Writing a Novel – The Blue are coming.

The Blue is first-contact science-fiction. The science will be on the hard side – no warp drives, faster-than-light travel, or universal translators. There will be aliens – blue ones. They’re about five-hundred years ahead of humankind, technology wise.

The fiction could be real. Not just alien tech, but the characters. My world will be populated by believable people doing believable things. They will experience love, loss, happiness, anger, desire, hope, and so much more. I hope you care as much about my characters as I do about writing them.

I’ve got 22,222 words so far across eight complete chapters – and as many incomplete ones. It’s been a real pain in the ass to get here. I’ve made so many mistakes along the way. Why not stick around and watch me make more? I’m sure they’ll be some successes, too. Yet it’s the failures everyone remembers – and they’re usually funnier. When they’re not happening to you, anyway.

I started writing The Blue in 2017. Although “writing” is a subjective term the way I use it. Imagine something like 10% writing and 90% thinking about writing. And a lot of what I wrote was uninformed cringe. Of course I didn’t know it at the time. I thought my prose was the greatest thing since bubble tea. So when I plonked it onto critique sites and got a resounding meh, It did not compute. What was wrong with these people?

So I pretty much stopped writing. I instead wasted oodles of time in the forums getting neck deep in the drama. Writers tend to be dramatic people – even wannabees like me. Especially wannabees like me. I critiqued less and produced almost nothing. Imposter syndrome set in, and I commiserated with writers in the forums. That worked for a while, until I realized everyone else was moving on. So-and-so finished a novel. Some other somebody got published. My posts got fewer and fewer likes as I became more bitter and less relevant.

I was a fucking poser.

Every year I’d go to the autumn craft fair the next town over. I’d walk over to the indie bookseller tables in front of the library to chat up the authors – hoping their muse would hitch a ride on my shoulders. She never did. I was so jealous it ached.

During this period of self flagellation, one of my plot devices literally crashed to the ground. The Arecibo dish in Puerto Rico fell apart due to neglect. Kinda’ like my novel. FML.

In a brief fit of motivation, I purchased a domain and a hosting plan. A good friend pointed me in the right direction. Thanks, Andi 😉 However, I didn’t do a fucking thing with the site. Sometimes I’d click to see if someone had hacked it. Nope… “Hello World” still mocked me.

I joined a new writing site to escape the drama, and my writing improved. I rewrote the cringey stuff and it was better. Yet after a promising start, I fell into previous bad habits. My head wasn’t in a good place, either. I was deeply depressed. Continuing eye problems – and a couple of failed surgeries to correct them – didn’t help my mental state.

The Blue weren’t going anywhere.

I finally started getting my shit together late last year. I outlined my story, edited some chapters, and sketched out a few scenes. I reconfigured my wire shelving into a comfortable writing desk for my 5’ 2” (1.57m) height. I bought a mini desktop (a NUC, actually), a decent monitor, and a new keyboard. I upgraded the ancient version of Scrivener I never used and loaded it onto the new machine. I bought a lava lamp (because every writer needs a lava lamp). Finally, I entered the Litopia writers’ group LiNoWriMo (their version of NaNoWriMo). I was ready.

Then the bullshit started. I had a macula-off retinal detachment. It was so bad the surgeon had to remove my lens to fix it. After a week of face-down positioning and several weeks of eye pain, I recovered enough to begin LiNoWriMo. I’d just gotten started when my retina detached again. Another fucking mac-off. I was depressed and in pain and done with writing for the year.

2025 is going to be different.

I started the new year by creating a Bluesky account. I’ll use it along with Reddit to engage indie authors – because dammit I’m going to be one.

I’ve written a couple of new chapters. I posted one on Litopia, and got good feedback. The other one… needs work.

I did a late beta read for an indie author (was supposed to do it in December, but my eyes suck). King Hunters by Jake Joy is out now. It’s a sequel, so start with The Trouble with Prophecies. I beta read that one, too. Give ’em a try if you appreciate a Terry Pratchett vibe.

I renewed my domain just two days before it went poof. I moved it to a new host on April Fools Day. Dropping the old host was like canceling a gym membership. They really wanted to keep me after the introductory rate ended. I was the perfect customer – the kind who never uses the bandwidth or server space they’ve paid for. I won’t be so perfect with the new host.

I’m already building a website! You’re… um… here, so I guess you know. It’s a work in progress. *kicks empty beer bottle under sofa*

I’ve never done any sort of web development before – can you tell? With some luck, this site will be done and dusted before I finish my novel. Although that’s a pretty low bar.

Finally, I’ve entered the first summer instance of LiNoWriMo. It starts… TODAY.

A new novel, a new website, same ole me. I hope you’ll find this place interesting enough to visit from time to time. I’ll be posting new content on a sort-of regular basis. It won’t be the same place twice – especially if I crash it and have to start over. I really suck at WordPress.

So, yeah… I’m writing a book. It’s going to be awesome. I hope you stick around to see the magic happen.

The Blue are coming. Are you ready?