writing

KEEP MOVING FORWARD

/ tinfoilhat / Leave a comment

I had, shall we say, a rather unique month of July 2025.

Early in the month, I started writing the rough draft of my next novel, CALEB’S REIGN. This will mark the third and final entry in my epic werewolf trilogy. I’m looking forward to writing this, but I’ve lived with these characters every day since 2020. I want to move on to other things and tell other stories. I’m getting antsy to move on with my art, but I cannot in good conscience do that until I finish this trilogy and complete this initial phase of my writing career.

Then July 15 happened.

In the early morning of July 15, I experienced a medical emergency. As I turned in my chair to get up and go make coffee, I was gobsmacked with intense and prolonged vertigo that was so bad I could not walk. It gave me motion sickness like I’ve never had, and I’m a retired sailor. Between 0730 when it began and 0900 when the paramedics arrived (I called 911 on myself), I threw up a total of seven different times – including three times that was nothing but dry heaves.

They took me to St. Anthony’s Hospital in Gig Harbor, one of the finest facilities in Northwest Washington. A CT scan showed an occluded vertebral artery and evidence of my having a stroke. So, they admitted me, then did an MRI, which is more sensitive and more definitively diagnostic than a conventional CT. Turns out the stroke was a lacunar stroke to my right cerebellum, the part of the brain that handles (among other things) balance and proprioception. But it was an “old” stroke. The scar tissue was healed over, so there’s no way to pinpoint when in the past my stroke occurred.

After several more tests and a long, detailed conversation with my doctor, we determined that my poorly controlled high blood pressure had contributed to the occlusion, which led to my stroke, and in turn, fed my high blood pressure even more. We also determined that my vertigo (and the nausea and vomiting) was caused by damage to my vestibular nerve in my middle and inner ear. And the cause of the nerve damage? Radiation treatments for my Stage 4 cancer eleven years ago.

Cancer – the gift that keeps on giving.

Long story short, we figured stuff out, got it under control, put me on some new medicines including another BP med and a blood thinner, then got me scheduled for follow ups and some specialty care over the next several months.

Needless to say, his has put a bit of a crimp in my writing schedule. I have pressed on and continued to work as best I can. But I have to work around these new limitations. And that’s the important part. Pick myself up and keep moving forward.

Regardless whether these health challenges prove to be temporary or permanent, I WILL finish and publish CALEB’S REIGN. I owe it both to myself and to my fans. The release date I originally set for myself is October 2026. As of right now, I think I can stick to that schedule as long as nothing else happens to me. But I will need to crank out at least 1200-1500 words per day to finish the rough draft before year’s end and be editing/revising by New Years.

I’ve experienced bouts of dizziness and vertigo ever since my radiation treatments. Only now, they’re much more frequent. Since my right vestibular nerve is perpetually pissed off at me now, it makes sense. So, I ordered some canes this morning. They arrive tomorrow. But these are not just regular canes, oh no. Perish the thought! True to my own funky bohemian sense of style, the three canes/ walking sticks are themselves each a work of art. One top is a wolf’s head, one is a functional brass compass, and one adjusts to become a working telescope.

And that’s the lesson, my friends. That’s the takeaway. Find a way to turn the bad in your life into good. Turn a setback into forward progress, a defeat into victory. I am reminded of a scene in the movie, ROCKY BALBOA (2006, written and directed by Sylvester Stallone) where Rocky is talking to his son: “It ain’t about how hard you can hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. THAT’S HOW WINNING IS DONE!”.

I agree with this assessment. People who are successful at ANYTHING are compelled to keep moving forward. They know that if they don’t, then just like a Great White shark, they will sink to the bottom and die.

I want to keep being successful in both my work and my life for as long as I possibly can.

Take the hits and keep moving forward, my friends.

WRITING IN A WORLD OF AI

/ tinfoilhat / Leave a comment

The world has changed again, and will NEVER go back to the way it was.

Like other seismic technological advances throughout human history, artificial intelligence will probably prove itself both blessing and curse. It will depend upon who benefits and who gets crushed. In ancient times, the development of the bow and arrow gave armies a distinct advantage over opposing forces fighting with spears. The steam engine led to rapid expansion for American settlers and sped transportation, but at the expense of Native American tribes. In film, the advent of sound killed many silent film stars’ careers. Radio, television, personal computers, the internet. I could go on, but you get my drift.

I’ll admit I’m something of a Luddite, but I also realize, accept, and agree that AI is here to stay whether anyone likes it or not. I can see useful and beneficial functions and applications across multiple industries and fields of endeavor. For reasons i see as artistic integrity, I choose to not utilize AI anywhere in my profession, but AI in and of itself is no different from a hammer, a screwdriver, or the internet.

It’s a tool. Nothing more. How and where it is applied is where the rubber meets the road. In writing, editing, and publishing, AI has already infused itself into our neck of the woods. Hell, MS Word spellcheck/grammarcheck has a certain amount of AI driving it now.

Where I draw the line, where I have a HUGE problem both personally and professionally, is the use of generative AI to produce novels, short stories, screenplays, etc. I ordinarily eschew making public statements regarding most issues of the day. I have opinions like anyone else, but I normally choose to keep my mouth shut in public. That’s just me.

But AI is a different animal altogether.  

Let me be clear: When it comes to the writing profession, if someone uses generative AI to create blank diaries, writing journals, wall calendars, Day Planners, or something similar I think that’s probably all right.

HOWEVER… if someone uses generative AI to conceptualize, plot, and then generate for them something that they claim is a literary work, and then, without actually sweating out any of the WORK that goes into a novel or other work, they proclaim themselves a writer or an author — THEY ARE NEITHER.

They’re cheats. They’re hacks.

To call themselves “authors” is a professional slap in the face to all REAL authors, and I also take it as a personal affront. I work damned hard at what I do. If it was easy, everyone would do it. And I will not allow some talentless wannabe with no moral compass to cheapen my profession by using an intelligence other than their own to take shortcuts and run an end-around the creative process.

If someone did this based off another human’s work, we’d call it plagiarism. Why is this any different? This is about honesty. It’s about authenticity. It’s about personal and professional integrity. It’s about vision. It’s about TALENT.

So I will say this, and for those who use AI to write a book for them, this is the only genteel warning you’ll ever get from me. Here we go.

Don’t you ever, EVER, use generative AI to produce a finished work – short story, novel, novella, screenplay, stage play, whatever – and then turn around call yourself an author around me. I don’t care who you are. I don’t care how successful you are, how much money you make, or your standing in society. I will rip you a new anal orifice. 

These people didn’t WRITE anything. They didn’t CREATE anything.

They’re posers. We’re the real deal. And they have ZERO talent. If they did, they wouldn’t need AI to do the work for them and we would not be having this conversation. We writers (and other artists) have talent in spades, along with the drive, the angst, and the occasional torment that inevitably accompanies it. We know the craft. Say “craft” around them and they will think you’re talking about cheese.

They’re amateurs. WE’RE PROFESSIONALS.

These snake oil salesmen do not deserve a real writer’s respect, tolerance, or forbearance.

There. I said it. I believe it, I own it, I stand by it.

AND YES, I AM WILLING TO DIE ON THIS PARTICULAR HILL.

IT’S BEEN A MINUTE…

/ tinfoilhat / Leave a comment

It’s been over a year since my last blog entry. I know I had said I was going to write an entry every month. Unfortunately, life got in the way. In that time, I’ve managed to get my latest novel successfully launched and marketed. But my wife took sick (bad sick) and we’ve been jumping through hoops to get her cared for, and it’s still not over. Her health is fragile at best, and is, shall we say, a “work in progress”. We’re hoping to make some real headway in the next few weeks on a lasting treatment plan (that will include surgery) for her.

Our youngest son moved up from the Tacoma area to be closer to us. He’s a wounded warrior, sustained a TBI while on active duty, and is a 100% disabled vet. So, it’s good for him to be closer. We’re also close to medical offices, labs, Xray, pharmacies, Urgent Cares, etc. So, it all makes sense. Added benefit, we get to visit with him much more than we did when he lived 50 miles away. We have him over, we got out for lunch, etc.

As for me, I’m still the crotchety, cantankerous bastard I’ve always been. Still dealing with chronic debilitations from all that cancer shit – Trigeminal Nerve Neuralgia, chronic Chemo Fog, PTSD, and all the typical aches and pains and decreased stamina that comes from the aging process. But rather than complain, I try to keep things in perspective – it’s either suck it up and deal with this or be dead.

I’ll suck it up and deal with this.

Since we last spoke, I have been attempting to “up my game” as a writer. In addition to my never-ending quest to push myself to hone my craft, sharpen my skills, and become and a better artist, I have begun appearing at horror, sci fi, and fantasy conventions. I sold books at a one-day appearance at the Grit City Comic Show in Tacoma last November. I was a panelist and a panel moderator on a variety of topics over four days at NORWESCON 47 back in April. This was at the Doubletree Hotel in SEATAC. Two weeks later (first weekend of May), I returned to the Doubletree as vendor at CRYPTICON SEATTLE. This was a wonderful experience. I met a lot of fans, colleagues, fellow authors, even a couple of cinematic horror icons, Doug Bradley -Pinhead from the HELLRAISER films, and Andrew Divoff – the Djinn from the WISHMASTER films. Both men proved themselves remarkably warm and approachable people.

Added bonus: I’ve already been invited back to Crypticon for next year.

In August, I will be signing in Bremerton at the Kitsap County Fairgrounds during the Kitsap County Fair. I will also be signing at the Bremerton Blackberry Festival all through Labor Day weekend.

As I alluded to above, on April 15, 2025, I published my fourth novel, ALPHA MALE, the second installment in my werewolf trilogy which I rather presumptuously refer to as “The Caleb Jacobsen Saga”. Hey, what can I say? I told you it was rather presumptuous. ALPHA MALE hit the Amazon bestseller lists almost right away. It climbed as high as #14 on one list before dropping back down and hanging steady in the mid-20s. All in all, ALPHA MALE was on that Top 100 list for five weeks. And book reviews have been glowing.

Now that I have all that in my rear-view mirror, it’s also time for me to look ahead. I have loose outline for the third and final installment and plan to begin the rough draft later this month. I’m hoping to have this next book, which I am currently calling CALEB’S REIGN as a working title (my wife hates it), in October 2026. This will be my fifth novel and will close the door on what I see as the first chapter of my writing career.

After that, I plan to write a couple of standalone novels before I even think about diving into another series or trilogy. I may have one more entry in my Vampire series to write, but the idea isn’t quite there and I am in no hurry. Since I officially retired from feature film screenwriting this year, like every screenwriter I know, I have a lot of unsold screenplays sitting in files on my laptop. And I have realized that those screenplays can serve as detailed outlines from which to flesh out novels. I have a LOT of unsold screenplays. I can be working from them for many years to come.

I really am serious about writing a blog entry at least every month or two. I will alter my approach and write my blog entries (like this one) whenever the mood strikes in MS Word so I can get them firmed up and edited before posting. My next post will be about the explosion of generative AI in the creative arts, especially in writing. I have some pretty strong opinions on this, but I want to give myself time to write it out so I make a cohesive argument when I post.

Take a minute to browse my updated website. I think you’ll find it more comprehensive than before. And as always, feel free to contact me if you feel so inclined.

UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN!

SORRY NOT SORRY

/ tinfoilhat / Leave a comment

Good day, and Happy Sunday! And a Happy Super Bowl Sunday to those of your across the country and around the world who follow major sporting events. I hope everyone is doing well, and have lived a fulfilling and satisfying life since last we spoke. I have likewise done my best to do the same.

“WRITERS… WRITE. EVERY DAY”.

As a working professional, this is my mantra. Rare is the day that I truly do NOTHING at all writing or writing-related (writing-adjacent?). I can count on one hand the number of days in a calendar year I truly take a day off, even on “vacation”. This is how I’ve published three novels (working on a fourth), written 15 feature film screenplays, three of which got made into movies, landed major Hollywood representation, and won an international award for one novel (BLOOD RED MOON), hit the Amazon Bestseller List for New U.S. Horror Releases with another (JUST BEFORE DAWN, Oct 26, 2023), and won awards for two as yet unproduced screenplays (AMBUSH PREDATOR and ISOLATION).

I do not see my mantra as particularly controversial. I did not think others would find it so, either. Boy, was I ever wrong about that.

A recent post on a writers group to which I previously belonged asked for the best advice the more seasoned writers in the group could give the novices. I said, “Writers write. Every day. You have to develop your voice and build up a “Writer’s War Chest” of shorts, poems, articles, novels, screenplays, whatever it is you do, to submit to agents, editors, producers, publishers.”

I got fluffin’ body slammed from all sides for being “triggering”. People responded that they don’t write every day and don’t want to write every day. I asked if they saw themselves as amateurs, or professionals. A lot of them got offended again. Others didn’t know their own writing goals, or asked me, “what’s the difference?”.

I should have known then I was in deep shite.

I explained, “An amateur writes because they enjoy it. It pleases them, relaxes them, fulfills them. They have no professional ambitions.” I added, ” And that’s fine. If it’s a hobby, do it whenever the mood strikes. But if you plan to turn pro, then you BETTER do SOMETHING every day to get you closer to your goals. If you want this as a profession, approach it professionally.”

Since “Write every day” seemed to be the trigger, I explained: Writing does not necessarily mean creating new content. It’s building a web site, building/ expanding social media presence, engagement with writing groups, setting up business accounts, staying on top of your ad spend and your sales numbers/royalties, attending to legal matters like copyright or WGA registration (screenplays), taking classes/ webinars that expand your skillset to make you a better writer — anything that moves you along to where you want to be. It could even be some little five-minute thing. But get it done.

Some complained they couldn’t spare even 5 minutes in a day, that my “demands and expectations” were rigid, triggering, unrealistic, etc. And maybe for them that’s true. I am sorry for them, but if they can’t do more than that on a consistent basis, they will remain amateurs/ hobbyists. I hope they’re okay with that. Some of them may sell a few shorts or poems here and there, but no more. This business is FLOODED with so many talented people who ARE approaching it as a business, and outlets can only buy so many pieces for publication per month or per year.

Ugly truth: Nothing breeds success more than hard work.

I got lambasted as elitist, uncaring, non-supportive. Some questioned my “authority” to answer the question with such “terrible and cruel” advice. Therein lies the problem.

The only thing “terrible” or “cruel” was that I dared speak the truth, something they obviously didn’t want to hear. I provided links to my Amazon Author page, links to every novel, and links to my IMDb page that includes not only past movies I have written, but also a couple of upcoming microbudget movies in which I am being credited as a producer. I told them that whatever small success I have achieved, I achieved by following the same advice I had given them.

Now they said I was bragging. I replied that if you can do something or have achieved something and have incontrovertible proof of it, then saying you did it isn’t bragging; it’s stating a fact. I was then told (get this!) to “check my privilege” because I am male and white and heterosexual. This really pissed me the motherfluff off, because that is their way of dismissing everything I’ve done the last 52 years of my life that got me to where I am right now today.

Only small people do this. Working professionals encourage and lift each other up.

At no time in my adult working life, either in the my military career or as a writer, has anyone given me a break, given me a job, conferred a medal or promotion, published my work, bought a screenplay, made a movie, or cut me any kind of slack whatsoever when I fluffed up because of my ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation. I’ve never been “given” anything I didn’t work my ass of to earn.

I have had agents, managers, and producers before that were LGBTQ+, were people of color, were women, etc, and that’s fine. Their personal lives are none of my business. Our relationships were (and continue to be) primarily business-oriented. They signed me because they thought they could sell my work. I signed because I thought they could boost my career. It’s always been about talent, competence, and hard work. I’ve had to break out of my own comfort zones, learn new writing and editing techniques (adding to the old “writer’s bag of tricks”) and fluffin’ CHURN to stretch myself and go beyond where I thought my limitations lay in order to achieve new heights.

It ain’t easy. It’s tough, it’s scary, and not everyone can do it. I also believe it’s the only way true artistic growth happens.

One writer in this group informed me she was neurodivergent (she did not explain) and that my advice had triggered her into a meltdown and a mental health crisis that lasted almost an entire day. She went on to tell me how even the thought of five minutes a day was enough to put her into a mental tailspin.

I might have felt sorry for her then, but she went on to call me “neuro normal”, and claimed that I had no idea what it was to try and write something when one has disabilities. “It must be wonderful to write whatever you want without having any disabilities”, she wrote.

Rather than tell her how her assumptions were wildly inaccurate, and rather than divulge my struggles both mentally (chemo brain, mental fog, chronic fatigue) and physically (Left Trigeminal Nerve Neuralgia) since my battle with Stage 4 Cancer, not to mention dealing with PTSD (less acute these days, but always lurking just beneath the surface), or the Degenerative Disc Disease in my neck that limits my “chair time” or my Degenerative Joint Disease (arthritis) in my left knee that makes me limp on bad days, I chose not to answer at all. She didn’t deserve to know anything personal about me. I left the group entirely that very day.

I zero patience for those who seek advice, then attack the advisor because they don’t like the advice given. If you don’t want to hear the truth as I see it, then don’t fluffin’ ask me.

I have my own shite to deal with. Just yesterday, Jan 10, 2024, I was completely overwhelmed with chemo-related fatigue (yes, that’s a thing) and yet another flare-up of my Trigeminal Nerve Neuralgia that made my entire left face and head feeling like it was on fire, with radiating pain across my entire head. It affected my balance (vertigo) and my vision. I never even made it out of my PJs. All I could do was take high-CBD cannabis tinctures (legal here in WA state) and opiates (prescribed by my Pain Specialist), curl up into a ball in my bed next to my wife and my cat, and sleep.

That was my Saturday.

I’m better today, and working on this blog entry. Tomorrow, it’s back to the rough draft of my next novel, ALPHA MALE, a sequel to BLOOD RED MOON, and the second in a planned trilogy of werewolf novels telling a larger, complete, and overarching story.

Bottom line is this: I do my damndest every single day to practice what I preach. I have little respect for people who talk the talk but do not walk the walk themselves. Like a lot of the so-called “screenwriting gurus” out there who write books about story structure, plot points, A stories, B stories, plot points, plot reversals, Act breaks, page count, etc., but have never actually sold a screenplay that got made into a movie. But that’s fodder for a different blog post.

Despite my limitations, I have managed to slowly build a career as a working writer over time. It didn’t happen overnight and I’m not making the kind of money where I’m lighting cigars with flaming $100 bills, but I’ve managed to find ways to work around the bad days, doctors’ appointments, annual surgeries to keep my throat from fusing shut with scar tissue (thank you, high-dose radiation therapy!) and helping a wife who has a her own limitations that I won’t expound upon here, but trust me: it’s tough to do. But I still fluffin’ do it, folks. Why? I’m a fluffin’ working writer. IT’S WHAT I FLUFFIN’ DO.

Working professionals write whether they “feel like it” or not. To paraphrase Stephen King, “Some writers wait for inspiration. The rest of us get up and GO TO WORK“. 

Yes, Mr. King. I concur. Writers… WRITE. Every. Single. Day.

It’s not my only writing advice to give, but it’s the best basic, ground-level advice I can give to anyone seeking to make a living as a working writer. And I have neither the time nor the temperament to constantly worry about whether or not I’m going to offend, depress, or trigger someone.

SORRY NOT SORRY.

SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG

/ tinfoilhat / 3 Comments

Well, It’s certainly been a while since my last blog post – December 2000, to be exact. A lot has gone on in the world since then. People have been born; people have died. Some wars ended, others have begun. As much as people claim that we live in unprecedented times, I must respectfully disagree. While some instances and circumstances are new, the underlying humanity involved remains the same: greed, lust, vengeance, power, love, hatred.

And, as it also so happens, a lot has gone on with me as well. I’m a few years older, and I managed to publish two (2) new novels. BLOOD RED MOON came out Oct. 2021, and JUST BEFORE DAWN: a NOCTURNAL novel, came out Oct 2023. I am currently working on ALPHA MALE, a sequel to BLOOD RED MOON and the second installment of my werewolf series, which I think of as, “The Caleb Jacobsen Saga”, after the main character.

As some of you know, I suffer from the after effects of my bout with a Stage 4 Throat Cancer, which the medical types refer to as a “head and neck cancer”. The radiation that killed my cancer also fried my thyroid, leaving my with hypothyroidism. It also fried my left Trigeminal Nerve, leaving me with a chronic pain condition called, Trigeminal Nerve Neuralgia. Neuralgia means “nerve pain”. It never goes away, it is simply a matter of degree of pain. I am on painkillers (including opiates for the really bad days), and will be for the rest of my life. What fun! Further, the chemo that killed my cancer also gave me a permanent case of what medical types called “chemo brain”. It fucks with your short term memory. Long term memory is largely intact. I can tell you where I was 30 or 40 years ago, what I was doing, and who I was doing it with. But I walk also around in a fog half the time, trying to figure out what word to call something I’m holding in my hand or recalling what I had for lunch yesterday.

Yeah, it sucks, but what am I gonna do? Living sure beats the hell out of the alternative, so I take my meds, suck it up, and continue to march.

Because giving up to me is tantamount to failure, and for an ex-military type like me, failure is simply not an option. It is NEVER an option.

So daily chronic pain, chronic fatigue, and periodic surgeries to keep an open airway notwithstanding, I keep going. I keep writing. I have accepted that novels are my main focus now at this stage in my career. This is because novels are where I exert the most control and oversight. Novels are also where I’m making most of my money; where I’m winning international book awards (BLOOD RED MOON – Best Horror, Creatures and Monsters at BookFest Fall 2023), and writing Amazon bestsellers (JUST BEFORE DAWN, Oct 26, 2023).

That’s not to say I have given up on my Hollywood aspirations. I am still incredibly fortunate to have major Hollywood representation for my feature film screenplays by Judy Fox Personal Talent Management. She is tasked with trying to find someone who will buy and finance my scripts. Not an easy task these days as the business, financing structure, and distribution landscape of Hollywood is changing rapidly. Seismic shifts in the business equate to most financiers (who are as conservative as a banker in a three-piece suit when it comes to THEIR money) sitting it out until they can see for themselves how the dust will settle.

I get it. If I was a film financier, I would keep a tight grip on the purse strings, too.

But I do have a couple of things coming up in 2024 that may shift the tide in my favor. First, a movie I did help finance about 18 months ago, BROKEN INNOCENCE, comes out in the summer. Secondly, a script I sold ten (10) years ago just got shot last November. I cannot divulge any info on it as of yet, but the film is in post production as of this writing, and we can reasonably expect a global digital distribution to multiple streaming platforms sometime in 2024. So with this happening, it may help move the needle on one or both of my scripts that my Manager is actively shopping.

Stay tuned.

Well, that’s about it for today. My main goal was to create a new blog post. I want to get back into the habit of posting monthly from here on out. As always, i try to maintain a positive attitude for myself, and an encouraging one for others.

We’ll talk again soon.