The No-Rush Lifestyle

Last week, I was driving on a sunny day. I keep my sunglasses in my car so that I don’t forget them and so I don’t lose them (they are expensive Ray-Bans). On this day, I pulled them out and put them on. When I came back home, I was in a hurry to do something or another and I was thinking about that. I got into my apartment and I thought “Why is it so dark in here?” I still had my sunglasses on. I took them off, left them somewhere and promptly lost them until yesterday... in my own place. If I had been focused on driving and on the moment, I would have remembered to take them off, put on my normal glasses and tuck the sunglasses in their normal spot in the car.
It’s little things like that that get me frustrated. It stresses me out. It puts pressure on me in that moment - and in later moments - that I don’t need. It’s not a lot all at once, but it builds up over time.
Something we all need to do is learn to be in the moment. When we are doing something, we need to learn to focus on that one thing.
Are you driving?
Drive! (Especially if you get into your car at work and the next thing you remember you are at home)
Are you eating?
Eat! (Can’t remember what you had for breakfast? Why did you bother to eat?)

In order to do that, you need to stop rushing.

I find that I forget important things when I’m rushing. I’ve forgotten to brush my teeth. I’ve forgotten to shave. I’ve forgotten whether I locked the apartment door before leaving for the day. All because my mind is more worried about where I need to be than where I am.

Wouldn’t the quality of our lives be better if we were always living in the moment?

When you are not rushed, you are concentrating on the moment. When you give yourself time, you can take your mind off things that may be unimportant (I have to get home now so I can catch the new episode of Agents of SHIELD!) and pay attention to what you are doing (Driving the car safely).

GUIDE TO THE NO-RUSH LIFESTYLE:

Plan

Plan your day ahead of time so you know where you need to be and when (set alarms if you need to – always set alarms with enough time to spare to get there, not at the time you need to be there). Make time in your life for the things you need to do, one at a time.

Prioritze Your Schedule

Unless you need to for work or other obligations, don’t let anyone dictate your schedule. Even if you do have other obligations (children, family, etc), try to stay on top of them. You have control over your time. If there is a conflict, make sure you reschedule, If your daughter has a soccer game at the same time as your son has a baseball game, you may need to make it up to one of them, or attend half of one game and half of the other if possible.

Be Early

Be the person who always shows up early and strolls in as if nothing in the world matters (because it doesn’t). Would you rather be the person who shows up on time, rushing to your job scared that the wrong red light will make you late, or would you rather be the person who is always fifteen or thirty minutes early (or on time if traffic sucks) and can kick your feet up at your desk and read a blog or a web-comic. Even for non-work appointments, I am always early. Sometimes that translates to getting out of the appointment early. If I have to wait, I always carry my Kindle so I can read a chapter or two of a book. Often, this is the only time I can set aside to read for fun.

Get a Head Start

Get up early so you aren’t running late. Figure out how much time you need to get ready for your day, then add 15-20 minutes to that. Set your morning alarm accordingly. For example, let’s say you need to drop the kids off at school at 7:30. It takes you and your kids an hour to get ready (I know, this is just for demonstration purposes). Set your alarm for 6:15 or even 6:00 – earlier if you are like me and sit on the bed for 20 minutes reading Facebook posts on the cell phone. If the kids get to school at 7 or 7:15 instead of 7:30, that gives them more time to hang with their friends or finish their homework before the first bell. Then you can take your time getting to work. Drop by Starbucks or run through a drive-thru. You won’t have to worry about being stuck in traffic. If traffic is bad, you can kick back and turn up the radio knowing you don’t have to worry about being late.

DVR your TV shows

Watch them on your own schedule. If you are rushing home at 8pm to catch the latest episode of Two Broke Girls, you are trying too hard to kill yourself. If you don’t have DVR, get a 50 cent VCR and a couple tapes from a yard sale. I set aside 2 hour blocks through the week to watch my shows. 2 hours before bed lets me relax and I can usually skim through commercials to get 2 one-hour shows and a half-hour show done in one shot.

 

Do you have any other tips for slowing down and living in the moment? Feel free to leave a comment.

10/25/2013 Nathaniel Ferris III

Who is Nathaniel Ferris III?

Nathaniel (don't call him Nate -- trust me on this) was a 18th century writer of fairy tales. He famously wrote three aweful books detailing the life and history of a fantastical world called "Terra".

I found these writings a few years ago while living in California. They informed the writing of The Never-Born and the world of Terah. In Ferris's words, he describes the ancient history of Terra and its magical beginnings. He tells of the Dragon War and the hero Nimrandir. He tells of the Wizard War and the true origins of the Lord and Lady, who have since ruled in Terra, even though Ferris told of meeting them seven hundred years after they defeated the Wizard-Kings.

I've been thinking about scanning the books and releasing them as ebooks. They were written long before copyright law and, as far as I know, I own the only surviving copies. However, the paper is fragile and I don't want to subject them to the handling it would take to scan the pages. Also, the man's handwriting is horrible and 18th century British English is a bit harder to understand than modern American.

So what I'm going to do is re-write the stories within the books in modern English. I won't change the stories as they were presented, only clarify the language. This may take some time to do as I decipher the handwriting (the first book is a journal Ferris wrote just before and during his first "trip" to Terra) and translate the archaic phrases -- I hate research.

I'm going to initially present them as blog posts on the Wordpress blog I'm working on right now. I'll attach that blog to this site. Just keep your eyes open and I'll announce the release of these stories in the near future.

10/19/2013 NaNoWriMo

Say what?!

If you're not a writer, you probably are not familiar with National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). It's the time of the year where people who are passionate about writing get together and celebrate writing by writing.

Wow, what a concept!

Each participant will attempt to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days. The expectation is 50k, but based on my previous novels, The Lich War is going to be between 90 and 100k. It will probably be closer to 100k based on what I have for the outline. The Lich War will cover more story and more geography than either of the first two novels. I've also learned a lot from writing the first two, so I expect The Lich War to be more complex than my other books. Even more complex than The Legacy of Shatara (which was 125k words).

There are at least four different "main characters" in the Lich War. There are also going to be sub-plots involving some familiar characters as well as new characters that were introduced in Gaelan True-Blood.

The Lich War is going to be huge, but if I can get to 50k by the end of November, it will only be another month or two before it's finished. I hope to have it released by April or May of next year.

Wish me luck!

10/18/2013 Oops!

I will probably have MANY blog entires with this title. I screw up quite a lot. This time, it's a screw up of neglect. When I created this page, I put links on the sidebar for purchasing my books. But they link to Amazon. This is good, but my books are not just available for Kindle. You can also get them at Barnes and Noble, Smashwords, Kobo, and just about any ebook store out there. If you can't find an ebook out there in the format you own, let me know and I'll get you one in your format.

Soon, I'll be putting my own store on this page, so you can get copies of my books in any format you need (even paperback eventually). I just have to figure out how the web apps for stores work and how to put them on this page.

I'm a computer guy, so I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Maybe...

10/13/2013 Beta Readers

I always welcome new Beta Readers. These are the people who I let read my book before it is completely ready for mass consumption. If you like fantasy and you know good stories, drop me a line (Contact info here) and ask me if you can read my book. Currently, I have The Never-Born Volume 2: Gaelan True-Blood that needs a few good read-throughs before its release in December.

What I'm looking for is feedback about the story. What works, what doesn't. Is there anything you love, anything you hate, or anything that doesn't make sense? Did I forget some key piece of continuity that makes you go "huh?"?  I really do need feedback, so if you read a Beta copy and don't provide me feedback, I will put your name a "Bad Sport" list and you'll have to pay for all my books in the future. If you provide good feedback, you go on the "Good Sport" list and I give you first dibs on the next book.

I might even throw in a paperback copy of The Legacy of Shatara when it is released.

10/6/2013 Beyond The Never-Born

So, after the Never-Born is complete, I plan to write a screenplay for Hollywood. I have a few connections back in LA from my days in Film School and I hope one of them pans out. I'd really love to have one of my stories on the big screen. My history trying to get The Legacy of Shatara (the screenplay version) sold kind of soured me on how fantasy is done in Hollywood, but I don't want to let that stop me.

Screenplays don't take long to write. I wrote Legacy of Shatara, or most of it anyway, in a three month span and that ended up earning me an A in screenwriting and was given an runners-up prize in an LA screenplay competition.

So after the new screenplay (which I haven't completely decided on the story for), I'm going to be moving on to my next trilogy, The Shield, which has been in the planning stages for a couple years now. That is going to be even more epic than The Never-Born and will introduce a new world where religion and magic intertwine. It's going to be about the difference between what religious leaders tell us and the truth about the gods that watch over us. A very interesting dichotomy.