Writing Goal For February

So, while 2017 is the Year of Rish Outfield (gonna keep trying to make that a thing), the month of February is going to be the writing month for Big Anklevich.  He has vowed to write every day in that month . . . and so, I will too.

I will probably not manage to get on here and update y'all every single day, nor get an accurate word count or anything (I went to the library today to write and just took my notebook in, being too lazy to go home and get a laptop, which would make things easier in the long run).  But I will try.

And somebody told me that February only has twenty-eight days this year.  I can manage to write every single day then.

Heck, you could too!

DoG: Marshal, Rish, Renee and Big talk ROGUE ONE

Amazingly, we've already got another episode recorded and posted over at the Delusions of Grandeur podcast.  This one has me and Marshal, teaming up with Big Anklevich and Renee Chambliss, talking about Disneyland.  Oh, and the newest Star Wars movie too.

I really enjoy doing this podcast, and I hope I can manage many more entertaining episodes in this new year.  So far, we're doin' pretty good.

Check it out at THIS LINK.

Rish Outcast 63: Unpleasant Sensation

Good news and bad news, story fans!

This week, I present "Unpleasant Sensation," a lil horror tale I once sold to an anthology.

But . . . it's real short. Like Drabblecast short.

Gotta tell you, if you like the Outcast, 2017 is gonna be your year.

And if you LOVE the Outcast . . . let's go out sometime.



Hey you, go ahead and download the episode by Right-Clicking THIS LINK.

Have I mentioned that it's the Year of Rish Outfield?

When I was particularly upset and tired at the end of 2016, I told Big that 2017 was going to be "The Year of Rish Outfield."  No more wasting time on unfulfilling other stuff, I was going to focus on two things: writing and publishing my own work, and the Rish Outcast.*

Well, we'll see.

As of today, there are seven Rish Outcast episodes edited and ready to go, which seems like a lot.  There's probably six more recorded and sitting on my laptop, not to mention the "Dead and Breakfast" episode that's been sitting for more than a year, and will probably never see the light of day (unless I can figure out a way to pull that off without having to admit to being a cowardly human turd).

Next month is that annual writers conference I like to go to, and if the last two years are any indication, that will give me a shot in the arm to work just a little harder on . . . something, whether it's my cover art, doing more self-publishing, sending more of my stuff to magazines and podcasts, or writing another novel or series of stories.

I think this YORO has started pretty solidly, and the monthly goal-setting and reporting on last month's goals seems helpful.  I've written one complete story in 2017, but it's in the notebook, so it may stay there until the end of time.

I got an idea for a story yesterday that I would like to write . . . but I don't want to write it alone.  I haven't had a collaboration in a while, and I may not be the world's best collaborator anyway, so let me know what you suggest.

*I'm gonna lump the Delusions of Grandeur podcast in with this.

Rish Outcast 62: I Went Out Walking

(...With A Bible And A Gun)

Rish goes for a walk up in the mountains in summertime.  He waxes poetic, trying (unsuccessfully) to describe all that he sees.*

Story next time, okay?



If you're up for downloading the episode, go ahead and Right-Click HERE.

*Originally, I had a very different description of this episode, but I was confusing this one with another that's coming later.  Consider yourself warned.

Buy My Story "Remember the Future" On Amazon

Just can't get enough of Rish Benjamin Outfield?  Of course not, or you'd be kilometers from here.

If you're up to it, check out my short story "Remember the Future," available at this link.

It's a story I wrote not long ago about a high school girl, Tali Murray, who gets cursed by a witch: when she makes eye contact with someone, she sees how they will die.  She meets a boy, sees his future, and wonders if it is set in stone.

I know, I know, you didn't need all that.  I had you at high school girl.  Well, feel free to go over and buy the story, if you wanna know how I handle that particular ubiquitous premise, done to death, I fully recognize.  I'm still deciding whether to run it on the Outcast, but while I deliberate, check it out!

Rish Outfield, Quoter of Debbie Gibson Songs

Rish 'n Marshal talk about ROGUE ONE

I never really plug episodes of the Dunesteef on this blog.  I figure that a thousand times as many people listen to the 'steef as read my blog, so why would I ever bring it up here?  It'd be like trying to promote a television show in a book.

And the same goes for my podcast with Marshal Latham, "Star Wars: Delusions of Grandeur."  We came up with the idea of doing the show a couple of years back, and I thought I was oh-so-clever in the naming of it, only to discover that there's already a blog and a podcast called "Delusions of Grandeur" out there (and I think there used to be one called "The Star Wars Delusions of Grandeur Podcast" too, which sucks all the more.  If I had to do it now, I'd come up with something embarrassingly obscure, like "Squid Head and Zuckuss's Mynock Roast and Talk Show."  Maybe it's not too late.

But that's a show I don't think too many people listen to.  We've put the call out for various listener-participation shows, asked people to suggest topics, requested comments, and I once offered a limited edition Disney Store Talking Boba Fett 12 inch figure as a prize to anybody listening (I didn't want it because Jason Wingreen's dulcet tones had been replaced by the Prequels guy).  That figure still sits at the bottom of my closet, covered in dust, dirty socks, and let's face it, probably stuff much, much worse, instead of being sent out as a prize.

For the best, I suppose, t'would've cost a fortune to ship.

Anyhow, there's a new episode up (number thirty, in fact), wherein Marshal and I pretend to talk about Padme Amidala, then talk about "Star Wars: Catalyst" and ROGUE ONE.  Because Big and I had already done an episode about the new movie, I tried hard not to repeat what I said before with Marshal (whether I succeeded or not is up to you).  But there really is a lot more to be said about ROASWS (which is short for the official title, and I hope nobody uses it). 

You can find the link RIGHT HERE.

So, from now on, every time Marshal and I put out an episode, I'm gonna mention it here.  You never know, the podcaster's life you save may be your own.

Rish Outcast 61: Abject Failure (Solo Edition)

Way back in summer of 2015, Big and Rish recorded a That Gets My Goat episode where we bowed our head in shame for not writing our novels in ninety days.  Then the episode sat, for months, gathering dust and compounding interest, until one day I did post it.  But little did I know, I had recorded a Rish Outcast companion piece to be released when that show dropped.  And this is that show!

I talk about writing goals, not succeeding in those goals, my first audio collection (which you can buy RIGHT ABOUT HERE, or steal HERE), about the legacy of THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, and continuing to hate/misunderstand the YA genre.

So, dated as it might be, this might only be the third-to-last 2015 Rish Outcast episode.  Fun?



Would you like to download the episode?  Just Right-Click HERE!

Sour Decembah

So, December is over too, and I was sick for a long stretch of it.  It could've been worse . . . I know somebody who was sick so long, they dropped out of school and right off the face of the earth.  But maybe I caught it too.  I'd feel sick for a few days, then start to feel better, only to be sick again for two or three days after that, then the process repeated.  It was like one of those lingering illnesses that people had in Dickens's day.  My mom worried that maybe it was a plague that would winnow down the population a little, like you get.

Nevertheless, it screwed up my voice something fierce.  I've never been able to record a great deal at one sitting (it doesn't help that there's usually only an hour or so of free space on my recorder at any one time, despite keeping a blank soundcard in the glove compartment of my car for just such emergencies), but I managed very little recording, and what I did put down, sounds awfully nasal when I edit it (I worry that someone might ask me to do it all over again, but that may honestly be for the best).

Regardless, here we are in January, so it's time for a little reckoning.

So, I believe I set four goals for the month of December:
1.  Finish my Broken Mirror story for the Dunesteef, 
2.  Finish "The Calling 2," 
3.  Finish reading "Star Wars: Catalyst," 
4.  Publish the audio for "New Year's Day."

I also vowed to record a lot of the two audiobooks I had committed to that month (both due in January).  So  . . .

1.  I did finish that story.  It's called "The Holiday Trip (Guest-Starring Captain America and Bucky)" and it's available in the most recent episode of the Dunesteef.  You can probably buy it here as well.

2.  I also finished "The Calling: Reunion," which is what the sequel is currently titled.  I made a list of possible titles when I started writing it, and they all started with R.  I believe "Reunion" is the one I'll go with, but "Reawakening" doesn't totally suck.  We'll see what I decide on.  Also, no idea how long the sucker is, except for probably three times as long as the first installment.

3.  I finished reading the book, though it was two days after ROGUE ONE came out (I even took it to the theater with me, but only managed a page or two).  But ah well.

4.  I didn't publish nothun!  But I did finish editing the audio yesterday, so that means I'll probably publish it . . . I dunno, someday.

Beyond that, I also was tasked with writing a story for the family Christmas party, and I did that as well.  It was called "Merry Christmas, He Said," and I'll probably put it in a holiday collection one day, since I have at least seven or eight Christmas-themed short stories I've written over the years.  Maybe more.

So, I accomplished three of the four goals (or two of the four, if you're mean)(or four of the five, if you count writing the one I hadn't set as a goal), and that ain't bad.

I saw a couple of Facebook posts where people boasted (is there a nicer word for that?) about how much writing/publishing/selling they did in 2016, and it's not hard to feel like a manatee's dingus when I compare my output to theirs.  But you can't do that.  Your life is not their life, and it's pointless to measure yourself by somebody else.  You can only measure your own accomplishments, recognize there's room for improvement, then move on.

So, here's the part where I could either end the post, or create some New Year's Resolutions.

But I dunno.  Resolutions don't really work on me, at least not year-long ones.

I need to publish "Calling 2."  I can do that, I think (even though some of it is written up in a notebook, and will need to be typed).  I can do that before 2018.

I do plan on writing another Ben Parks story.  I jotted down some notes for a Christmas one which I wish I had managed to get in this month, when the holidays were on my mind.  But ah well.

I can set that for a resolution for January.  1.  Write that "Sidekick" story.  I should start thinking up a title for it now, so it's not a year later when I come up with one.

2.  Record, edit, and re-record Abbie Hilton's new short story collection "When We Were Young."  Holy Adele, that's a good title.

3.  Publish the audiobook for "New Year's Day."

4.  Publish "Remember the Future."

5.  Record and edit the audio for "Remember the Future."

6.  Finally publish "Newfound Fame."  There's really nothing stopping me there except deliberation and self-doubt.

There, that's six.  That's pretty positive.  And pretty doable.  Who knows, maybe this year will be a good one.  You never know.

Rish Outfield, New Year's Grey

Rish Outcast 60: Stormy Weather (Part 2)

Rish presents the rest of his story "Stormy Weather," and continues to talk of his inspiration for it, while dodging low-flying planes.

Music in this episode was "Ossuary (Air)" by Kevin McLeod of Incompetech.com.

If you're in the mood to download the episode, just Right-Click right HERE.

*If you want to read the story in text form, click HERE to buy it.