Monday, June 2, 2014

School’s out for Summer!

Like Alice Cooper (and the kids from Camp North Star*) said, school is out for the summer. Due to the way the academic year falls, and the availability of the one class I need for my Master’s Degree in History, I find that I have no school until August 4th.

Did I mention that I am one class away from graduating? Yeah, I’m excited and nervous about that. Of course, it depends on whether my school will give me the 6 credits I need in electives for the two classes I took at Capella back in 2011. But, if they do, than I have one class (Renaissance and Reformation), and a comprehensive exam (eep!) and I am DONE!

Unless I decide to pursue a Doctorate…

Anyways, so I find that I have two months without any academic obligations. What to do…? Hey, I know! I’ll write! Like, fiction. For fun. And maybe profit!

I have an outline (partially in my head and partially on paper) for a novella featuring my Sword & Sorcery hero, Gorus the Gray. It started as a short story, but in the end it will be two short stories of about 12-15k words each, with a shorter work serving as a bridge between them. It sounds weird, but when I’m done, I think it will all make sense. The first story is currently just shy of 10k words, and is ramping up for the big finale now.

I also need to blog more here. I’ve been mostly blogging at my gamer site lately, and have been neglecting my loyal followers here for a while. I’m sure there will be plenty more to say this summer. And hopefully for the foreseeable future beyond that.

In other news, I have been playing Skyrim on my Xbox a lot lately. Funny note about that, my wife is a fan of the Dragon Age video games (and now the tabletop RPG), and she bought Dragon Age II last weekend. So, many evenings, after the kids are in bed, she is sitting in her comfy chair, laptop in lap, playing DAII, while I am in the recliner, two feet away, playing Skyrim. It kind of defines our relationship on a certain level.

I’m also reading Karl Edward Wagner’s Bloodstone, the second book of his hero, Kane. I tried reading Darkness Weaves, but it failed to grab me. This one is doing a better job, and I am now starting to really get into it. KEW had a great way with words, but, in my limited experience, he starts slow, with a lot of detailed background. If you like that sort of stuff, it’s well-done. I don’t, usually, so it kind of poses a struggle. But, I’m going to finish this book, dammit. As a S&S fan, I feel obligated to do so.

Anyways, that’s about all I got for now. More soon, I hope.

*Cool points if you know the reference.

3 comments:

Adventuresfantastic said...

"Did I mention that I am one class away from graduating?"

Congratulations!

"Unless I decide to pursue a Doctorate…"

Gonna pile it higher and deeper, are you?

"Hey, I know! I’ll write! Like, fiction. For fun. And maybe profit!"

Good.

"I also need to blog more here."

Yes.

Charles Gramlich said...

I'm well into my summer writing too, and greatly enjoying it.

Charles Gramlich said...

I'm well into my summer writing too, and greatly enjoying it.