I had intended to write a post about what gnomes do on Halloween (or, as they tend to call it, All Hallows’ Eve) but as it is 49 minutes past midnight, and I have a government exam early tomorrow, I must run to bed before the goblins of exhaustion eat me.

However, on this delightfully windy Halloween, I will be watching at least one Tim Burton film, and I suspect that gnomes would do the same at some point in this long night. I will most likely be watching The Nightmare Before Christmas (yet again) and go to bed singing ‘What’s THIS!’ whilst dreaming about doors in the middle of the woods to Christmastown, and perhaps rubbing my stomach which will be gorged to Winnie-the-Pooh-style rotundness on Reese’s and whatever else I can pilfer from my roommates.

Some people, however, might be pressed for time after being out hunting for bagfuls of candy to appease their addiction to candy corn. So, I have taken the liberty of making a simplified list based on the great master of film himself, as to three things you could do this Halloween, including:

1. Painting:

2. Looking Confused:

3. Plotting Evil Things:

Or, if you don’t even have time for those, I found this for you to watch in under 7 minutes and still fulfill the requirements of a Tim Burton film… and in the process, learn of the woeful and tortured tale of Vincent:

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Posted in Quick Post
Tags: All Hallow's Eve, Gnomes, Halloween, Tim Burton, Vincent

As many of you know, I harbor a deep loathing towards all things mathematical — excluding such things as addition when it comes to paychecks — and have never been good at it past algebra II. I simply do not comprehend how a writer will ever use these things except perhaps under the following circumstances:

1. Your editor has published fifteen books by you and knows three of them are western space odysseys. However, he needs to figure up how many are not western space odysseys. Whatever shall we do? Answer: 3 + X = 15

2. You have sold fifteen million copies of five books about depressed spiders. You receive 10% of each book ($10 each for pity’s sake). Calculate if you dare. Answer: 15,000,000(10)(.10)=Royalty

3. The only people who read your latest tome was your grandmother and Great-Aunt Toots. If your publishers printed 800,000 copies at $8.95 per printing, how much does the entire corporation hate you? Answer: loads.

4. You are a bad writer and earn two nickels. You are forced to become a mathematician and learn math. Answer: instead, become an orc.

These are but a few examples in which, yes, I do admit, I will require math.

It is thus that I am nearly convinced to switching to an English major next year instead of my current business major (one of many reasons — I’m not simply running from the horrors created by numbers). I understand that yes, Archimedes, Lazare Carnot, and Konrad Zuse may have been wonderful thinkers. But I simply have no use for functions that take 15 minutes to do and an entire whiteboard to explain one problem.

If my constant ranting isn’t proof enough, these photographs should convince you what I am actually made for. These are of my real math notebooks that I use in class, highlighted so you can see what I am really doing on the page. Observe:

It appears in the previous one that I attempted to start on one of those awful number problems from Mordor, but then suddenly had a new idea and got distracted with plotting it out.

In this example, I got even less done. In fact, all I was able to do was print the subject and lesson number of whatever was being taught that day. I did, however, solve a big plot snag that was causing me headache.

This page has almost equal parts math and Other Things, a rare occurrence. I was in class and suddenly remembered that John Green was coming near my city and I wanted to go see him.

Speaking of seeing people, I will be at the Twilight film premiere on November 17th in LA. Speaking of November 17th, I will be participating in a panel with multiple other sites and some of the Twilight cast on November 16th if you want to come out and say hi. Speaking of saying hi, browse my calendar page so you know where I am and can stalk me all the easier.

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Posted in College, Writing
Tags: Calendar, Events, Math, movies, Notebooks, Twilight

A long while back, I heard of a new author from Shadow Mountain Press named J. Scott Savage. Having followed along with him on his blog, I enjoyed the premise of his soon-to-be-released book called FARWORLD: WATER KEEP and was sent an advance copy to read.

If you are a fan of Erec Rex or The Thirteenth  Reality, you should honestly check out this new series — and especially, its awesome website at ReadFarworld.com. And to help speed your way along to the bookshops, I managed to nab a special interview with the author himself!

And not only that: five randomly selected people who comment will receive a FREE copy of FARWORLD: WATER KEEP! So without further ado, the author himself:

1. Hi Scott, thanks for coming on! First off, there is a tradition on my site for authors to describe themselves in ten words or less: the closer you get to exactly ten, the more points!

Can I use the points for a toaster once we finish? (note: ten words exactly)

Scott Savage used to cut school to read books. Irony?

2. Of all the 60+ odd jobs you have had, which one was your favorite (besides being an author)?

I really liked being a French chef. Mostly because I always ate well.

3. When did you realize that being an author was your dream job?

I think it was shortly after I had published my second regional novel. I didn’t make any money with those, and the distribution was tiny, but I really loved everything about writing and publishing fiction. I always hoped I would be able to write fulltime one day, and it has definitely been worth the wait.

4. How did the original inspiration for Farworld come to you?

Over a number of years. This was one of those stories that didn’t make it onto paper (or hard drive) until it had developed for a long time inside my head. Mostly because I didn’t think I could write fantasy. But I loved the idea of two heroes that seem like such unlikely heroes. There are a lot of books that start out with an outcast as a hero, but usually they find out they are really the greatest magician, or have amazing superpowers, or something like that. I wanted heroes that still have their weaknesses even after they discover their destinies.

5. Are there any characters that you feel were (intentionally or unintentionally) based off of someone you know?

CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THIS POST >>>

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Posted in Authors, Interviews

My new video comes from Dragoat, who has an unhealthy obsession with my friend Bailey (NoMoreMarbles on Youtube):

[if you can't see this video, click here]

I got home from school yesterday, and had the idea for the video right then. I knew if I didn’t do it that evening, I’d never get it done. So I scripted, filmed, edited and uploaded it all yesterday evening, which explains any lack-of-quality you see

If you don’t know who Dragoat is, you should watch our BlogTV shows

Comments have been turned off for this post. Please leave comments at the video’s page.

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Posted in Videos
Tags: BlogTV, Dragoat, nomoremarbles

Watch this. It made me love being human.

Discovery Channel.

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Posted in Videos
Tags: Discovery Channel, Human