You might me recall, all three of my readers, that for a short while I had another book out and even that I was posting the chapters of another here.  You would recall correctly.   This brings up a kind of funny tale.  Well not really that funny.  Just one where I brain farted in the case of the former and changed my mind for the latter.  For my memoirs I had up on Amazon for a hot minute, I had forgotten that I submitted it to a contest in February, so I took that down.  Who knows I might win said contest. I am sure I won’t, the version I sent was not the best.

The Emporium of Awesome that I had been posting needs work, I know it was first draft that all of you were getting.  Then I realized that I didn’t like the ending, in truth I never did.  I just tossed it in there to finish the damn thing.  I thought it was taking too long to get through with it and I was having a hard time crafting a good stopping point, so I just did one.

Having time to think about it though and re-evaluate the book I think I have one I like much better, that being said I may have to go back through the book to make it work the way I want.  I’m not sure, I actually have to go back and reread it.  Once that is done and the new ending it written, then I might bring it all back out. There is always the case of revisions then as well.

It can get sloppy when you have to go back and rewrite whole sections.  It’s one thing is an agent, editor, or yourself do it for the improvement of the story.  But I have to do it in this case just to be happy with the first draft.  Not as good a feeling IMO.  Whatever, it must be done.

On the plus side I think I might be able to integrate it into another book I wrote as a kind of prequel….  Ooooooo, do i smell another trilogy?  Maybe, which is fine because the one I was working on I could only think of enough material to do two stories, now I have three.  It’s weird how these things work out. But who cares in the end, as long as the tale i tell is solid.

Enough for today though.  Have a nice day.

So I finally have a “degree” in writing.  Will that help my overall ability to craft an effective narrative?  Who knows.  All I know is that after sitting through the ceremony I have no inclination to do that again.  All the speakers and trimmings that go with that dog and pony show remind me of change of command ceremonies.

I am not knocking it in an overall context, I get why they are the way they are, but it isn’t for me anymore.  I felt no real sense of pride or anything because of it.  I felt better the last day of class knowing that I had completed something for personal reasons.  It’s kind of hard to explain.  It seems I enjoy the work more than the ceremony attached to it.

I guess it was more to see the people I had gone to school with one more time than to actually partake in “tradition”.  I believe if I had actually gotten my diploma at the time I might have felt a little better, but we got an I.O.U. and will get the actual thing in a month or so.

In my opinion things like this are just to stroke the ego of the people in charge and for them to invite their friends and to give out honorary degrees and recognition.  I mean My first college graduation was better because it was more intimate and catered to the students.  In this one it seemed to be more tailored to those in charge and we, as pupils, were just there.

It was an absolute fleecing in presentation. Every turn seemed to be a marketing thing.  We HAD to fill out photo forms, even if we had no intention of getting them.  The DVD is available as well.  Not to mention all the the Alumni memorabilia.  Now just toss in all the institutional propaganda and you have a winner.

Is this all bad?  Probably not.  And for kids just getting their first degrees I am sure it was exciting, like it was my first time or two.  But for me it was just over two hours of boredom listening to people I didn’t know and who had little to do with the actual school, I know I didn’t have all the professors etc, therefore there would be some people I didn’t know.

I guess just being a cynic and someone who has been in the world longer than most of my “peers” have been alive has a different view of things.  Not to mention all of the “You will change the world” rhetoric was just mind numbing and made me laugh a little.  I just wanted to learn to write better.  In that area I think I got what I wanted, though it was a pain in the ass to achieve, and not because of the work.

That is a whole fun adventure.  I started school and was actually enjoying it, but because I am that 1 in 100 case or weird, those in charge couldn’t seem to do anything and the conflicting information I kept getting throughout my first semester put a bad taste in my mouth.  The classes were easy and in most cases fun, trying to get answers regarding all of my transfer stuff and figuring out if I could even accomplish what I wanted was not.

In a way it mimicked a lot of the confrontations I had with higher ups while in the service.  Which you can read about in my memoirs. Shameless plug there, but at least its fro me, in my blog, on my site!!!!

In short, if I had to do it over again, I wouldn’t go back to that school, and being a “MASCOT for life!” mean jack shit to me because of the way i was treated.

Where has the time gone?  Can’t believe we are here already.  Actually I can, I wrote this thing on the 13th.  I am making it a habit to get a lot of stuff up and scheduled at the start of the month, at least when I can.  I hope to do it just as general thoughts and supplemental thoughts to the stories I post preceding these.

I also want to post more timely blogs as well, those will pop up when I can though.  One thing I am planning is to make some changes to Remnant……. not anything major, just cutting out some crap.  Thing is I wish it was that simple.  Even adding a page to it means reformatting the whole stinker, and that kind of time I don’t have currently.

Some of the added chapters I tossed in before publication can go.  I was eager for the reader to get the world and added unneeded exposition.   As the second and third roll out all of that information is there.  So keeping it in means 1 of two things, I have no faith i will get the other two out, or I want to bore the reader as they reread the stuff from book on in books two and three.

Well maybe not book three, that one is pretty much balls to the walls action, and the longest, by like 50 pages.  I did have to tie it all up though.  I still think the ending of book two will really fuck with people.  I like taking the regular cliches and tropes and messing with them, which is what I am trying to do with a story I am working on now, can’t seem to find an angle that doesn’t fall into that category though.  i am sure i can come up with something eventually.

I am looking forward to getting some of this new stuff out to you all soon as well, as I get it work shopped in class I might toss it up here.  I might even have enough for a small collection by the end of school.  I should have like 8 short stories and 4 non-fic.  Not really a full collection, but a start.  I can always add my erotica, lol.  I am sure that would be a hoot.

I will sign off this time and let both of you get some sleep, or back to work or something.

I have to be honest on this one.  I am just cannibalizing my postings of my Time travel story from over on Royal Road of the Emporium story.  For three reasons as of now:

1. I need content here while going to school.

2. Expose it to more people by tossing it up here.

3. I didn’t like the ending and am reworking it.

So even though I said it was done, and it actually was, the ending has been bugging me for a while and I think I have a better one, at least in my head.

The problem is getting time to go back and do it.  To be totally honest I have to go back and re-read the whole story.  By posting it here I get to do that, then when I get to the point where I have to rework it, I will get to leave all of you hanging and do that.

I mean i wrote this thing last May and June, then was done.  haven’t paid much attention to it since.  Then I wrote another book and did some school, so it kind of faded from my head.  I have also written 80 pages in a fantasy book and another 40 page erotica tale.  Yeah I have gone down that road.

Actually I have a friend who was looking for stories to put in an erotic collection and asked me to give it a try.  So I did.  Still waiting for feedback on that, not holding my breath though.  I think it reads okay, but it isn’t my best work.  i did churn it out in like 8 hours, so it ain’t high class, still better than 50 shades though.  That much I know is fact.

I will stop now and get back to more pressing writing.  I do love this little side chats though, even if they are one sided.

As both of you , my loyal readers, may have noticed, I have shifted to a tues and thur update instead of the three of week I have been spoiling you with as of late.  That is intentional.  I started back to school on the 7th and have thus become inundated with stuff to do.

I am actually taking less credits than I was last semester, but alas i have an internship that requires 10 hours a week.  So my time is limited with all of the course work, which I don’t mind at face value.  It’s the mindless crap that goes with it, stuff that I deem as busy work.  Or even beneath me, not that I place little value on it, but as a middle age man going to school in a program designed for 20 year olds, it is worthless to me.

I don’t really need the internship because I have worked for over 20 years, I know how it works.  I have a descent place to do it at though, however, there is a class involved as well and that is just dumb stuff going on there, for me anyway.  My professor seems open to me adapting assignments as I see fit though, like my capstone class from prior parts.

I mean I am just getting this degree cause somebody said, hey go back to school and we’ll pay you while you do.  It is purely for fun and all that.  So, all of the mindless crap I will just have to put up with.

For example, for my advanced fiction I have to do three stories between 3000 and 7000 words.  On the second day of class I turned in a 6600 word one I wrote in the day between sessions.  I had some down time.  I did the same for my advanced non-fiction, that one was only 3500 words though.  I know, I’m slacking.

I am 1500 words into my second fiction story.  I write this while trying to figure out that tales next arc and taking a break from non-fic #2.  I will essentially have all of the main assignments done by the end of the month, at least that is the plan anyway.  Then it will be all revision and editing.

An added fun thing as well, is I have to do at least 500 words outside of the assignments a week as well….. I wonder if these could count?  I can do 500 words on my head and no arms.

I will stop ranting for now and let you get on with your day.