Meal, Ready-to-Eat: A Review

For those of you who (somehow) don’t know, MREs = Meal, Ready-to-Eat. It’s a type of light field ration usually given to soldiers in active combat.

Having an older brother in the Marine Corps when I was a kid, we actually got quite a few of these MRE packages. Me and my sister would actually eat them for the hell of it, because some of them aren’t as bad as some images may imply. I’ll even admit that some do look like the personification of turds, but I’m someone who can put my visual bias aside and try a thing at least one time before I cast judgment.

You only live once, right?

A few months ago, my brother-in-law (who, like both of my siblings, are in the military) saw me looking at one of the MRE packages on the guest bedroom bed, and asked if I wanted to have it. With the caveat from my sister not to eat it all at once (like we did when we were dumb kids), because one package is supposed to sustain a solider for an entire day. Oops.

Either way, I was like, “Sure, why not?” It’s been a while, and writing a lot about military characters, I figured it might be good to refresh my memory.

Incidentally, a friend — I can’t remember who — asked me to document my experience and tell them about it. Since I can’t remember who, I took a bunch of pictures and decided to make a public post about it.

So here we go.

WARNING:
This post is full of spiders images!

NEW RELEASE: Departed (A Dead Man Does Tell Tales)

About time that I do another one of these, huh?

Anyway, this is my official announcement of the release of my novelette, Departed!

Completely separate from the science fiction series, PROJECT SERAPHIM, this paranormal/historical piece is about a man whose body is found in a field, only he’s not quite dead. Over time, he discovers that not only is he seemingly unable to die from fatal injuries, he also seems to possess strange abilities that allow him to feel and experience the lives of others around him.

It’s not a very good predicament to find yourself in, in colonial America.

(I also promise that amnesiacs will no longer be a reoccurring theme in my future works. Seriously.)

If you like historical pieces mixed with paranormal elements and a dabble of romance, feel free to check it out! It’s currently up for pre-order, but will be released this Friday. Currently it is a Kindle Exclusive, but I may consider publishing hard copies someday if I think that a short novelette such as this may be worth it.

On a more personal note, Departed was something that I had originally wrote years ago in college. Like PROJECT SERAPHIM, it was another piece that I decided to return and revamp. It was a lot of fun writing this, as I got to do a lot of research on 1600s America while putting my current knowledge to use. I’m passionate about history, and I’ve always wanted to write more about immortals.

Additionally, the characters of Departed also happen to be part of an even bigger project that I plan to work on someday, called Days be Done. I may work on that sometime on the sidelines of Seraphim in the near future.

Editing Prices Revamp!

Quick update!

I have been mulling over my editing prices, and decided to knock them down a bit. That way people can find affordable services for all their edit needs! Check them out here.

As you can see, I condensed my wordiness as well. I’m trying to do this thing where I don’t use more words than I have to.

Starting... now!

Book Formatting Hell

When I first published Seraphim Ascent almost a year ago, I had always been convinced that editing would always be the bane of my existence.

I was wrong.

It’s formatting. Formatting is what has flipped my sanity upside-down.

I am now convinced that if there is a Hell, and should I ever be sentenced down to it, I will be spending the rest of eternity doing nothing but formatting manuscripts. Not writing. Not editing. Just hours upon hours of fighting with page breaks and headers and footers popping up on the wrong pages. Forever.

In spite of my agony, however, I did manage to get the hang of it. I realized that I am not be the only one to experience this level or self-imposed torture. In fact, there are no doubt others out there who share my pain, and have no time or patience to spend several hours staring at a computer screen, scrolling down every page to make sure everything is utterly perfect.

Which is why I have decided that, starting today, I will be offering my services for doing book formatting for other writers as well.

So if you’re one of those poor sods who want to be spared a world of pain, check out my rates and consider me to bear the suffering for you.

I’m all self-sacrificing like that.

Writing With Depression

Most people wouldn’t think it, but the last few months I have been living in my own little circle of Hell. Not in the way that you would notice just by looking at me upon first glance, at least not right away. It happened in little strokes, little itches, little digs; festering like a scab that I couldn’t help but pick at unconsciously.

When I was a teenager, I was diagnosed with depression. But when you’re a that age, it’s a challenge to differentiate depression from teenage angst, so of course it got cast aside by both mine and my mother’s lack of acknowledgement for mental health. As I got older, the feelings didn’t disappear. In fact, they became something else. Like the scab, a series of unfortunate events shaped them into an incurable mark.

Depression is a hard thing to explain to people who don’t have it. In a way, I’m grateful for that. I wouldn’t wish the things I think and feel on anybody. The best examples I can give are provided by the talented Allie of Hyperbole and a Half, who authored Adventures in Depression Part One and Two. Additionally, Depression Quest is a scarily accurate depiction of what life is like living with this insidious disease.

But it doesn’t explain what life has been like for me personally. It doesn’t chronicle the aforementioned Hell that I’ve been living in, on repeat, for years if not my whole life. It’s different for everyone and yet it’s all the same — we’re living with monsters in our heads that are slowly trying to kill us. And for some, the monsters win. It’s a long and grueling battle, and one that no one should have to suffer alone.

Orphan Song

While going through my hard drive, I managed to find this old piece that a friend of mine – Rich Stuart – composed for me. In the past we had worked together on an official soundtrack for another novel of mine, some of which I have uploaded onto the WWW, but today I just feel like sharing an oldie but goodie that is more relevant to the PROJECT SERAPHIM Series.

This song in particular comes up in Chapter Eleven of Seraphim Ascent, and is slightly eluded to several times throughout the series.

Yes, there are lyrics to it, but I’ll have to do some digging to re-find them.

Crowdfunding Campaign #2

So I just started another crowdfunding campaign. My last one wasn’t very successful, and it may be partially due to the way Gofundme works in that you’re practically transparent until you’ve hit a certain milestone of donations.

I don’t like begging. It’s my least favorite thing to do. I’d been raised with the mentality that asking for help is a sign of weakness, and admitting that weakness makes you a lesser person. But the way I see it, I’m not begging for handouts. I’m raising awareness of my creative efforts by rewarding people for their generosity with something in return.

In the indie world, I’ve been told that you don’t really start reeling in a profit until you’ve at least hit your third book. I’m almost done with Seraphim Storm, the second installment of the PROJECT SERAPHIM series. Additionally, I have a prequel novel lined up, as well as other short stories and novellas that I would like to see the light of day sometime in the near future.

No one ever said it was going to be easy, and I had no illusions in my mind that it would be. Despite being a writer, I’m not particularly well-spoken, and I’m only just learning about my new-found confidence in my abilities.

Are there days where I want to just say “fuckit” and throw in the towel? Of course. It’s normal to have those moments of so-called weaknesses. But life is short, and I can’t waste it away with the regret of never following my dreams, doing the thing I love.

That said, if you have any time or money to spare, drop a few dollars into my crowdfunding page on IndieGogo. If you don't cash, then spread the word via Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, or anything in the crazy social media world.

Every little bit helps. :)