Do NOT scare me like that!

I got considerably less writing done today than planned.

I spent considerably more time in the ER than planned. (The latter number being "zero")

Kathy woke up today with pain in her shoulder/breast area. Ibuprofen didn't touch it, and it became tightness in the chest, difficulty at times breathing, and radiating to the back, difficult to lift the arm, etc. Many of you can figure out what THAT sounds like.

On the positive side, when you walk into an ER and say "Chest pain and difficulty breathing" it's AMAZING how fast people rush you through the usual "fill out this form, wait there, go through triage" circus.

Final outcome: apparently Kathy's developed a nasty indigestion/reflux and had somehow twisted/injured her shoulder sleeping. But that was not a fun few hours.

Getting Serious about Writing...

While I have a good job which has, perhaps, some chance of becoming very lucrative, it could also never change much in its essence. I have, really, only one other talent that might change my family's condition for the better and maybe give us some security by getting enough resources that I'm not spending them about as fast as they come in.

So I really need to look at how to push this forward -- and to exploit the related talents I have of visualization and game design.

Near as I can tell, this means I need to do three things:

1) Develop a backlog of material, so if I get people interested in my stuff, I have something on hand.

2) Get an agent. Possibly two, since most book agents don't do movie, etc., agenting, and in general no one in the movie, TV, or video game industries will talk to you without either an agent or an "in" from Someone Who Knows Someone.

3) (speculative) Find a partner or partners who can help me develop at least one story or concept into demo media -- or, if the technology's gone far enough, a full-blown movie. I can script, I could probably direct to some extent, I can do some acting (especially voices for an animated or CGI character).

The latter point is one I've been thinking about for quite a while. Modern technology has been advancing in leaps and bounds. A lot of my material is very visually oriented. I "see" the movies in my mind. I can write the scripts without almost any effort -- I can see the shots, the zoom in and out, panning, movement...

...but I can't even do a still image worth looking at.

Nor can I code an RPG myself.

But if the technology has advanced far enough that I can do either one for a reasonable price, this is a potential way for me to advance my career that is not yet terribly common.

I'm posting this mainly to reinforce my resolve to start moving forward on at least the first two, and keep an eye out for opportunities to possibly advance the third.