The Jedi Master

Well, I feel like I published a book. I can't speak for anyone else. For me, I see it as an intermediate step. The books look just like any other paperback, they've got barcodes and ISBNs. I've sold a few copies to people I don't know, but I've done zero advertising so far. I just setup my website. I think my next step will be to have some author events at local libraries, talk with local bookstores about carrying copies. I get a certain satisfaction from knowing my books are available, and that's good enough. Earning some money is just an extra incentive.

Anyone else use createspace.com, a resource for self-publishing offered by amazon? It's a neat site, print-on-demand so there's virtually no up-front cost to get your title out there. It lists on amazon automatically and you can format your title for the kindle as well. I've published three titles so far and am working on marketing right now (I just purchase a website, Paper Street Press through godaddy) as well as completing more books. I've sold a few copies without even really putting any effort into getting my name out there. It's cool even if you just want copies for yourself, family, etc. A nice way to get started for us wanna-be authors, at least.

Thanks a lot, guys! Sorry it's taken me so long to respond, been busy with finals and all that jazz. I'm hoping to get some more written now that I'm done with school, but in all honesty I haven't written another word of this yet. He is not. You'll recall from the first post that he's been growing fond of the counter girl for some time.

I rarely outline any of my writing, but I commonly have all kinds of miscellaneous notes. My notes are never in a computer file, though, and are never organized: I save the manuscript in a file but if I have notes for it (random lines, quotes, plot devices, maps, etc.) I actually write them down on a sheet of paper. This may be because I tend to write most of my stuff longhand before converting it to a computer file, at least initially.

Okay, a little later than I said it would be, but I've been a little busy lately. Enjoy! ((Warning: more adult language)) ----------------------------------- Fast forward a week. I'd been drowning my sorrows more heavily than usual since my talk with Scarlette. Fortunately work and school prevented me from taking it to too much of an extreme, but I pushed as close to the edge as I could. Even still, she was on my mind and I was more depressed than I had been in a long time. It was New Year's Eve. The only person I considered a true friend (and my sole racquetball partner), Tom, insisted that we go out drinking. I wasn't particularly up for it (the ”œout”

Haha...excellent.

Ami: Write a short story about a depressed, alcoholic astromech droid that's in love with a trash can. I'll take a TRUTH.

I'm not so much talking about steampunk, just stories set in Victorian times. As I understand it, steampunk involves fictious, anachronistic steam-powered technology. I was referring to historical fiction. As far as creating worlds, I wrote a few stories a while back that take place in the 23rd century and involved a group of fugitives traveling across the galaxy to a hidden, privately owned world. Along the way they visited places in the Solar System (floating cities above Jupiter, an outpost on Pluto) and then some worlds that I just made up. There was definitely some Star Wars influence in terms of technology, but it was kind of combined with our current technology. More recently, I created a world that I called Erither and modeled its cultures after real ones: pretty much every major culture was represented at one point or another, and I expanded the history of this world over 1400 years. The most prominent cultures were modeled after European or American models: the dominant Echinian Empire parallels Rome and, later, Britain, and a former colony of Echinia, Errland, develops much like the United States. The Lobia continent is modeled after Africa, with a history of colonization and turmoil. Anyway, I could go on but I think you get the idea. Erither's history loosely parallels ours.

Indeed, the long narrative poem I posted is about this same girl. Everything happening in this story, however (save for the references to Peru), occured after that poem. I haven't written much more yet, but I'm hoping to soon.

The historical fiction I've written has tended to take place at the turn of the century (i.e., around 1900), typically anywhere between the 1880s and WWI. I find it to be a fascinating time, quaint by today's standards but somehow more sophisticated (maybe it's the Victorian clothing?). I would love to have lived back then, so often I'll implant a character based on myself into an historical situation, like the Spanish-American War.

Thanks a lot, guys! I've written a little more, and I'm hoping to finish the next little section in the coming days, so stay tuned. I definitely want to get back into writing prose and this story is coming relatively easily to me.

A little semi-autobiographical piece I started in some free time between class the other day. I say "semi" because it's not 100% accurate: names are changed, and a couple of details as well. This is only the very beginning, not sure if/when I'll write more, but I figured I'd post what I've got and see what you guys think. I haven't written anything besides poetry in a while, so I may be a little rusty. Any feedback is appreciated. ((Warning: some adult language)) --------------------------- The ball was rebounding back to me. It grew bigger as the walls receded: soon it was all I could see. Swing! I obeyed my own command as the head of my racquet made contact with the ball and sent it back from whence it came. But in an instant it was already barreling towards me again. Z-shot! My command was heeded just as before. Wait, I realized as the ball sped away from me, I'm by myself. There's no reason for a z-shot. Sadly, that realization could have helped me to not abruptly end my racquetball practice. When the ball hit the wall, it bounced erratically and proved impossible for me to return. That's the point of the z-shot, which is all well and good when you're playing an opponent, but kind of sucks when you're by yourself. ”œWell damn it,”

The only real fanfics I ever wrote were some Aayla Secura short stories and that unfinished Kyle Katarn one. So, obviously, they relied heavily on non-film sources. However, I tried to keep to "higher" canon with the Katarn story, i.e. the NJO books and Jedi Knight video games, without mentioning things from lower canon, like kids books or comics. I do remember trying my hand at a post-NJO novel-length trilogy fanfic regarding a lost order of Dark Jedi, which relied heavily on OT characters (Luke, Leia, and Han, obviously) and also pulled a lot from things that happened in established EU-canon, like the Thrawn trilogy and NJO books. However, it never really took off.

Well written! I think anyone from up north can relate to the good and bad aspects of snow.

Ami: Thank you! It was a difficult form to write in; the penultimate stanza especially, because it has to conform to the first stanza so that the final one will make sense. However, I can say in all honesty that I knocked this one out in about 20 minutes. I usually write free-style as well, but like I said, sometimes I like to try my hand at different forms just to shake things up a bit. You should give it a try. Tiana: Give it a try!