Hi-ho, back again. Several months later, but hey, better late than never.

And now I'm sitting here trying to figure out what to say. Original, izznit? Never said I was. Then again, is there really anything original on this mudball anymore? I think not! We don't create anymore, we just rearrange. The trick is to rearrange in novel ways.

Well, mundanity first. I got into writing Stargate SG-1 fan-fic some few months ago, and much to my surprise my first story was nominated for an SG-1 Fan Award. The voting is taking place now, and the announcements will be made in August as to who won. Go here http://www.sg1-awards.com/main.shtml to check it out. The story in question is called "Wings of Icarus". I have since written three more, two short and one long. Just finished the long one, matter of fact, last Saturday. Go here http://www.area52hkh.net/authors.php to Area 52 to read the stories in question. Scroll down until you see "Tilt".

On to further matters. I can't say there have been much in the way of "further matters" the last few months. I've been busy writing SG-1 fan-fic. I started trying to write my third book but it just didn't work. Parts did work. But as a whole, no. So I let it go. I've learned that it does no good to try to force myself to work on things. If the spark ain't there, it ain't there. I just have to go where the spirit moves me.

I have, however, given serious thought to the ideas I have saved in my "Projects" folder -- thoughts that I've had and jotted down to keep for later. If I could stuff one or two of these into something 20K words or less I could try to submit them to Analog or Asimov's or something. It's just I have a hard time making my brain do things this small. Geez, I spend all this time learning to pack in all the descriptions and now I gotta learn how to condense it all down. Squeeze it much further and we'll be talking event horizons and singularities. How are you supposed to fit a decent plot into 20,000 words?

I've come to realize how important my writing is to me. This IS my life, no matter what I'm doing. I could be happy writing fan-fic for the rest of my life. It wouldn't matter, because it's the creating that's the draw for me. That's what I love and live for. I know that any "relationships" I have with other people will probably make me resentful in short order because being involved with someone would take time from my writing. I don't want to give my writing up for something that's probably doomed from the start. No one has ever really understood this whole writing thing with me. The only people who could possibly understand are other writers. They're not exactly thick on the ground, so... Why set myself up for failure?

Not that I don't regret it. I do. I'm just being honest with myself. It's either my writing or a relationship. I can't have both and do justice to either. So writing it is.

Not that I have any opportunities for the other, but hey, best to have these things worked out beforehand.

Will get to the really interesting stuff tomorrow.