Personal Junk:

I decided to expand my profile awhile ago but had no motivation to actually start until recently. So, not that anyone particularly cares, allow me to share a few trivialities about myself.

I am a college student, a fact which i will immediately use an excuse for my somewhat inconsistent updating habits. My major is Computer Science, which might surprise those of you who are familiar with the stereotype of computer scientists and engineers in general being nearly illiterate--unless you've read my work and consider me to be illiterate, which is fair enough. I am currently in my third year.

I am interested in any sort of fiction, but I prefer works that have a theme. Some of my favorites are listed below:

Starship Trooper -- Robert Heinlein

Stranger in a Strange Land -- Robert Heinlein

Dune -- Frank Herbert

The Word and the Void -- Terry Brooks

Watership Down -- Richard Adams

The Lord of the Rings -- J. R. R. Tolkein

In terms of "cheap" fiction, which is strictly for entertainment purposes, I am particularly keen upon the Mass Effect setting, although I have poor opinions of the actual series. Star Wars interested me at one point, but lately I have become disgusted by it. Like eating spaghetti one too many times in a row. Blegh. I do play video games casually, or rather I did before I started college in the engineering department, and my favorite games are, in descending order:

Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords

Knights of the Old Republic

Dragon Age: Origins

Mass Effect (Strictly because of the setting. Actual game...meh)

Some of you might be wondering, "Where's Harry Potter?!" Frankly, I didn't enjoy the series enough to consider it a favorite. I decided to write a Harry Potter fanfiction because it worked especially well with the character that I had created in my head, and would serve as an excellent stepping-stone, but I am not particularly attached to the series. Do save your exclamations of horror for someone who can hear them. And that's enough about that.

I started writing when I was in elementary school, and in many ways you could say that my first complete work was a fanfiction, although I would hesitate to call anything written by a third grader a completed work. I had been bored, so I scribbled a short little story about a company of flies that go on an epic journey to the lair of a dragonfly and engage in an epic battle with the much larger insect by wielding sharpened pencils as lances. It isn't nearly as interesting as it sounds, and it borrowed greatly from The Hobbit. But, that was the beginning of a long, and--some might say--tragic career.

I have begun and forgotten innumerable different stories, some longer than others. Only recently, in high school, did I gain the work ethic required to finish a story. I completed a novel-length original, but I consider it amateurish and would never publish it anywhere. A lot of the ideas from that story show up in my current work, so rest assured that none of you are missing anything.

Writing for me is a hobby that is more stimulating than reading or playing video games, but it does take a certain amount of motivation. Sometimes, I go a few weeks without mustering the energy to sit down and write, but I do try to keep updates as regular as I can manage them. I hate to feel like I am keeping people waiting (you'll have to forgive me a slight arrogance in assuming that anyone actually cares.)

And, aside from it being a pleasurable diversion, I write because I hope, rather naively perhaps, that my writing might inspire some critical thinking in anyone who cares to read it. I try, with varying measures of success, to consider profound ideas in my work. My first goal is always to make my stories pleasurable to write, but my second is to encourage a moment of consideration. The best novels, such as Dune or Starship Trooper, are always a pleasure to read and profound enough to merit some analaysis. I don't claim to be capable of writing anything near to the works of published authors, but perhaps in some small way my stories can still provoke you to think on things that may not occur to you naturally.

And so, enough about me.

Quick update. (This happened a long time ago, but i am leaving it here for posterity.) I was pernoodling with my computer and managed to pernoodle the thing straight into the burning depths of hell, where all of my writing for the last eight years now smolders, never to be recovered. Yeah, I wiped the hard drive unintentionally without backing it up. I am my own worst enemy.

pernoodle (v) - pronounced "pernoodle" - to tamper with an object until its properties have been irrevocably mangled beyond recognition. You learned it here.

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own. -- Robert Heinlein

Not all those who wander are lost. -- J. R. R Tolkein

I have found a desire within myself that no experience in this world can satisfy; the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. -- C. S. Lewis

Writing is my adventure.

It is better to be a lion for a day, than a lamb forever.

No one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public. -- H. L. Mencken

Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. -- Isaac Asimov

Completed Works:

The Many Deaths of Harry Potter: My first ever completed story! The basic premise is that higher powers take an interest in Harry Potter at a young age. Looking back there are a lot of things that I liked about this story, but I do feel like there were things that I can learn from and improve in future works. I won't be coming back to this story precisely, but the themes live on.

Current Works:

The Descent: This idea actually got stuck in my head while I was writing the Redemption of Traven, and since the themes are so similar I think that this will take the place of the former story. This is a story that is meant to take a glance at the nature of evil. I'll leave TRoT up until The Descent gets as long. I plan on updating at least once a week.

In Lonely Exile: Here is that Mass Effect AU I was hinting at earlier. This is kind of a new thing for me, more of a stand-alone than a fanfiction even if it takes place in Mass Effect universe. I wanted to write a story about self-discovery, love, and loyalty. So, hopefully this one fits the bill, with enough original content to be refreshing. I'll be updating at least once a week.

Possible Future Works:

A Lord of the Rings story: I've had a bit of an annoying desire to put something into the masterpiece of Tolkien's world, but I'm struggling to find a place where my additions will complement without diluting. We'll see what happens.

Sequel to Many Deaths: I intend to take the story into crossover territory, probably into Star Wars or Lord of the Rings or perhaps Supernatural, don't know yet.

Note: cover images labeled for reuse by Google and cropped by yours truly