PuffDragon: Blog

Howdy fellow pervs,
Yay, P2 is up! Ok, so three chapters of P2 are up!
As you can see, I'm changing it up a little from P1: there are three POVs and the tags up front have changed slightly. Nothing life changing there, just makes it easier for me to cover all the plot I want without having to shoehorn Val into places she wouldn't have otherwise been. Like other people's bedrooms. ... On second thought... ;)
I will try to post on a weekly to bi-weekly basis but that will all be dependent on my ability to write in my rare free time, my two lovely, wonderful, and amazing editors free time, and how much I can get done before I deploy. I anticipate still being able to work on this while deployed but the internet at my FOB is so-so at best so communicating back and forth with my editors might get sporty.
Cheers,
PuffD

Yes, I'm finally done with this masters degree! Thesis complete, signed, and defended. Comprehensive exam passed. Now it's just waiting to attend graduation.
This, of course, means I have free time again. I can write what I want and not what my professors want. So, starting tomorrow I'll be picking Pantheon II up where I left it a year ago. I've got a few scenes sketched out already, now it's the labor intensive process of cobbling a coherent story arch together.
Cheers,
PuffD

Hey fellow pervies,
I'm on the final stretch! I'm down to editing the last draft of my thesis and am about a month from graduation. Hooray.
In even better news, I've started blocking out plot for Pantheon II! I'm not writing, per se, but I'm starting to get scene ideas written onto note cards so I can build the story arc. It'll be a while still, but I'm starting to move on it.
TBH - in the thrash of writing yet another thesis, I forgot how fun it is to write and dream and... well, get all my naughty thoughts on paper.
I miss you all and all your fantastic feedback!
Cheers,
PuffD

Hey fellow pervs,
I'm still working away in higher education land, promise I'm not dead. In good news: the first draft of my thesis is in! Hooray. Its only 20k words or roughly a third of what I write for a story but since it requires more research than my average fiction and a completely different writing style, it takes a TON of effort. Honestly, I kinda hate writing right now. I'm hoping that spark of creativity comes back after school ends but after two masters degrees in two years my brain is mush.
That bitching aside, I have 6 chapters of Pantheon II written and hope to pick up there once my brain returns to normal. The plot has been mapped out (written in marker on my living room window) so it's really just getting the words out. It takes a lot of braining to make the words go, kids! If I can summon a bit of creativity maybe I can punch out another chapter or two but I don't want to start posting until I know I can get the whole story out in under two months. Mostly because I assume you guys would prefer bi-weekly updates rather than bi-monthly!
Cheers,
PuffD

Hey all,
A few notes from the font of learning:
1) Reading a book a day sucks. It sucks less once you get the hang of it, though. However, 200-400 pages of reading a night does take its toll.
2) Recovery from surgery is going well. I'm still in physical therapy but I have two working hands, hooray!
3) I got a chance to visit a large number of the WWII battle sites, specifically those in the Normandy invasion. At some point, I need to include those locations in a story because there is a surreal feeling standing at the waterfront of Omaha Beach at low tide. You look up the long, long plane of loose sand to the bluffs that rise overhead. I tried to imagine that run under enemy gunfire and almost cried standing there.
3) Not all of these books are strategy specific. Today's book is called "The Tragedy of Great Power Politics" by John Mearsheimer. It's generally a scholarly book but I think that anyone who, like me, likes to write in the post-apocalyptic genre its got some good discussion on who states/actors work in anarchy. Heck, it even has a chapter titled "Strategies for Survival" that discusses the varying ways weaker nations work with or against stronger ones for survival. Might be worth a read if you enjoy writing in that genre.

That's all from learning land. I'm still working to carve out fiction writing time but don't think I've forgotten you all.
Stay pervy,
PuffD