Starting with my fiction, I’m currently working on a piece of for the Escape Artists Flash contest. While I can’t provide any details for the story as that would be against the contest rules,  I will say that I’m really enjoying the piece I’ve put together. You’ll get to see the piece on the writing site regardless if I win or not. The story has been trimmed down I just have to give it one last editing sweep before submitting it tonight.

The year of Flash continues with my Tuesday/Thursday posts. Still going strong, and now I’m all caught up except for three remaining posts in January. I should have that corrected by the end of this week which will let me move onto the next phase of the project: Getting ahead of schedule. In order for me to have the book ready by the end of the year, I have to have the fiction written long before December. Ideally, I’d like to be a month ahead of schedule by the end of April or May, two months by the end of June/July, and be finished with the year by the end of August/September. This would let me work October through December preparing the book while getting ahead of schedule for the next year.

Finally, I’m working on a short story based on a writing assignment from the March FWA meeting. The outline is complete and I just need to put meat on those bones. The goal is to have a final draft edited by the end of April, and then have a finished copy ready to go for submissions by the end of May.

Outside of fiction writing, I’m back at working on an RPG system. This one is very similar to one I worked on years ago with one of my best friends. She had wanted something akin to an Alice In Wonderland rpg, so it had to be based on cards instead of dice. I’m now further into the new development on the project than when I was working on it ten years ago. The current timeframe is to be able to run play tests by this weekend. Going to hijack my wife into playing the game with me for a bit. Ideally I can have something ready by the end of Spring.

Moving on from writing, the recording of TDC3 is tonight. I’m sorry that the second episode isn’t up yet, but hopefully things can get rolling soon. Haven’t had much chance to talk to Andrew over the past two weeks, so I’m assuming he’s been very busy with work. Happens I guess. I’m still debating starting my own show, but I don’t have the editing expertise Andrew has. We’ll see how this tonight goes.

I’m happy to see that productivity is abound. I see 2010 as a great year for my projects and while there have been set backs (see my posts about the post-apocalyptic Shadowrun project earlier this year), one thing I’ve learned from that project is that I can’t get too hyped up about the project until I’m certain it’s something I know I will love.

We’ll see just how well that goes with the current cooking pots.

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Just a quick review of what the Droid is before we start: The Droid with Google Android OS is part of the growing trend towards smart phones for consumers these days. There’s an app store, touch screen capabilities, and many other useful functionalities. It’s available through Verizon for $199.99 with a two year contract.

Last year I made heavy use of my iPod Touch (purchased 10/08 for $200.00 for 8GB at Best Buy) but while the PDA functionality and app store were great the lack of consistent internet was annoying. I wanted an iPhone but I did not want to switch to AT&T. Had the iPhone been useable with Verizon without all the jumping through hoops and jail breaking, I’d have happily bought it (and by proxy probably more Apple digital products). And not to use the ad campaign, but the Droid does do what I need it do. Would I rather an iPhone? Right now I’m either/or. Both are great but the Droid is on my carrier. iPhone isn’t.

The apps I’ve found so far in the android market have been great. Lots of useful tools and services. Additionally, there’s a number of great games I’ve found, both native as well as rom emulators. I’ve started using Gmail and other Google services even more because of the easy integration. I’ve signed up for Google Voice and Google Reader. Even started listening to the Gmail podcast because of the new tools I’m using.

My only complaint regarding the Market is the lack of a certain app I want. Where’s my Kindle app Amazon? Maybe I need to look for another reader app. All I’ve heard is a lot of public domain books and similar items available. That’s nice and all… but I want NEW books to spend money on. Older or public domain books are great, but most of the content I want to read isn’t free.

Now there are some things about the phone that make me go “bleh.” The sliding screen gets annoying when it moves when I want it to stay still. The back of the battery case comes off often enough for me to have to check it each time I get up or sit down. The lack of native multi-touch on most apps (The droid can do multi-touch, Google just didn’t build the functionality into most apps).

The Weight is also very noticeable. This thing really stands out in weight compared to my iPod Touch. I’m used to it but it’s still awkward. Not a problem in normal use, but when the phone is opened to reveal the keyboard, the weight is quite noticeable.

Also, the OS has a habit sometimes of “locking up.” Typically if I’m closing or opening a new program, but it’s still a hassle when the only way I can use my phone is after pulling out the battery and rebooting. Even when I jail broke my iPod touch, it never locked up like this.

There’s still many more features I’m learning and getting used to, but more and more I love this device. Admittedly I’m hesitant to call the device a phone. That’s probably the least used feature of the Droid I use. In fact, if Skype could hurry up and make a full version of their App, I’d be using that as well for more services.

Despite the flaws, I love the phone. Probably would love any smart phone really, but I’m happy with the one I have, so much that we’re considering getting one for my wife when she’s up for a discounted renewal late this year.

Obvious question is obvious: So do you have a smart phone? Which one? How are you using it? Have any cool apps you’d recommend?

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First, we’re gathering for early Christmas setup and not doing gifts this year in our normal fashion. Instead, we’re having a baking party. From the email my wife sent to the attendees, I’ve been listed as an official tester, a role I intend to shine in. It will be good fun seeing my sister-in-law and some of her children and their children and significant others. Besides… Raven is going out of her way to make my favorite peanut butter cookies.

Second, myself, Dakota, and Andrew will be recording episode one of Trans-Dimensional Cafe. We’ve already recorded two other “non-public” episodes to get into the swing. Some hiccups with recording the last two episodes, but we’re staying on track with getting episode one created. I’ll be posting whenever a new one comes up, until folks get tired of it.

What is Trans-Dimensional Cafe? Well, to sum it up in a sentence: It’s a casual conversation about gaming, writing, TV, movies, and other entertaining and constructive projects. Why the name? I don’t know, but it sounds cool. Are we going to make some sort of theme around it? Maybe, but not so much at first. Being entertaining on our own merit is more important in the long run.

The final spark of the weekend is on Sunday, when I have my book club meeting. It’s our second meeting, so I’m excited to see how it goes. I’m still working on reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, but for a genre I don’t normally read I’m really enjoying the book. I’ll give a review after this Sunday I think. Again, I’m looking forward to meeting my neighbors more at these meetings. The last batch of three really were fun to chat with. Between the four of us, we’ve had a pretty diverse set of backgrounds and experiences. I have a feeling I’m going to gain a lot from them in the coming months.

My weekend is pretty full from these events. That said I still have a few smaller things I need to take care of. I’ve got some Second Life work to manage, I need to find a new theme for this blog, I need to craft an entry for the jsamueldiehl.com site, and a few more minor details I’ll take care of in the second half of the week.

So, this post’s question: Continuing the holiday theme, what are your plans for getting ready for the end of the month? Are you buying or have you bought already? Did you plan out a nice trip for family or friends? Are you treating celebrating Christmas the American holiday or are you celebrating Christmas the spiritual holiday? Always happy to hear from you.

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In the past quarter, I’ve managed to start a new job with an old company, begun working on projects I’ve dreamt of for years, and lay out plans for domestic projects that both needed to be done and wanted to be done.

Domestically speaking, there are a couple of projects I’ve started that I’m proud of. I’m making moves every Sunday evening to clear out some of the boxes left over from the move four years ago. This mostly involves purging items in the garage and organizing what’s left behind. It’s cost some money to buy the shelving but it’s really worked out. I’ve been at this three weeks in a row and I’ve found the simple pleasure of working with my hands.

Additionally, I’ve ordered parts for a project I’ve been planning for years. A friend pointed me to monoprice.com, an inexpensive site for computer, A/V, and network wiring. For under $50.00 I’ll be able to hook up the old media PC to my TV and Stereo in the living room. I’ll be able to sign up for things like Netflix or make purchases on iTunes and watch them on the much larger screen. Not to mention Hulu and my music I’ve bought. Parts should be in by this Monday or Tuesday (they were on their way to Jacksonville around 12:06 AM Friday).

Day job professionally speaking, the new job I started in September is going great. I’m with a company I used to work for a year ago. It feels great being back and the work, while challenging, is enjoyable. I enjoy my coworkers and I think they enjoy being around me.  Generally speaking, being a permanent employee at a company that acknowledges me for my achievements is a great change of pace. Hoping this time the job lasts longer than a year.

Night job professionally speaking, I am lacking in the book production mindset. I’ve been writing but I haven’t been doing as much as I intended. I did start NaNoWriMo this year, but starting is just about all I did. A million excuses but basically I’ve been lazy about it. I am slowly getting back on the horse but it’s not as fast as I’d like it to be.

Speaking of creative measures, after three years of listening to podcasts and wishing to start one, things have come to pass. My friend Dakota, myself, and Andrew, a new friend who has audio engineering experience with podcasts are starting up a weekly or bi-weekly project. The name is tentative until episode one goes up in December, but so far we’re happy with Trans-Dimensional Cafe. The show is going to be a forum for discussion about geeky interests, writing, gaming, and lifestyle. We’re recording several episode zeroes to get into the swing of a format as well as raising out comfort level with speaking into the recording stream. I believe by mid December we’ll do fine with recording and releasing episode one. Episode 0-2 was recorded tonight and compared to how the first recording went, we were great. Thirty minutes to record with most of the audio actually useable. I’m very pleased.

Finally, tech speaking, I’ve reformatted my computer for the first time in two years. It’s about time frankly, but it’s come at a cost. Namely, I’ve lost all my contact details in terms of email addresses as well as archived mail items. Ugh. If you are someone who’s had email correspondence with me, please email me at jdiehl AT hiddennode.com so I can get your latest contact address.

The reformat has fixed a number of annoying bugs, and I have nearly all of my old programs reinstalled. I’ve limited the number of games I have installed, as well as the number of programs I can have installed at once. Basically I’ve formatted my drive into two partitions and only allocated about 50gb’s to my XP installation. When I do install 7 sometime next year, I’ll probably just buy a new drive to put it on.

That’s my current life activities in a nut shell. Future plans include the entertainment project, writing more, and Dragon*Con next year (more on that later). For now, I’m getting in gear.

What about you? Are you keeping busy? How goes your projects? Let me know if the busy bug has bitten you too.

Take care all,

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Tee Morris

http://teemorris.com/

Stories I’ve Enjoyed:

Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword

The Case of the Pitcher’s Pendant: A Billibub Baddings Mystery

Tee’s not only one of the founding fathers, he’s the ground breaker when he comes top podcasted novel length fiction. Tee’s fiction has a sense of playfulness mixed with fun stories. I’ve also listened to a number of his podcast projects such as his work on The Survival Guide to Writing Fantasy and the work he does helping other podcasters get their groove on. Besides what I’ve read and listened to, he also has the novel Morevi: The Chronicles of Rafe and Askana and the sequel Legacy of Morevi. Sorry to say I haven’t listened to or read these books yet, but given that the Billibub Baddings book are so awesomely win, I’m betting the Morevi series are just as strong. Personally though I’m looking forward to the next Billi story. I’ve loved the first two so far and I really want to know what happens next.

Get Tee’s books if you like a great action story mixed with loveable smartasses guiding you through the adventures. Ah the joy of a fantasy universe dwarf running around 1920’s Chicago.

JC Hutchins

http://jchutchins.net/

Stories I’ve Enjoyed:

The 7^th Son Trilogy

Personal Effects: Dark Art

JC Hutchins is a powerhouse in podcast advertising. My exposure to him came from the barrage of suggests from almost every podcast I listened to in 2007 when I really started to listen to podcasts. I jumped aboard the 7^th son ride and didn’t let go for 3 days as I mainstreamed the series. I’ve looking forward to the published versions coming out later this year. Recently, the novel Personal Effects: Dark Arts came out and forced itself into the mold for a new way to give a story. Augmented realty games and other projects have been out before, but PE:DA wraps this idea into the book and spreads it online.

If you enjoy thrillers that not only keep you guessing but also have familiar feeling characters, go with JC Hutchins’s books.

Okay, that’s it for this week. Both of these authors have really cemented in my love of what podcast authors can bring. They each appear to be on the verge of releasing even more great stories and books in the future. Check them out, buy their books, and spread the love.

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Since I’ve added a number of them to the Amazon merry-go-round, I’m only going to list 2 today. In the coming month, I’ll take the time to do a post about the rest on the wheel.

So this month we look at the writers Scott Sigler and Mur Lafferty.



Mur Lafferty

http://murverse.com/

Stories I’ve enjoyed:

Heaven: Seasons 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5

Playing For Keeps

Various Escape Pod Pieces

Various Micro Projects

I think Mur was the first podcaster I listened to after listening to my first podcasts on NPR. I heard about Pseduopod and from there heard about more of her stuff and more podcasts. I’d eventually find her audio series, Heaven, on Podiobooks and just love them as the first novel or novella (depending if you consider the first two seasons two separate novellas or a single novel) I listened to in podcast format. It’s been an interesting series as it’s slowly grown organically. I look forward to when they are put into the trilogy of books (if they get combined season 1+2, season 3+4, and season 5 as a standalone). Season 5 is actually going on now as of the time of this post so it’s a really good time to jump into the series. The first four seasons go pretty quickly so don’t be intimidated by the number of seasons. Mur’s published novel, Playing for Keeps, is also a great read. There’s been a number of super hero fiction stories later coming into the published world and Playing For Keeps is a good example of the genre. The audio book, like all of Mur works, is available for download.

I recommend Mur’s works if you like a bit of urban fantasy mixed with comedy. There always seems to be a smile behind the character’s faces in Mur’s stories even when the action is rolling.



Scott Sigler

http://www.scottsigler.com/

Stories I’ve enjoyed:

Ancestor

Infected

Contagious

The Rookie

I really enjoy Scott’s works. His science is great, his characters are quirky, and his stories are spooky. I first heard about him from various podcasts from far point media and took the plunge with listening to Ancestor. I seriously loved the listen. I didn’t grab a copy of it at the time of the listen, but it did inspire me to continue listening. The Rookie was the next book I listened to by Scott. Never thought I’d like a book about football, but the way it was presented (and not just because it was a sci fi story) actually made it really interested. Still not into the sport, but now I understand it and the fascination more. I would next try to listen to Infected but as the hard cover was coming out; I bought that instead and read the rest of the story. Just my preference. I like Scott’s readings but I always prefer to read my novel length fiction. When Contagious hit this year, I grabbed it on both Hard Cover and kindle version. Those two books are a wonderful series (if you couldn’t tell, one is the sequel to the other). Again great story, great read, and great characters.

If you like horror with a bit of realty mixed in with Sci-Fi, I recommend Scott Sigler’s works. Listen to his podcasts, buy his books, and get hooked.



There you have it; two great authors from the podcasting world that are just getting better and better as time passes. In the coming weeks, I’ll be looking at a few other podcast authors I’ve enjoyed and maybe along the way I’ll take the time to expose myself to some more.

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That said, I’m going to start separating the two entities going forward; at least here on the site. I’m setting up jsamueldiehl.com and justindiehl.com (same site, different URL’s). Hiddennode.com will not be going away. In fact, it will pretty much remain the same (although expect a visual change sometime in the future). Jsamueldiehl.com will just become where my writing home is located. You’ll find information about my current projects, past projects, links to where you can find my writing, and any part of that which is my brand. Hiddennode.com will remain home to my personal blog, with maybe a few tidbits of my writing ending up here.

I’m promising myself that I will have the other site at least functional as a blog with some plug-ins within the next 30 days. The graphical upgrade should arrive later this year. Jsamueldiehl.com won’t be fully functional for several months as I’m not where I need to be to take full advantage of the site. This time next year that will be a different story.

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My first review article on the old version of the blog was about a show called 12v Theater by Jack Jaffee. I had originally planned on trying to get with Jack, do an interview thing with him, and post it. Didn’t happen. Not Jack’s fault. The man was quick to reply and very open to a meeting. I’m the guy who dropped the ball. Sorry about that one Jack. Still kind of feeling like a douche for it.

So to make up for it, my first topic is going to be able Jack’s new show: Media Frenzy (formerly the Jack and Theresa Show). Basic overview is your hosts, Jack and his wife Theresa, talk about various shows on air today. The genres vary and they go back and forth between Network and Cable shows. If it’s something on these days on a popular network, odds are they will talk about it, if just a little bit if they don’t care for it, or put an entire show out about a single series (I’m looking at episode 12 starring Dubshack as an example). Now I’ll be the first to admit it, I really don’t watch most of what they talk about. A few things, but not all of them. I pretty much listen because the hosts are cool and entertaining. They understand they have an adult audience listening to them and treat their show as such. So far, there are about a dozen shows as of April 24^th and it looks like they are going to keep going.  I do recommend listening to Media Frenzy if you want the perspective of folks like you and I reviewing the shows they like. You’re not going to hear buzz words or fawning over a show for no reason and the criticism they give isn’t hollow.

Okay that’s it… wait there’s more? Oh hell, right, 12vtheater. Erm… well… let me see here.

Well, there’s a problem with me reviewing 12vtheater. See, after the whole losing the job thing last year, I hadn’t listened to many podcasts for awhile. While I’ve recently managed to get caught up with a lot of them, well fiction podcasts have taken a back seat to more current events podcasts. That said, I’m going to make a more concentrated effort to catch up on this shows and other fiction shows soon. So no, I’m not going to post a new 12v Theater “Down the Road” post at this time. The series deserves more respect than to be reviewed by someone who has only listened to half of it.

Okay, so there’s the first review. Let’s see if I can keep them coming.

jdiehl

PS Since I wrote this Sunday night, I have actually mainlined my way through Down the Road. Waiting on that final episode, but yeah, I’m ready to review later this week.

I like that fact, by the way. The fact I know the writer’s SL name and can get writing advice (within reason). I’m not going to make it a habit to bug him daily or even weekly, but just popping a quick IM question shouldn’t be too farfetched. The fact I can be so connected to my interests. For example, besides having one of the writers I enjoy reading as a friend in SL, I also have him and several others writers I like followed on Twitter. I follow the tweets of one of the developers of the Shadowrun RPG and hear neat stuff about some of the gaming industry. I can know when there’s a live feed for a show I like, and it’s cool when I can be aware of what’s happening in my interests.

Honestly, I don’t know how many people read this blog, but if you do and you’re not on twitter, you should be. Even if you don’t tweet much (which I don’t, although my blog tweets for me sometimes), it’s nice to be able to connect to your interests and such. Heck, even if you just follow me you’ll at least get the posts when I update here. Funny is that not only do I have my own twitter feed, but the Dynamic IP super group has one too. I believe I mentioned that at one point in a previous post.

Huh… don’t know where that Twitter Advertising Rant came from…

jdiehl