most of the article has good advice. But I want to focus on life experience.

Where do I get experience fighting dragons? Riding dragons? Seeing dragons? Anybody had any practice kissing vampires? How about a serial killer, any volunteers?

My options for writing are starting to get severely limited. Who wants to read about a guy who works a nine to five in front of the desk. Everyone knows how the story ends. He retires to a rest home and his grandchildren feel guilty about not visiting.

Any experience age or life can give I can get. I don't want to read something I can go do. Even if I would have to travel to the other side of the world to do it. Eventually I will experience being old for myself.

Rest assured there are other ways to get inspiration. And they work while you still have all your teeth.

BM out

You can't judge a book by its cover

2011-04-10T07:33:00.000+12:00

But we all do anyway. There are too many books out there to waste time on duds. Have I missed some good books by sticking to these rules? Maybe, but I have read more bad books by ignoring them.

So how do I pick my books?

A dragon on the cover is generally a good start. A guy challenging him with a glowing sword helps to. Cover art is the earliest clue to the genre of the book. Pink turns me off, its a romance novel, but the same thing draws my wife in.

There are other more subtle signs on the cover. Well known authors use almost blank covers, the idea being that everybody knows what they write about. As a general rule the more prominent an authors name the better, I have no idea why this is the case. I like to see 'book on of the xxx series.' I'm not going to pick up book seven of a series without the others, regardless of where the book number is hidden. You can always tell by looking at the list of 'other work by the same authour' usually in the first few pages.

Everything checks out? I turn to the first sentence. The easiest to spot is plain bad writing. The occasional lapse on page two hundred is allowable. But on page one? That means it will also be on page two, three, four... Cliches in the first sentence also make me wary, but clever cliches drag me in. 'He was as dead as a doornail, now why a doornail is more dead then any other nail is beyond me, wouldn't a coffin nail be more dead.' (A Christmas Carol) Not quite the exact wording, but I read the rest of the book, and remember it well.

I need to find some reason to move beyond the first page. I don't want to know every characters detailed history. I don't need to understand intimate details of the plot, or be 'hooked' in the traditional sense. I just need to know that the author is capable of entertaining me. A favorite author gets much more leeway, they have already proved their value.
If the book has made it to this point its pretty safe. But it still has to deliver on its promises. There is nothing I can't stand more then abused suspense. The character gets kidnapped in the opening pages, I'll read the first chapter wanting to find out why. But suspense can only carry a reader so far, at some point questions must be answered.

What about a satisfying ending you say? To be honest I couldn't care less. Once I get to page three hundred and fifty I'm going to read the last bit, regardless. A good ending is like dessert, nice to have, but secondary to the actual meal. That said if any one pulls the 'read the next book to find out what happens' trick I won't be reading the next book.

I'd be interested to find out what things others look for in selecting books to read.
BM out

The important things in life

2011-03-23T18:46:00.001+13:00

Every once in a while something happens to make you stop and reevaluate. Sometimes its big things, like the earthquake in Christchurch, or the tsunami in Japan. Sometimes its the loss of a family member. Sometimes its a accident at work, the 'It could have been me' scenario. And sometimes its just noticing how tall a little girl is. And occasionally all of the above.

I'm not going to go on about spending every day like it was your last. I wouldn't turn up to work if it was my last day on earth. If everyone lived like that it would very soon be our last day.

The things we should do today are more subtle then that. Am I happy on my current path? If I keep going in this direction will I be happy in ten years? In twenty? In fifty? Am I spending the right amount of time doing the things I want to do? The things I would like to do? The things I have to do?

Its no good planning to be happy at some future time. Every moment of our lives is going to have a bad and a good. Plan to be happy today.

For me there was no drastic changes to be made. Just a few small ones. How about you?

Windows 7

2011-03-06T08:18:00.000+13:00

Work just upgraded my computer, way more specy then my home model. Its built on Windows 7. The software seems great, but is taking a while to get used to. Fortunately I'd used ribbons before at uni, so office wasn't too much of a struggle.

Overall Microsoft have tried to make the whole system user friendly. That is a a complete new direction for them. I like it. Sure they have stolen every new idea from someone else, fortunately they have enough money to pull it off.

The new start bar looks surprisingly familar, comes straight from the Mac system, its not as crowded though. Hovering over each button shows a small window displaying the program, very useful when you have seven word documents open at once. Very similar to the tabs in internet explorer, incidently those were stolen from firefox.

The start button is still there, comparatively ugly and not as useful as previous start buttons, the all programs menu now scrolls. Only cosmetic changes to the desktop, still much the same as 3.1.

Windows explorer (my computer or file manager) has gone through an upgrade. Took me about ten minutes to fins out what happend to the up button. Another useless innovation is libraries, the idea is to access all of your files from one place, no matter where they are stored. Basically turns into a huge messy list of files, defeating the whole intended purpose of folders.

I have mixed feelings about hiding the technical stuff. Its great having error messages that my mum could read and understand. But the changes to the file system mean its harder to keep track of where everything is going, especially if you copy programs without installing them. Developer tools, such as the visual basic editor, are also hard to find. On the upside the networking seems to work without much tweaking.

In short I like it. But like any new system it takes getting used too. In a couple of months I'll report if it is as bugfilled as previous software from microsoft...

Waters of Sebus 'published'

2011-02-26T09:24:00.000+13:00

That's right folks. As of right now its going live, right here. Okay, so so far its just an introduction, but it will all be posted over time.

Of all the writing I have ever done the one I took most seriously was Waters of Sebus. I have only ever released short segments from the first chapter, dreaming of one day getting it published. Maybe even quit my day job and become a full time writer.

A friend of mine recently quit his day job to live the dream. He sold a book, as well as options for several sequels. As far as I can see he is enjoying it, but he is the first to admit that finances are tight. But its a worthwhile trade for a lifestyle you love right?

Then I started my job. I enjoy it and can see myself still there in forty years. We have spare money. Its hard to imagine going back.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up my writing. But I no longer look at it as a potential money earner. Its now free and available for anyone to read. Which was what I really wanted when I started anyway.

BM out

Christchurch

2011-02-22T20:22:00.000+13:00

At two thirty I got an email saying that there was another earthquake in christchurch. I thought nothing of it, just another aftershock, they happen all the time.

Wandering through the corridors a large number of people were on there phones. Nobody was saying much, just listening. I overheard a news report, it sounded as if someone had the wrong number, wires crossed somewhere in the system.

At three fifteen I went to a meeting. My boss has his time allocated in fifteen minute blocks throughout the day, he's never late. He was late.

My boss arrived we talked for a few moments. He made a call, one guys was okay, two still unacounted for, a fourth in Nelson. Buildings down. Bodies on the streets. Warehouse okay, workers sent home, more important things to take care of then a few busted containers. Another call interupted the first, missing guys accounted for, still trying to track down families.

I arrived back at my office. There was a message on my phone, from our new land line number. My wife loves being able to call people, I just have to remember to programme it in. The message system is strange, new messages come in through email, you open them and they play through your phone. Her voice is shaken, I know she was having a bad day. Mum had called, my sister had been driving into town around two thirty, I'd forgotten she was on holiday down there. She's okay. Kind of funny really, thought she had a flat tyre and pulled over to the side of the road. Turns out it was a little more serious then that.

Our prayers are with everyone is Christchurch. May God bless those who remain, and speed those who are gone on their way.

Gone off the face of the earth

2011-02-12T10:04:00.000+13:00

Well almost, moved to New Plymouth. We are finally getting the internet. Officially its so I can work from home, I have no problems letting them pay for it, but it also means I can get active in my blog and some forums again.

Job is going well. I working as a chemical engineer. Sad to see the bio bit go, but such are the decisions we make in life. I am doing half of two jobs, but I have two complete bosses. Makes for some interesting times. So far I've managed to avoid being caught in the middle.

Q: So what does a ~~bio~~chemical engineer actually do?
A: Support the running of the plant

Q: What does that mean?
A: The engineer does everything the operators don't have time to do

Q: Best perk?
A: I don't do any of the physical work

BM out

New Plymouth

2011-01-10T14:40:00.000+13:00

Just settling in to our new house in New Plymouth. Got a job as an engineer in one of the factories down here. Its a pretty neat town. Lots of free stuff to do, including a zoo, which Jade loves. The library is massive, haven't yet had time to explore it properly.

If I don't post very frequently for a little while its because I've busy adjusting to honest work.
BM out

Whats the deal with Hemingway?

2010-12-13T11:32:00.000+13:00

Every once in a while I pick up something completely different in a bid to broaden my literary horizons. I step out of my comfort zone, away from the safe shores of epic fantasy. I wade past the shallows of sword and sorcery and science fiction. Sometimes I stop on the shoals of romance, sometimes I go further. Occasionally I am astonished by the oceans wonders.

Most times I end up half drowned and washed up on the shore.

I picked up a collected works of Ernest Hemingway for a few bucks at a fundraiser. I was left disappointed and confused. What on earth am I supposed to be taking from his writing? I couldn't find a plot. There were no grand comments on the state of humanity. No memorable characters. The dialogue was unusual and somewhat clever, it was also mundane to the point of boredom. To put it simply the writing wasn't.

So today I'm taking the unusual step of asking for a guide. Is there anyone who knows these waters and is willing to point out what I was supposed to find?

Otherwise I'll just sit on the shore and wait for the next epic.

Another job interview, another physiometric test (psychometric)

2010-11-26T16:38:00.001+13:00

Thank you for being shortlisted for the position. To help us with our selection process please answer the following question.

Are you a person who:

A) is on time for work
B) likes spending time with friends
C) is physically active
D) likes cats

Please choose the response that is most like you and the one that is least like you.

Now answer a hundred more similar questions.

Your brain should now be completely exhausted. Please complete the following timed reading comprehension test.

That was wonderful. Could you now do this numerical reasoning test. Its timed too, which will make it more demanding then any exam you sat at university. Don't make any mistakes, we won't let you go back and correct your answers.

In three days a psychologist will call you to discuss your results. Thank you for your time.

Star Wars Battle Front II

2010-11-17T11:15:00.001+13:00

Um, yeah, novel got sidelined by a new Xbox game. This is an atempt to produce something useful out of it.

The original battle front was innovative. Instead of being the ultimate hero you were just an ordianary soldier. You join with hundereds of other stormtroopers, clones ect to decide the fate of the universe. Its surprising how much one soldier can do.

Battle Front II remains true to the original game, just adds lots of extras. The coolest new feature is the Jedi. You get to weild lightsabers and the force in deadly combinations. Some maps let you play as other heros, including Bobba Fett and Hans Solo. The Jedi life concept is new, instead of picking up health you gain life by making kills.

Space combat is another great feature. You can't participate in the attack on the death star, or run the blockade of Naboo. But you can get involved in a number of smaller battles. The space combat is initially fun, but quickly gets old. The AI is pretty weak, in all my hours of space combat they never once landed inside my hanger. There are only so many ways to win, once you've done it a couple of times you've done it all.

The single player campain is weak. Battle Front I allowed numerous ways to win each battle, leaving the stratagey up to the player. Battle Front II dictates which command post to take, and in what order. Some great moments as Darth Vader attacking the Jedi temple, and later hunting down Pricess Leia. So while fun the campain loses the versatility that is the games biggest strength.

Conquest mode takes on a whole new level. Originally an after thought in the first game, its now worth playing for its own sake. Strategic placement of fleets can block the enemy progress. Credits won after each battle can be used to unlock other units or bonuses for future battles. Because of the AI weakness in space its an easy win, but great play.

Multiplayer has a cool new 'single flag' mode. Both teams try to move the flag into the middle of the opponents base. Trouble is there is to much 'helpful' text popping up on the screen, every time the flag changes hands. Makes it difficult to actually focus on the battle.

Overall I give it four stars.
BM out

Lessons from NaNoWriMo

2010-11-09T10:37:00.000+13:00

I'm about 7000 words in, way behind target. I still hope to catch up in time to finish. Either way the lessons I've learnt so far are well worth it.

1) Writing 1,667 words a day is no picnic. I have a new admiration for everyone that completes the challenge.
2) Planning is not essential. In fact not planning ahead can add an extra layer of spontaneity. The story is doing things and taking directions that I didn't expect, and its working out well.
3) World building is not essential. At least not to the sword and sorcery I'm writing. I'm not convinced one could pull off an epic without extensive world building. Maybe I'll try that next year.

To top it all off my wife is actually enjoying this novel, going to the point of askign when I'll have another chapter ready for her. Who knows, maybe this could be the one thats worth sending to a publisher. Then I'd really be eating my words.

Not as easy as it sounded

2010-11-02T10:21:00.002+13:00

My 300 words on day one was slightly short. Today I've got to write a lot to catch up. But I'm enjoying the experience. It’s an odd feeling to say 'that sentence doesn't work at all, but who cares'. Nothing is polished or pretty. But it’s there.

In the spirit of NaNaWriMo I decided to do everything this month, including all of the planning and plot. It’s exciting, I literally have no idea what is going to happen next. Normally I know the 'end from the beginning'. Yesterday Zeek and his pals were fighting off hordes of soldiers and a sorcerer. Mouse was trying to pick the lock on a door so they could escape. Today I'll find out what’s behind the door. And tomorrow, who knows?

How is everybody else going?

Good luck
BM out

NaNoWriMo starts Monday

2010-10-29T13:14:00.000+13:00

For those who have never heard of it the goal is to write an entire novel in a month. Sounds big doesn't it? But the rules mean it’s not quite as challenging as it sounds.

First up the word count is only 50,000. That’s equivalent to the smallest a novel can get. About the size of the cheap paper backs one might buy for a plane trip or weekend. An 'ordinary' novel weighs in at over 100,000. Many fantasy epics come in much higher, Lord of the Rings topped 450,000 words.

Second the novel doesn't have to be good. In fact downright awful novels are encouraged. It’s all about pumping out the words, and worrying about the corrections later.

It’s still an accomplishment, but a doable one. This year will be my first time participating. I'm not convinced that the novel will be worth much of anything once it’s done. But I won't knock anything until I've tried it.

Look forward to seeing updates letting you know how its going.
BM out.

Engineering Design Day 2010

2010-10-22T12:17:00.000+13:00

Hi everybody

If it looked like I disappeared for a little while you're right. Tuesday and Wednesday this week were engineering design day. The first day consisted of fifteen minute presentations on our research, the second interviews and posters about our design work. All up the two days were worth about twenty percent of our honours grade. So I was a little busy in the build up.

It was an amazing success, both the event as a whole and for me. Designs presented ranged from floating eco houses to closed circuit dryers to bio plastics (ours). Electric cars to spaghetti makers to fixing the hydro dams. The electronics guys did a whole bunch of weird stuff with lasers. On the research side there was also a huge range. Continuous chromatography (mine) to fat free 'ice cream'. Titanium alloys to meat proteins in bread. And the electronics students with their lasers.

The best thing about design day is that now it’s over. I have one journal article to format and submit. One exam. Then I'm a free man. Till I find a job at least. Anybody looking to hire a graduate biochemical engineer?

BM out

Challange based writing

2010-10-11T13:21:00.000+13:00

Its KiwiWriters.org blogging week. As forums go its pretty small. But its got some pretty awesome resourses for writing in godzone. Being small means don't loose track of everything if you don't log in every fifteen minutes. In fact its easy to catch up on several weeks at a time.

My favorite feature of KiwiWriters is the challanges. I'd seen the idea before, but KiwiWriters elavtes the challange to an art form. There is always something happening. Currently its Blogg week. Last month was all sorts of speculative fiction.

I first stumbled across KiwiWriters from the NaNoWriMo forum. At the time they were just about to start the New Year Novella. The target was 20,000 words. I gave it a go. Its amazing how much motivation seeing everybody elses numbers gives. I was no longer writing to tell the story, I was writing to post a higher number then cowgirlhat and wolfmotaki. Eight Stones came in at just over 18,000. It still needs lots of editing, but stands as my longest completed work.

Next month I'm going to try NaNo. The goal is 50,000. Wish me luck.
BM out

Blogger of the month

2010-10-06T10:39:00.000+13:00

So I log on to one of my regular forums (great places for giving one the feeling of acomplishing things without actually doing anything). I just happen to read the homepage. I never read homepages. But today I did. And guess what, I'm the first ever Kiwi Writer Blogger of the Month.

And if my head wasn't big enough from that I received feedback from a personality test I did for one of my job applications. I hate personality tests. Over a thousand questions on the most random things. And it was all American stuff too. How should I know weather I prefer Washington or Lincoln? I know about them is Washington killed English and Lincoln killed southerners. I don't have any beef with either group, so how am I supposed to choose?

But back to the results:

"You are very bright, intellectually efficient and should make good judgements in decision-making. Your IQ is in the superior range against your peers. You should be quick to learn and are intelligent."

It went on in the same vein for about two pages. Apparently I'm the man. There were a few negatives though:

"You may become a little impatient with others"
"...sometimes you ... get pedantic about things"
"...you could be a little argumentative"

But on the whole I'm an awesome, well rounded person. Aren't I just amazing?

Now’s about the time you point out all my spelling and grammar mistakes, just to bring me back down to earth.

BM out

Off to Wellington

2010-09-22T08:05:00.001+12:00

In about ten minutes I jump on a flight down to Wellington for a job interview. Spent the last couple of days on a case study optimising a ceramics factory for them. Wish me luck, will let everybody know how it went later in the day.

****

So the interveiw went well. Will be getting a call back next week. Also got to spend a couple of hours wandering aound wellington. Its a very pretty city, if a little cold.

What's in a name?

2010-09-20T13:52:00.000+12:00

I've been asked a couple of times why the name BoredMormon.

The story starts a long time ago. Before the days of face book, when only computer nerds had usb sticks and dialup still made you cool. It happened pretty much where I'm sitting now, maybe even the same chair. I'd just started uni, and was very proud of my degree. I went by the screen name of biochemengine, very creative. This is his story.

****

biochemengine spent his time wandering around gaming sites, chatrooms and forums. Essentially anything that promised to kill some time. Google provided lots of interesting diversions. But googling 'mormon' is not for the faint hearted. Hundreds of websites exist solely to attack church doctrine and practice.

For a while biochemengine just listened to what was being said. Occasionally he would participate in discussions. Then someone started a new thread about the Mormon church. 'This is my chance,' he thought and jumped in feet first. There was lots of work to do, correcting misinterpretations, explaining church doctrine and exposing blatant lies. People were learning. He was being a missionary.

'Which ward and stake are you in?'

The question cut biochemengine to the core. What sort of missionary was he, hiding his identity to convert people? Ultimately it was dishonesty, and Mormons don't do dishonest. From that moment biochemengine disappeared. In his place came BoredMormon, vowing never again to hide his true identity. And the work to convert the internet continued.

***

Since then I've served a mission, and came back older and wiser. Now I realise I was wasting my time trying to convert strangers over the internet. But the name remains as a reminder never to hide who I am.

Waters of Sebus

2010-09-17T14:42:00.000+12:00

Its been a long time since I've worked on any of my writing. Between university and Jade I've been kept pretty busy.

To help me get remotivated I've posted the beginning of Waters of Sebus. I hope you enjoy. Feel free to comment on it as well.

BM out

Uncle Dave

2010-09-13T12:31:00.000+12:00

Uncle Dave passed away last night at about ten O'clock. The funeral is being planned for thursday. Family are all doing okay. It was expected, he has been battling cancer for some months now. When he went into hospital about a week ago they told his family he wasn't coming out. We weren't close, but I feel for his family.

Book of mormon for toddlers

2010-09-10T13:19:00.001+12:00

One of the guys in our ward has written this set of books for children. We've got the first one for Jade. She loves them. Great for church.

Was going to be about acrobatics

2010-09-06T12:39:00.004+12:00

Don't get me wrong, watching Mercurio and Aaron try and out do each other with back flips was awesome. Tranquilo gave me some good one-on-one training. Even picked up some good tips for balance and strength from the girls.

But on the way home I got a text from my wife asking if Poppa could come stay with us for a little while. We spent the night helping him to the bathroom and back. Listening to his breathing was scary.

Yesturday Mum took him in to hospital. Today we found out he has pneumonia in one of his lungs. He's still in hospital, but looks like he will be okay for now.

Unfortunately at ninety years old its just a matter of time.

Life on the cutting edge.

2010-09-02T14:52:00.003+12:00

I originally decided to study science to be working on the cutting edge. To play with the latest gadgets and technology. To always be working with something new.

Today I'm living that dream.

My final project to complete my degree is the CRFC. I'm not going to bore you with the details of how it works. Lets just say its job is to purify proteins. My supervisors job is to sell the technology for lots of money. My job is to make it work. Easier said then done.

For the last six weeks I've been playing with various combinations of pumps, valves and flowmeters. First it was to high. Then to low. Then one of the pumps decided to run backwards. I've had so many leaks that the wet floor sign is a permanant fixture next to my chair.

Today I finally started looking at the CRFC itself. Its now been running for four hours. Last time I left it on its own it burst a hose. There is no eating in the lab, so I'm hungry. And there is still no protein.

Next time I'll choose a career that involves gadgets that work.

To my dedicated fans...

2010-08-30T15:07:00.000+12:00

Hello everybody.

A little about me...

I'm a lot of different things for different people. First off I'm a husband to a beautiful wife. Not sure what I'd do without her. Then I am a father to a delightful eleven month old girl.

I'm a mormon (If your a stickler for details then a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints). My current calling is part of the stake clerical team.

In my professional life (who am I kidding, I'm still a poor uni student) I'm a biochemical engineer. Sounds cool, doesn't it? It means I get to play with blood and milk and chicken feathers and other smelly stuff.

I'm a writer. I alternate between high fantasy and mormon fiction. Currently Ammon is stuck in a prision awaiting sentance for killing King Lamoni. I'm looking forward to figuring out his escape.

I also kid myself into believing I'm a capoeirista. Got the bruises to prove it. Who knows, maybe I'll post a video.

Be good
BM out