I’ve gone to the Wayback Machine and retrieved an old post I made back in 2000 about an old classic – Grabbag. The post comes from the old 3d Realms Ultimate Bulletin Board, and it’s very in-depth about the song and the circumstances that led to its creation. The only thing it lacks is a musical analysis, but if things keep going the way they are on the Lee Jackson Audio Community Discussion Group on Facebook, you may find that coming up this weekend.
Won’t Ya Let Me Take You On a Sea Cruise
Bulletin, bulletin! All hands on deck for an important announcement!
Thanks to world-famous voice artist Jon St. John, the voice behind PC video game legend Duke Nukem, I’ve been invited to be a special guest aboard his NotCon at Sea 2020 convention! This is your chance to meet and greet me personally on a four-day round-trip cruise from Galveston, Texas to Cozumel, Mexico.
Currently, plans for activities during the cruise are still pending, but I will be bringing several copies of my Calibrations album with me. I’ll also be bringing a pair of special Calibrations logo T-shirts which I will autograph and give away!
The cruise sets sail from the port of Galveston on February 17th, 2020 on board the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship Enchantment of the Seas and returns on February 21st. Other guests on the cruise will include voice actors J. Michael Tatum, Brandon McInnis, Wes Johnson, and Caitlin Glass, plus CosPlay artist Kawaii Besu and actress & VFX artist Samantha Inoue-Harte. Further information can be found at https://jsjnotcon.com.
Now is your chance—sign up and have the experience of a lifetime! I’m looking forward to seeing you onboard!
When Does It End?
One thing that I rarely see touched upon is the subject of how long it should take to write a book. Of course, there is no “should” when it comes to writing a novel. Each book comes with its own timeline and demands, and no two are ever alike. What I can give you are a few samples from my own work in progress, Tapper.
I completed my first draft around the end of July, 2014. I thought I was finished with it sometime in 2016—that’s when I started going through the “query” process of trying to find an agent to represent my book to publishing houses. Needless to say, I got no bites on my query. Around that same time, I got a proposal from Gearbox Software to write the soundtrack to the 20th Anniversary World Tour edition of Duke Nukem 3D. I put Tapper on the shelf and went back to writing music.
The hiatus on Tapper ran out in February of this year, when I pulled the book out and resumed writing. I’m passing it through Scribophile, where I’m getting some very useful, yet frustrating advice. Why is it frustrating? There’s that timeline again. My first “real” chapter (spoilers!) is on its 54th revision, and some of the comments I’ve been getting are first-time comments. Why couldn’t someone have raised these same points back on my 5th revision, eh?
If it sounds like I’m revising my book to death, let me come to its defense. I have done a major rewrite of the first few chapters, in order to make them more appealing to readers (and to agents). That also explains why some of the comments I’m getting are first-time ones. It doesn’t explain all of them, mind you—I’m still getting some of the “why did no one mention this earlier?” kind of remarks in later chapters.
The point I’m trying to make here is that if you’re writing your first book, you can go ahead and smash your clock for what it’s worth. Don’t expect to knock out a novel in a year, or two years, or even four for that matter—although, if you do get signed with an agent within four years, count your lucky stars. Be patient, and be ready to spend a lot of time working on your novel … and even more time re-working it.
“Composers Play” Interview Up On YouTube
I recently had the honor of being interviewed by Scott Tobin (website here, YouTube channel here) for his intriguing “Composers Play” series. Scott is a gentleman and a professional, and you’d do yourself good to look into his works. He conducted his interview of me over a two-day span (partially due to a power outage on my end) and then did an excellent job of putting together a three-part end product.
You can listen to the interview at these links:
Please help spread the word using the AddToAny icons at the end of this post, and of course, if you have any questions about anything in the interview, please don’t hesitate to ask using the Contact page. Thank you for reading!