Life in the Lonestar State

Big bugs, big freeways, big weather and lightning like I’ve never seen—my wife doesn’t refer to the lightning as Texas Fireworks for nothing. Amidst dangerously mesmerizing storms there is an incredible array and quantity of retail (there are 3 Best Buy’s within 5 miles of my house!), tons of great dining, and lots of amenities to enjoy with the wife and kids. Then there’s the heat...

Character Arcs: The Turning Point, of ‘No’ Return

I was debating the other day about the location of the turning point for a character. One that would affect decisions made throughout the book. I wondered if I was making it happen too early.

I had to ask myself, “Self, don’t I have future scenes that prove her to still have a streak of the carefree?” And that is when I had to lapse into thought.

The character in question is an irresponsible, free spirit. Something that was ok in her culture. In fact, it is part of her people’s outlook on life and how one should exist.

But...there are a select few that are endowed with a special ability. One where it is generally accepted, despite the counter-culture concept, that these few will live to a different standard. This particular woman, is fighting that tooth and nail.

New Job and Newbieness

We all love new jobs. You get to meet new people, learn new skills, broaden your knowledge of software quirks, add to your Acronym Dictionary, maybe an increase in pay—a plethora of positives. But I did leave one key point out. One major aspect that plagues us all (even those of you too proud to admit it—yeah, You, smart guy)...

The state-of-being of confusion and total feeling of idiocy that the simplest, most mundane of tasks can impart when you’re still learning company jargon, software peculiarities, and trying desperately to remember who reports to who so you don’t accidentally cut off the VP of sales on the way to the bathroom.

That’s where I’m at, right now.

Now, keep in mind all of the above and I’ll tell you that I just started a second job. So, I suppose you can take all of the above and multiply it by two. *Lack of sleep is a significant modifier, so it might warrant a tripling.

But the money is good, the cost of living in Texas is far better than the Bay Area and the prospect of quality time with the family and time to write in the near future, softens the feeling of ineptitude.

What is your "favorite" part about a new job?

Jumping back in: Ready, Set...Write?

Turning your life upside down is one of the last things a writer wants to do. Our flow is chaotic enough already. Trying to get back into it has been a challenge. Figuring out how to work the time into my new (and still changing) schedule is far from easy.

For nearly two months I wrote essentially: nothing. Oh, sure, I had some ideas, I wrote down some snippets, but serious writing on the focus story? Didn’t happen. I’m turning it around, but it is slow and difficult.

Random thoughts to help:
1. Write whenever and wherever.
2. Focus on what excites you. Skip that boring scene and go for the juicy stuff.
3. Don’t move cross-country... (did you see that one coming?)

I try to adhere to the above, but it’s not always enough for the results I want. My aging (not gracefully) laptop is not helping the issue with slow performance and a dying battery. One issue rectified, and I’m hoping I can deal with the other, because when the time to write strikes I want to pounce like a starving panther at a petting zoo.

Bon appétit.

So, what challenges do you run into how do you keep writing?

Lonely in the Lonestar

“How was your weekend?” Someone asked me today at work.

“It was great,” I reply, except...for saying goodbye to my family.

That’s a BIG caveat. Family is important. My wife and kids are everything.

And this weekend they had to fly back to California. It’s not for long. But then, a couple weeks can be a lifetime sometimes. There are a variety of reasons for the trip. (Me working two jobs is a major one.) But trying to keep all the positives of the trip in mind is hard when all you want them to do is turn around and stay right here (or jump on the plane with them!)

One of the benefits of the move to Texas is turning our finances around. Things have been rough for us for a while, like many others across the country. And it does feel good to see some positive change. I just wish it didn’t have to come at the expense of time with my wife and kids.

All I can say is that I’m trying to keep focused, looking to my HoneyDo list, and hoping the time flies by, until I can see them again.

Disappearing Cross-Country

Been a while, believe me, I know. I’ve never moved cross-country before and don’t mean to make it a habit. It’s like taking your world, turning it upside down, shaking the hell out of it, then tossing gasoline on it and lighting it on fire.

Perhaps a little extreme...

But, my wife and I have young children and moved somewhere with no family and friends, so perhaps some of you can relate.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m enjoying Texas and the Dallas area. (I could probably do without the heat and might pass on the tornadoes.) But moving...

*shudder*

Care to share your moving horror story?

Misery loves company. Go ahead, make me happy to be in my shoes and not in yours.

An Unnecessary Aside:
Oh, and I’m sure you already guessed, my clever and intuitive reader (readers?), but my timeframe for Veil of a Warrior (and pretty much everything else writing-related) has been pushed back.

Flash Fic: Fate, Trials, and Ripe Nashi

    “Old Wise Konichi, is there a—that is... How does one become a man?”
    “Child, you must live.”
    “Live? Is there no trial or test?”
    “Every day is a trial. If you make it through, that is the truest test of them all. Whether it is a test of your manhood, or a test of life.” Old Konichi’s eyes crinkled merrily.
    “But, Wise Konichi, isn’t it said that you are fated to live and fated to die?”
    “Boy, you’ll find that as much as you want to believe that fate rules all and that your actions have no effect, the wisest among us will see that is not true. The only thing set in stone is our response. So, for you to take control of your own destiny, you must react, not without thought, but with calm meditation. Then, and only then, will fate release its grasp.”
    “I think I see, Wise Konichi. Thank you.”
    “You are always welcome, child, it is what I am here for.”
    But the boy did not move.
    “Yes, is there something more?”
    “Well, Wise Konichi, but, what if that is what is expected? What if the calm meditated response is all part of fate? How do I escape fate then, and win a trial I am already fated to lose?”
    Old Konichi stopped and considered the boy for several moments, massaging his chin slowly. “Well then, my boy, it is simple: you must react hastily and without thought.”
    “But...”
    “No, no, no more questions. I am hungry and I see a large, ripe nashi hanging from that tree. May you be hasty and impetuous.”

© 2012 Clifton Hill, all rights reserved.
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A taste of the whimsical today and perhaps a little bit of insight. I hope you enjoy. So go forth and be impetuous and make calm meditated responses, but just make sure that you do so when and where appropriate. No, no, no more questions. I am hungry...

Flash Fic: 8 O’Clock - Expectations Over Coffee

Every day I sit here, and it’s the same. Coffee to my right, a donut to my left—pink icing, white sprinkles. I twist ever so slightly in the squeaky seat, drum my fingers on the formica table top. The harsh florescent hums above me. Morning light floods long storefront windows. A siren oscillates in the distance.

It’s 8 o’clock. I see the digits high on the chipped plaster wall—they’re red, hypnotic, absolute.

I like absolute. I like certainty. I like knowing what will happen next. I like knowing when and how, but even as much as I do, when I raise the donut to my lips—the familiar hint of sugar and fried dough wafting past my nostrils; the touch, texture and taste of the iced coating melting upon my lips; the satisfying feel of the crispy sweet dough severed between capped teeth; the taste: perfect, as I swallow each morsel—I have to wonder: What brings me here?

Before me, through the windows, within dawn’s peaceful light, the red and blue strobe of emergency vehicles flash and turn; like everyday, every time, without fail. The crushed metal and shattered glass of another life taken

Coffee to my right, donut to my left, the lights flashing before me; mixing their colors with the white sprinkles—a patriotic splash upon my fried confection.

Every day.

My eyes glaze over, misted by the regularity—a known quantity to life; there is a beauty to it all, and a horror. But I do not think, I only appreciate the fact that I know one thing that will happen every day, as I put the hot coffee to my lips and sip.

Coffee to my right, donut to my left.


© 2012 Clifton Hill, all rights reserved.
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Creeped out? Good!

Perhaps this is a slight commentary on how we like things in life. Despite the fact that they are not good for us, we like the regularity, we like to repeat, and do the same. There is something intrinsically, obsessively compulsive about it, but also: comfortable.

Do we seek it, or does it seek us. The chicken or the egg?

Or maybe this was just a visual that popped into my head, meaningless and yet gripping in some indescribable fashion.

Poem: The Book

I opened the book.
I turned to the first page.
I read.

Each word sounded in my head like a bell.
Each sentence flashed about, like a raging symphony.
Each paragraph changed my very perception.

I felt my worldview shifting.
I felt everything changing.
I wanted to tear my eyes away.
Something screamed inside.

Nooo!
No, stop.
No more!

But my hand turned the page,
and my eyes could not tear away.
And another,
and another,
and another page I went.

The light around me dimmed.
It became dark, but still I read,
into the night.
Deep into the night I read.

Finally, as sun tipped horizon,
a small bead of light wreathed in dark,
I came to the last page.

My fingers trailed over final words,
in a daze,
then I closed the book and stood.

And though I stood still,
the world spun.

And I knew what I had become.


© 2012 Clifton Hill, all rights reserved.
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Any lover of books can relate. Relate to what happens when you lay hands on a book that transforms you, shifts you to another realm, another time, another body, another world. Thoughts, concepts, entire peoples presented before you in compelling fashion that transport you.


Is this what happens to you? Do you become something greater and grander when absorbed by a book? It can for me and there is a certain power within that ability.

Poem: Order of Corenne - Lonely Knight.

I am Tristfallin, Knight of Corenne, Order of the Deep,
My orders are always to keep:
The Faith, from the evils of Fire,
Persecution and undue Ire.

Let my arm be strong, my aim be true,
My shield hold and my virtue:
Stand.

In the quiet and shadows I do train,
Waiting, patient—as those, that before came,
I sharpen my blade,
I oil my steel,
And I prefer for that one day:

When the waves will rise and the sun falls fast,
When the Knights of Corenne rise to the task.

Let it be soon,
Let it be now,
For I tire and ache,
Of seeing fellows hung low,
When our colors SHOULD show.

© 2012 Clifton Hill, all rights reserved.
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A small taste, as it were, of my novel Felling Abberfaun. The Knights make an appearance in the novel that is both beautiful and sad, all in a hope to challenge religious tyranny that drove their peaceful order to near extinction. One day I will share their plight with you. For now, a poem will do.