(First Time in Decades, part Two) When I started out running a D&D-based game for friends a few months ago, I was thinking about converting the adventure into something I could publish. I talked about that game back in March, in this blog post: http://billbodden.com/2019/02/11/first-time-in-decades-part-one/ Since then, several things have transpired. First, the game came…
I used to be a regular blood donor. By used to, I mean I hit the 20-gallon donation plateau, and donated regularly for years via apheresis. Apheresis is the process by which your blood is removed, spun through a centrifuge, and separated into its component parts. Because of this, a single donation can help as…
(Cockroach Stories v. 2) Colleague Patrick Tomlinson writes up a highly amusing story about bugs and Living in Florida. You can find it Here: https://twitter.com/stealthygeek/status/1170128466722852876 Anyway, that story reminded me of my own personal bug epic, one that played out in my apartment one evening during the summer of 1993 when I lived in Austin,…
T and I have been discussing for years what to do if one of us dies before the other. It’s really a question of “when” more than “if” honestly, though we could both be killed in a car crash or a freak zamboni accident. We discussed this back and forth for more than decade after…
You would think that, as a writer of (among many other things!) horror, I’d be a fan of Hallowe’en — and you’d be correct; I AM a fan of Hallowe’en. In fact, the decorations didn’t get put all the way away in the basement: the bins are still in the garage where they ended up…
I was thinking the other day about signed books. I’ve collected autographs now and again, and one of the best ways to do that with authors is to have them sign your copy of one of their books. First of all, it shows you’re supporting them by having purchased one of their books in the…
For many writers – myself included – self-promotion is a necessary evil. In the fiction world, publishers won’t spend a nickel to help sell the book you wrote — unless you happen to be Stephen King or Charlaine Harris – so it falls to the author to promote his or her work. It’s kind of…
An acquaintance of mine from sci-fi fandom recently posted what I term a rant on Facebook. She was responding to a blog post by an author I respect, Theodora Goss, about how Ms. Goss is re-evaluating how she spends her time. The main sticking point was conventions: Ms. Goss describes how many conventions don’t routinely…
All the best stories start with “Once upon a time…” Once upon a time, I got a letter from the Department of Motor Vehicles. It seems my current driver’s license is due to expire in a couple of months–on my birthday, conveniently–so I had to get a new one. Being the sort of person that…
I’ve come across an annoying trend recently, and wanted to share a few of my experiences. The trend is the “Buy it now or you’ll lose this discount” variety of sales tactics, and some places resort to near blackmail to trick you into buying something you may or may not need. Here’s an example: I…