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Earth-Mine

writing
When I started writing fiction, I didn’t give much thought into linking my short stories together or having them take place in a shared universe. As time went on, I did find myself putting some of them into a few distinct worlds:

“Earth Prime” is our home-sweet-dimension, and given that the majority of my stories involve some combination of furries, super-science, and fantasy, I don’t know that many of them actually take place here. I do have a few sci-fi stories that take place ‘twenty minutes into the future,’ that is, near enough for us to relate to them (I hope!).

“Earth-F” is a parallel version of our world inhabited by furries. These stories tend to be humorous and I like to ‘Hanna-Barbera’ the names in those stories. For example, in a story that took place in a television studio, an older character referred to old-time TV stars such as “Mewcille Ball” and “Droopy Sales.” I know, I know!

On “Earth H-minus” mankind has destroyed itself in what becomes known as the “Final War” and after their intelligence has been increased due to increased mutations, the furries eventually inherit the Earth. One as-yet unpublished story takes places in a period where humans and furries coexist, though not harmoniously. Society is eventually rebuilt by the furries but I haven’t quite hammered out the predator/prey relationship rules yet or if the humans were completely eradicated. Yeah, its not exactly a happy place.

The ‘Enchanted Forest’ stories obviously happen in a fantasy world, but I haven’t done much there (like come up with a clever name) though it has been established that magic does have limits. For now, anyway.

I should probably sit down and figure out just where all my stories fit, because inevitably some reader out there is going to try to ‘connect the dots’ and completely screw it up. Well, assuming I haven’t already! 😀

Click here if you’d like to read some of those stories!

TECH, Uncategorized, WORDS, Writing

Feels Trip

writing I consider myself an entertainer, and I write partially out of the hope of bringing a brief moment of happiness into someone’s life. If I can put a smile on someone’s face, then I consider that a win. Unfortunately, since the overwhelming majority of what I do is online, and I’m just getting started, feedback can be hard to come by and so I never get to see those chuckles, smiles, or groans (at the puns, I hope). I suppose it’s one of the downsides of publishing in the digital world, though I am working on attending more conventions so I can “press the flesh,” as it were.

Thus, when feedback does come along, I feel good because it means someone is reading, even if they didn’t like what they read. If I get positive feedback, then I have a ‘YOU LIKE ME YOU REALLY LIKE ME’ moment. While I do know that people are buying my work based on sales reports, actually hearing from readers always give me the warm fuzzies.

Writing makes me feel good, which makes others feel good, who tell me, which makes me feel gooder and want to write more! Its a happy cycle! 😀

Books, Nine to Five Lives, The Rules of Tech Support, Uncategorized, Writing

More Than Words

writing I have two projects that I haven’t been looking forward to working on, but carry on I must. The first is a fiction story that involves the death of a character and the second is the follow-up to “The Rules of Tech Support.”

The reason I haven’t been looking forward to working on those projects is that working on stories that hit a little too close to home or that are sad can have an effect on me. It may have happened before without my noticing it, but while working on a short story named “The Best Job In The World” for “Nine To Five Lives,” I noticed that I began feeling increasingly angsty at work. I was even more angry and bitter than usual and it wasn’t until I finished the first draft of the story that I got over it.

I talked to a psychologist friend about it after the fact. I asked him: if reading fiction affects people in some way, wouldn’t writing it have an effect on those that write it as well? He agreed, saying that something similar had happened to him when he was writing.

In all honesty, I think I am going to have a harder time writing the second tech support book. While I can easily disconnect myself from a fictional character, I live tech support forty hours a week, which means I can probably look forward to being full of piss and vinegar for the next few weeks. I could stop writing about work, but the insanity that the general public brings to the table is too rich of a vein of material to ignore. I guess I’m stuck!

Con Fluff 2, FURRY, JUST SAYING, Uncategorized, WORDS, Writing

Second Lives

A real stinker

As a creator, you never know how your works are going to be received. Things done on just a whim can become your Next Big Thing while your Magnum Opus sits next to it unloved despite all of the blood, sweat and tears that have been (metaphorically, I hope) poured into it. You release your art into the wild and it’s up to John and Jane Q. Public to sort it all out.

In the same way that ‘stories write themselves,’ characters can take on a life of their own. “Chris the Watchfur” was intended to be a one-off character in a conbook story titled “The Tell-Tale Tie,” which can be found in the upcoming Con Fluff 2. The story and character were inspired by my friend Chris Holm, who took it upon himself to draw the character. A friend also drew the Watchfur as part of an artist Secret Santa, and when I later needed a villain for another conbook story, he made yet another appearance, this time as a supervillian with time-based superpowers. Oddly enough, other characters I have written for the explicit purpose of writing a series of stories with them have not managed to escape the confines of their first story.

Not bad for a one-off character, and a crook, no less!

Apple, CAMPING, Computers, CONS, Microsoft, RANDOMIZER9.COM, Uncategorized, Writing

I Wish I Knew How To Quit You, Laptop!

technology2 I have a trip planned for this weekend (to Furry Fiesta) and as I begin to pack, I ask myself the same question that I do every trip:

Do I bring my laptop along for the ride?

I have a smartphone and a tablet and while they both do a decent enough job at keeping me connected to my precious data out in the cloud, I always find myself going back to Ye Olde Laptop. I always need to have it with me whether I’m going to visit my folks or I’m at a convention or yes, even camping.

The most obvious advantage to the laptop over mobile devices is the screen size. My smartphone has a 4-inch screen and I have no desire to get a huge phone (or ‘phablet’ as self-important tech writers call them). The iPad mini is okay at 7.9 inches, but even then, a good chuck of that gets eaten away by the on-screen keyboard, and I have no desire to upgrade to a full-sized iPad or fork out a c-note for a decent keyboard accessory. Speaking of keyboards…

The second obvious advantage of a laptop is the presence of a full-sized keyboard. More importantly, especially to me, as a writer, the laptop keyboard actually has all of the keys. I’ll never forget how flabbergasted I was when I was merrily typing away on my iPad mini’s Microsoft Office program and discovered that there was NO TAB KEY. WHAT. THE. FRAK.

Speaking of ‘having everything,’ the most important benefit of having a laptop is that it has Windows. While iOS and Windows Phone can do lots of stuff, neither one can do everything. Even the Microsoft Office app on Windows Phone feels kind of half-assed (no tab key there, either *sob*) so if I need to do Serious Things I need to have Windows.

Finally, for all my tech knowledge and willingness to try new technologies, I tend to stick to old habits to a certain degree. I still use a desktop, rarely watch video on mobile devices, prefer to get media on physical discs and still have a checkbook. Based on that, it looks as if I’m stuck lugging around my old faithful 14″ Toshiba for the near future.

Or maybe not, I see there are Windows 8.1 tablets out now. Hmm… 😉

BUSINESS, Microsoft, RANDOM REVIEW, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, Uncategorized, Writing

RANDOM REVIEW: Nokia Lumia 520 / Windows Phone 8

My God, its full of squares!

THERE AND BACK AGAIN

It was only a matter of time before I cracked and ended my ‘dumbphone’ experiment. But what to get next? I had already owned two Android phones in the past, both of which became progressively crappier as they got older, so Android was a no-go. I have no desire to own an iPhone, despite owning an iPad mini that I am happy with. Thus, I thought I would give the ‘other’ mobile OS a try: Windows Phone. I went to Ye Olde Electronics Store, picked up a Nokia Lumia 520 AT&T GoPhone, signed up for a $60 a month unlimited talk/text plan with 2GB of data, and hoped for the best.

This is actually my second exposure to a Microsoft mobile operating system. My first smartphone was a T-Mobile Dash (aka HTC Excalibur) back in the dark days of Windows Mobile 6. While it was not a bad device, Windows Mobile 6 was an odd duck and I switched from it to Android once I had the chance. So, I’m back to where I started, as far as smartphones go.

This review is based on my having owned the phone for three weeks, with my last phone being an Acatel 871A.

HARDWARE

In terms of hardware, the Lumia 520 is basic: a 4-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 800×480, a 5MP camera on the back with no flash, and WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. On the top left is a standard 3.5″ headphone jack, on the bottom center is a micro-USB charge/transfer port, and volume/power/camera buttons adorn the right side of the unit. Back, Start and Search buttons sit below the screen. (Side note: I really wish Search buttons on phones would go away, bring back the Menu button!) The phone uses a micro-SIM, and comes with 8GB of built-in memory that can be expanded using a microSD card. I like having the power button on the right center, though it took just a little bit of getting used to. The back has a rubbery finish, which I actually prefer, and I believe the screen is glass. The phone is solid without feeling too cheap. The only thing missing in terms of hardware is a front-facing camera and a status LED of some sort: my last phone (Motorola Photon) had a status LED which enabled me to quickly look at it and identify what the last notification was or charge status by its color.

Call quality has been good and I was able to successfully sync the phone with my vehicle via Bluetooth for hands-free operation. The phone’s speaker is quite loud; I don’t believe I have missed any calls yet for not being able to hear the ringtone, a problem I have had with other phones in the past.

I do have a few gripes with the hardware, the screen seems to love finger oils and gets dirty very quickly, so much so that I’m considering investing in a screen protector. While Nokia and Microsoft like to tout the Lumias’ super-sensitive screen, it is a bit too sensitive for me, but it can be adjusted. This is my first exposure to AT&T’s LTE service, and while its speeds have not been as awesome as I have become accustomed to on my Verizon iPad mini it is fast enough to do what I need and even video has worked well.

WINDOWS PHONE

I’m sure many of you reflexively said ‘WINDOWS, EWW,” upon reading the title of this post, but I like Windows, and thank you for continuing to read. I have used Windows for years, it lets me do whatever I want to with it, and I know how to burrow into it and get my hands dirty if need be. Sure, Windows 8 does leave a bit to be desired, but I’ll take even that over OS X or Linux any day. While Windows is a great big negative for many people, (especially in the mobile world) it is a plus for me.

So, Windows Phone, then. The biggest difference between Windows Phone and its competition is the Start Screen and its use of ‘live tiles,’ instead of icons. Live Tiles display information in real-time, such as the number of emails you have waiting or random pictures of folks in the People tile. The system is pretty flexible in terms of letting you arrange them. One of the first things I did was remove of most of them, particularly the AT&T apps, most of which require monthly fees. I guess $60 a month isn’t enough.

Unlike Android and iOS, which arrange their home screens horizontally, Windows Phone does things vertically: instead of swiping right and left, you swipe up and down to navigate the Start Screen. Swiping from right to left pulls over a full list of apps ordered alphabetically, and tapping a letter in a list brings up a screen with the alphabet so you can quickly find things. I like the Modern/Metro user interface; one thing that I greatly appreciate is that text is actually readable. One beef I’ve had with previous smartphones is how darn tiny text is often displayed, so having big letters I can easily read is great.

Raccoons are people too!

While there is a minor learning curve with Windows Phone, the biggest adjustment I had to make is that Windows Phone does not have a ‘phonebook’ or ‘contacts’ app. Instead, your contacts are stored in an app named ‘People’ that can be synced to include your contacts from Facebook, Google, Hotmail or even Twitter. The integration with other services and social media websites is very impressive: When you pull up a person’s information in the People app you can see their latest status update and in addition to the usual ‘call’ and ‘send text’ options you can send emails, post to their Facebook walls, or even mention them on Twitter. Windows Phone does its best to sync your contacts with social media profiles, if it doesn’t catch one, you can actually specify which profile to match up to a contact. Very nice!

Another thing that has impressed me about Windows Phone is how quickly push notifications come: I will be chatting with a friend on Facebook on another device and my phone will beep within seconds of receiving a chat reply. It becomes mildly annoying but is a small price to pay for expediency.

One of the problems I had with Android phones is the lack of system updates: unless you buy a Google-branded phone or a super-pricey one you could expect one or maybe two updates at best, then either the manufacturer calls it a day or the carrier decides to be a jerk and not push any new updates through in the hope you’ll get a new phone. One thing I quickly noticed about Windows Phone is that I could not specify a custom ringtone for app notifications or e-mails. I did a little research and learned that Microsoft had pushed out an update that fixed the problem. I checked for updates, but none were to be found. Crap. Time will tell if that will change, but for now custom notification sounds are a no-go (you can assign specific ringtones to people, though). This is an annoyance, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to survive without my phone telling me “You’ve Got F-ing Mail.” 😉

APPS

And now we get to the elephant in the room: Apps. You may have heard that the Windows Store does not have as many apps as the other guys and yes, that is very true. I myself use very few apps (which made it easier to stop using a smartphone in the first place) but even then, there are some notable ones missing, such as Dropbox. Dropbox is a pretty significant omission, but Microsoft is more than happy to provide built-in SkyDrive support as well as a Microsoft Office app.

I like that there is an official genuine Office app included, even if it is a bit stripped down. Microsoft Office alternatives, in my experience, have ranged from ‘pretty good’ to ‘ick.’ So while it is a bit inconvenient to have to migrate my stuff over to SkyDrive from Dropbox, I think it will be worth it in the long run. If you are considering making the jump to Windows Phone and you are an app junkie, it would definitely behoove you to double-check and make sure your favorites are available on Windows Phone. The included apps do their jobs well, but the included HERE Drive + navigation app did get a little squirrelly during a recent trip.

The 520 is responsive, though I will occasionally see a “Resuming…” screen for a few seconds when switching from app to app (Quick tip: holding the ‘Back’ key brings up your currently open apps) but otherwise the phone performs well. I should note that I do not play games on my phone so I can’t vouch for its performance there.

CONCLUSION

I have been happy with my Nokia Lumia 520 and Windows Phone thus far. There was a bit of a learning curve involved with Windows Phone but now that I know my way around, it is a pleasure to use. While there are a few minor annoyances, my overall experience with the 520 has been positive. The Nokia Lumia 520 is a basic, but quality device that is priced right at $100. That it is a no-contract phone is icing on the cake; unless you are constantly streaming music and/or video, 2GB is enough data for most people.

That said, Windows Phone is not for everybody. If you like customizing your phone, get an Android. If you are highly invested in Apple’s ecosystem or have an iOS device that you already love, get an iPhone. If you are new to smartphones, actually like Microsoft and their services (Hotmail, SkyDrive, etc) I say that Windows Phone is definitely worth a try.

Nokia Lumia 520 gets 4 out of 5 Live Tiles.

The author received no compensation for this review.

Books, BUSINESS, Con Fluff 1, CONS, CREATIVE, FOOD, FURRY, HOUSE, JUST SAYING, RANDOM REVIEW, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH SUPPORT, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Writing

RANDOM REVIEW: 2013 A.D.

2013 As the final hours of the year tick away, I have to say that 2013 was a really good one for me.

After years of dealing with apartments and all that malarkey, I broke down and bought a house. Home ownership has been pretty awesome so far: I went from one-bedroom apartments to a two-bedroom house with a garage and a huge backyard and rabbits and I can barbeque and have friends over and I love it. Given the age of the house, home repairs and replacing things will eventually come but for now its been smooth sailing.

On the e-book front, I decided to try to sell printed copies of my work at a few conventions and events and failed spectacularly, at least from a business standpoint. I can count my total sales on my hands. People just don’t read much anymore, or at least not the types of folks that go to anime or furry conventions. On the plus side, I did get to talk to lots of folks, present some panels and if nothing else, hopefully inspire some folks to ‘go it alone’ themselves. I only published one new e-book (should have been two, but life and all that) and definitely need to up my output next year.

2013 was a fun year of conventions, camping, writing, video games, furries, cookies, home maintenance and most importantly, friends and family. I am optimistic that 2014 will be even better; my goal is to compete at least two story collections as well as the follow-up to “The Rules of Tech Support,” which is my best-seller so far. I am also hoping to attend some new conventions, make new friends, and well, get some work done on the house. So without any further ado:

MISSION START!

Books, BUSINESS, CAMPING, CONS, COOKING, CREATIVE, FOOD, FURRY, JUST SAYING, Oklacon, RANDOM STOPS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Writing

51 Things I Noticed at Oklacon 11

oklaconlogo This year marked my second Oklacon, and I did a much better job of keeping up my usual list despite, or maybe because I kept it on old-fashioned paper!

Fursuit parts are apparently very good for keeping yourself warm.
This is a great con for attention whores: Just yell or talk very loudly and EVERYONE on the campsite can hear you.
Anyone playing the guitar at 7AM should be shot or at least kicked in the nards.
I’m thinking that its about time to retire my old Sears Hillary tent. 😦
I was happy I could get a signal on my Verizon iPad in nearby Watonga, OK, but then I got to the campsite annnd its gone!
Even instant cappuccino tastes great when you’ve been sleeping in 30-degree weather.
I’m not sure which is bothering me more: not wearing my university ring or not having a comb in my pocket.
Someday Dr. Nuka will tire of my ‘What’s up Doc?’ greeting and get all sciencey on my tail.
Somehow ‘All My Exes Live In Texas’ got stuck in my head.
They should probably make sure the participants are able to play volleyball out of suit first.
Plastic hammer + heavy metal stakes = FAIL
I was a bit overdue for a shave on Thursday but the cold is keeping me from doing so.
Good idea: Putting QR codes on my dealer’s table sign. Almost Good Idea: Putting QR codes on my dealer’s table sign at a con where cell reception sucks.
Maybe its just me, other folks seem to be doing just fine. Just what I need: another reason to dump Sprint.
I learned today that Canada apparently has its own version of Texas called Alberta. The thought that each country in the world may have its own ‘Texas’ might explain a lot…and fills me with fear.
One of the researchers was having problems with her camera and was getting frustrated, I had to quip: “This is the part where they usually call me at work.”
Even though I’m not at work, my tail was still dragging at about 4PM…should have had that second cup of coffee!
The collective rolling of eyes could almost be heard whenever someone insisted they were the only one in the furry fandom whose fursona was an X.
Best money I’ve spent recently: $15 for a small stool for sitting in the tent; its a little snug in the forbidden zone, but otherwise worked well.
Its funny how the lack of data turned my smartphone into a glorified watch…and a phone.
I only posted once to social media all weekend and haven’t missed it. It feels good to be talking to people that are actually sane.
The rain snuck up on us Friday night but surprisingly nothing got into the tent…there but for the grace of God go I.
Unlike last year, the bathrooms were kept up and I even contributed by plunging a few times and even fixing a toilet, nice to put that homeowner skill to use.
I should have been annoyed by Reville being played at 9am, but instead I found it amusing…because I was already awake.
My writing panel went well, four people showed up!
Hot dogs? At a furry con? Say it ain’t so!
My laptop is a battery…a big, frakking, heavy battery.
The zipper on my tent was misbehaving and the first thing that came to mind was ‘MY KINGDOM FOR SOME DUCT TAPE!’
Things I forgot to bring: wet naps, duct tape, mayonnaise and once again, a roll of toilet paper.
I could only not shave for so long, Saturday night the face fuzz was gone.
I might need to switch to Mountain Dew from coffee, the Dew seemed to keep Nuka going.
He graciously gave me one of his, and I gave him some of my cough drops, balance of the universe and all that.
Yeah, it was great to hear my dealer-neighbors bicker back and forth like an old married couple…which they probably were.
Furries apparently really hate sports, which is yet another way I stick out in that club in addition to being straight and over 30.
From the ‘clever idea’ department: Previous year’s con shirts: $12 for 1 or $10 for 2
Hearing the rules for ‘Predator and Prey’ made me think of ‘Calvinball.’
When in Rome: I got mustard on my camera’s strap during lunch and my first instinct was to try to suck/gnaw it off.
Part of me want to either stay in a tent alone or get an A-frame bunk next year…hmm.
f I had known coffee cups/mugs were going to be sold at the auction I would have been there in a shot.
I wonder what the organizer thought when I gave him my tax form that said “Sales: $4”
A guy nearby needed help tearing down his ‘insta-tent.’ I knew there was a reason I didn’t like those things.
Well, that and they cost twice as frakking much.
Very thankful to have a second person in the car on the drive home, I probably would have had to stop for sleep otherwise.
Saw so many Braum’s burger/ice cream/grocery joints on the drive up/back that we had to stop at one on the way home. Quite good! Still haven’t been to Waffle House.
Put over 1,100 miles on the Excelsior the whole trip and used up just over two and a half tankfuls of gas.
Flying J has REALLY good coffee. That, or drinking instant coffee at work for so long has ruined my taste buds.
We encountered absolutely zero traffic problems on I-35 from Oklahoma City all the way down UNTIL we hit San Antonio and spent 25 frakking minutes going the last 5 miles home…REALLY, SAN ANTONIO?
Good Idea: Empty fridge beforehand so no food goes bad during the drip. Problem: No food in fridge to eat upon return.
While I only sold 2 storybooks during the weekend, it was still 2 more than I sold during Furry Fiesta. *shrug*
Thank you, Sharon.
I can’t wait to do it again!

Books, BUSINESS, Con Fluff 1, CREATIVE, FlipSide Stories, FURRY, JUST SAYING, One Sheet Stories, RANDOMIZER9.COM, Seven Super-Short Sci-Fi Stories, Tablets, TECH, The Rules of Tech Support, Uncategorized, WORDS, Writing

The Long and Winding Words

writingbear

My last e-book “Con Fluff 1: 2012 Furry Convention Short Story Collection” was released seven months ago, and as the 2013 edition won’t be ready for a few months at the minimum, I feel the need to get another e-book out into the wild. My (virtual) stack of unpublished short stories has been growing and I’m pretty sure that I have enough of them to assemble another e-book.

Since my stories are very short, I have to round up a few in order to assemble a collection of decent length. One early lesson I learned in my Adventures in Self-Publishing is that five stories was not enough content for 99 cents, as evidenced by the thud that ‘One Sheet Stories’ and ‘FlipSide Stories’ made in their respective marketplaces. Luckily, people are buying the longer collections I’ve produced since so I think I’ve figured out how much stuff is enough.

The stories themselves are another matter, though. The longest anything I’ve ever written was about 12 pages. It also took me a little while to get over my habit of keeping stories about a page long due to printing constraints back in the First Storm Manga days. Even when I have a hard limit to work with, I try not to think about length, but even then I’m pretty sure that the thought of ‘is it long enough’ rattles around somewhere in my subconscious.

I don’t know that I have a Great American Novel in me but I’d like to write one eventually. Time will tell!

Books, Con Fluff 1, CONS, CREATIVE, RANDOMIZER9.COM, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Writing

Everybody Dies…Or Not!

writingbear Whenever I write a short story with the intention of submitting it to a conbook, I have a tendency to want to write a happy or silly story. I’m not sure why, though it may have something to do with the overall fun atmosphere that I see at conventions. Nearly every large gathering of nerds that I have been to have been joyous experiences, regardless of the flavor of nerds that are present.

Unfortunately, “stories write themselves,” so that happy story might turn into one that is not-so-happy because I had some bad Mexican food or something. When this happens, I will end up either rewriting the story to make it ‘happy’ or shelve it completely in favor of a happy one. I have even had a few instances where I ended up with TWO stories that diverge at a certain point and at othertimes I’m satisfied with the happy story and abandon the other one.

I just feel odd sending a story that doesn’t end with a happy ending or a punchline into such a happy place. I should probably get over it. After all, I don’t think anybody actually reads conbook stories at the con because they’re too busy having fun!

Eduardo Soliz

IT Guy, short story author, podcaster, and furry!

Category Archives: Writing