J.D. Moyer

sci-fi author, beatmaker

Word Craft #7: Russell James

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On April 18

In Fiction Writing, Word Craft Series, Writing

Russell James has been writing daily, apparently without any extended breaks or even weekends off, since 2001 (personally I feel pretty good if I write four days out of seven). I admire that kind of consistency, even if I can’t particularly relate to it.

I can relate to having my wife as my first reader. There’s no one I trust more with that raw, flawed draft.

I enjoyed reading Russell’s responses to my Word Craft questions, and I hope you do too. Please welcome Russell James to Word Craft!

-J.D.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer.

Author Russell James

I’m currently a technical writer for a Fortune 50 company. When my wife and I used to go on long drives, I’d say “You know what would be a good story?” and then tell her about a plot idea I had. Eventually she said “Why don’t you write these stories down and get them published.” I said “Because no one would ever pay to read something I wrote.” But I did end up trying what she suggested, and here we are.

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Short Promotional Post, Upcoming Posts, and a New Experiment

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On April 5

In Creative Work/Career, Reverse Aging, Writing

Nobody listened.

Just a few things to mention today:

  • My new progressive breaks album MOVE with Mark Musselman keeps slowly creeping up the charts. I don’t know if the album has legs or if it’s climbing the charts because my mom, some friends, and a few of you kind blog readers bought it, but it’s currently #11 on Beatport Breaks releases. If it breaks the Top 10 I promise I’ll shut up about permanently, at least on this blog, but if you’re an electronic music fan and you’re feeling the Momu vibe, I’d greatly appreciate if you could buy the album on Beatport. I think eventually Elon Musk will file a cease a desist, so grab it while you can (or maybe he’ll tweet-blast it because we’re amplifying his warnings about rogue AIs taking over the world).

  • A nice surprise on Twitter today — I learned that my story The Fo’dekai Artifact (originally published by Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores in 2017) was recently podcasted. You can listen to the full story on Youtube for free (which is great, as this story was previously behind a paywall). If you enjoy the story please follow Cosmic Roots and Eldritch Shores on Youtube and maybe subscribe to the zine.
  • After a few hiccups I was finally able to claim my author page on Goodreads. If you use Goodreads, please follow me over there (I currently have all of five followers). I turned “Ask the Author” to ON, so if you have any burning questions about my novel The Sky Woman or any of my short stories (including The Fo’dekai Artifact), please ask them on Goodreads and I’d be happy to answer.

OK — that’s everything I have to promote. Thank you for any links you may have clicked on!

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Some Personal Updates, and a Request

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On April 2

In Creative Work/Career, Electronic Music, Personal Updates, Writing

Unrelated to the post, but Bumblebee was parked in front of my house yesterday.

I got back from my uncle’s funeral service a few hours ago. It was belated for various reasons — he died over a year ago — but the service was well-attended, in a beautiful location, and I feel as if we did right by him.

Both my father-in-law and my uncle passed away around the same time last year. For a few months my stress levels redlined and I had difficulty sleeping, but after I’d had a chance to grieve and the bulk of the end-of-life logistics were handled for both family members, I settled into a more reflective state. It’s been good to consider my own mortality, and the mortality of my friends and family. It’s easier to prioritize what’s important when I consider the relative imminence and unavoidability of death. I frequently let my family and friends know that I love them, I work on my big ideas, and I do the things I would regret not doing were my life to be cut short.

But I hope that my life continues for a very long time, because I’m enjoying it immensely. In terms of external life metrics such as finances and career, I’m doing fine, but what’s really making me happy are the following:

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Word Craft #6: Michael Haspil

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On March 28

In Fiction Writing, Word Craft Series, Writing

As a fellow RPG enthusiast and miniature painter, I can relate to Tor author Michael Haspil. A few things stuck out and especially impressed me from Haspil’s responses, including:

  • Good discipline in regards to suppressing impulses to revise or fact-check while getting the first draft down (I need to work on this).
  • Redundant and systematic backup (I do this too).
  • The use of FATE dice, StoryForge cards, and Nordic runes for inspiration and brainstorming — great idea!

Please welcome Michael Haspil to Word Craft.

-JD

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tell us a little about yourself and what inspired you to become a writer.

I’ve been a storyteller all my life. A large part of what made me want to become a writer came from attending military school at New York Military Academy. There, my friends and I played a lot of role-playing games and even made up our own. The school had its own small literary magazine and I submitted some stories. People adored them and that really helped me. I continued writing short stories for my high school magazine “Slant of Light” and I even placed in a couple of writing competitions too. Then I joined the Air Force and, regrettably, I put my pen away for a while. Glad to have picked it back up, though.

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Kindness and Free Will in an Uncaring Universe

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On March 25

In Mental Health, Metaprogramming

Leia, looking toward the future, or possibly at a squirrel. (picture by my daughter on her iPad)

One doesn’t have to look far to find overwhelming evidence that the universe is an uncaring place, and that life doesn’t play fair. Good people die young for no good reason, animals in the wild are painfully eaten alive by their predators, and entire civilizations are beset by war, famine, and plague. Mercy and fairness are entirely human constructs, and those that would ascribe such qualities to a creator or god must undergo mental gymnastics of the highest order to stave off crippling cognitive dissonance.

Sometimes this nihilistic realization gets me down. There is no inherent meaning in life, so I must create my own meaning (or live a subjectively meaningless life). The world is filled with suffering that I can do very little to prevent (including, at times, my own).

At other times, I feel incredibly optimistic and empowered, even in the face of my own nihilistic worldview. The values and attitudes that create this feeling of empowerment (not all the time, but sometimes) include:

  • Kindness. Kindness is not an emergent property of the physical, chemical, biological, or somatic levels of reality (see NENT), and thus phenomena at those levels (such as earthquakes, floods, asteroid impacts, supervolcanoes, illness, aging, etc.) can appear unkind/uncaring to human beings. But kindness is emergent at social levels and above, and is hugely abundant among those reality levels. I can choose to be kind to my fellow humans and animals, and to accept kindness from a multitude of sources. This is an excellent antidote to the apparent uncaring/cruel nature of structurally lower levels of reality.
  • Free will. Most of the world operates outside of our personal control and influence. Even our own personal decisions are highly governed by instinct, reactions, and deeply ingrained habits. But still, we have the ability to make decisions, to change our own behaviors, and to influence others. I feel happier and more powerful when I try to expand my free will and make more conscious decisions, even in the face of the knowledge that I will always have more responsibilities in life than I have control (as is true for everyone who makes serious commitments to other people, organizations, and/or ideals).

That’s my mini-sermon for today. Hope you’re doing well. Live long and prosper!

My next post will be a personal update dedicated to my Patreon supporters.

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