Writer, podcaster and video game streamer
Hey, everyone!
As you may have noticed, I dropped off the face of the planet last month. Around the end of Summer 2019, I had found something of a groove here with my regular posts, and I won’t lie — it felt great! I loved bringing you all new thoughts, opinions, and breakdowns of whatever was tickling my brain because, you know, that’s what bloggers do.
Then November hit.
I know, I know…I went through the month of November without a blog post; but I’m back with a super-sized entry rivaling the amount of food you may have enjoyed this past Thanksgiving. So, buckle up. This one’s a wild ride, to be sure.
Part of the reason I’ve been quiet here is on account of my current job hunt. Job hunting is never pleasant. There’s a lot of stress involved in making sure the resume is up to par, the cover letter captures both briefly and succinctly who you are, and when the interview happens, you present the best representation of yourself. It’s a bit like dating, only there’s a steady paycheck, medical benefits, and a 401K plan involved.
And if the latter is involved when you’re dating, you’re seriously working too hard at this dating thing.
But I digress…
[Read more…] about 4 Signs an Interview Has Gone South
As
you’ve probably figured out by now, between my social media posts about Destiny and my recent
title, Twitch
for Dummies, I play video games.
And I have a Twitch channel. When Destiny 2
went live on September 6, 2017, I set out not only to make myself a better
Guardian (what you are known as in the game), but set a schedule for myself to
see if streaming was for me. I spent my first few gaming sessions using an
earbud-mic included with my PS4. I picked up a modest $30 gaming headset
shortly after. Then my enabler good buddy, Matt Drake, offered me a
PSEye, the console’s proprietary webcam. Thus began the evolution of my stream.
This is something I’ve noticed about being a streamer. Your channel, regardless of the platform, experiences pockets of evolution. My first was the incorporation of a good headset. Then you upgrade your ability to interact with Chat. (For me, it was Streamlabs.) Then it’s your first break from streaming, which for me, drove home how much I enjoyed it. There are also unexpected challenges you face along the way, all of them leaving a mark on your channel.
Then there’s October 3, 2019 — a date which will live in awesomeness.
[Read more…] about Playing the Toughest Game on Twitch: The Numbers Game
Back in August, it was GenCon and the Key City Steampunk Festival. In September, it was TwitchCon 2019. Now in October, I am heading home to Richmond, Virginia, for the James River Writers Conference. Pip and I were guests at the event a few years ago, where we met Bill Blume who went on to appear in a trailer I shot on (truly) the coldest night on record that year…
This year “Twitch Dad & Twitch Mom” return to the James River Writers Conference, and we have a schedule. Here’s where you will find me (and my better half) throughout the weekend:
[Read more…] about Take Me to the River: The 2019 James River Writers Conference
So this week I head off to the 2019 James River Writer’s Conference in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia. (I’ll post my finalized schedule before Friday, promise…) It got me thinking about how there is going to be a lot of writerly advice given at this event, which is fantastic if you are looking to launch a career in storytelling, reboot your authorial pursuits, or take yourself in an entirely new direction with your word-herding.
Thing is, even when you are hearing from the experts, it’s never a bad idea to ask questions.
You see, an author lamenting over her unexpected twists and turns in the publishing industry really hit me in the feelz. I mean it — I felt for this author who was coming clean in this hardcore Medium Mea Culpa as success, much like Shakespeare described it in Twelfth Night, had been thrust upon this author.
But then, she said this…
[Read more…] about The Importance of Asking Questions (or Yes, ANOTHER Blogpost about Research)
“Why would we need you? There are no dummies here.”
The year is 2006 and I had just wrapped for the day presenting at a conference, recording interviews for a client, and giving a seminar on the potential of podcasting. One of the things I had talked about at length was the podcasting community — really cool people who loved talking shop, meeting other podcasters, and making connections.
Then I met the charming fellow quoted at the beginning of this blogpost.
What had caught my eye was a sandwich board pointing to a podcasting class being taught at a different event in the conference center. I was always excited to connect with others and see what their approach to podcasting was, so I swung by the classroom to make a quick introduction.
My introduction did not go well. At all.
[Read more…] about Embracing the Dummie in Me