Uncategorized

Twenty years ago, I started writing a handful of fantasy stories about my favorite D&D character. They were very bad stories, though I didn’t know it at the time. All I knew was how much I enjoyed the process of creating them, of coming up with other characters and plot twists and exploring different ideas and possibilities. So I kept writing. By the following year, I’d finally figured out what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a writer.

Almost fifteen years ago, I accepted a job with the State of Michigan. In the beginning, I was fixing computers for the Department of Transportation. My one condition for taking the job was that I be allowed to write during my lunch hour. Over the next decade and a half, I wrote about ten books and dozens of short stories. Most of that writing was done from noon to one o’clock, Monday through Friday.

Nine years ago, my book Goblin Quest came out from DAW Books. It was my first novel from a major publisher, and marked a very important turning point in my career. I’ve been with DAW ever since. They’ve published ten of my books so far, with the eleventh coming in February of next year.

One year ago, my wife began working full time as a therapist, a job that came with health insurance and other benefits.

Two days ago, I informed my bosses that I would be quitting my job at the end of next month. Starting in September, I’ll be a full-time writer.

There were a number of factors behind this decision, some of which involve my family and I won’t be talking about here. But the end result is that I get more time to write. More energy to devote to creating stories, inventing characters and worlds, and exploring new ideas. Not to mention more time at home with my kids.

I am excited and overwhelmed and frightened and impatient and eager and thrilled. I have ideas for two new novels, and feelers out for a third. I’ve also thought about other projects, experiments I can try, new directions to branch out and see what happens.

This is a huge change, and I’ll be talking about it more between now and the end of August: the financial considerations, the restructuring of my day-to-day life, the mental/emotional/physical impact, and probably a lot of other pieces.

For the moment though, I’m in a bit of a daze. I’ve been writing for twenty years. Given my own health issues, the need for insurance for myself and my family, and the financial realities of writing, I spent most of those years believing I’d never be able to write full time. Even when I started talking about it with my wife, I don’t think I really believed it. It wasn’t until I said the words to my bosses that it became real.

It’s actually happening.

I’m quitting my job.

I’m going to write full-time.

Ah…I needed that. Eight days to spend time with the family, read some books, enjoy the scenery, and sneak off to work on Revisionary. I’m working on catching up with the rest of the world again. It turns out life continued even though I was away. How rude!

Two things that happened over the past week or so:

1. The Baen Books podcast went up, featuring David Afsharirad talking to me, Esther Friesner, John Helfers, Jody Lynn Nye, Harry Turtledove, Robin Wayne Bailey, and I’m sure I’m forgetting someone — sorry — about the newly released Chicks and Balances anthology.
2. Brittany Woolsey wrote an article about convention/cosplay harassment, which includes comments from me and several other folks.

#

Some pictures from up north:

The rest are over on Flickr, along with larger versions of these, if you’re interested.

#

On Saturday, the day after we drove home, I got to be a part of the Michigan State University Young Authors Conference again. I might have been a wee bit sleepy or out of it from the drive, but I don’t think I messed up too badly in either of my sessions. As always, I just wish I’d had more time to talk about stuff and answer questions and just chat with the kids. But I did get to sit in on one of Merrie Haskell’s sessions and give her a hard time, which is always a nice bonus! I also picked up a copy of her latest book (though I didn’t get the “special edition” with the messed-up dust jacket).

#

So what did I miss while I was gone?

If you ever want to relive the days of dial-up modems, I suggest driving to the northern edge of the U.P., then piggybacking your laptop onto your phone’s data signal.

But with today being the 4th of July, I figured I should share a few of the fireworks from last night’s display. I’m particularly fond of the way #1 and #4 turned out, like giant flaming dandelions.

Hope you’re having a great weekend!

The blog will be relatively quiet for a week or so. I have very important “research” to do up north for the next book.

It’s hard work being a writer, ya know?

FYI, I’ll be on Lansing Online News tonight at 7, talking about Fable: Blood of Heroes, writing, and whatever else comes up. You can check the Ustream broadcast, or if you’re local, you can listen on 89.7 FM.

#

I’m 41 years old. When I was in elementary school, we played a game called Smear the Queer. I had no idea what “queer” actually meant. I just thought of it as another fun roughhousing game, basically like tag with the added bonus of getting to tackle someone at the end.

The movie Teen Wolf came out in 1985, when I was eleven. It included Michael J. Fox having the following exchange with a friend:

“You aren’t gonna tell me you’re a fag are you? Because I don’t think I can handle that.”
“No, no…I’m not a fag. I’m a werewolf.”

As recently as 2003, laws against sodomy were still on the books in fourteen states (including my own state of Michigan).

In 2005, my home state of Michigan passed a Constitutional Amendment stating:

To secure and preserve the benefits of marriage for our society and for future generations of children, the union of one man and one woman in marriage shall be the only agreement recognized as a marriage or similar union for any purpose.

On Friday June 26, 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that Constitutional Amendment and others, ruling that same-sex marriage was legal throughout the United States.

#

This feels monumental.

I know the U.S. and humanity as a whole still has a great deal of work to do when it comes to addressing social inequities and discrimination, but this was huge. I think about the treatment and awareness of LGBT people during my childhood and look at how much that’s changed over the course of a generation…the fact that the White House was lit up in rainbow colors to celebrate the legalization of same-sex marriage… It’s joyful.

I’ve seen people say that, because they’re straight, this ruling doesn’t directly affect them. And I think I understand what they mean. Friday doesn’t affect my 12-year marriage to a woman in any way. It doesn’t change my family or financial situation or legal security in all the ways it can for people in same-sex relationships.

The impact isn’t the same, but it does affect me. It fills me with joy and pride. It brings a sense of relief for friends and loved ones. It rekindles hope that my country can become better, and that we can overcome discrimination.

(It also screwed up my productivity on Friday, because instead of working on my book, I was scrolling through social media to see all of the celebration and happiness. I’ve decided that I’m okay with that.)

I recognize that this was a long, hard-fought battle, and this victory doesn’t end people’s struggles. The United States is one country, not the world. Friday didn’t magically erase hate and bigotry. And it will likely lead to more of the pushback we’ve been seeing against inclusiveness, diversity, and acceptance.

But it’s still a joyful thing, one I choose to celebrate. When I listened to a friend and coworker fighting back tears as she talks to Human Resources about adding her wife to her benefits…when I think of friends who left Michigan after we passed that amendment in 2005, whose legal status will now be recognized if they choose to return…when I see my friends online celebrating their relationships, and I can’t even tell who’s updating and commenting on Facebook because so many people have rainbowized their icons…I can’t understand how anyone could fail to be moved by such an outpouring of shared joy and love.

I look at the hate crimes and racially motivated terrorism we’ve seen in recent weeks, the bile and bigotry coming out in the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling, the narrow-mindedness and the utter lack of empathy, the blinding fanaticism and extremism and hate. The victory of June 26, 2015 reminds me why we fight against these things: because change for the better is possible.

I am so happy for everyone whose lives will be better as a result of this ruling, and I’m happy for my country for taking a step toward fairness and equality.