Taking Longer Than Expected

So, if anyone out there is still reading the blog (I hear crickets...)

Ok, one of you. Thanks for standing by.

I planned to have the writing out a few months ago, but Limbo persists. Sometimes, its a fun (and/or sadistic) dance that leaves your joints cracking for all the world to hear. At least then you get a laugh out of the ordeal. Some situations give us a Limbo that is essentially clamping down on all available choices...

For example: signing a year-long lease in a new geographical when you're not sure how long your job is going to keep you there. Staying with family is only friendly for so long, but luckily the conflict is only minor. Thank God it's nothing like what I've written for my characters! I would not want to be them or have their families. But signing a lease for a year only to find out I'm getting transferred again would be financial suicide. So... I'm stuck in Limbo.

And I bring up the lack of Internet again because that lack of permanent digs is really what is creating the holdup for the Internet, which in turn holds up the rest of my livelihood. Believe it or not, I'm actually laughing now, because I find myself thinking that a few years ago I would have gone completely nuts without it, I was so addicted to those online games (when you're neglected, lonely and depressed, you can pick up a quick group of "friends" to play with for a little while, who "need" you (need a tank, a dps or healer) and you feel included. Now I use it as an excuse to hit the sewing machine, or the workbench, or the treadmill.  Funny how that works.

So: I have a few things I am planning to publish for peanuts. One is a collection of micro fiction (Melange), the second is a collection of flash fiction (Morsels) and the third is a fantasy novella that I had been brooding on how to write for several years called The Falconer and the Wolf. Okay, eight years actually, since the last time I went to the Ren Faire and watched the falconry exhibition and was inspired to write something about them.  I didn't know what at the time, except that it would be about a wolf who fell in love with the falconer (heavy Kij Johnson/Neil Gaiman references here in my brain). I didnt think I has enough meat to make the story interesting or different. So I sat on it, until the ideas popped into my head through some random connections and voila! The story was born. I'll let you know when it's available. 

I'm hoping very very very very soon.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

Anyone who bothered to read this site before may notice the change of name.

That's right, it is now 'Neff.'  Or I should say it is once again 'Neff.'

Long story and it all ends the same, so I will spare the details. Needless to say, I now have much more time for my writing, and have delved into it oh-so-deeply. Nothing like a little conflict in your own life to spur on the creative, cathartic juices.

That said, I have a list of projects that I am working on, and am trying to get published by one of the "Big Houses" in order to earn myself a little street-credibility. That said, I am seeing there is a lot of merit in the self-publishing route, through digital channels. Not that silly vanity press bull, but actual sales via Kindle, Nook, iBook, etc. I am playing with the first option, and writing a few little stories to experiment with on Kindle. Yes, these are all in progress. I'm a naughty kid (If you believe in that sort of thing, I am also a Libra. Supposedly we are extremely good at concept, and equally atrocious at completion).

Novels:
Umbra (A Post-Apocalyptic Mystery)
Dross (Eschatology in a Fantasy Setting)
The Opal Necklace (Alternate History/Fantasy)

Short Stories:
The Adventures of Ennid the Havoc (Belly of the Beast, Time After Time, For The Love of a Pearl) (Adventure - of course - Fantasy)
The Falconer and the Wolf (Fantasy Romance)
Clones are People Two (Sci-fi)
The Othermen (Classical Sci-fi)
Into the Water Deep (Adventure Sci-fi)

The mini-project is an anthology of Flash Fiction, to which I will post a link when I have it published.

Oh, yes... I really, really, really want to do a fanfic story for EA's underrated "Undying" title. I even have a (droll) title for it: "Undying Legacy." I don't know how well that would go over with any publishers out there, seeing that I went "playing in someone else's world," but I had most of it written before I read somewhere that it's a no-no and I could be treading on some very special toes. The storyline, after all, was written (or at least made more coherent and relatable) by Clive Barker, of whom I have been a fan as long as I can recall. I would prefer not to insult him.