I know that I have been derelict here for some time. While I should be writing, I have been finding it difficult to stay motivated. –Though my lack of motivation cuts across the board.

That said, I have been working a bit. I have in the past written some in-game books for the Elder Scrolls game Skyrim. As indicated on my Voice Work page, I have done voice acting for both Oblivion and Skyrim; but now, for the first time, I have been working on scripting for a character in a game mod. The mod can be seen here– http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/75451/?

If you enjoy playing Skyrim, I highly recommend this group of mods.  As noted, I wrote several in-game scholarly books regarding the history and politics of the game world, and a friend for whom I’ve done voice work decided to actually make the character himself, and put him in a mod. He asked me to do the scripting, which has been interesting. There is a lot to be aware of. It isn’t quite like writing dialogue, because one has to be aware of line length. Almost like a play in which characters are restricted to two hundred characters or less in their speech.

I also recently attempted to write a piece of erotic urban horror at a friend’s request. To be honest, I was not all that comfortable writing erotica per se, but I did like the premise. I was writing about a Liannan Sidhe, a “Faerie Lover.” Essentially, in Celtic folklore, it is a creature not unlike a succubus that takes a human lover, and by doing so, greatly shortens his life. However, though his life force is gradually drained away, he receives in return artistic brilliance and inspiration. This myth was in the past invoked to explain why so many great writers and artists and musicians seemed to burn out and die at such young ages.

The idea for this novella was to have been a Sidhe that was tired of this kind of existence, and wanted to find a way to keep a mortal lover for a full lifetime. I had two ideas extending from that premise as well: One, that the story would become a series, and in each book, our anti-heroine is desperately trying to find a way to keep a new favoured pet, but he always ends up dying at the end of the story, and so sh must try again. Two, I thought of letter her find a way to keep a lover, and then the two of them could have adventures rather like Nick and Nora meet Kolchak. Of course, by then, a lot of the erotic would have been left by the wayside….

I was unsatisfied with my initial drafts. Perhaps I’ll return to it later.

I also continue to tinker with the other projects I have simmering away. I am debating at this point to start devoting myself to a bit of memoir-mongering; There are more than a few interesting and amusing incidents I’ve lived through.

MEDOUSA continues to not sell, and I am now convinced that I probably shouldn’t have published on my own. I certainly spent far more in preparing the manuscript and putting it out than I will ever recover. I recently engaged the services of Books Go Social, but despite the massive Twitter advertising campaign they did last month, it has not had significant impact on my sales figures at all. But I’ve already kvetched and opined about that in previous posts. I had a sequel to MEDOUSA half written and plotted out, but I’m even less convinced now that it would be worth finishing.

My current focus is trying to find remunerative work. My current job at a Pennsylvania call center is crushingly dull, and pays poorly. I am at the point where I cannot even buy groceries regularly, and I have to pick and chose amongst my bills. I have been putting out resumes and CVs, and putting in applications online, and so on. And my current state of  financial duress is mostly why I have been neglecting my blog here. Perhaps things will start looking up later.