Thoughts on Physics Reincarnate

Hello, writing and reading friends!

So, for starters, this is the mostly-official cover art for my next novel, pending a formatting tweak or two.  It's nice because Blogspot takes a picture out of each entry to use, so I'm gonna use this because it's easy and almost automatic promotion.

Awesome, isn't it?  It's by the talented Lawrence Shvartsberg, and it's awesome.  Need I say it again?  Awesome!

Anyway, my fans (I love you, all!) probably remember that Physics Incarnate was written as a single book.  It was meant to be sort of a psychological take on the traditional super-hero story.  Emmett Eisenberg wasn't overtly powerful, from the reader's initial perspective.  He was just strange!  Eventually, readers discovered that he was truly "physics incarnate."  He rearranges atoms at will.  His friends, originally portrayed as potentially delusional, are by-and-large like he is.  They have different powers, but similar circumstances.  They all worked at the Connor Point research facility, under the direction of a group called The Consortium Of Trust, and they were all involved in a major disaster there.  One might think that means they saved the world, or something, but that's not quite true. Emmett, in spite of his friends, isn't a hero by any stretch of the imagination.  He doesn't save cities - in fact, he's come closer to destroying them during moments of emotional instability.  He's not evil, he just lost control over his powers, and they nearly killed him.


Expanded Universes

However, as the book became more popular and as people started asking, I realized there was more to tell about the characters of Emmett's world.  I started thinking, in particular, about James Lowery.  James was Emmett's friend who has mastery over his physical senses:  Superhuman hearing, sight, nervous and muscular systems...Whatever!  It's a very cliche power, but it isn't coupled with anything greater.  No super-strength, no regeneration, no flight; just senses.  Yet James uses them to deadly effect.  Moreover, James was the "Head of security" at Connor Point.  His tale felt incomplete.

I toyed with the notion of a prequel, but I've never been a big fan of them.  I like to paint where things go, not where they've been.  We already know Emmett's crew has super-powers, so there's no "twist" to be found there!  Yet I wanted to talk about Jim's past:  He's Irish, he's got a history with intelligence agencies, and he's the group's unelected ringleader.

But, I also came up with ideas for new villains.  I came up with ideas for new characters in general.  Most of all, I realized that there's some cohesive themes to explore:

 - Physics Incarnate, for example, revealed the core of Emmett's past.  It explained what the Consortium Of Trust was.  It introduced us to Erica Hall, and dealt primarily with resolving Emmett's past.
 - Physics Reincarnate, as the sequel is titled, focuses a great deal more on Jim.  Sure, the book will delve into how each member of this super-group was recruited, but it mainly focuses on a new threat.  It's actually set in 2016, by the way, but it's less "future" and more "present."  Survival is essential, because this new threat is more than well enough equipped to challenge Emmett - never mind the threat they are afraid of!
 - Physics Trincarnate will be the third book, and it is about creating a new world.  I haven't written this one, yet, but I know how it goes in principle.  The world will undergo a complete change and become truly divergent from the one we occupy.  Also, it's 99% certain that this is where the series will end.

The thing with these novels is that nothing is quite as it seems.  In book one, Emmett just seems like an odd guy with a very strange, science-minded point of view.  References to atomic lattices are portrayed as simple metaphors - after all, every "solid" object is truly just a collection of atoms held together by bonds!  And a physicist would be keenly aware of this!  But Emmett isn't just seeing objects as a metaphor, he's literally seeing the bonds that hold our world together.

So, there's purpose behind everything, really.  Even, as a hint of a spoiler, the name of one of my favorite characters - Sari.  A "sari" is a robe worn by women in India.  The idea of an exterior covering isn't anything new to this series, as Sari is originally presented as a 30-something-year-old doctor when in reality she's ten years younger than the bulk of the cast and is, moreover, really just a mystical healer.  I know, "just" a mystical healer!  So even on the outset, her identity is a lie.  And will there be more truths to come, more layers of "saris" to peel away from her?  Well, I wouldn't be posing this rhetorical question if there weren't!

So, all in all, get ready!  Physics Reincarnate is coming soon!

X-Box One: A "How To Kill A Console" Rant.

Howdy,

This is gonna be a quickie.  It's about the X-Box One, and it is a new revision to the textbook on ruining a console.  To be fair, I'm more of a PC gamer, but I have and love both the XBOX and 360.  Well, more love has probably gone to the original, but that's a side-story.

Oh, speaking of the X-Box 1, We'll start with the obligatory "Name makes no sense" entry, calling it the fucking "one" as if this is a very bad pun on the concept of a square serving as a zero, and move on to a file-photo.

X-Box One.  Image Courtesy of Forbes

Now then.  Right off the bat, Kinect.

Kinect Is Terrible

The sub-title should give it all away, really.  I mean, really!  The Nintendo Wii was great, in terms of its motion controls, mainly because they were still controls.  You held them in your hand.  Sony ripped it off, but Kinect went a different way.  And, I can respect them for that.

However, the Kinect has added absolutely nothing that I can think of to gaming.  Sure, I guess it's kind of neat to be able to wave my hand and make something happen on the screen, and I can maybe see that being incredibly awesome in an adventure/puzzle game (think Strong Bad's Cool Game For Attractive People) , or an RTS.  But action?  First-Person Shooters?  Platforming?  No.

Moreover, the Kinect functionality of the 3rd Box is going to subtract something from gaming.  We all know what it is, by now.  It's "Privacy."  Namely, the fucking thing spies on you!  Yep, Kinect's camera must be on, must be attached, and will watch you walk into a room.  So, basically, it's spying on you.

Privacy > Piracy

Oh boy, speaking of privacy, here's a conundrum - who is watching what I do with my games?  Well, if I want to return it, re-sell it, loan it to a friend, or whatever, guess what?  It's a fucking hassle!  It's neat that I can sign in to any XBox One and play my games, I guess, but if I try to "lend" my game to a friend, I can do it once.

Okay, time-machine time.  Back when SNES was still the top dog, my friends and I used to loan each other games all the fucking time.  "What's that?  Secret Of Mana?  And you've already beaten it?  And you're working on Earthbound?  Dude!  Can I borrow it for a week?  I'll let you borrow my Final Fantasy III(6) if you need something in the meantime!"  No more.

Did I mention that, to fight piracy, the "One" is always going to be online?  Yeah, this is another of those stupid gimmicks designed to fight piracy.  "OH!  But now you can run for up to 24 hours off-line!"  "It's a smoother experience!"  "You can have Facebook!"  No.  No, and no.  That's ridiculous, and you're ridiculous for thinking that's a good argument.  Always online?  That shit sounds like a wet dream for the makers of PRISM, the (latest) major scandal involving internet companies like Verizon sending the private data of American citizens to our government in what is certainly a breach of the Fourth Amendment.

Look, I get that piracy might be kind of an issue, but it's apparently an issue reserved for PC games, due to the ability to bring greater game-copying software and distribution to bear.  And, moreover, according to this chart it's not really much of a problem!

Image courtesy of IGN

So with PC gaming set to eclipse console gaming, and with the technical capabilities of consoles having proven pretty much unable to hold up to the versatility and power of a PC - not that they really need to, because "better graphics" are pretty much not a concern anymore - this anti-piracy effort is essentially, as always, bullshit.

Oh, and did we forget the Playstation Network Outage?  Hold on!  Add one plus one real fast, and you get the obvious:  "What happens if Microsoft's network gets hacked or otherwise crashes?"  That's right, you have an expensive brick on your hands - oh, oh, wait, after 24 hours.  How expensive?

Price Tags Talk

By this point, I'm obviously not in the "going to buy this thing" camp.  Two generations ago, I owned all three systems - X-Box, Game Cube, and PS2.  Why?  Because all three were reasonably priced, had reasonably priced and accessible games and controllers (Oh, and the "One" doesn't use 360 controllers.  Ha-ha!), and I liked what it put out.  The X-Box actually was probably my #3 console, with mainly Halo/2 to tide me over; the GC had Smash Brothers, Metroid Prime, some Zelda iteration, and even Phantasy Star.  The PS2?  Oh boy - that system kicked ass!

So why did I ultimately opt to get a 360 first?  And a Wii second?  And a PS3 not-at-all?  Well, economics was a huge factor.  Wii's were un-gettable, PS3's were we'll get to it!, and 360's were applicable!  It also had Halo 3 to serve as a killer app, plus GTA4, plus Final Fantasy support (I never got around to it), plus the Live Arcade or whatever it was that I got Sonic, Scott Pilgrim, and other stuff from.  In other words it was a solid, reasonably accessible, reasonably priced console with reasonably fun games.

Oh.  And here's what really killed the PS3.

You fucking knew it was coming!!  You fucking knew it!  The PS3's fully decked-out model sold for $599, with it's 1/3rd-the-memory selling for $499.  This with virtually no games?  Screwattack did a virtually flawless explanation of why that console had such a shitty life.  Did it eventually stabilize?  Sure!  But it got its ass kicked - hard - early on, largely because it's price point and games simply didn't match up.

The "One?"  Well, it's set to release at - surprise! - $499, as compared to the 360's $399.

The X-Box Breakdown

Let's recap:

 - Five hundred bucks for a system that...

 - Demands to spy on you so it can...

 - Connect you to the internet, another demand...

 - Cannot function without the internet...
 - Could well be leaking your private information to the government...

 - Doesn't allow you to freely move your own games...

 - Isn't something you can purchase if you live, say, in upstate NY due to lack-of-internet...

 - Has a stupid name...

 - Has games which might or might not be good, but can't be just fucking played...

 - Oh, and costs five hundred fucking dollars!

Hey!  Hey!  Here's a newsflash:  The "market" speaks.  That means that consumers have a voice, and when they like something they buy it.  When they don't they don't - and they often buy something else.  You want some real, hard truths about this system?

According to Haverzine, sales of the Nintendo WiiU (Another stupidly-named console) on Amazon's UK portal jumped 875% after the specifications of the "One" were announced in May.  That's specifications, like all the privacy/Kinect crap.  This astronomical price was released today.  And the Wii U's deluxe model is $349 regularly, a full hundred-and-fifty less than the default "One."  Whaddya wanna bet that, regardless of what happens with the PS4 announcements, sales of the Wii U continue to skyrocket as the "market" showers disapproval on Microsoft by feeding Nintendo?

After all, while all I might get out of a Wii U is another meh Mario game, at least I know Mario isn't demanding to watch me wander around in my living room while he's jacked into to the internet in order to stomp a few Goombas.  If you know what I mean.

Jesse Pohlman releases his latest novel, Protostar!

Hey internet world!

This is just a quick reminder that I've put out my latest novel, Protostar!  It's a Kindle exclusive, at this time, but if demand is high I'll convert it to a hard-copy book.  The teaser text goes something like this...

Ensign Lahira Ocean is the chief navigator of the Human battleship, the "George Washington." Born on the world Magellan, she comes from a wealthy family and joined the fleet as a precursor to her future as a trade magnate; aside from astronomic charts and hyper-drive calculations, she studies history as a pass-time as well as a rationalization for her circumstances. She regularly muses retirement, despite her incredible skill in military affairs. Fate intervenes when another world, Hudson, picks up an group of alien ships heading straight for it. The "George Washington" is deployed to help handle this initial contact, but the exact nature of the response is as shocking as it is stereotypical of a 20th or 21st century science-fiction epic!

Now, Lahira has little choice but to accept command of a brand new generation of ship, one born just on the temporal edge of a war unlike any Mankind has seen before. Bringing together a hard-nosed specialist in military doctrine, a free-wheeling reformed space pirate, a nonchalant communications expert, and her own chief rival as a chief navigator, can the now-Captain manage to survive her own crew long enough to face the alien menace? What has made these foreigners so ready to wage war against any species it meets? Will she be up to the task of leading the counter-attack against these mysterious Orphans?

Now, you might remember Protostar from my 2011 National Novel Writing Month expedition.  It was a successful mission, and Protostar was the result.  Well, a year and a half later and it's done!  Now, I might do a sequel to Protostar if it's effective, but I'd do it as a 2013 NaNoWriMo.

So...Encouragement, maybe?  ;)

Why I'm Not Celebrating Valentine's Day

Tomorrow, on Thursday, February 14th, the world will celebrate a holiday based on love.  Okay, so it's based on the imprisonment of a man who performed weddings for Roman soldiers, and who was ultimately executed, but that's fine.  The main idea - a holiday based on love - exists today to remind couples how happy they are, or to at least fuel the diamond and jewelry industry; and, of course, for this particular author to offer his novel (which contains a love story!) for free on Amazon's Kindle.

Sorry, do I sound cynical?  Well, if I am, there's certainly a reason for it.  A few months ago, immediately after my dad got out of the hospital, my girlfriend of nearly three years dumped me without ceremony or warning, and began dating someone who will almost assuredly be her Valentine, this year.  It was a crippling blow, but I've learned something in the time since that rather grievous Friday.  First, I have some amazing friends who I really am happy to have; and, two, I'm not alone in being alone, and that's okay!


The Boring, Depressing Background.

See, for the longest time I had allowed my relationship status to define me.  I watched who I talked to, worried that speaking with a pretty girl might convince my girlfriend-at-the-time I was cheating on her (while she cheated on me, naturally).  I moved in with her, but by the time we settled on an apartment I knew it was out of my affordability range - and I went with it, because it's what she wanted.  Vacations, dinner plans, hanging out with friends?  All of these are things I had sacrificed to make sure I kept that relationship status.  It was one I didn't even necessarily want, and for all the love her and I had truly shared at one point, by the end it wasn't hard to see that it was over.

Oh, there were good times.  I got her a giant penguin for our very first Valentine's day.  Trips to other states, places I'd never been and might never have gone in the first place.  She was there, in the hospital, when I had my shoulder surgically repaired - and though she could have taken better care of me, immediately post-op, she didn't leave me to suffer all too often.  Most of her family was miserable, but some of them weren't so bad, and I had some good conversations.  What's more, some of the friends we made together have become long-lasting friends of mine in their own right.

Nevertheless, this break-up was by far the harshest I'd ever been through.  It came at a time when I was still in a fairly decent amount of physical pain, still fighting an insurance company for physical therapy, and still fighting to keep the few family members I have left, well, here.  It also didn't help that I had grown very attached to our cats, and that one of -them- had been in the hospital just weeks ago (I offered over $3,000 dollars to pay for his treatment, asking only for about $500 back within a year).  Or that all my stuff was at her apartment.  Or that we were under a month away from our three-year anniversary.  Like I said, it's a good thing I have good friends, or I'd probably have ended up in a much worse place than I did.

It was time to start learning from this fairly-modified picture of one of our happier times, and the lesson should be pretty obvious.

Being Okay Being Alone

In that wedding-scene, open-bar-influenced photo, my left (pre-surgical; painful, thusly-medicated, but not crippled) arm is pointing at her.  The idea was obvious:  I cared about this person, and this person was #1 to me, even as we gave one-another bunny ears.  It was nice, and the memory would warm me if it didn't hurt at the same time, like getting too close to a bonfire.  However, I've learned that this finger really should have pointed at me, instead, as it should for all people in any relationship.

That doesn't imply someone should be selfish.  It indicates, instead, that people have to take care of themselves, and as much as someone may "Complete" you, they can't do so without first taking into consideration the thing known as you.  Modern day love stories always involve two people who, come hell or high water, are destined to be together.  It's fate.  One virtually completes the other, like those broken-heart necklaces; half a heart that only fits with it's chosen mate.  For that matter, you might as well think of shoes as a metaphor - you've got the left one on, now go find the right one.  And make sure it's the same damn shoe!

No, no, and no.  I have, as a meagerly-successful, reportedly-handsome, hopefully charming man, the opportunity to call a girl up tomorrow, ask, "Hey, do you wanna go out to dinner?  Do you wanna be my Valentine?," and probably get a positive answer in response.  As a kid, as a hopeless romantic, all I'd ever wanted was that precious status!  To be someone's Valentine, or their boyfriend, or more!  Hell, I was a gentleman, right?  I needed to find a nice lady to settle down with, to fall in love with, and to be happy with!  This was so important that I never even took the time to, A, figure out who I was when it came to romance; B, to make the classic mistake of confusing sex for love; and, C, most of all, develop the courage and tact to actually approach any of the girls I secretly admired.

In short, I became a Nintendo generation cliche:  Full of pitiable, emo-model unrequited loves, long-distance relationships, and even weaknesses in other areas of my social life.  The very pressure of this monogamous, hollywood-style romance that fuels Valentine's Day had really kicked my ass, huh?!  And even as I grew older, wiser, and bolder, I still measured my positive traits based on how, frankly, they enticed whoever I was with.  Did this girl like me more as a writer, or as a goth?  Did she like me more dominant or submissive?  Did she prefer McDonalds at home or hibachi at an expensive place?  What did I need to do to win that girl of my dreams?

To paraphrase Bruce Willis' character in Lucky Number Slevin, I woke up to find my dreams were the stuff of pipes.  Though, if I'm not bold in my reinterpretation of cliches, a "pipe dream," derived from friendly herbs in accordance with local and state law, doesn't sound too bad when I think about what I'd gone through!

Now, Then Worry About Later

So you know the story and you know the lesson I had to learn.  I knew, even as I recovered from the shock of the split, that a "rebound" relationship was a bad idea.  I focused instead on developing good friendships with as little pressure as possible, and I am so proud to say that the friends who have chosen to trust me so far are helping, a lot.  And I hope I'm helping them!

And right now, I'm starting to see the both forest and each individual tree.  I don't feel like I have to force a relationship to manifest.  I don't feel like I have to wait, on my tippy-toes, for a text message back from someone I'm interested in.  People have lives, and they live them.  I'll wait for a while, then I'll move on until they return.  I'm learning that I don't need someone to complete me.  Compliment, perhaps, but those are different words with different meanings.  I don't need to spend every waking minute with a person, nor do I feel any unnatural obligation to devote blocks of time to a specific someone.  What I do, I choose to do when it is reasonable for me and for those I do it with.

That's not to say I'm turning into a man-whore or a drifter.  Eventually, I'm sure, the time will be right for me to settle things down.  Eventually, things will be "official," and there will come a February 14th wherein I once again live up to that old, childish goal of having a Valentine.  However, it will not be this year, and it isn't a goal which must be met in time for any certain, pre-designated year.  As many nagging feelings as I might get about Valentine's day, this year, I don't have any obligations.

And that's a feeling I'm quite in love with.


Jesse Pohlman is a starving artist, sub-species writer, from Freeport, New York.  He is me.  Buy my book - or get it for free, on the 14th, in a universal "fuck you!" to the commercial system perpetuating this holiday's hyper-importance!

Writing/Art Tips: Dealing With Project Sprawl

Hello, fellow creators!

While I was working on my lego comic, and debating on drawing some more cover art for a book I'm almost done with, I was networking and writing my local news blog and...

...And I realized I have a problem.  See, I have a lot of projects on my hand at any time.  Sometimes I get commissioned to write an article, while other times I just end up in a pointless debate with someone on the internet.  Most of the time, though, I'm working on a book.  And there are lots of them I'm working on, and lots more that I've de-facto abandoned.  That's probably the greatest shame, because I've written them all in my head!  Just not on paper!

But if I were to start on them, then I'd leave other projects un-done, and therein lies the problem.

Focus On One Thing?  Hah!

Some people's first bit of advice is to pick one thing to focus on at a time.  For many people, that works - and if you're that lucky, hey, good for you!  Put that talent to use.  But many others find themselves always waking up, each day, with a different "feeling."  Maybe some day they feel like writing, while another day they feel like painting.  If they don't write, their manuscript goes unfinished; but if they try to force themselves to write when they want to paint, well, nothing gets done except for the denial of the true desire!

In my case, I wanted to write this article because I was working on the cover-art for my next novel, and realized that I was all over the place in terms of goals.  There's so much I want to get done, but so little I can.  It's a problem.  So I decided I needed an image that really demonstrated this feeling, and showed what "Sprawl" is.  Creating the above picture took me about 20 minutes.  True, I learned some new GIMP tricks that, had I known them earlier, would have sped the process up!  But it's still a significant expenditure of time, especially when time is unpleasantly short.

So what's my answer?  Well, one thing is to try to have a schedule.  "Day one, work on project one.  Day two, work on project two."  Whatever it is.  Sometimes, however, my daily life limits me to only having 15-20 minutes of "Creative time."  This forces me to pick something I can get done quickly, or at least something I can make a major contribution towards.

Truly, sprawl is a problem.


The Answer Is Patience

Most of all, I feel like I'll never get something done in time.  That the book cover will take so long I don't want to do it; that finishing a novel will take forever; that doing the research I need to perform in order to properly establish my older novels as viable is just going to be a brick with which I can bash my own head, and little else.

And none of that is true.

See, I'm young.  I'm 28.  But even if I were 68, I'm probably not dying tomorrow.  I'm probably going to wake up tomorrow and have time to work on my next idea.  The biggest reason why people seem to differentiate into working on dozens of projects at once is because they don't know how to be patient, to put their ideas on paper until the ones they're already executing are complete, and come back to it later.  That's right - patience.

For me, it's patience to know that, yes, this cover-art will get done; yes, the book will be released; yes, I can re-release old ones, and - finally - I can put out new material.  I can clear this massive plate I have in front of me, and I can think about new ideas and not feel like I have to immediately act on them in order for them to ever happen.  The key?  If they are strong enough ideas, they will be there when I'm finished with what's got me busy.

For others, I'd recommend the same - or, at least, a conscious evaluation of which projects should take priority and should be the subject of the most effort.  Immediate performance and financial income isn't the only guideline, here; existential reward and personal satisfaction matter, too.  Each person will be different, and there's always some creep, but sprawl should be kept to a minimum - before it gets out of hand, and nothing gets done.

Dystopian Lit Guest Post at BookGoodies

Howdy, sports fans!

I open with this line because if you're a sports fan, you're well aware of the Har-Bowl coming up?  Sweet.  I dislike that the Patriots made it that far, but at least they ain't gettin' another Super Bowl!

Moving on.  I recently submitted a guest post to BookGoodies.com, and low-and-behold they posted it, today!  This marks the second one they've posted by me, the first being about NaNoWriMo.  It's about Dystopian literature (and art in general), and it serves as a fairly basic introduction to the genre.  All in all its a fun, quick little read to get you into the spirit of nightmare worlds!  I might write another one for them, one about Hyper-Local Journalism.

Moving on.  Again!  Today is a special day for me because it's the year-and-a-day of Physics Incarnate.  My precious little baby novel is getting so old!  And as much as I'm working on its sequel and other projects, I'm celebrating by having it as a free book on Kindle, today.  So, check it out!

Enjoy yourself, and stay safe!

My literary goals for mid 2012

Howdy!

So, part of being a writer is having a plan on what you're gonna write. This is my general assessment of my ideas in my head - enjoy 'em!


Promoting Physics Incarnate

First things first, ya can't ignore what you have. You have to promote, almost relentlessly, the things you've put out. The latest novel of mine is Physics Incarnate, as my regular readers know, soooo hey! Promoting it is fun!




Jesse Pohlman's next production: Protostar!

So, for National Novel Writing Month this year, I created a space-opera called Protostar. I don't want to spoil too much of it, because it isn't released and I have one publisher in mind to contact, but I'll give you a small taste of what might become "promotional" material.

Lahira Ocean is the Chief Navigator of the George Washington, one of only four Alexander-class battleships in Humanity's space-fleet. Her vessel is called upon to help oversee a "Condition: Genesis" mission; first contact with an alien race. While exceedingly rare, these missions have never been catastrophic in nature - the Aquarians were friendly; the Firions were cordial; even the cybernetic Automatons, who overthrew their organic masters eons ago, were willing to live-and-let-live.

With past results not being a promise of future outcomes, the George Washington quickly finds itself on the front line of Humanity's war against a new species; they are called "The Orphans" due to their overwhelming search to discover the nature of their creator.

What mysteries do these alien races hold? Will Humanity survive this new antagonist? And, most of all, how will Lahira fare when desperate times call for desperate measures, and she is made the Captain of Humanity's newest Cruiser-class vessel, the Messenger?

Why am I so focused on this, right now? For a few reasons...

- Its written differently; its designed for serialization, meaning its set in short chunks to be distributed once a day instead of as a whole novel.
- I'm on some of the very last chunks.
- If my search for a publisher fails, I will distribute it through my website until the novel is fully put out; it will have advertisements in that case, google as well as for my books/projects that I like. But, in that case it will be free!
- Once I'm finished, or once I'm a significant amount through at least, I'd put the book on Kindle for something like 99 cents.



Next Novels

There's really two I'm working on besides Protostar. The first is, yes, Pillars of the Kingdom, Volume Three. Right now I'm just structuring things for the final show-downs with the Apostles. Yep, the Pillars vs Valin and his crew. It will be an incredible display of awesome action.

Then, I'm actually working on an Epic Poem. Which is going to be, well, Epic. But, its in the earliest phases of plot-planning so I can't really talk about it.


Political Writing

Somewhere in the future I really want to write two books on politics/futurism. The first is gonna be my (not-at-all) scientific blueprint for how to improve the world at large, similar to the "Call to America" articles I've written for Liberty Free Media.

The second is going to involve me opening up a college textbook I have on Modern Logic, and taking Sentence Logic (primarily; its the most simplified form) and applying it to Politics. :)


Anyway, that's the update!

On Asking Friends for Help With Artistic Projects

Howdy folks.

This is kind of a more introspective piece, and its brought about by the most pleasant of circumstances; I published my novel with the help of some really awesome friends and family. That kind of support is really never-ending, but it can get very hard to keep asking the same people to do the same kind of favors for you.




The Initiation of an Awkward Conversation

First of all, I feel really guilty asking my friends to shill for me. "Hey," I'll start a conversation off. "How are things?" Polite small-talk because I have an agenda on my mind, and while the friends' events are important to me, this is my life. Okay, so its probably not my life, but its certainly a request that's coming and, quite possibly, that friend is already aware.

"So, have you heard about..." is one ice-breaker, along with the, "I actually just started..." line. This is the transition. Its when I get into asking my pal the actual favor. The favor that is very possibly the reason I bothered contacting them, at all.

They usually respond with enthusiasm, but they don't necessarily go, "how can I help?" Many times they say its cool and interesting (it probably is!), but they have their own lives. Again, this is my life that I'm asking help with, so its hard for me to understand, sometimes, why they aren't thrilled.

Then, most likely, I have to come out and say it. "Could you do me a favor, actually?" I ask. At this point, the natural response is to say they can. Then I make my request.


Requesting Aid from Friends

Lets remember something - this isn't the Golden Age, and we don't even live in average economic times; its the second great depression, to some, and a "bad recession" to others. Face it, most people don't have money - especially not those who are young and struggling to get by. Most of the time, my requests are just that my friends spread the word of what I'm up to around.

"Hit the reshare button on Facebook," I'll ask. "Like it!" "Put it on Reddit or Fark!" "Retweet this for me?" Or, sometimes, I'll even go with one I need the most, lately; "Fill out a review of my latest book," "the book's preview," or whatever. And many times, after much haranguing, it'll get done.

But there's always this feeling of guilt whenever I put out a plea, because I'm asking my friends to give me special help that they might not give someone else. What's worse? This sort of thing can strain friendships.


When Art Harms your Friendships

Long and short, I know my friends generally have my back. I know that in a perfect world, my friends - and the many fans I've made with my many writing projects - would support me if I asked. However, this world isn't perfect. These friends have a life all their own, and constantly nagging them to help me out? Yeah, it can get annoying.

Then there's my side: I'm a struggling artist. I work a low-salaried full time job for the benefits, and a few part time jobs; I coach swimming, I teach swim lessons, I lifeguard, I write for contracts when I can get them, and I write blogs/articles. Any given day, I might "work" only 8 hours...But then these part-time gigs kick in and I'm throwing down 10+ hours/day, even on weekends. Why does this matter?

Because sometimes, despite knowing that my friends and fans care, its hard to feel it. Maybe its that I have psychological issues underscoring the situation, or maybe its just that it seems so important to me to get this help, but when I don't see the response I hope for (which is always more than reality offers), I can sometimes get upset. I sometimes wonder why I help my friends out when they ask, then get nothing in return. It makes me bitter.

And what's more? Its a false perception. My friends and fans help; but they're human, too. They can only do so much for me, and its very hard to understand how some people feel about their passions.

Well, hopefully now I've shared a bit, and hopefully now some help can find its way to me.

Waiting on Proofs

One of the hardest things I've had to do, as a writer, is wait on a proof copy. When publishing Physics Incarnate, today (Link goes to an updated preview), I uploaded my Microsoft Word formatted document, viewed the resulting print-ready .PDF file, then tweaked it and repeated. Satisfied, I was ready to distribute!

But, no. Amazon wants to check it over for 48 hours, and then they have to send me the dreaded "proof copy." This is a copy of the book you get to look over, find and tweak any mistakes, then either reject (and repeat the process) or accept the book.

In short...Its another long, annoying wait - it takes a minimum of five days to get everything taken care of! Ugh.

Oh well. On the upside, hey! My fund-raiser was successful! That means the novel is coming out with ferocity! I have so many people to thank for it, and they will be well thanked. Of that, I have no doubt.

Writing When on Vacation!

First of all...Hi! Its been a very long time since I've commented on this blog, which is kind of not what I was intending. But, here I am! And "Here" is subjective, as I'm in Washington DC!

- Pic by Carol Moravcik.


This picture is me at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum; pictured are V2 and V1 rockets (left to right), along with maybe other background stuff. Thought one is, wow - the V1 and V2 are reallllllly different in size! But, secondly, these missiles were the sort of thing that my grandfather on my dad's side worked against during WW2. That's right - he was part of an anti-aircraft battery. As an aside, grandpa on my mom's side was a prison guard, if I recall.

The reason I bring this up is because sometimes, being on vacation can be a powerful impetus toward writing. Now, obviously you don't wanna spend all of your time writing (Unless, say, you're at a writing-retreat), but inspiration is a really great thing to have, sometimes.

I, for one, used this as an opportunity to both research (as I've written about space travel) and fantasize (as I write about intergalactic travel things). Reading about fuel cells helped me learn about ways we can power tomorrow, which helps me edit down the book I'm releasing soon! Admittedly, I'd done my research pretty well when I wrote it. ;) This was more of a "hey, lemme look back over my stuff."

So, anyway, if you ever end up on vacation (I hope you do!), then give it a try. Poetry, prose, and any other form of art you might be interested in - all of them can be enhanced by taking a journey. You've just taken a bit of a journey through my creative process. Now, take one through yours!



Physics Incarnate

Physics Incarnate is my next-to-release novel. Currently I'm in the fund-raising phase, and through Kickstarter I've reached $400 of my $600 goal, so far. Thanks to all who donated and have otherwise supported me - and if you haven't, well, hopefully you'll read this one-chapter preview and change your mind!

All my best!

Writing With a Friend!

Howdy folks!

Today a friend of mine and I sat down (for the second time, actually) and wrote together. We're both working on NaNoWriMo, and we're both doing, well...Something! He's further behind than I am and that's all I'll say because he's the sort of guy that can bang out a bajillion words in one burst when it suits him. Not that I'm not, or at least not that I didn't used to be. I've actually been fairly steady with this NaNoWriMo project! How steady?

Obligatory Word Count: 28,085.


On topic, working with a friend can be a blessing or a curse. When you write with a friend, and you're each working on your own projects, you can bounce ideas off of each other. That's a huge blessing - if you're honest with each other you can shoot down bad ideas while building up the best of them. You can build concepts together - one person might suggest the first half of a solid plot arc, and the resolution might be suggested by the second.

The curse? You have to stay focused. "Writing with a friend" can quickly turn into "bullshitting with a friend." There's nothing wrong with having some laughs, but if all you do is talk about work/school/women/men/etc, you aren't writing. There needs to be some serious focus involved. There needs to be encouragement and good times, but there needs to be progress.

Most of all, you need to make sure your artistic styles mesh. I often like to write to the tune of music. So does my friend. With headphones, this can work - but if I really feel a need to keep the bass thumping, its going to be problematic. It'll be distracting. If I feel like breaking my writing up into small spurts of productivity, I have to show enough restraint to avoid distracting my friend if he's writing in one long, sustained effort.

The key of writing with a friend, therefore, is to know the friend you're writing with. That's the essence of it all - that, and, of course, to enjoy your writing!

Stuck In The Middle With...Words!

Hello hello!

First things first, I'm doing well! Had some allergy problems over the week which slowed me down, but I'm back with a vengeance!

I've done some marketing for Physics Incarnate, for when that project is fully ready to release. As far as the NaNo goes...


NaNoWriMo Obligatory Word Count: 25,639 (And rising)

Right now I am literally half-way done with the book. I actually have to say that my "planned" series of events has lasted me well into this area, even if I didn't plan for it to go as it did. Yep, the book has a life of its own! Whaaat a shocker! Truthfully I'll hit at least 26,500 before I'm worried about "okay, what should happen next," although that's not saying much. As for my plan overall? A plan for what the end of the book'll be?

I think I have one!

But normally by now, in the process of writing a book, I hear would-be authors (and sometimes myself!) come upon a wall where we say "all of my strong front-loading ideas are gone, but its far too early for my climax. Now is when I have to stretch things out." And boy is that an art!

Repetition is an idea...But it gets old fast. If there is nothing new in the introduction of old information, it is simply a second telling to the reader - even if it is the first time the character has heard it! Describing the alien death ray is cool! Describing it six times is not. But, describing it a second time and with a new, perhaps subtle factoid thrown in is a way to expand upon it; "Oh yeah," says character one, "this is the death ray." "Cool," responds #2, "its just like this thing I saw!"

Okay, now you have something.

And that's all I'll say about stretching, for now. Cuz now is sleepy-time!

Short, but Daily Update

Hey everyone.

Today was productive!

Obligatory Word Count: 888X I know for certain its above 8,800; and I'm fairly sure the exact number is above 8,880. It might be 8,860. I could be wrong.

I'm sleepy. Good night.

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) Entry!

Hellooooo everybody!

Say, have you ever heard of National Novel Writing Month?

- Image Courtesy of National Novel Writing Month Website



Well, as the hastily located and posted image hints at, I will (again) be participating - or competing, as I call it - in this event! To sum NaNoWriMo up...Well, its November, and in November participants are to write a novel of no less than 50,000 words. It doesn't have to be good, it just has to be. And that's where the fun begins!

You see, yes, you could (according to what I read last year when I tried and failed...More on that later!) just write "word" fifty thousand times. It would count, because at its core their "word verification" is just a word counter! But...That's not the point. That's a chore. That's a real shame. Its not like you win anything more than some pride.

No...The point is to get over problems like "writer's block" by going "I have a deadline I must reach." With a month to write (though many outline in advance), I consider it more of a competition with myself. I never have problems sketching out ideas and where I want to go. My problems lie more in the "writing the parts of the book I don't consider exciting but know are vital." Well, that and keeping track of a flash drive as I write in alternation of two computers. Therefore, what I need is a kick in the rear!

NaNoWriMo is that!

So, yes, this year I am participating. And, I will use this blog when I have a chance to update it! I have other friends that are doing it to; if they want, I'll offer updates on their progress, as well! That'd be fun!

Well, with about 45 minutes to go, I'm gonna go grab myself a glass of water and some nice, good...Sleep. I have work in the morning. I intend to kick some serious rear end on this one as I write---Oops, no title yet. Haven't started. Barely even know what I'm gonna write...G'night!


Obligatory Word Count: 0.

Writing a Trilogy, Part One

Howdy folks, and welcome to another Ramble about Writing! I promise this - it'll be a ramble, and it'll be about writing! And, as per the title, it'll be about writing a trilogy. Lets go!


What Are Some Fantasy Novel Trilogies?

When I first started writing, well, I was young. I was heavily influenced by the earliest Dragonlance novels by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, as well as the "Last Herald-Mage" novels by Mercedes Lackey. While my style and subject of sci-fi writing was much different than theirs, my ambitions were similar.

In 2005 I released my first novel. I proudly declared that it was a "Volume One." I had a clear plan of where Volumes Two and Three would go, and I even had plans for short stories! Oh, wait, no...I actually wrote those! I had notes on what would be coming, notes on what I'd already written, and grand schemes for how I would set about collecting new ideas to include without tainting the old.

I left the story off on a cliffhanger, put the first book out, and started on the second. As we speak, or at least on the same day that I'm putting this article out, I'm working on the third!


What Are Some Problems with Writing a Trilogy?

Now, you have to factor in some extenuating circumstances when you inevitably ask, "Wait, its 2011 and you don't have the third book out, yet?" A death in the family'll do that, although I shudder to ever use that as a rationalization for my delays. Oh, its not that I didn't hurt; rather, its that the hurt was just part of the problem.

My weakness, or one of them, is organization. My desk, which I'm ultra-proud to have by-the-by, is covered with, among other things; scattered post-it notes, legos, a microphone, plenty of Coca-Cola cans, a loose-object holder (mostly empty) and a lamp. Over half a decade ago, in 2005, I didn't have half of this level of organization.

I had a text file with novel-notes - I can't open it because I don't have a copy of the appropriate program.

I had a notebook - I lost it, got another; lost that, got a third.

I had crystal-clear ideas on what I wanted to do - With time and with other things in my life, it got fuzzy.

I needed to come up with some plot-hole fixes - The above three problems crippled this endeavor.

The bottom line here is that, maybe - just maybe - I wasn't ready. Oh, its not that my skills at actually writing weren't up to par. They've improved, certainly, since then! But they were never the issue. The real problem was that I wasn't as prepared to write as I thought. And, so, that's my number one thing to suggest if you're planning to write a Trilogy - be really fucking precise.

Oh, I haven't taken this advice in full, quite yet. I'm hoping to, I really am. But will I? Well, lets just say that I plan to re-read my own books to really get in touch with the old material. But if you want to be a better writer (at least, in the execution segment of the art) than me?


Some Pointers On Writing a Trilogy

First of all, organize your notes. I'm talking "If you have a file cabinet, use it" organization. Folders seem nice, but unless they're large binders (and even then), all it takes is one mis-placing and you're in trouble. When I got my second notebook I thought "gee, its nice and awesome and I love it. I'll never leave it out of my sight." Then, after using it so often it was an automatic in the back of my mind, I lost track of it. Folders? Yeah, I've done that with them, too. To boil it down: Dedicate not just a folder or book to your writing, but an entire area!

Next, well, really make sure you have the length of a Trilogy and that you have it broken up properly - and I mean really, really properly. Oh, I do! But my first book was 120,000 words. My second one hovered at 100,000. The third will be shorter, in large part because my prose has been refined over the years but also because of one simple problem - The immediate circumstances almost always look larger than further-off ones. I planned on three separate books worth of events, but when I look back on the story it seems the first contained a lot of less-effectively-described situations (a consequence of being younger and less proficient at the art of writing), while the second is much better written but with comparatively less things happening. The third is (I should hope) going to be even more pleasantly written, but I'm finding that my challenge is more in wrapping up plot threads neatly than in describing situations.

Finally, I suppose the best advice I have is to really know what you're getting into. Writing is not easy. In writing this article I realized I've spent about 15-20 minutes more than I thought I would. My hands hurt from typing (cheap shot jokes go here!). Coming up with witty/poignant/enlightening/dramatic dialogue requires practice, and describing characters consistently or introducing scenes with a sense of realism can be a nightmare. If you notice all of your places devolve into a single motif, you might need to actually go to a different real place. Working on an idea that you're really excited about is fun, but once that initial excitement dies you're going to need something to sustain your writing.

That's what preparation is for.

About Ramble About Writing!

Hi everyone!

This is mostly just a place-holder post. Its also a place to introduce myself, and to maybe talk a bit. For those who don't know me, I'm Jesse Pohlman. Some "vital" facts? I'm about to cross the bridge to twenty-seven years old. I'm from Freeport, New York. My mother passed away six years ago. I've been dating my girlfriend, who I now live with, for nearly two years. I love skiing, fencing, roleplaying (including, yes, World of Warcraft), swimming, and frisbee. My favorite bands include Silversun Pickups, Nirvana, Placebo, and Garbage. I currently work as a one-to-one Teacher Assistant for the Freeport School district, as well as a senior lifeguard for the Freeport Recreation Center. I also, currently, have someone chainsawing a bush apart, right outside of my apartment.

As I am foolish enough to presume by the fact you've gotten this far, I'm also a writer. I don't mean this in a "oh, Jesse writes once in a while" sense. I mean, "Oh, Jesse wants to make a career out of this" one. To that end, you might ask "What have you written?"


What has Jesse Pohlman written?

To begin with, I'm a self-published novelist. I actually put out my first book, an action-packed, science-fiction novel, in 2005. Its called Pillars of the Kingdom, Volume One: The Forming. Its sequel, The Search for the Four, came out in 2009. Its next installment is in progress, clocking in at over 9,000 words; not much.

I also recently completed a novel called "Physics Incarnate." Its currently under consideration by a publisher, and if that one doesn't accept it, then, well...I'll find another.

My novels aren't exactly what I'm famous for, however. Most notably, I write "The Weekly Freeporter," a blog about my hometown. Its how I got into blogging in the first place. Its over a year old and is nearing 100 posts! That's kind of an accomplishment!


Jesse Pohlman - Too Little Time

By now, you've probably gotten the sense that I do a lot of writing. Perhaps even too much. For example; I manage a small website called Liberty Free Media, a journalism/philosophy/etc website. Its got a number of people who have submitted work to it, and I hope it continues to grow.

Finally (or is it...?), I've run a chat room/forum based roleplaying community called Hellestar since I was little. While many folks have come and gone, some people I've played with have been in my life for more than half of it. If I began roughly around the age of 12, well...You do the math. Roleplaying is probably where I started my writing obsession. Its probably swallowed months, if not years of my time.

I say that like its a bad thing!

The bottom line is that I'm a creative person. The bottom line is that this space is going to be used to discuss what that creativity means, and how it is progressing. I hope you'll join me in listening in!