Recently, I was forced to take some time off from writing due to having to work away for a couple of weeks. I mean, I could probably dragged my laptop with me through the wilderness, but it was just too much hassle, so I decided to consider it a well deserved break. Instead, I loaded my phone full of awesome books I’ve had on my writing list for ages and planned to just read, read, read.

It, was, amazing! First of all, the fact that I didn’t have a choice, made it real easy to not feel guilty about not writing. And having time to just read every evening, uninterrupted for hours, getting through books I’ve had my eye on for a while… I don’t even know how to explain it. I wished someone could pay me just to read.

Anyway, I noticed a few things happening. Reading several books…

I don’t quite remember how this book even got on my TBR list (which tends to happen more often than not), but I’d jotted it down and had it ready on my kindle for my trip last week. Which means, I didn’t quite know what I was getting into. And I’m kind of very glad that I didn’t.

This is by far the most unique and original fantasy I’ve read in ages. It was absolutely terrific. It’s a story about Tavi, a sun-blessed girl (meaning she has magical powers) who is very special among her kind. It’s not uncommon for people to be sun-blessed and have access to magic in Anderson’s world, but Tavi is something of her own. We follow her as she grows up, grows into her abilities along with her friends, learn to handle them and accept them, and the dangers and wonders that follow. It’s, for…

This is another book in the Warcraft universe, books which I’ve read quite a few of, and which I always love to review. If you want to check it out, my favorite is right here, and boy is it good.

I’m not going to get into too much detail about Warcraft, so if you don’t know what that is Google is your friend, but it’s based on some video games from the 90s, and the online game World of Warcraft has been one of the world’s most popular for a few years now. The gist of is that there’s two factions, The Alliance and The Horde, both composed of different races like humans, dwarves, orcs, and elves, and they fight each other.

This book is centered on the troll character Vol’Jin, as the title probably gives away, and his stay in Pandaria after being mortally wounded and left for dead…

My schedule has changed a lot recently. I’m trying to read more regularly, I play more guitar and accidentally joined a band, so I have to practice for that, and I’ve changed up my gym program. All of these thing, in combination with the normal, boring stuff like sleeping, eating, and going to a job that pays actual money, means that I don’t have as much time to write anymore.

I had to fix that.

I used to try and put aside a specific amount of time for writing. Not necessarily every day, but regularly. I’d say: “On these days, between these and these times, you’ll write.” It would look something like this:

• Monday:        19:00 – 21:00
• Wednesday:  17:00 – 18:00
• Thursday:      19:00 – 20:30
• Friday:           17:00 – 19:00
• Saturday:       12:00 – 16:00
• Sunday:          16:00 – 20:00

They might change a little bit from week to week, but…

Hey guys. Just a little update: the arctic is amazing. It’s cold (but surprisingly warm), it’s beautiful, it’s quiet, and it’s just overall fantastic. (I’m not overly fond of the midnight sun, but ah well.)

Of course, I miss my wife. A lot. She misses me too, but overall we’re doing pretty good. It’s different this time (we’ve lived apart before), and we’re handling it awesomely. But that doesn’t mean that it’s not a bit rough some days.

When I’m not talking to her, I’m working, working out, or writing. I plan to spend a lot of time outdoors, both through work and on my free time, but right now it’s mud season, and I haven’t had my rifle training yet. (Yes, that’s a thing, there’s polar bears here – you’re not allowed to leave town without at least one rifle in your party.)

So while I’m waiting for the…

I’ve been a fan of Stephen King since before I started writing, almost since as long as I’ve been reading, even though I only recently started to read his stuff (I know, it’s weird). All of his great books, albeit in movie form, scared the shit out of me when I was younger, and I’m loving the remakes.

So far the only King books I’ve read are The Dark Tower series. Even though I feel like I’ve been a fan of King for ages, I’ve never read any of his stuff. I think I started IT ages ago, but I was daunted by how freakishly long it is, and put it away (I’ve bought a new copy and it’s just sitting here, waiting its turn).

But yeah, I read The Dark Tower and I realized I’m a fan of King’s writing as well. Other than the fact that I think…