It’s Wednesday at the new job. The paperwork is done, I got a few minutes before lunch and the second part of my day… when I start doing what I was hired to do. What I want to do.

The last couple of weeks have been filled with personal and professional efforts. As of late, I’ve invested my writing on a new publisher, as Cruentus Libri is taking a break for a while. It sucks, but I gave up on doing the sci-fi stories for a bit as I focus on expanding my “writing resume.” The fact is, it’s easier. The little guys feel like they have a better idea of what they want, and often their reduced pay means less competition.

I once got a lesson in the nature of writing competition. I was living in Arlington, Virginia, and one morning, I boarded the bus to work. Along the way, I started talking to a girl and she told me she’s into writing. That was when I mentioned the Black Library submission windows. She got excited, wanting to participate.

Despite not knowing a thing about the nature or details of the 40k universe.

Amateur writers can be hungry like that. Willing to try even if they don’t realize the amount of research they’ll need just to get up to speed, or even knowing anything about a subject. And that’s also why I believe so many professional writers tend to feel and sound so cynical, having done the hard work and effort to research and understand subject matter, as well as fighting through hundreds of other writers and receiving so many rejections.

Not much to do but work at it.

As of late, the game Banner Saga: Factions has really, really been on my mind. It’s a turn based tactical strategy game built around Viking lore and mythos. I’ve really been considering writing a strategy guide (I win more often than I lose), but since that won’t advance my writing career, I won’t. I’ve been thinking there is a teensy bit of money and development to be made on the Indie gaming side and in any gaming series with no existing publishing. The same is true of Fallout and a few other gaming series. I’ve decided to try my hand at gauging some of their interest. But I expect to hear no often.