Alright...

Since July of last year, I have been unemployed.  Money has been ridiculously hard to come by, but I have somewhat enjoyed the unexpected vacation.  Since I hadn't actually HAD a vacation in the five years I worked at my last job, it was kind of nice to not have to get up early.  Unfortunately, my wife had to carry the weight of the family's finances on her slightly smaller income and our credit history has gone into the tank as a result.

In the interim, I've played role playing games on both table top and on the XBox (Saint's Row isn't exactly an RPG, but it was fun nonetheless).  As a result of making new friends during the downtime, the new version of the Age of Worms was begun, both as a nod to the fun role playing of the group and to keep my hands in the writing field.  I never expected to actually publish it, but then again, the players have been so busy at work that none of them have actually taken the time to read it, so I may as well post it somewhere that folks might actually enjoy this little labor of love.

If you are interested, check out A Stygian Heart, since it is the back story to Tenerife, one of the characters in the new story line.  I hope to submit it to WotC and Paizo to see if they might be interested in actually paying me to write at some point, but we'll see.  I got an offer once, just before I went to Japan, and that offer went nowhere.  They might give me a second chance...

As a side note, in case you've not already noticed, I've taken up cosplay as a hobby, using the Master Chief costume as my outfit at the events.  Amazing to think what a costume can do...  I get hugs, high fives and tons of pics when I'm in the outfit.  The Chief is a modern American hero and, as I quickly learned at my first cosplay convention, when you're in the outfit, you ARE the character to those at the convention.  The Chief is a hero to guys and girls, and I get offered hugs from both.  It's great to disappear into a costume for a while and be someone you know everyone recognizes and cares about.

Especially when, for the past six months, you've had no direction in your life, few prospects at becoming anything meaningful, and even less money.

In the mean time, I hope you are all doing well.  Enjoy the new stories!  New pics will likely be up from MegaCon in Orlando, which I will be attending on the 18th.