Rick Silva's Blog - Posts Tagged "vietnam"
Under 30 Days
We're at 29 days and counting until we get on a plane (myself, my wife, our son, and one cat), and depart for the other side of the planet for at least two years.
So as might be expected, things have been pretty frantic. We're planning last parties and events to see friends and family, packing up the house, loading possessions into storage, dealing with financial maneuverings, holding yard sales, and frantically tying every loose end in sight.
Somewhere in here, I'm trying to fit in a bit of writing time to hit stopping points on a couple of remaining projects. I'm looking forward to doing some more active blogging in Vietnam, and to focusing my writing on finishing up my current novel project.
The big adventure is just on the horizon!
So as might be expected, things have been pretty frantic. We're planning last parties and events to see friends and family, packing up the house, loading possessions into storage, dealing with financial maneuverings, holding yard sales, and frantically tying every loose end in sight.
Somewhere in here, I'm trying to fit in a bit of writing time to hit stopping points on a couple of remaining projects. I'm looking forward to doing some more active blogging in Vietnam, and to focusing my writing on finishing up my current novel project.
The big adventure is just on the horizon!
Writing Update
So we have moved to the other side of the planet. We found an apartment, settled in, got the Kiddo started in school, and I'm getting into the swing of the new job.
Time to start thinking about writing again.
Today, I headed out with the iPad to do some testing of the logistics of possible local writing venues. I try to do most of my writing away from the house. I find it works better that way. Fewer immediate distractions.
So right now, I'm at a Highlands Coffee location a few blocks from our apartment, and I've got a good wifi connection and access to my writers on Google Docs. I have my keyboard for the iPad. I have a frozen fruity tea drink and a brownie.
This could work. :)
So, here is a rundown of current projects. Titles are all working titles (except things that are part of a series where I've already published something).
Novels
Airship Girls and the City in the Clouds
This is my MG dieselpunk novel, and it is my "current" novel project. I did a lot of workshopping of chapters of this with my writers groups back in Massachusetts. About 2/3 of the story is written. It currently needs an outline and then a from-chapter-one rewrite. That will be my big ongoing project as far as writing goes this year. It will be a big step to be able to finish a complete draft of something this size. I've written the 50K goal of Nanowrimo a few times now, but never with a complete beginning/middle/end. Not sure whether the end goal is submission to agents or self-publication (and I'm not currently really worrying about that issue, because the publishing landscape is changing rapidly and I'm concentrating on just finishing the book).
The Great Zombie Plague of 1876
My alternative history zombie western. This is in a very similar place to where Airship Girls is. Half-written and ready for an outline and a rewrite from the beginning. I've decided to back-burner this until I have a complete draft of Airship Girls just because these are both big projects and I'm doing them solo, so it makes sense to tackle one at a time. This is a fun story and I do want to come back to it, but I'm not giving it much thought beyond that right now.
Wolfen's Wizard
Collaboration with my occasional comic book co-writer Amy Kaczmarowski. We plotted this out via a freeform roleplaying game and like the story enough that we decided to do a prose version. The complete plot is written, along with much of the dialogue. At some point we're going to start turning our transcripts, which for all intents and purposes form a detailed outline, into prose. When we finally get going on this, we might want to get it out there for readers quickly (once we're both happy with it, of course), so self-publishing might be a consideration here.
Short Stories
"Unweaver"
This is a fantasy story set in a magical version of medieval Poland. It's one of those stories that plays around with theories and systems of magic a lot, which is something that fantasy authors tend to enjoy doing every now and then. Unlike a lot of my short stories, this story was not written with a specific anthology in mind. It has some specific issues that need to be addressed in the second draft. When I'm happy with it, I'll probably start the process of sending it out to the pro short story markets.
Other Short Stories
I have three other stories "in play" right now. Two were rejected by the original venues I sent them to, and are available to send out again. The other one was accepted to a non-paying market, which has been delayed for quite a while now, to the point that I will probably withdraw it at some point to have it available to send out again.
Comics
My Dandelion Studios comics are all on hold right now. I want to re-start them as webcomics, since I really don't have much ability to sell at conventions from here. Quick update on current work on our four titles:
Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire
Our superhero comedy. Drawn by my (awesome) wife, Gynn Stella. Issue 4 is scripted and is being drawn.
Stone
My military fantasy series. Issue 3 script is high on my writing priority list.
Perils of Picorna
My MG fantasy cliffhanger serial series, co-written by Amy Kaczmarowski. Issue 3 is about 1/3 drawn, but on hold at the moment.
Kaeli & Rebecca
My high-fantasy series. Issue 2 script needs to be written, but it's below a number of other writing projects on the priority list.
Unpopular Species
My other collaboration with my wife. This is our science/nature zine. We could begin work on issue 6 at any time, but it will probably wait until we have plans to actually return to the show circuit in the US. That could be next summer, or it might not be for a while. In the meantime, we're working on ideas to make the Unpopular Species artwork available on merchandise that can be purchased online.
Blogs, Zines, and Miscellaneous
I have this blog, and I also post to Goodreads as well as many of the usual social media venues.
In addition, I have Comic A Day, which is my comic review blog. I brought a small number of comics with me to Vietnam, and I'll continue to post reviews, hopefully switching over to reviewing some Vietnamese-language manga at some point.
Gynn and I will probably do some print minicomics/zines about our time here, and I may put together the occasional Vietnam-based issue of my occasional zine, Caravan.
So that is where I stand on the various writing projects. I'm looking forward to giving more updates as I find the time to make progress on my writing.
Oh, and the brownie and tea drink were both delicious.
For those interested in following more about our life in Vietnam, you can find my writing/parenting/(and now) expat blog here.
Gynn's blog is here.
I've also posted lots of photos here.
Time to start thinking about writing again.
Today, I headed out with the iPad to do some testing of the logistics of possible local writing venues. I try to do most of my writing away from the house. I find it works better that way. Fewer immediate distractions.
So right now, I'm at a Highlands Coffee location a few blocks from our apartment, and I've got a good wifi connection and access to my writers on Google Docs. I have my keyboard for the iPad. I have a frozen fruity tea drink and a brownie.
This could work. :)
So, here is a rundown of current projects. Titles are all working titles (except things that are part of a series where I've already published something).
Novels
Airship Girls and the City in the Clouds
This is my MG dieselpunk novel, and it is my "current" novel project. I did a lot of workshopping of chapters of this with my writers groups back in Massachusetts. About 2/3 of the story is written. It currently needs an outline and then a from-chapter-one rewrite. That will be my big ongoing project as far as writing goes this year. It will be a big step to be able to finish a complete draft of something this size. I've written the 50K goal of Nanowrimo a few times now, but never with a complete beginning/middle/end. Not sure whether the end goal is submission to agents or self-publication (and I'm not currently really worrying about that issue, because the publishing landscape is changing rapidly and I'm concentrating on just finishing the book).
The Great Zombie Plague of 1876
My alternative history zombie western. This is in a very similar place to where Airship Girls is. Half-written and ready for an outline and a rewrite from the beginning. I've decided to back-burner this until I have a complete draft of Airship Girls just because these are both big projects and I'm doing them solo, so it makes sense to tackle one at a time. This is a fun story and I do want to come back to it, but I'm not giving it much thought beyond that right now.
Wolfen's Wizard
Collaboration with my occasional comic book co-writer Amy Kaczmarowski. We plotted this out via a freeform roleplaying game and like the story enough that we decided to do a prose version. The complete plot is written, along with much of the dialogue. At some point we're going to start turning our transcripts, which for all intents and purposes form a detailed outline, into prose. When we finally get going on this, we might want to get it out there for readers quickly (once we're both happy with it, of course), so self-publishing might be a consideration here.
Short Stories
"Unweaver"
This is a fantasy story set in a magical version of medieval Poland. It's one of those stories that plays around with theories and systems of magic a lot, which is something that fantasy authors tend to enjoy doing every now and then. Unlike a lot of my short stories, this story was not written with a specific anthology in mind. It has some specific issues that need to be addressed in the second draft. When I'm happy with it, I'll probably start the process of sending it out to the pro short story markets.
Other Short Stories
I have three other stories "in play" right now. Two were rejected by the original venues I sent them to, and are available to send out again. The other one was accepted to a non-paying market, which has been delayed for quite a while now, to the point that I will probably withdraw it at some point to have it available to send out again.
Comics
My Dandelion Studios comics are all on hold right now. I want to re-start them as webcomics, since I really don't have much ability to sell at conventions from here. Quick update on current work on our four titles:
Zephyr & Reginald: Minions for Hire
Our superhero comedy. Drawn by my (awesome) wife, Gynn Stella. Issue 4 is scripted and is being drawn.
Stone
My military fantasy series. Issue 3 script is high on my writing priority list.
Perils of Picorna
My MG fantasy cliffhanger serial series, co-written by Amy Kaczmarowski. Issue 3 is about 1/3 drawn, but on hold at the moment.
Kaeli & Rebecca
My high-fantasy series. Issue 2 script needs to be written, but it's below a number of other writing projects on the priority list.
Unpopular Species
My other collaboration with my wife. This is our science/nature zine. We could begin work on issue 6 at any time, but it will probably wait until we have plans to actually return to the show circuit in the US. That could be next summer, or it might not be for a while. In the meantime, we're working on ideas to make the Unpopular Species artwork available on merchandise that can be purchased online.
Blogs, Zines, and Miscellaneous
I have this blog, and I also post to Goodreads as well as many of the usual social media venues.
In addition, I have Comic A Day, which is my comic review blog. I brought a small number of comics with me to Vietnam, and I'll continue to post reviews, hopefully switching over to reviewing some Vietnamese-language manga at some point.
Gynn and I will probably do some print minicomics/zines about our time here, and I may put together the occasional Vietnam-based issue of my occasional zine, Caravan.
So that is where I stand on the various writing projects. I'm looking forward to giving more updates as I find the time to make progress on my writing.
Oh, and the brownie and tea drink were both delicious.
For those interested in following more about our life in Vietnam, you can find my writing/parenting/(and now) expat blog here.
Gynn's blog is here.
I've also posted lots of photos here.
Xin Chao from Dandelion Studios
Xin Chao! A quick announcement from my small press comic company, Dandelion Studios:
Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! We've been living here for a little over a year now, and as you might imagine it's been an amazing adventure! We're learning a new culture and language (slowly in the case of language, but getting there in baby steps!), adjusting to a new day-job and new living situation, and Rick is getting used to getting around by motorbike! We've also had some awesome side trips to Cambodia, the Philippines, and other cities in Vietnam.
...All of that has left us a bit short of time to devote to making comics over the last year, but this year we are looking to regroup. Since we're limited as far as the convention scene goes (we did attend the Saigon Comic Con last year!), we are now beginning the work of moving all of our comics online, where we intend to make them free to read for all!
We'll be updating with details as we have them, so be patient. We've got something of a road to move down before we're posting new Zephyr & Reginald, Picorna, Donna Stone, and Kaeli & Rebecca adventures, but we intend to get there! We also plan to liven up this page with new guest art in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that!
For those interested in our adventures in Southeast Asia, you can take a look at Rick's Flickr page for lots of pics of our travels in Vietnam, our other trips in this area, our visit home over the summer, and some #tbt albums of past convention appearances.
We'll post more updates as we work out the details for the online editions of our comics. Until then, hen gap lai! (See you later!)
Greetings from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam! We've been living here for a little over a year now, and as you might imagine it's been an amazing adventure! We're learning a new culture and language (slowly in the case of language, but getting there in baby steps!), adjusting to a new day-job and new living situation, and Rick is getting used to getting around by motorbike! We've also had some awesome side trips to Cambodia, the Philippines, and other cities in Vietnam.
...All of that has left us a bit short of time to devote to making comics over the last year, but this year we are looking to regroup. Since we're limited as far as the convention scene goes (we did attend the Saigon Comic Con last year!), we are now beginning the work of moving all of our comics online, where we intend to make them free to read for all!
We'll be updating with details as we have them, so be patient. We've got something of a road to move down before we're posting new Zephyr & Reginald, Picorna, Donna Stone, and Kaeli & Rebecca adventures, but we intend to get there! We also plan to liven up this page with new guest art in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for that!
For those interested in our adventures in Southeast Asia, you can take a look at Rick's Flickr page for lots of pics of our travels in Vietnam, our other trips in this area, our visit home over the summer, and some #tbt albums of past convention appearances.
We'll post more updates as we work out the details for the online editions of our comics. Until then, hen gap lai! (See you later!)
Chuc Mung Nam Moi!
It has, once again, been a while since I've written a general blog entry. I'd like to get back to more journaling, but I feel that I need to do the standard update-on-life post just because it's been so long. So bear with me as I get you up to speed.
Chuc mung nam moi! (Happy New Year!). It's Tet today (Lunar New Year). Today begins the Year of the Monkey, which happens to be my birth sign.
I'm writing this from a coffee shop that is one of only two businesses open today in a big mall here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The other open business is McDonalds, and yes, I did just have a Big Mac, but like I said all the local restaurants are closed.
We are still living in Ho Chi Minh City, and I'm working the same teaching job that brought us to Vietnam. I renewed my contract, so we'll be in Vietnam at least through the 2016-2017 school year. Gynn is working on a whole range of different art projects, and showing me up with her growing knowledge of Tieng Viet. Kiddo is in second grade, and I'm now working at the same campus where he attends school. He has become quite the Star Wars fan, and is learning to play Magic: The Gathering.
Since my last general update (last July), I have...
Bought a motorbike. Rode it to work with the Kiddo on the back from August into November...
Got into a wreck on said motorbike. Broke my left humerus in three places. Kiddo was not on the bike at the time, thank God. Yes, I was wearing a helmet. Spent three days in the hospital with the broken arm, then proceeded to land back in the hospital for another two weeks when the surgical wound developed an infection.
Traveled to China (broken arm and all). Had an amazing trip to Shanghai, Wuxi (Kiddo's birthplace), and Beijing on our Christmas break.
Other travel I've done: Work trips to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, and a beach getaway to Mui Ne, Vietnam, all before I got in the accident. We also just got back from another quick beach getaway, this time to Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.
We've moved apartments twice since the summer. Our new place is on the 16th floor in a big apartment complex that's in a very convenient location for the commute to work.
I'm back to riding the motorbike occasionally! Gotta get back on the horse! But I'll wait until I'm healed up a bit more before I'm back to commuting by motorbike to work on a regular basis. Until then, the bus works just fine.
With the medical issues, and the moves, writing has been decidedly on hold. I have been getting in a lot of reading. I finally made that 50-book goal in 2015 that I set for myself every year. And I've been taking a lot of pictures. I'll do a rundown of all my social networking presence in an upcoming post.
It's very much my hope that the Year of the Monkey, will be a year of more blogging, more writing, and more adventures in Southeast Asia.
Chuc mung nam moi! (Happy New Year!). It's Tet today (Lunar New Year). Today begins the Year of the Monkey, which happens to be my birth sign.
I'm writing this from a coffee shop that is one of only two businesses open today in a big mall here in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The other open business is McDonalds, and yes, I did just have a Big Mac, but like I said all the local restaurants are closed.
We are still living in Ho Chi Minh City, and I'm working the same teaching job that brought us to Vietnam. I renewed my contract, so we'll be in Vietnam at least through the 2016-2017 school year. Gynn is working on a whole range of different art projects, and showing me up with her growing knowledge of Tieng Viet. Kiddo is in second grade, and I'm now working at the same campus where he attends school. He has become quite the Star Wars fan, and is learning to play Magic: The Gathering.
Since my last general update (last July), I have...
Bought a motorbike. Rode it to work with the Kiddo on the back from August into November...
Got into a wreck on said motorbike. Broke my left humerus in three places. Kiddo was not on the bike at the time, thank God. Yes, I was wearing a helmet. Spent three days in the hospital with the broken arm, then proceeded to land back in the hospital for another two weeks when the surgical wound developed an infection.
Traveled to China (broken arm and all). Had an amazing trip to Shanghai, Wuxi (Kiddo's birthplace), and Beijing on our Christmas break.
Other travel I've done: Work trips to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and Jakarta, Indonesia, and a beach getaway to Mui Ne, Vietnam, all before I got in the accident. We also just got back from another quick beach getaway, this time to Phu Quoc Island, Vietnam.
We've moved apartments twice since the summer. Our new place is on the 16th floor in a big apartment complex that's in a very convenient location for the commute to work.
I'm back to riding the motorbike occasionally! Gotta get back on the horse! But I'll wait until I'm healed up a bit more before I'm back to commuting by motorbike to work on a regular basis. Until then, the bus works just fine.
With the medical issues, and the moves, writing has been decidedly on hold. I have been getting in a lot of reading. I finally made that 50-book goal in 2015 that I set for myself every year. And I've been taking a lot of pictures. I'll do a rundown of all my social networking presence in an upcoming post.
It's very much my hope that the Year of the Monkey, will be a year of more blogging, more writing, and more adventures in Southeast Asia.
