Yippee!

My next story is in this anthology – and I’ve got it from a reliable source that they’re on the shelf in the store now (you should go and pick on up)!

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dogs-of-war-david-sherman/1116924300?ean=9781937051051

Coming soon – another one of my stories made it to print! You NEED to go and pre-order one. Need.

http://www.amazon.com/Dogs-War-David-Sherman/dp/1937051056/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379788781&sr=8-1&keywords=1937051056

This was originally printed in Watch The Skies for the September 2013 meeting.

This book grabbed me by the nostalgia and would not let me go. I tore through this book at a manic pace and that hasn’t happened for me in a long time. I really did have a great time with it. I’m really interested to see what happens with the movie version. I will definitely go to see it in the theater.

Should you go and read this book? That’s a fine question. That is also where I would offer caution.

Why did I love this book? Because it was aimed directly at me, that’s why. If you’re outside of my demographic I don’t know if you’d enjoy it nearly as much as I did. There are about a zillion (scientifically counted) references to things I grew up with through the late 70s and 80s. They hit home with me. Would that hit home with you? That’s the part that worries me about telling folks to read it. If you don’t remember the Tomb of Horrors you’ll understand how the story moves forward but you won’t have the depth of background to really get it. I was there, I lived that sort of get it. There might be some of a younger generation that will appreciate the history of certain parts of it. I hope they do.

Beyond the knowledge / nostalgia aspects, this story is a straight up hero’s quest. It reminded me very much of the myriad stories I read as a teen. It ended the way it was supposed to, and that matters to me. I actually found myself trying to fit a more modern story telling bent to certain aspects of the story and those things didn’t pop up. I was looking for the anti-hero, the dark betrayal, or the jaded character that really doesn’t want to participate. I didn’t get them, but it was distracting from time to time. There were parts of how this dread future society worked that confused me when I gave it a little deeper thought. There were parts that I just didn’t think would work from a world building point of view. These bits of “looking deeper” are really the parts that keep me from giving this book a full on five stars. I will however give it a strong four and a half. I hope you go out and pick this one up. I will be reading it again I’m certain.

Some interesting things going on in the technology world. I really like the fact that these things are becoming more accessible. Check out this really interesting looking Kickstarter:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/aiorobotics/zeus-the-worlds-first-all-in-one-3d-copy-machine

The part that makes me wonder is this: how long until the companies that manufacture these plastic parts start to apply pressure against this trend?

I love the way Prof. Hinkle says that after his reprimand from Santa. That’s how it always sounds in my head.

Yes, my schedule has been a bit busy lately – but it’s good stuff! I will post more as I get the chance.

Just a couple of weekends ago I was part of something special. InterventionCon 2013. It’s an excellent little convention that I suspect will only grow moving forward. If you haven’t checked out the things that happen, you should. Find them here: http://interventioncon.com/

This is the part where I come clean, so that you understand where I’m coming from for the rest of my little review here. I’m most likely the least connected person at the convention. It took a change in my day job to force me out of the Luddite zone and into the realm of smartphone and iPad and constant connectivity. Even now, I struggle with “being connected”. There are way too many times when I think I should be enjoying what’s happening around me rather than viewing it through the lens of a phone camera. I regularly disconnect… on purpose.

Disconnected might actually become a theme for me.

With that in mind, I will say the weekend’s convention was a fantastic success. You know why? Because I didn’t hear about bad things happening or people that weren’t happy or anything like that. The only things I heard about –  live and in person – were positive, empowering experiences. People that I walked around and spoke to were all having a great time. They were headed for the arcade or the game room or a panel on how to make something. They were learning and sharing and creating amazing stuff. Your on-line life in person. I think the in person portion was really working well. I am tickled to be part of it all.

The one thing I felt though, was a sense of being a bit disconnected. Children’s programming almost seemed like it’s own little world to me. I know that some inquiries were made to folks in other areas of the con and they weren’t even aware of what we were up to (or where we were). Living in our own little world was not a bad thing! The families that were there and participating really made me smile. I was so happy to be part of the whole thing – but particularly one mom’s first time ever making a paper airplane. The simple fact that we could help them “make” something and have them create such a great family memory is amazing.

The problem? The real problem? How do we come up with something even better for next year?

The Children’s Programming Staff is working on ideas to put out there already… 2014 is going to be awesome.

I have stated that I am a fan, author and artist. I will freely admit that one of the things that has kept me away from posting here more in recent days is my work with a story that was due… well, let’s just say it should have been in a lot sooner. The difficulty was that I didn’t understand what the editor was trying to say.

I don’t “show” my emotions online much. I don’t like putting that sort of thing out for the inspection of others. In this case I think it’s important. I was frustrated. I was mad – both at myself and the editor. I went seeking the reassurance of very close friends and asked their advice on my writing. In short, I struggled. I don’t like feeling that way. It affected other aspects of my creative drive.

So, here’s the pro tip I learned the hard way: Know your tools.

Why the struggle? I wasn’t seeing the whole picture. I didn’t get the comments that were made in Word because I was using Open Office. Apparently the two don’t play nice together for certain aspects of the programs. The most ironic portion of this whole thing is that my day job as a software application engineer deals daily with how programs interact with each other and knowing all the available tools for each. Forgive me if I don’t mention this to the other app engineers.

Fortunately, it worked out in the end. I turned in the story after actually getting to read the full set of comments, not just the stuff in red at the end and got a contract back. Coming soon: Defending the Future: Dogs of War!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7en-MvY4nBQ

I know it’s an inside joke. IF you’re in on it, posting “Communication Breakdown” is pretty funny.

So – here’s the thing. I have no idea what I’m doing when I’m building web site stuff. I have tried, and failed… again… to make this thing connect automatically to the other places I want it to post.

Someday. Someday this site will be up to speed.