First, let me freely admit that all that rah-rah bullshit in my last couple of posts about getting back into working on Breezeway has turned out to have been pure gasbaggery. Predictably, work has completely kicked my ass over the last three weeks, with extensive travel and days spent in conference rooms straining my meager faculties. On top of that, I’ve got some personal stuff I’m working through — nothing too serious, but it’s occupying a lot of mental space. I’m not quite ready to discuss it here, but I probably will at some point.
Enough about me, I want to tell you about two of my imaginary friends. I’ve never met either of these guys, so for all I know either or both of them could be a Russian mobster, Paris Hilton, or a dog. Those disturbing possibilities aside, they seem real enough to me — a significant step above the voices in my head, for example — that I’m going to take them at face value. After competing with them all through November for NaNoWriMo word count, frankly, they’d better be real.
In addition, each has recently demonstrated independent third-party verification of their existence. California writer Chad Grayson‘s story “Jadeflower” is part of the recently-released Destination: Future (amazon.com, Barnes & Noble). I got to know Chad through WordPress — either he stumbled across my blog, or I stumbled across his. He’s a great guy, and based on his blog he’s a damn fine writer. Trying to keep up with his NaNo output was both inspiring and frustrating. I’m looking forward to my copy of Destination: Future arriving in the mail.
Canadian writer and podcaster John Mierau has been giving away his genre-crossing short fiction for over a year on his Serving Worlds podcast. I first encountered John on Twitter when he insulted my entire profession, so I immediately started following him there and listening to his podcast. Last week he was the guest interview on Episode 119 of the Dead Robots’ Society podcast (I’ve mentioned DRS before, and again, it’s well worth listening to in its own right), talking about Serving Worlds and his NaNoWriMo novel.
Both of these guys helped me get through NaNoWriMo, and John’s podcast has carried me through many a run and long drive. Their creative output is well worth checking out.
The Unfocused Life 