Volume 2 incoming!

Happy holidays to anybody and everybody reading this, and hope the weather's not too bad for any of us!

As we head into the holiday season, I've gotten a clearer picture of the release date for The Queenschair II: Of Goddess Born. The final edits for the book are almost done, but the e-book formatting company I use (Polgarus Studios, http://www.polgarusstudio.com/) is on holiday break. So the book will be out in early January 2015!

A big thanks to anyone who checks it out...though of course I recommend reading Volume I first. Strongly recommend :)

Oh and I'd like to point out the "Questions and Comments" box I've added on the right side - please feel free to send me messages, especially if you've read some of The Queenschair. It would be great to hear from y'all. Have a great holiday season, everybody~

It's my novel - I can write what I want to

In my last point, I included a little number at the bottom to track my progress in NaNoWriMo, with the hope that I'd reach maybe 25,000 - 30,000 words by the end of the month. Well, without further ado, here's my grand total right now:

[NaNoWriMo 2014 Progress: 9,161 words as of November 19]

Wow, that's...underwhelming. And the reason is I've changed course and am no longer working on Native Son this month. Instead, I've chosen to redirect my creative energies and fleeting free time to:

1) finalizing edits on The Queenschair Volume II: Of Goddess Born, which I expect to release in mid-December

2) finishing the new segments in The Queenschair Volume III: A Kingdom Apart, which were completed about a week ago so the book is "done" and ready for intensive edits

3) plowing ahead with The Queenschair Volume IV: Blood of Our Own, which involves rewriting the 70% that's already done and then writing the missing 30%.

Why did I suddenly jump from one thing to another? To put it simply: I felt like it.

Which leads me to my Big Point for today: write what you want, if at all possible. I include that caveat at the end because I understand not everyone is free to do that, or at least they feel pressure to do something else. A popular writer whose fans clamor for a continuation of a past series may choose to write that sequel and rake in some handsome profits rather than start a new series. A writer under contract to a traditional publisher may face deadlines to deliver her next book; she's not going to be totally free to pour her energies into a new passion project. A writer who follows the market and tries to ape what's selling these days may find himself writing all sorts of things he doesn't even enjoy.

There are a million and one scenarios out there, and every writing life is different. I'm happy to say mine is unfettered and free. If I miss the Queenschair world (and I always do), I can write that now and into next week. The week after that, I might be inspired by something I see on TV and decide I want to jump back into Native Son. It's all good.

And maybe, hypothetically, there's just a one crazy week when 2 fantastic and long-awaited video games are released; we'll call them "Dragon Age: Inquisition the Real and Truly Worthy Sequel to Origins" and "Grand Theft Auto V the Next-Gen Remake Which is Totally Sweet". Totally hypothetically. And maybe the week after that is Thanksgiving which is just insane in its own way. The amount of writing work that gets done might take a hit. And that's okay.

I, and hopefully you, can write what you want to, when you want to. And right now, it's time to get to work!

"It's still kinda rough, but here's the world map for my next book. So...what do you guys think?"

NaNoWriMo 2014!

The concept is simple enough. Sign up and make a commitment to write at least 50,000 words during the month of November, at an average of about 1,667 words a day. Some people have no trouble doing that on a regular basis and so National Novel Writing Month is every month for them. As much I'd love to say that applies to me, I can't!

The Queenschair was written during my first year participating in NaNoWriMo, back in 2011; I passed the 57,000 word mark if memory serves. I felt great. I felt accomplished. And then I took the next 7 months to write the remaining 100,000 words or so.

In 2012 and 2013 I found myself coming back to the NaNo website, signing back up, and not getting anywhere close to 50,000 words. But it wasn't wasted time; it was always fun to have an artificial goal/deadline in place, and extra fun to imagine there were thousands of other people enjoying (more like suffering) the struggle of churning out a consistent word count. That's the most important concept I learned from NaNo: the art of writing and not scrutinizing it the very next day. You had no time to do that; you had to keep writing and getting those words down and advancing the story. Editing would come later and be its own painfully laborious process. (Doesn't writing sound like such fun? It is, though!)

Although NaNo is strictly self-policing and your only real reward is the feeling of self-accomplishment, I did follow the rules, and one of them was that you had to start a novel from scratch (and not be tacking on 50,000 words to a work-in-progress). However, I saw that this year they seemed to have softened the language on that and it was acceptable to bring in an existing novel. I didn't see that until November 3, when two full writing days of NaNo had already come and gone, and I immediately signed up for the 2014 event.

And...the novel I'm working on is not Queenschair-related! It was time to take a break.

(Not to despair! Volume I is of course available on Amazon.com. Volume II is complete and currently in edits, and may be released even earlier than scheduled in December 2014. Volume III is complete except for a couple of new scenes and is looking good for April 2015. Volume IV is actually about 70% written but needs a lot of work, so I'm glad I have a year to get it out there.)

The project I brought into NaNoWriMo 2014 is Native Son, an alternate-history science fiction novel I started in October 2013. It would have made a great NaNo project if the event had been a month earlier. I wrote about 50,000 words of it in a flash, then lost momentum and finally set it aside to return to working on Queenschair. And now I'm back on it...and hoping to finish it by the end of 2014! Reaching 50,000 words in NaNo is highly unlikely but that's okay; if I can get about 30,000 by the end of November, then I'll be heading right into the home stretch.

More on Native Son in a later post!

[NaNoWriMo 2014 Progress: 6,562 words as of November 9]

Tokyo Sky Tree, photo taken from Ueno Park, May 2012

Why's there a photo of Tokyo Sky Tree at the bottom of this post? Maybe I just like it. Or maybe it has some nebulous relation to Native Son? Await the answer with baited breath, if you've just had some sushi :)

Who's that again?

As I talk to people about my book and about the fantasy genre in general, one of the most common complaints I hear is "There's an insane number of characters, I don't even know who's who after a while!" In particular I've heard this said about the Song of Ice and Fire series by George R.R. Martin and its TV adaptation Game of Thrones...and I agree.

I think this is a valid gripe for people who are less familiar with the genre and scope of most epic fantasy books. Lots and lots of characters of varying importance to the story (do I really have to remember the second maidservant's name...?) and, since this is fantasy, some incredibly weird names (Blödhgarm...author, are you yankin my crank?).

I'm not a fan of the crazy weird name thing, so hopefully that'll appeal to readers who see an umlaut and throw the book in the firepläce. But I'll confess, I do have a lot of characters. The world is populated by lots of people because, well, it's a world. I did resist the urge to name every single guardsman or street merchant who walked by, but I operate from the basic belief that everyone has an interesting story to tell (both in the world of my books and in the real world), even if those stories don't get to be told just then.

So how to keep things organized in the reader's mind? Well, I try not to throw too many names out there at once, and I do my best to establish a consistent context for them based on the current POV character's perspective. For example, one of the heroines of The Queenschair, Arsaya, has a rather unkind way of looking at the people around her, and presumably her thoughts about them (and her nicknames for them) make them a little easier to remember.

In Arsaya's mind:

Yennava = "Mama who doesn't appreciate me much"
Garland = "Papa who doesn't appreciate me either but at least he spoils me"
Zeydric = obnoxious big brother, "Beautiful Boy whom Mama loves more than she loves me"
Ebreyon = the great and magnificent King (heavy sarcasm), "Smiley"
Selana = the beautiful and graceful Princess (even heavier sarcasm), "Devil Eyes"

And so on and so forth. As long as the characters aren't presented as lifeless names on the page and have proper stories/attributes/roles attached to them, I think they stand a good chance of "living" for the reader.

But for those who just can't keep track of all those names, an alphabetical list of names and characteristics always helps! Mine appears at the back of the book but is carefully designed not to contain any spoilers from the book itself, so it's safe to check while reading. Or right here:


The Queenschair - Cast of Characters

Arsaya Amalor, 21 years old. The only daughter and younger child of Baron Garland Amalor of Ishten-Hyrona. The "Jewel of Hyrona" who is renowned for her beauty and viewed favorably by the public.

Chanyn Arbreth, 26 years old. The Heir Baroness of Chadarun, and the only surviving child of Baroness Mayin Arbreth.

Ebreyon Marin, 25 years old. The King of Yenmas, who ascended to the throne four years ago after ending the Imperial occupation. A war hero beloved by the people, he struggles with the day-to-day affairs of ruling the Kingdom and relies heavily upon his twin sister Selana and their mother.

Erinya Marin, 49 years old. The Royal Mother of Yenmas who raised her children in the ancient fortress of Ihanas, hidden from the Imperial occupiers. She was a lowborn woman of the southeastern Prairie and a soldier of the all-female Rose Battalion before marrying Tensarus Marin, illegitimate son of King Nial. The only surviving member of the pre-war Royal family, she helps guide her children in ruling the Kingdom.

Garland Amalor, 49 years old. The Baron of Ishten-Hyrona, husband of Yennava, and father of Zeydric and Arsaya.

Hanran Resayar, 53 years old. The Vice-Leftmarshal of the Trisala Army.

Jaun Kirik, 25 years old. The Knight Fifth of Trisala and younger brother of Turin.

Jebriel Harken, 31 years old. The Knight Second of Trisala and Captain of the Palace Guard. Among the elite bodyguards of House Marin, he is second in rank to the Kingsknight.

Liyan Franzin, 46 years old. Master sergeant of the Army of Chadarun and weapons instructor to Lady Chanyn Arbreth. He is a trusted confidant of the Heir Baroness.

Mahalla Dehann, 22 years old. The Lady of Kaslan, Rhinal Province, United Kingdom of Saria. The daughter of the late Lord Phaedron Dehann and his late wife Lady Thessa, who was in fact the Princess Sabrya Marin in exile after the fall of Yenmas to the Imperials. First cousin to Ebreyon and Selana, as well as a more distant relation to House Amalor. Although Mahalla was the sole survivor of the legitimate Marin line, she renounced her claim to allow Ebreyon to become King of Yenmas. She chose to remain Lady of Kaslan and rebuild her father's city.

Mayin Arbreth, 54 years old. The Baroness of Chadarun, mother of Chanyn. The widow of Baron Dalreyus, she was reinstated as ruler of her province after the liberation of Yenmas.

Nesemay Cherren, 70 years old. The Senator of Sagovia. The wife of the Sagovian Senator before the Imperial occupation, she held her family together after the fall of House Marin. Her only son Hathan, a promising young politician, was assassinated by unknown assailants during the time of Imperial rule, leaving Nesemay to raise her grandson, Lelan. She is now grooming Lelan to succeed her as Senator someday. Although she is a full-blooded Xadeian from the north, she is respected on all sides of the political spectrum and is considered a moderating voice in the Senate.

Oberim Walis, 58 years old. The Lord Marshal of the Trisala Army, the highest-ranking general in the service of House Marin. He is physically ailing and increasingly unfit to serve as an army commander.

Rahna Essien, 17 years old. Known as the "Red Huntress". Born the eldest daughter of the shoemaker Rahdamon Essien, she joined the Mastorian war against the Imperials to avenge the deaths of her mother and youngest brother. In the summer of 1008, she met King Ebreyon Marin of Yenmas when their forces cooperated in hunting Imperial raiders along the border. The following winter, their friendship turned to romance.

Ramidiah Drakken, 30 years old. The Queen of United Saria. A hero of the Second Heavens War, during which she befriended Ebreyon Marin. She accepted his proposal of marriage in 1007, but broke their betrothal to marry another man.

Reysa Lederen, 16 years old. Soldier of the Trisala Capital Guard at Remeo Garrison and younger brother of Sharalenne.

Royven Elminas, 37 years old. The Knight Third of Trisala and Vice-Captain of the Palace Guard.

Selana Marin, 25 years old. The Princess of Yenmas and first in line to the throne. Her differently colored eyes, one blue and one brown, are considered disconcerting and even frightening by some.

Sharalenne Lederen, 17 years old. Servant girl at Trisala Palace and older sister of Reysa.

Turin Kirik, 30 years old. The Knight Fourth of Trisala and older brother of Jaun.

Tylius Valore, 28 years old. Family friend of House Marin and a loyal companion of Ebreyon since their younger days. Crippled at the Battle of Huyzen during the Yenmarian Liberation War, he now makes his home in the Jemerian resort town of Havan Spring.

Yennava Amalor, 46 years old. The Baroness of Ishten-Hyrona, wife of Garland, and mother of Zeydric and Arsaya.

Zeydric Amalor, 26 years old. The older child and only son of Baron Garland Amalor of Ishten-Hyrona. His father's heir and Captain of the Hyronan Seahorse cavalry regiment. Reputedly the most skilled swordsman in the Kingdom, he was appointed Kingsknight by Ebreyon. They have been friends for over ten years, though Zeydric carries on a far less cordial relationship with Ebreyon's sister.

Book Trailer!

This is the book trailer for The Queenschair, which I made using the Movie Maker program that came with Windows 7. The background music is the epic track "Existence" by Audiomachine.

I guess the logical next step is either a live-action or anime film...in Summer 2025 when you can buy it with Earth Credits and experience it via Full-Immersion Neural Link (FINAL). Stay tuned!

I can now officially proclaim the release of my first book, The Queenschair! It’s an epic fantasy novel about a young monarch trying to hold his country together while also facing pressure to find a wife. Although that may sound like an extremely guy-oriented book, a majority of the story is told from female perspectives and the focus is on interpersonal relationships, not sword fighting or world-saving quests. If you like the Game of Thrones books or TV series but wish it was less harsh and more PG-13, The Queenschair might suit you.

Amazon.com - print version

Amazon.com - Kindle version

Goodreads.com

On the page for the Kindle version, you can use the "Look inside" feature or download a free sample to your mobile device. And if you're subscribed to Kindle Unlimited, The Queenschair is included so you can go ahead and read!

Thanks for your support, everyone!

The official cover for Volume I, Kindle version

Wallpaper!

As I approach the official release date of both the print and digital versions of The Queenschair (which may be as soon as tomorrow, as soon as the ebook conversion is complete), I've thought about what kind of promotion I should try to do.

And I've come to no conclusions about that, so I'm happy just to take it slow, start out by asking friends and relatives to take a look, and continue learning about this process that is Self-Publishing: We Stand Alone, Together. The blogs I follow, especially the Passive Voice and the blogs of Joe Konrath, Hugh Howey, Rachel Aaron, and David Gaughran, have given me a wealth of knowledge that I'll finally start tapping into.

But as a fun activity to start, I've created a nice wallpaper to plaster my work computer screen with :)

Originally intended for the book cover

Coming up next time...the book trailer!

The proof is the cherry on top of the pudding it's in, or something

In the last few weeks I have before The Queenschair is born into the real world (i.e. becomes available for purchase in both physical and digital form), I've busy with my final edits. Although the book has undergone 5-6 full edits since the first draft was completed in June 2012, this is it. The REAL ONE. The one that counts, because afterwards some actual living, breathing strangers might actually read it. It has to be as close to perfect as I can possibly get it, and that's a lot of pressure as I scrutinize every single word and every page layout.

Note: The below was written after I finished the editing process. I survived! And more importantly, the book did, too.

I think every writer's editing process varies widely, just as much as their writing processes themselves. There might be a whole lot of authors who don't edit at all; I sure hope I never come across one of their books, because I don't see how that could ever be a good thing. Some edit and rewrite and end up with trash cans full of scrunched up paper (or so the TV shows would have us believe); some do a few quick rounds of revision and are ready to go. And many seek outside help to polish the book.

My own editing process truly began in June 2012 when the first draft of The Queenschair was completed, even though I'd gone back and done some revisions during the writing process. For the next 2 years I read through the whole thing maybe 5-6 times, making changes here and there. My friend Ivy, a terrific professional editor, read one of the early drafts and made lots of significant recommendations, which also helped teach me how to self-edit.

In both 2013 and 2014 I had to pare down the word count for the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition (150K limit in 2013, 125K limit in 2014), so those were pretty intense rounds of editing. After not advancing all that far in either year, I went back to my longer "director's cut" version of the book, which I liked a whole lot better anyway.

In April 2014 I began ordering printed proofs through Amazon's Createspace, where you can set up your book to be printed on demand. The experience of holding your own printed out novel was pretty amazing...and then the real work began. Over the next few months, as I set my sights on self-publishing The Queenschair by October and finally putting it out there in the Real World, I scrutinized several printed versions.

And on September 12, I received what I considered to be the very last one - this was the one that I would really go line by line and make it "perfect" as could be. If there were any mistakes left after this round of editing, the world was going to see them.

So I was real careful. Across the roughly 480 pages of The Queenschair, I estimate that I made around 1200 changes, highlighting them in pink marker and writing them in pen before revising the Word doc at the end of each chapter. About 15 of those were straight-up typos, like missing quotations marks or phantom periods. The rest were all stylistic or preference-related changes; yup, I'm quite a nit-picker! What was amazing to me was that I'd never noticed them during previous read-throughs. It can't be understated: you haven't really gone through your book until you've tackled the printed proof.

Have pink highlighter. Will edit for food, or Amazon credit

On September 30, after countless hours of staring at cream-colored pages and marking them up in festive pink, I was done. There are still mistakes in the book. Don't ask me how I know that; I just know. But this is as good as it gets without performance-enhancing drugs or professional therapy, and I think it's pretty darn good and on par with anything you'll find in any book put out by the major publishers. I put in the work, I did my best to create a professional product...and I'll look forward to hearing what you think!

I'm a Special Snowflake! And so are you, and you!

I'm sure there will be plenty of occasions for me to get into my feelings about the publishing industry, and the current Amazon-Hachette dispute in particular. But for now I'll share something fun that appeared in the comments on the terrific blog Passive Voice, where a saint named "Smart Debut Author" posted a link to the following video.

I'd been a fan of My Chemical Romance (from my native New Jersey!) since about 10 years ago, but I had no idea they'd ever appeared on a Nickelodeon show called Yo Gabba Gabba and done this song. It is one of the greatest songs in the history of western civilization...wait, why only western, ALL civilization. Including New Jersey!

Hope it brings you as many smiles and even laughs as it did for me on this Monday morning :)

Every fantasy book needs a map!

Well, maybe that's not entirely true; you could certainly read my book series without a map, though it does help you see where everybody's coming from. Literally.

This is the map I created for The Queenschair series, over the span of about 3 years.

Because nothing screams "epic" like homemade parchment

The border lines were drawn in Photoshop using anchor points, which means it's a pretty painstaking and tedious process but comes out looking fairly clean. Then I took up my trusty Wacom Bamboo Fun tablet (got it for $80 about 5 years ago) and drew the little mountains. I drew the inspiration for how to shade them from Christopher Paolini's map for his Inheritance series.

Then I added the text in Photoshop, which is nice and simple; I played with lots of fonts and layer effects before I found the look I wanted, though.

Oh, and the texture of the background! That might have been the most fun part of all. I wanted it to look like parchment and initially considered buying a parchment texture off the internet, but after Googling "how to make your own parchment", I realized I could make my own. So I got a normal white piece of paper, put in on an oven baking sheet, and soaked it in some weak coffee. Then I baked that sheet of paper to a nice golden brown (well, a soft beige-brown at least), and voila - scan it in and there's my parchment texure!

How a book was born

It was about 3 years ago when I sat down and began putting together ideas for a new novel. I'd started writing books before, and some of those had even gotten past the first few chapters, but I'd never gotten more than halfway through any of them. The impetus to reach the finish line just wasn't there, and the motivation would just fizzle out eventually.

This time would be different, I told myself. This time I'd try something new: a grand new scheme they called NaNoWriMo! For those of you who haven't heard of it, that's the National Novel Writing Month, and it takes place every November. The idea is simple - start a new novel on November 1 and keep writing until you have at least 50,000 words by November 30. Sometime around August, I decided I'd take the challenge and then spent the next 2 months or so prepping to write a new book. Outlines, character profiles, pages and pages of mostly incoherent notes, spreadsheets with character data, all that good stuff.

But before all that, I had to know what book I was going to write! That idea was born when I thought about the medieval fantasy world I'd written most of my other stories in; I'd been building that world, mostly inside my own head, since 7th grade or so. So I had lots of stories and adventures lined up all over the map, and I started going through each of those ideas to see if it was the Right One for Right Now.

And what I settled on was actually nothing I'd thought of before. I wanted to write something Game of Thrones-esque, since I'd enjoyed the 1st season of that show earlier that year. You know, lots of perspective characters with multiple storylines meshing together in one gigantic web of holy-crap-this-is-epic. I also wanted the basic plotline to involve a love triangle where the romantic choices would have far-ranging repercussions. And those inspirations led me to the story of Ebreyon Marin, the young King of Yenmas who has won his wars...and now must secure his reign by finding a suitable Queen.

Ebreyon didn't materialize out of nowhere in August 2011; I'd actually written a fairly lengthy story about his mother, Erinya, who was born on the Yenmarian Prairie and became a footsoldier in the capital, which then led to her chance encounter with the youngest Prince of Yenmas, Tensarus...her eventual husband. That story, which was far from complete when I set it aside in 2001 or so, ended with Yenmas falling to the Empire of Xades. One of the only survivors from the Royal family was Erinya, who gave birth to twins at the very end (in a very Luke and Leia New Hope kind of way).

So Ebreyon and his twin sister Selana had existed for a while in the giant twisting M.C. Escher sketch of my mind. I'd always known how they came to exist and how they factored into some of the other stories I was planning to write, but I'd never sat down and thought about their adult lives as Ebreyon took the throne and Selana became his closest adviser. Now I did.

And, like the Big Bang, the world exploded out from there. A vast majority of the characters of The Queenschair were born in September and October 2011; some of the most significant ones even arrived on the scene after the outlining and writing were well under way. That's the way it goes sometimes - you don't see everything from the beginning, no matter how meticulously you might prepare. And I'd say it's better that you don't, or else there's no spontaneity in it!

An early version of the logo for The Queenschair

In November 2011, I ran the NaNoWriMo gauntlet and wrote a shade over 57,000 words...and the book wasn't even half done. For once I kept at it and didn't abandon it; it never became stale or boring to me. And in June 2012 I had a complete 1st draft...at 160,000 words. I'd finished my first book, EVER!

The 2 years since that day have seen a lot of editing, revising, and general angsting about how to make the book better, how to touch up the language, and then how to package the whole thing so it not only reads well but catches the eye. The finished product is what (I hope) you'll be reading in early October 2014.

And then you can tell me if my time was well spent :)

Welcome to the official Queenschair blog!

Well, here we go! The first post on this blog, and my first blog post in a very long time (exactly how long, nobody knows). I'm guessing anyone who's actually reading this has seen the last page of my book, The Queenschair, which is the only place where this blog is mentioned. And seeing as how I won't be releasing that book until October 1 or so, I'm basically shouting out to empty seats right now. Not a problem! Complete and utter silence can be pretty cozy sometimes. And since I expect it'll take some time for my books to gather an audience, that silence might last a while. And that's just fine.

I'd like to start by introducing the books that made this blog possible (and necessary, to borrow from the late great Victor Borge). The Queenschair is the first book in a planned 5-volume series. The rest of the series is in good shape, with Volumes 2 and 3 completely written (now in the editing stages) and Volume 4 about 70% done. Volume 5 hasn't been written at all, but don't worry, I actually have the endgame solidly established. I won't be tacking on a crappy non-ending that betrays everything that came before and makes a mockery out of the die-hard fans. Yeah, Lost, I'm lookin at you.

Ugh, I just lost 25 morale points by thinking about the travesty that was Lost. Back to my book! The Queenschair is a different brand of epic fantasy; it's incredibly unique. Well, sure, every author thinks his or her work is a special snowflake, so take my self-assessment with a grain of salt. But it is an odd mix of old-school tales about kings and princesses and dashing knights...and the more modern narrative styles that delve into the human psyche and really get into characters' heads. The Queenschair isn't Disney, but it sure doesn't have the grit of a Game of Thrones either. The heroes and heroines are largely of noble birth, as opposed to the current trend toward rogues and other folks who exist on the fringes of society.

And rather than being an adventure tale about a world-saving quest, The Queenschair series follows several characters as they navigate a deteriorating political situation and try to keep their country from falling apart. The first book, due in early October, focuses on the young King of Yenmas, Ebreyon Marin, as he is pressured to choose a Queen.

The primary candidates for the Queenschair have their own ambitions and motivations; the series focuses on them as much as it does on Ebreyon, perhaps even more so. I won't harp on buzzwords like "female-oriented" or catchphrases like "finally, a book that isn't about men or about a woman who only thinks about men!" I'll let the books speak for themselves. What I can say is that the characters of The Queenschair are fully-realized people (in my own head, anyway, and hopefully on the page). I don't hold anyone above the others, I respect them all, and honestly I love them all. Here's to hoping you'll enjoy meeting them!

Next time I'll blog about how I came up with the idea of The Queenschair and how that seed germinated into the book that some of you are now holding (or at least have on your computer, Kindle, iPad, phone, or...however else you can read a book these days). For now, I'm super excited that I'll be self-publishing my first book in a few weeks (I'll eventually talk about how I arrived at that decision, too), and I can't wait for people to read it. And by "people", I mean YOU :)