Alienus Tempus the Memoir Reboot

I have decided (once again) to work on my memoir. It is of the same name as the novel, Alienus Tempus.

That being the case, I will not have the first draft of Alienus Tempus the novel by the end of this year. Most of the

groundwork for the memoir has been completed for some time, but for a reason that now eludes me I decided to work

on the fictionalized version of my life, which would be the novel.

I guess sometimes I think that what has transpired in my life is so unbelievable that people would simply not believe

those things to have happened. Therefor, I thought that a "fictional autobiography" (aka... the novel) would be a better

medium. And though I do intend to finish the novel one day, for various reasons I cannot publicly disclose as of yet, I

am compelled to work on the memoir once again.

I have no definite time frame, though I hope to have if complete and publishable some time in March 2015.

I will be keeping the facebook page for Alienus Tempus the novel active as I definitely intend to finish in the future.

Soon, I will be creating a facebook page for Alienus Tempus the memior. I plan that page to be more active than the

novel page was. There will be several multimedia additions and excerpts to the page.

I will post the link when it is available.

I hope to see some of you there...

Clarion Write-a-Thon

I just joined the the Clarion annual Write-a-Thon. It begins Sunday, June 22 and runs for 6 weeks. It coincides with the actual physical Clarion Writer's Workshop for Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers.

There are about 18 who actually are chosen from an application pool. When I'm published (eventually, I promise) I will be eligible for the actual workshop held at UC San Diego.

Please click on my profile and browse the site to see what it's all about. Then consider donating to the Clarion Writer's Workshop (through my profile) so that future students will be able to attend the workshop in San Diego. The fundraising goals will help those future workshoppers and will allow me to be eligible for certain gifts as well. If I raise $250 I get a critique from a Clarion graduate. I'm setting my goal at $100. If $20 is donated from my profile I can become part of a team of other Write-a-Thonners.

I have recently pledged to finish a first draft of my novel, Alienus Tempus, by the end of this year. If I can make my writing goal of 10,500 words, it'll be a great boost to accomplish that goal.

Hope you check out my profile and at least cheer me on through facebook. Thanks!

Clarion Write-a-Thon member page

Alienus Tempus Facebook page

Book Time

I realize that I've yet to indicate which books I read in January and will have read this month.

So, here they are...

1. WWW. WATCH (book 2 of the WWW trilogy) by Robert Sawyer - paperback
2. Where Do You Get Your Ideas? by Fred White - paperback
3. Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu - audiobook
4. The Art of War by Sun Tzu - audiobook

I'm not going to make my quota for this month (at least unless I get a wild hair up my a%$). I've been sick with the most stupid ailments this month and part of last. Sinus infections, post nasal drip, and now the post nasal drip is causing chest congestion which could lead to pneumonia, I can't get any women to talk to me online and I don't get out much so I don't know many in person (ok, the last may have been TMI, but, there ya' have it).

1. Solaris by Stanislaw Lem - interchanged between audiobook and ebook
1. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius -interchanged between audiobook and ebook

It seems that I'm having a tendency to listen to audiobooks when they are available. I think this is because I can walk while listening and do other mindless household chores. Even though, I should be doing everything I can mindfully, even those pesky dishes. All in the name of efficiency, eh?

I'm also thinking that instead of working on the science-fictional autobiography (which, I don't think anyone including myself is quite ready for), I've decided to turn the very first story I wrote (in 2002) of about 16k words into a novel. I think it's doable and it will be enjoyable.

It's tentatively called Sub-U, since 2002, and bears some thematic and plot similarities with Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, and a combination of Ubik, Maze of Death and Eye in the Sky by Philip K Dick.

A Brave New Plan

Just the third week into the new year, and I've decided to tweak my goal of reading one book a week for the remainder of the year.

For just over a month I was out of commission due to a series of upper respiratory infections and sinus infections with a tooth abscess on top. I began reading my first book, WWW.WATCH by Robert Sawyer shortly after Jan 1st, but it was a slow process. When you are down, it's difficult to complete things you know you need to. I rebelled, kicked and screamed all the way until early Monday morning Jan 20th when I finally completed it. It's not that I didn't enjoy the book (I did for the most part). It took 2 rounds of antibiotics only to determine the little buggers were resistant to it. That was 20 days being ill and no relief. It wasn't until I began a 3 day regime of Zithromax that the infection began to slow and I started feeling better. OCD and ADD hardly ever help the situation.

However, I did indeed finish the book in 2 weeks. Last year I picked it up and read the first 40 pages at least on 4 or 5 occasions. Even this late achieved goal led me to completion. So, goal setting really does work. Now for the tweaks I was talking about.

I intend to read (or listen to) at least 4 books in any given calendar month. This leaves me some leeway should I fall ill or some other series of unfortunate events occur. The lesser restrictions benefit the ADD part of me. I realize I made the initial goal of 1 book a week to combat the ADD. Oh well. Come on, throw me a bone. I'm still reading more material than I have in a long time.

The efficiency is much better overall. For example, should I finish a book 2 days before the "week" was over, I'd be uncertain about beginning another for fear that I could not complete it within the 2 days allotted. This caused more anxiety than what remaining time on the schedule was worth. With the new method I can begin that book anyway.

Have any of you tweaked a resolution or goal to suit your needs at the time? I'd like to hear from you.

Book-A-Week & Outline-A-Month

I'm sure the Blogosphere is bound to be buzzing like busy bee's considering this is the time that many will be posting their goals, resolutions, and projects for the upcoming year. This is a good a time as any to throw my lot in the mix and reacquaint myself to the Blogosphere. I've decided to undertake another New Year's resolution/challenge. This is but one of many, however, I would like to have some accountability for this one. And since it involves writing, I'll make that intention here.

I haven't been doing much writing or reading for that matter. OCD and ADD can do that to you. Couple that with being undisciplined and I'm a complete disaster.  It's a long and slow journey. Like the Chinese philosopher Laozi said  "A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step".  

I am going to attempt to read at least one book a week during this calendar year of 2013. I hope that the practice will carry on to my remaining years. There is so much to read and so little time. For me, this seems like an olympic leap than a small step, however, because I'll be focusing mostly on the reading and the outlining (and exercise of course) I will push some of these other worries, burdens, and aspirations to a dark hidden crevice in my mind. That's right. I said aspirations. I have so much I want to do and learn and because of the OCD and ADD, it precludes me from this. So it stands to reason that this may actually help with my OCD and ADD since I'll be narrowing my focus by not taking on too much of a variety of things. Reading and Outlining/Writing Novels. That's all I'm about this year. To hell with everything else, I say!

I've already made some selections that I'll read for sure.  I'll post a tentative schedule soon. Feel free to comment about my choice of selections and the selections themselves. And if you would like to join me in your own Book-A-Week, let's get in touch.

I plan on reading from a fairly broad variety of both fiction and nonfiction books. Most of the fiction will be from the Science Fiction and Hi-Tech Thriller genres. There is some fantasy I want to delve into.  On the nonfiction side, I'll be reading mostly popular science and philosophy books. Those I have chosen or will choose will be books that I find relevant to the research I need for my novel and story ideas.

This week I'll be reading WWW:WATCH, the second of the WWW trilogy by Robert J Sawyer. The first I read about 2-3 years ago. I plan on finishing Sunday at the latest.

I'm also going to begin a nonfiction writing book, Where do You Get Your Ideas? by Fred White. I'm allowing up to 2-3 weeks to finish this one, although I'm shooting for 1-2.

My first day has now begun, but the week will usually begin on Monday and end on Sunday.

I'm also planning on completing one novel outline (detailed, if possible) a month. 

I hope to post more often in the future. I'll certainly have more writing related posts to share. 
So... if you'd like to join me on this adventure, I'll be happy to have you on board. 

Happy New Year to all and good luck with all your goals and resolutions...

Frank Bertrand writings about PKD on Scribd

Frank Bertrand has been a Philip Dick fan since probably before I was born. In the 70's and 80's he conducted several interviews with Phil, and has written extensively about him since Phil's death.

I read a few of his articles when I first had the "PKD connection" on 6-23-2002. I'll be rereading those articles and even more for the first time.

His writings can be found here at Scribd

I've got a lot of rereading to do so I can complete this memoir. I'm looking forward to it.

Thank you, Frank, for all the time and hard work you have put in for the PKD community.

My Memoir Kickstarter Project Launched

I've officially launched my Kickstarter project today. Kickstarter is a fundraising site for creative projects. In this model, one launches a project and sets a deadline to meet their funding goal (1-60 days). If the funding is not met then the project will not be funded. It is an all-or-nothing situation.  Rewards (usually in the form of the finished product, e.g. books, CD's, DVD's, ect.  The more you donate, the better the rewards. Also rewarding, is knowing that you will help someone fulfill one of their dreams, that they may not have been able to do otherwise.

My memoir, called Alienus Tempus, concerns how I manage mental illness and common and not-so common philosophical inquiries while trying to explain mysterious and remarkable events that concern the late science fiction writer, Philip K Dick.

If you happen to read this post, please take a look at my project even if you decide not to donate. That's okay... just so you know that one day this memoir will be available to everyone at no cost.  I want to get this story out. It's my dharma.

Doing Philosophy - A Short Summary

Doing Philosophy by George MacDonald Ross et al. is a great introduction to the study of, or doing of philosophy, which includes reading, taking notes, discussing and writing essays. It is aimed toward university undergraduates beginning their study of philosophy, but it can be applicable to anyone wanting to study philosophy, of which I belong to the latter.

I really enjoyed the section on Reading Philosophy as I found it more applicable for my immediate needs, and is in fact, the cornerstone to doing philosophy. Different kinds of texts are discussed. If that journal article has you stumped, it's okay; the authors claim that even professional philosophers sometimes need to read an article several times to understand it. They say that when reading about a subject, it is essential to review arguments both for and against an idea. When reading philosophy, you must be careful to read thoroughly, and not skim. No speed reading! They offer a "structured reading" guide which will enhance your experience. Reading philosophy poses many challenges, such as technical language and translation issues, just to name a few. The authors cover this adequately.

Applicable to university students, they explain how plagiarism can take many forms, and how to avoid it.

Included in the "Writing Philosophy" section are four types of sample questions that one may need to write essays about. They discuss how you should think about the issue or question.

I believe my having read this book will benefit me in my self-study of philosophy and can do the same for you, whether a university student or on your own.

Writing Longhand

Writing inspiration hits when you least expect it. Much of the time it catches us when we are away from our computers. Even in my one-room efficiency apartment I find myself not writing because my laptop is either off or in standby. Sometimes, I simply don't want to open my journal software program. I feel awful and lazy about this.

But I know this: I do want to write. I have to do something about this, now. I've decided that it's not absolutely necessary to have a digital copy of my musings. Therefor, I have begun to use inexpensive composition notebooks. I get them at 40 cents a pop at Walmart.

I've got a comp notebook for just about everything: my official journal, writing exercises, notes on books I'm currently reading, book reviews, writing topics, dreams, my WIP, blog posts, and the one I carry around with me all the time - "Writing on Hand" notebook. I'm sure I've either got more or I'll make more in the future.  I figure, if the journal entry is really important, I can always back it up with my journal program.

As a result, I've written about five to ten times as much as I normally do. It may be overkill, but hey, it works for me. There are other benefits to writing by hand, as well. Plenty of pros and cons for each.

Disclaimer: This post was written initially in longhand and then transcribed to Blogger

What method works best for you?

Hiking Trip

I'll be gone for the next 4-6 weeks while I'm hiking the trails from Pittsburgh, PA to DC. I'll only have my cellphone, so availability and ease of use for blogging will be difficult at best. During rests I'll be reading Jean Paul Sartre's "On Being and Nothingness". That's sure to add some weight to my pack. It's a work on existentialism, ontology, and phenomenology. It will make quite the challenge. Even students majoring in philosophy require much preparation just to begin reading this book. I've done all that time will allow, and hopefully will have some insight to share at my return.

Writing Change-Up

I've come to the conclusion that I need to set my current novel WIP aside and work on some other things. I'm finding that I need to do much more research than I want to do at this point. The reason is that I need to be writing. I do write in a journal, but I need to write fiction so I can improve upon it. And if I'm blocked in my novel because of the need to do too much research (I have OCD and ADD, so I feel I have to know everything about everything) I will never get to practice writing fiction.

Therefore, I've decided to switch to short stories for a couple of months or longer. I also joined a group of writers at Write 1 Sub 1, whose aim is to write AND submit a short story or flash fiction per week. This is indeed a challenge, however, one I think I would like to subject myself to. I'm off to read a little more about it, and to begin work on my first story.

The Medication Shuffle

It's time for a medication change. My doctor and I were going to do it on my next visit because I had just began another med change (dosage only). However, that's almost two months away, and that is two months I can't be like the way I am now. I've been taking Anafranil, of the older TCA class of antidepressants. It is also prescribed for OCD and is supposedly the "gold standard" for the treatment of OCD. My personal experience with this med is that when I try to increase the dosage to help control the depression, my obsessions become more difficult to manage. However, I need the increase to control the depression, which of the two, is more threatening for clear reasons.

Even though Effexor is a bear to get off of because of the incapacitating withdrawal symptoms, it had worked very well for me for over 7 years. It is an SNRI, a newer class of antidepressants (with significantly fewer side effects).  Since being off of it, my life seems to have kept going in a continual downward spiral. I just started about 4 days ago and will be titrating the dose up to a therapeutic level and titrating down the Anafranil. The effects of antidepressants can sometimes take a couple of weeks to a couple of months to be noticed.  I'm not certain whether or not is in my mind, but I am beginning to feel slightly more calm (Effexor is also prescribed for Anxiety disorders) and thus the OCD is less severe already. I hope this is a positive indication of things to come.

It's Finally Here

This is the final day for Blogathon 2011. I'm excited that I have been able to come this far. It can be so difficult for me to get my thoughts together. However, during the blogging, it was an inevitability that I had to stay the course.

At the beginning, I had talked about ways that I had prepared for the blogathon. And, other things I or anyone could do further to make life easier and more productive. Some of these tasks, I have achieved and some I haven't.

For instance, I had planned to pre-write several posts so I wouldn't have to write a last minute post. Which I failed miserably at. In the beginning I posted toward the beginning of the day, and toward the end most of my posts were in the evening. Procrastination kept rearing its ugly head.

I realized, however, that not every word I write has to be magic. At least I'm writing everyday, which was part of the purpose of this blogathon. I will attempt to keep this blog active with 1-2 posts per week at the beginning. I wish I could post everyday, but it just can't happen. I've met some really good people in this endeavor and hope you continue to visit. 

Just Wordle It

Succeed with Short Term Goals

Trying to multitask, for one with OCD and ADD, is akin to pulling teeth. It's just damn near impossible. I've got a few writing projects I'm working on, as well as so much reading that I sometimes don't know where or when to begin. I want to read my dozen or so writing books that I've barely even looked at. I want to read my philosophy books. And I need to read science fiction that is similar to my WIP. Not only that, then there are the hi-tech/scifi books I've already read, but would really help to read again because of their similarities to my WIP.

So now, I'm trying to think in smaller loads. How about if it takes me 2 days to read a book from start to finish (at least fiction, I can do this), and at the very least spend 1 hour per day of at least thinking (preferably writing) about my novel. Even freewriting will work, as long as it has something to do with my WIP.

Just the thought of having completed one book in a day or two seems fascinating. What? A whole book read? Yes, if you can focus and not worry about all the other things (the trivial ones at least) that pop up in our lives. You'll have to be the judge of that. I think that would give me the spark to be even more goal oriented, because at that point, I know that I can do it; it is attainable. Not as futile as I once thought.

If you are anything like me and feel totally overwhelmed, then take a look at your project (whatever it may be) and imagine it as small chunks. Write them down, and mark them off when they are completed. I'm sure you will find it immensely rewarding.

Now, I'm off to create my short term goal sheets. However, do not forget about the long term goal either. You have to have a big picture, just don't focus on it all the time. Wish me Luck! And good luck to you, too.

Journaling to Cope with Mental Illness

One of the many things I wish to discuss in great detail on this blog (in fact, it is one of the core missions) is how journaling and any writing for that matter can help one become mindful of whatever mental illness they may have or even for the average reader who needs to work on confronting emotions and thoughts of any kind.

I found a post about a how a young lady uses journaling to cope with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). This link is actually to a guest post by a blogger who is visiting the site that you will be directed to. It is a good, resourceful read. I hope you get something out of it.

An Unfortunate Fact

Richard Dansky has a good post about writing about writing. In seven questions he covers quite a lot of territory.

If there's any one idea that I need to think about more, it's question #6

Per Dansky:

6-There’s so much good information on writing out there! How do I narrow it down?

Here’s a useful guideline: If you spend more time reading writing about writing than you do writing, you need to cut back. If you produce more tweets of links to articles about writing in a day than you do words, you need to cut back. If you have spent more time laying out plans for a blog you intend to write on writing but will never actually do anything on than actually writing, cut back and punch yourself in the back of the head a few times for good measure.

A good rule of thumb is to read until something sparks an idea and makes you want to write something of your own. If, over an extended period of time, nothing does that, you may want to ask yourself why you’re reading about writing, and instead turn to blogs and podcasts about golf, cooking, Bigfoot hunting, or making your own cheese from common household chemicals.

On Being and Nothingness

One week left to go for the Blogathon! I don't know whether to be happy or sad. Seriously. When I'm feeling well, I can make a decent post every now and then. But when I'm feeling unwell, it's difficult to stay focused. Like, this last week I've been obsessing over the question "Why is there something as opposed to nothing?". This is a question that science can not answer at the moment, or possibly never will. It belongs in the realm of Theists and Philosophers. Can you imagine nothing?

And, I know this to be the case, yet the question pervades my every atom. It resonates within me, like I may be able to do something about it, or provide an answer. Everyone thinks this at some point in their lives. But, when you get seriously caught up in the moment, you seem to detach from yourself. A feeling of unreality settles in. You may feel like you are in a dream. This is a fleeting glimpse of Depersonalization. And it's been devastating this week, along with the OCD and Depression.

Depersonalization Disorder is this, but every day of your life. At least for me. Over the years, it has gotten better, but when I start thinking deep questions sometimes the Depersonalization gets worse.

The OCD portion of my brain won't let me quiet this thought, or be at peace with it. It ruminates over and over in my mind. I guess if I had a compulsion component to it, it would be researching the question on the internet and reading philosophy books, both of which I do. I will expand on these ideas in a future post, but I want to give it its due attention, so I will ease away for now.

Dude, What Happened to my Internet?

The Internet service is down for my area of town. I'm typing this on my iPhone now. So, with exception to the Haiku, this will be my shortest post. There's much I needed to say; I suppose it will have to wait till tomorrow.

Top 5 Favorite Places to Write

Today's post will coincide with another Blogathon theme day which is "What are your top 5 places to write?".

Given my current situation an location there are not many options of places to write. I live in an efficiency apartment so when I write at home (which is my favorite place) everything is cluttered around me, which is not very conductive.


So, if I could get out everyday, my top 5 places to write would be:

1. Home office (everything is here; physical storyboards, notes, pens, desk, etc.)

2. Any one of a number of public libraries (only one in my town)

3. Local coffee shop (we have one)

4. Bookstore/coffee shop such as Barnes & Noble (nearest one is about 23 miles away)

5. Any aesthetic local park