My goal is to write a post each week about my experiences writing my current work-in-progress, the third book in my MUSES OF ROMA sci-fi/alt-history epic. Â I’m going to call this series “AmWriting,” after the popular Twitter hashtag of the same name. What do I hope to accomplish with these posts? Well… Goal #1: I […]
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Balancing Productivity and Happiness
Micah Wedemeyer writes on Lifehacker.com that lost in the debate regarding telecommuting and productivity is personal happiness. Even if it were true that telecommuters are less productive than office workers (a point he does not concede), so what? If maximizing productivity for the company is all that matters, then you should never drink alcohol, always […]
Read MoreBook Review: In a Season of Dead Weather by Mark Fuller Dillon
Originally posted at the New Podler Review of Books. Grab a comfy chair by the fire, a hot drink, and a book of good horror stories.  Those rattling shutters outside?  Just the blowing snow.  Those shadows dancing in the corner?  Fire light, nothing more.  And the whispers behind your chair are your imagination. Maybe. That’s […]
Read MoreTelecommuter Blues
Last week Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer launched a brouhaha regarding telecommuting by mostly banning the practice at Yahoo (turns out that genuine abuse may have prompted the decision). Now Best Buy has ended its ROWE (Results Only Work Environment) policy for corporate employees for much the same reasons as Yahoo. I’ve been a full-time telecommuter […]
Read MoreUSCF’s fancy new cards
My new US Chess Federation membership card came in the mail today. I’ve been a member since 2004 and they always gave us little, perforated paper cutout cards. But now, behold, they come in plastic! So proud to be a card carrying nerd.
Read MoreZERVAKAN – Published!
It’s been a long time coming, but my latest fantasy novel, ZERVAKAN, is now published. Â It’s a story about faith versus science: Are they mutually exclusive, or two sides of the same coin? Here’s the summary: Reason and science gave the Recindian Compact wonders like steam engines, telegraphs, and gunpowder. The world had order. It […]
Read MoreGod Bless the Polish
Sports Welfare
This info-graphic begs the question I’ve had for years – why do taxpayers have to fork over more money to build the stadiums of billionaire team owners than the billionaire team owners? Via PopSci.com.
Read MoreBook Review: Forged in Death by Jim Melvin
Forged in Death, the first of six books in Jim Melvin’s Death Wizard Chronicles, starts out with a scene from a claustrophobic’s nightmare – Torg, the Death-Knower and king of the Tugars, is imprisoned by the evil wizard Invictus at the bottom of a cold, dark pit bored hundreds of feet into a mountain. He […]
Read MoreCover Story
A great book cover inspires readers to ask the question the book seeks to answer. Since my design skills scream “amateur†(to put it kindly), I hired professionals to design great covers for two books I will publish in 2013. I think both designers did a fantastic job conveying the question of each book, and […]
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