Belated update
It's been a ridiculously long time since I've so much as LOOKED at LJ, let alone updated. Hell, I haven't even updated robhamm.com in ages. So here goes... (and if anyone on my friends list is interested, I'm on Facebook as Rob Hamm.) Scroll all the way down for some relevant pictures and links.
In writing: One of my stories (a humorous contemporary fantasy) is going to be in an e-anthology soon with some of my friends who are established novelists (Aaron Rosenburg, Paul Genesse, Phil Brucato, and Lane Robins--who also writes as Lyn Benedict--among others), and some others who are newbies like me.
My story deals with a group that accidentally summons a demon named Ralphie, who turns out to be a pretty nice guy and an excellent cook--turns out it's just the RULERS of the infernal realms who are evil. The group turns to my protagonist, who bills himself as the least supernatural guy in the world, to help try to send the homesick demon back.
It's the second story in a series that I'm writing. The first has to do with an OCD semi-precog who can't actually see the future, but who gets strange compulsions that usually end up fixing some problem that hasn't come up yet.
A few of my favorite lines from the two stories--
(On guessing why the precog feels compelled to collect diet soda) "Maybe the apocalypse is nigh and diet soda will be the only currency of value in the aftermath?" "Hope you're wrong. I think I'm allergic to apocalypses."
"Just because they were trying to summon a demon didn't mean they were bad people."
(On what to do with some captured demon hunters who attack Ralphie) "No, Becky, you can't cut them into pieces and bury them in the yard; we're not zoned for that."
"You can't sacrifice me, I have a heart condition." "A heart condition?" "Yeah, every time somebody sticks a dagger into my heart it stops beating."
-On waking up: "Getting your ass kicked by a doorbell is not the most auspicious way to start the day."
On demon hunters: "They had grim expressions, table forks, and distressingly, no pizza."
And from a novel I'm working on... "Whoever said that dead men don't tell tales is full of it. Okay, 99.9 percent of the time they don't, I'm just saying it's no guarantee. Take my best friend Davey; he talks just as much now as he did before I killed him. Don't look at me like that. There were extenuating circumstances."
BCK is on indefinite hold, but I'm considering starting an eclectic, non-storyline-based webcomic consisting of whatever I come up with for updates.
In the other arts: My sons continue to amaze me. My oldest son Mike's band, Surrogate Sons, toured out west last summer, and in fact played the Whiskey-a-go-go! They're playing Winterfest at the Uptown theater in K.C. this coming Saturday, too. My youngest is also a phenominal musician and songwriter, and both have expressed interest in paritipating in a recording project Mike Roach and I are planning. Shannon will be singing backup with a local band at some point once they work out the rest of the lineup, as well as with my upcoming recording project. Shan is back to painting, specializing in pet portraits, and sold a couple of pieces at an art show over the summer.
In health: Working on the muscles surrounding my spine injury to support it better, although I shall probably never have all of the strength and coordination in my right hand that I once did, and I'll probably always be on long-term pain management. My bipolar disorder, ADD, and my memory-affecting head injury will likely always be an issue, but hey... All I can do is continue to learn coping skills, right. I'm just thankful none of it is any worse than it is.
We've identified that the root cause of many of Shan's issues have been a combination of gluten intolerance, insulin resistance (but she's so slender!), and being allergic to her workplace. So her health has improved quite a bit.
Pets: We now have an incredibly cute and affectionate cinnamon cockatiel, Sachi, who was given to us, and a couple of cute parakeets. Sachi is SOOO cute, especially when she climbs down from our shoulders and rubs her head against our hands to beg for "scritches" on her head, face, and neck, or when she decides she needs to groom our hair.
Geekiness: Shannon and I finally made the switch to Ubuntu Linux, and we love it. So much better than Windows in every way, and it's FREE! Just ONE example of how: Installing software (and most Linux software is free) is usually a matter of going to a menu, selecting "Ubuntu Software Center," and either browsing names and descriptions or typing in what you want to do, then clicking "install." It goes out, gets the latest version, downloads it, and installs it. Many of the apps are as good or better than their commercial equivalents, many Windows programs run in WINE, and for any other Windows programs I might need, I just fire up a virtual Windows machine in VirtualBox. Also, Shannon has started me playing Final Fantasy VI. (Oh, and in Linux gaming, all fans of turn-based strategy games should try Battle for Wesnoth, available for free on *nix, OS X, and Windows.)
We both still love OS X, but we can't afford Macs. I got into Hackintoshing for a while and ran OS X on my regular PC laptop, but it was just such a hassle.
More to come, hopefully someday soon.
Related links:
My blog site: robhamm.com
My Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php
Ubuntu Linux--Free, awesome, user-friendly operating system: ubuntu.com
And finally, a picture of Sachi, our cockatiel, begging for scritches:
In writing: One of my stories (a humorous contemporary fantasy) is going to be in an e-anthology soon with some of my friends who are established novelists (Aaron Rosenburg, Paul Genesse, Phil Brucato, and Lane Robins--who also writes as Lyn Benedict--among others), and some others who are newbies like me.
My story deals with a group that accidentally summons a demon named Ralphie, who turns out to be a pretty nice guy and an excellent cook--turns out it's just the RULERS of the infernal realms who are evil. The group turns to my protagonist, who bills himself as the least supernatural guy in the world, to help try to send the homesick demon back.
It's the second story in a series that I'm writing. The first has to do with an OCD semi-precog who can't actually see the future, but who gets strange compulsions that usually end up fixing some problem that hasn't come up yet.
A few of my favorite lines from the two stories--
(On guessing why the precog feels compelled to collect diet soda) "Maybe the apocalypse is nigh and diet soda will be the only currency of value in the aftermath?" "Hope you're wrong. I think I'm allergic to apocalypses."
"Just because they were trying to summon a demon didn't mean they were bad people."
(On what to do with some captured demon hunters who attack Ralphie) "No, Becky, you can't cut them into pieces and bury them in the yard; we're not zoned for that."
"You can't sacrifice me, I have a heart condition." "A heart condition?" "Yeah, every time somebody sticks a dagger into my heart it stops beating."
-On waking up: "Getting your ass kicked by a doorbell is not the most auspicious way to start the day."
On demon hunters: "They had grim expressions, table forks, and distressingly, no pizza."
And from a novel I'm working on... "Whoever said that dead men don't tell tales is full of it. Okay, 99.9 percent of the time they don't, I'm just saying it's no guarantee. Take my best friend Davey; he talks just as much now as he did before I killed him. Don't look at me like that. There were extenuating circumstances."
BCK is on indefinite hold, but I'm considering starting an eclectic, non-storyline-based webcomic consisting of whatever I come up with for updates.
In the other arts: My sons continue to amaze me. My oldest son Mike's band, Surrogate Sons, toured out west last summer, and in fact played the Whiskey-a-go-go! They're playing Winterfest at the Uptown theater in K.C. this coming Saturday, too. My youngest is also a phenominal musician and songwriter, and both have expressed interest in paritipating in a recording project Mike Roach and I are planning. Shannon will be singing backup with a local band at some point once they work out the rest of the lineup, as well as with my upcoming recording project. Shan is back to painting, specializing in pet portraits, and sold a couple of pieces at an art show over the summer.
In health: Working on the muscles surrounding my spine injury to support it better, although I shall probably never have all of the strength and coordination in my right hand that I once did, and I'll probably always be on long-term pain management. My bipolar disorder, ADD, and my memory-affecting head injury will likely always be an issue, but hey... All I can do is continue to learn coping skills, right. I'm just thankful none of it is any worse than it is.
We've identified that the root cause of many of Shan's issues have been a combination of gluten intolerance, insulin resistance (but she's so slender!), and being allergic to her workplace. So her health has improved quite a bit.
Pets: We now have an incredibly cute and affectionate cinnamon cockatiel, Sachi, who was given to us, and a couple of cute parakeets. Sachi is SOOO cute, especially when she climbs down from our shoulders and rubs her head against our hands to beg for "scritches" on her head, face, and neck, or when she decides she needs to groom our hair.
Geekiness: Shannon and I finally made the switch to Ubuntu Linux, and we love it. So much better than Windows in every way, and it's FREE! Just ONE example of how: Installing software (and most Linux software is free) is usually a matter of going to a menu, selecting "Ubuntu Software Center," and either browsing names and descriptions or typing in what you want to do, then clicking "install." It goes out, gets the latest version, downloads it, and installs it. Many of the apps are as good or better than their commercial equivalents, many Windows programs run in WINE, and for any other Windows programs I might need, I just fire up a virtual Windows machine in VirtualBox. Also, Shannon has started me playing Final Fantasy VI. (Oh, and in Linux gaming, all fans of turn-based strategy games should try Battle for Wesnoth, available for free on *nix, OS X, and Windows.)
We both still love OS X, but we can't afford Macs. I got into Hackintoshing for a while and ran OS X on my regular PC laptop, but it was just such a hassle.
More to come, hopefully someday soon.
Related links:
My blog site: robhamm.com
My Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php
Ubuntu Linux--Free, awesome, user-friendly operating system: ubuntu.com
And finally, a picture of Sachi, our cockatiel, begging for scritches: