Busier than...
…a bitch with twelve pups and ten teats. Here’s a rundown:
Graphic Design: I’m finally getting real work to do at this job, starting to lay out trial GED tests in anticipation of the full test in 2012. Every day a new document comes in, and I crank up InDesign and lay it all out, adding graphics, logos and the like. Now I’m starting to also get edits back from the earlier tests. It’s kind of like a juggler who keeps getting another ball tossed to him, adding to the cloud of colorful spheres whirling about him. But I’m getting good feedback; apparently I’m getting them done faster and more accurately than the last guy they had doing this stuff, so that’s very encouraging. This deluge peaks in another week, when the SECOND set of edits from the earlier tests fold back in on me. Just gotta keep the balls in the air, that’s all.
Voice-over: got two big projects that I work on during the weeknights and evenings. One is with a company that produces educational programs for kids that need a little extra curricular help. There’s some Remedial English computer program the kids will use, and I’m providing one of the voices they hear for things like “the long a sound is pronounced…” and “here are some ways to use the suffix -ful”. Generally that keeps me busy on weekends. The other project is an actual audiobook that I am recording at home. Just got started on that, using a new recording system/software that the publisher’s provided me. But it looks like the bugs have at last been worked out, so now I should be able to crank it out at a steady pace on weeknights.
I narrated two small pieces recently for Escape Pod, which produces audio versions of popular science fiction short stories. I like how they came out, except they pronounced my last name wrong in the outro. Frustrating as all hell, but I think it’s been sorted out for the future. I’ve just done a small piece for their sister podcast, Podcastle, which produces audio versions of fantasy short stories. That one should air sometime in August.
Novel/podcast: The previous listings all make money (or will once they’re completed), so they are the higher priority, but I haven’t forgotten about Left Hand. I still use my lunch hours and a good percentage of my evening commutes to keep plugging away at Book Two. Just about done with Chapter 7; it’s one of those things that you can only see your progress when you lift your head up and look around. But when you take the time to do that and mentally pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come, you’ve stopped writing and then you’ve got to get yourself back into “the zone” again. The small amount of time I have for writing keeps me focused on it, oddly, but the other things I want to develop further, like the website and ways to release all of Book One in some collected format, keep getting pushed back because I simply don’t have time to work on them. At least all the other VO work I’m doing, especially the audiobook, keeps my narrating skills sharp, so when it’s time to finally start releasing chapters of Book Two, that should go rather smoothly.
A life: Social interactions, like LARP or monthly D&D sessions, are things that I used to mark as “the thing I’m doing this weekend.” Now they’re “something I hope to do this weekend.” It used to be that if a game was scheduled and someone had to cancel, I used to try and figure out what the rest of us could do in that other person’s absence. Now, I’m perfectly happy to let the postponed game go, thinking “Well, at least now I can get some work done.”
Oh, yeah...and it looks like my buddy chestervhe and I are going to write a monthly article for Privateer Press's No Quarter magazine. Just one more thing to chew on...but it at least keeps me thinking about D&D and gaming in general.
Sheesh. Still, lest anyone think I’m just bemoaning my fate, I’m actually pleased with things. I’m a little weary, but I’m also pursuing things that I want to do, not just feeling like a rat caught in the maze of a dead-end job. The wife is still seeking work, but she’s gotten a few nibbles about that, which is very encouraging. The cats remain delightful diversions, even if they demand affection at 4am from time to time. I got to see my brother last week while he was in town for a boondoggle (3rd defintion), and he's back in England now, finishing up his year-long course. I was hoping he'd be stationed back in the DC area again, but he's being assigned to a carrier group operating out of San Diego. Ah, well...at least he gets back to the surf and sand he loves.
Anyway, back under the water for me. I’ll come up for air again another time and let you know how things are going.
- V -
Graphic Design: I’m finally getting real work to do at this job, starting to lay out trial GED tests in anticipation of the full test in 2012. Every day a new document comes in, and I crank up InDesign and lay it all out, adding graphics, logos and the like. Now I’m starting to also get edits back from the earlier tests. It’s kind of like a juggler who keeps getting another ball tossed to him, adding to the cloud of colorful spheres whirling about him. But I’m getting good feedback; apparently I’m getting them done faster and more accurately than the last guy they had doing this stuff, so that’s very encouraging. This deluge peaks in another week, when the SECOND set of edits from the earlier tests fold back in on me. Just gotta keep the balls in the air, that’s all.
Voice-over: got two big projects that I work on during the weeknights and evenings. One is with a company that produces educational programs for kids that need a little extra curricular help. There’s some Remedial English computer program the kids will use, and I’m providing one of the voices they hear for things like “the long a sound is pronounced…” and “here are some ways to use the suffix -ful”. Generally that keeps me busy on weekends. The other project is an actual audiobook that I am recording at home. Just got started on that, using a new recording system/software that the publisher’s provided me. But it looks like the bugs have at last been worked out, so now I should be able to crank it out at a steady pace on weeknights.
I narrated two small pieces recently for Escape Pod, which produces audio versions of popular science fiction short stories. I like how they came out, except they pronounced my last name wrong in the outro. Frustrating as all hell, but I think it’s been sorted out for the future. I’ve just done a small piece for their sister podcast, Podcastle, which produces audio versions of fantasy short stories. That one should air sometime in August.
Novel/podcast: The previous listings all make money (or will once they’re completed), so they are the higher priority, but I haven’t forgotten about Left Hand. I still use my lunch hours and a good percentage of my evening commutes to keep plugging away at Book Two. Just about done with Chapter 7; it’s one of those things that you can only see your progress when you lift your head up and look around. But when you take the time to do that and mentally pat yourself on the back for how far you’ve come, you’ve stopped writing and then you’ve got to get yourself back into “the zone” again. The small amount of time I have for writing keeps me focused on it, oddly, but the other things I want to develop further, like the website and ways to release all of Book One in some collected format, keep getting pushed back because I simply don’t have time to work on them. At least all the other VO work I’m doing, especially the audiobook, keeps my narrating skills sharp, so when it’s time to finally start releasing chapters of Book Two, that should go rather smoothly.
A life: Social interactions, like LARP or monthly D&D sessions, are things that I used to mark as “the thing I’m doing this weekend.” Now they’re “something I hope to do this weekend.” It used to be that if a game was scheduled and someone had to cancel, I used to try and figure out what the rest of us could do in that other person’s absence. Now, I’m perfectly happy to let the postponed game go, thinking “Well, at least now I can get some work done.”
Oh, yeah...and it looks like my buddy chestervhe and I are going to write a monthly article for Privateer Press's No Quarter magazine. Just one more thing to chew on...but it at least keeps me thinking about D&D and gaming in general.
Sheesh. Still, lest anyone think I’m just bemoaning my fate, I’m actually pleased with things. I’m a little weary, but I’m also pursuing things that I want to do, not just feeling like a rat caught in the maze of a dead-end job. The wife is still seeking work, but she’s gotten a few nibbles about that, which is very encouraging. The cats remain delightful diversions, even if they demand affection at 4am from time to time. I got to see my brother last week while he was in town for a boondoggle (3rd defintion), and he's back in England now, finishing up his year-long course. I was hoping he'd be stationed back in the DC area again, but he's being assigned to a carrier group operating out of San Diego. Ah, well...at least he gets back to the surf and sand he loves.
Anyway, back under the water for me. I’ll come up for air again another time and let you know how things are going.
- V -