Category: Personal

Hawaii Day 1

After our PAX trip to Seattle, Hannah and I flew to Hawaii for our honeymoon/vacation. When we landed we picked up our rental car, got some groceries, checked into our apartment, and then went straight to the beach.

For those of you wondering, all photos were taken with either a Canon G12 or an iPhone.

Create A Cheat Sheet

The Simpsons Family Picture
The Simpsons Family Picture

Before I ever start writing a book there are a couple of things I do that help me with my writing process. One thing I do is create a ‘Cheat Sheet’ of characters I am going to use in my book.

My ‘Cheat Sheet’ helps me keep track of people, there names, there personalities, there ages, and anything else I might need for future reference. A character I keep on a cheat sheet rarely takes up more than one line on text. So the whole thing is clean and simple and is an easy to use reference.

So here is an example of a cheat sheet I would create using characters from the Simpsons. It contains the important information I might need to know about a character in one line of text.

Bart Simpson • 10 (Dennis The Menace) Trouble maker – Fat – Prank Caller
Homer Simpson • 36 (Ralph Kramden) Loud – Get Rich Quick ideas – Lazy
Lisa Simpson • 8 (Marcie from Charlie Brown) Smart – Voice of reason – Musical

So the idea behind it is pretty simple and generally includes.

  • Character Name
  • Age
  • Who they remind me of
  • Personality traits to remember

This is actually the template I use when creating a cheat sheet.

Character Name • Age (who they remind me of) Traits – Personality – Quarks

Thats how I do it. My cheat sheet has been such a valuable tool for me when writing. It makes the whole process of writing so much easier. I really hope anyone getting into writing will find this tip useful. Let me know if you have any tips on how you track characters. I am always interested to learn how others write.

License Plate Punch

My wife and I play this little game whenever we go out called the ‘License Plate Punch’ game. I am sure this game goes by other names through out the verse, but this is what we call it here. I think I started playing it with her shortly after moving to Alaska. I remember seeing a Hawaiian license plate in town and thinking to myself that getting a car from Hawaii to Juneau can’t be the easiest thing in the world to do. I was reminded of playing the ‘License Plate Punch’ game with my friends back in Washington state so when I saw it I reached over and punched my wife on the shoulder. It was not a hard punch mind you. Not the kind that Ralph Kramden would threaten Alice with that would send her to the moon. No, this was more of a tap on the shoulder than punch.

My wife quickly picked up on the simple rules. You see an out of state license plate while driving around and you gently punch the person next to you.

That was all fine and good, but now the problem is my wife keeps making additions to the rules without telling me. Its become a game for me just to figure out what these new rules are since the only way I find out about them is by getting punched. Just recently I learned that I can get punched via cell phone text message. Who knew?

I have figured out some of these new rules. They are:

  • You can get punched if the other person sees an instate plate, but only once a day.
  • You no longer need to be in the car to get punched.
  • If the car just happens to be really cool you will get punched.
  • You can now get punch via cell phone.

My First Book Reviews

My first book reviews are coming in. Slowly, but surely I am starting to hear back from people who have read ‘All That Matters‘. It is really exciting hearing from people who don’t know me in real life and finding out they like my book. So far all of the comments have been positive and I want to share a couple of them.

Sherry Book Blogs gave me a FIVE STAR review and had the following things to say about my book.

  • The ending to All That Matters is honestly one of the best endings I’ve ever read!
  • Once every so often, I finish a book that unnerves something in me, the story will remain with me forever. All That Matters is that book for me. It is so painstakingly raw and shows some of the deepest and darkest parts of cancer, whether you have it or know someone with it. I found moments that were pure and full of life and than some that were empty and with no hope. The words were simple and nothing to jazzy. They made the flow of this story very easy to read and very enjoyable!

Sherry even asked me some interview questions. So, go check out her blog post and maybe leave her a comment.

Kelly runs The Bookscape Report blog and said the following about ‘All That Matters’.

  • I think the best thing about All That Matters is the conversational tone of the novella. While I was reading it, I felt like I was listening to someone tell me a story–like I was listening to my grandfather tell me about growing up in Ohio, or my dad telling me about growing up in our hometown. I loved that. It made the story so enjoyable for me.
  • I thought the story was great. It reminds me a little bit of Nicholas Sparks
  • I liked the fact that for the most part, Amanda and Ethan’s story wasn’t overshadowed by any subplots.
To read all of Kelly’s write up head on over to ‘The Bookscape Report‘.