The web space of writer D. A. Campisi, seasoned with a heavy dose of fiction and fantasy. As it should be.
I wrote this out in a lengthy Twitter thread the other night. I liked it, so I’m reposting it here… in more detail.
About twenty years ago, I decided I wanted to be a writer. I wanted to craft fun, new, relatable characters. I wanted to weave whole new worlds steeped in adventure, fantasy, & new technologies. But mostly, I simply wanted to tell stories that I hoped others would enjoy.
Well, I guess it is a bit more complicated than that… let me tell you my writer story.
My short story, Only The Poor Die Young, will be published in Third Flatiron’s upcoming anthology. Infinite Lives: Short Tales of Longevity will be published on October 15th, and you can preorder it for Kindle right now on Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XVN23X6
Print copies will follow shortly after.
Also, you can get all of Third Flatiron’s quarterly anthologies for as little as $12/year with a subscription on Patreon:
I hope you all enjoy the story!
– DAC
I’m happy to announce that my short story, Only the Poor Die Young, will be published in Third Flatiron’s upcoming anthology, Longevity.
I will provide more details as I have them, but look for the anthology to release this fall.
You can check out Third Flatiron here:
http://www.thirdflatiron.com
https://m.facebook.com/thirdflatiron/
As always, thank you for all the support.
Hey everyone,
Thanks for your patience! I’m sure you saw the pictures from the previous post, so I don’t have to tell you that Hawai’i was absolutely amazing and I can’t wait to go back there someday.
But that said, it is time to get back on track. This vacation has gone on long enough and I have a health journey to continue on.
Some news on that though. I have made a separate blog for my daily tracking, progress, and lifestyle changes. (Check it out here: https://wordsbythepound.home.blog/). This blog you are currently on will go back to being more about my creative outlets (writing, drawing, etc.), opinions, news and announcements, entertainment, and personal growth.
So if you are just interested in the health stuff, hop on over to the new site using the above link, and be sure to follow and subscribe there. If you want insight into my writing or anything else that pops into my brain that is not health-related, you are in the right place.
Let’s do this thing!
So… if you have never been to Maui before, I cannot recommend it enough. It was absolutely beautiful and we had the most amazing time. Hands down, best vacation ever.
But don’t just take my word for it. Check out these pictures.
So much fun.
Anyway, on Monday it will be nose back to the grindstone, tracking food and getting this health journey cart righted.
See you then.
– DAC
“I have goals.” That’s an easy thing to say, right? After all, who doesn’t have some sort of goal in their life?
“I want to run a marathon.”
“I want to lose 20 pounds.”
“I want to learn to speak French.”
Everyone has goals. It’s that finish line way off in the distance that you want to reach before the sweepers show up and tell you the race is over.
Having goals is one thing. It’s something else altogether to act on, work toward, and accomplish those goals. It takes a lot for forethought, practice, motivation, dedication, and accountability to reach these goals with a satisfactory conclusion. And suffice it to say, the lofter the goal, the more time you will need to spend on working toward it.
I have goals… but I haven’t been pushing myself toward them. At least, not as much as I should be. Every year around this same time, I hop on this blog and spout some words about how this year is gonna be the year. This time I will fight for my dreams and make them a reality.
It works for a while. I crank out some blogs on topics I find interesting, start going to the gym, make an effort to better myself, practice a craft, etc.
Then I stop. Not all at once. It’s a gradual thing. I don’t even entirely realize I’m doing it most times. I get busy and put something off until the next day, saying “I’ll start fresh on Monday,” or some other equally hopeful phrase. Then Monday comes and… well, I guess calling it a vicious circle would be an understatement.
I understand this post is sounding a bit cynical, but please bear with me for a minute, as that is not my intention.
You see, recently, a visit to my doctor gave me quite a wake-up call in regards to my health. Nothing dire, but troubling and a bit scary. I’m not going to go into details, but let’s just say I’m going to need to make some major changes to my lifestyle going forward, else the consequences will be a lot worse than just troubling and scary. I’m going to need to change not only how/what I eat and my activity level, but also my mindset of how I go about making changes, setting goals, and sticking to them.
And there was a time in the not so far past where I would refuse to quit, despite the doubts my brain would throw at me.
EVIL DOUBT BRAIN: “You won’t be able to do that half-marathon on your first try!”
ME: “Wanna bet?”
EVIL DOUBT BRAIN: “You can’t write 50,000 words of a novel in 30 days!”
ME: “Oh yeah? Watch me do it 5 years in a row.”
You get the idea. I need to look at this new set of challenges in a similar way. I need to kick my doubts to the curb and push through with the changes that need to happen.
Over the next few months, I’m going to use this space to provide updates on the progress with health as I reach for these new goals. On top of that, I’m going to use this overall change of mindset to really push myself forward creatively. I’m going to force myself to level-up, for lack of a better phrase. There is going to be more writing, more blogging, and more reporting on how the submissions and query process is going. Maybe I’ll even start drawing again when I can’t find the right words that I want to say.
Basically, my body has told me that I can’t “start fresh on Monday” anymore… and I don’t think that’s a bad thing.
This is a rallying cry to embrace change, not a penance to fear. I’m being challenged, and honestly, I like rising to a challenge.
I’m going to stick this post at the top of the blog as a reminder. Any big milestones, updates, or changes I will link to below.
Source: ZEN PENCILS » 218. EDGAR ALLAN POE: Procrastination
From the always amazing ZenPencils. Check it out the full website here. To support them on Patreon, head this way.
I know that I have never really been good at updating this blog in a proper/timely manner. This is something that those of you genuinely interested in what I have to say have likely noticed. I tend to deem these extended periods of time “Radio Silence,” despite the mixing of medium metaphors. Honestly, I’m not happy with these periods, would very much like them to stop, and therefore be more prompt with my writings/blogging. Whether it’s a blog published elsewhere on the web or just a general update on my work and progress, there really is no reason I cannot post more frequently… besides willing myself to get up off my ass (or sit down on it, I suppose) and actually do so.
And aside from my extended blogging in 2017 for Sideshow.com, I have not been all that productive. I’ll spare you the laundry list of lame excuses and understandable reasons. Except one…
Genre writers and storytellers are sponges. What I mean by that is, we see the world around us, absorb it, filter it, then spit it back out as something new we can call our own. When things are bad, we create dystopian dramas with unlikely underdogs fighting back against oppressive regimes. When things are good, we create fantastic adventures through space and time, boldly creating and discovering new wonders throughout the universe.
To put it mildly, the state of the world around us right now… isn’t good. Absorbing and viewing in the swirling garbage around us, for me personally, makes it more difficult to feel creative. But you don’t really need to hear about my general malaise at the current state of our political, social, and natural environments. You’ve seen it. You know what is happening. I’m sure you are sick of it too, and wish for some big changes.
So I blocked it all out.
I have always been hesitant to post any social or political views here. I also try to avoid it on Twitter and Facebook aside from the occasional share/retweet which, let’s be honest, is the political equivalent of saying “Yes, I agree with you, but I’m gonna do it from behind this shrubbery where the bad guys can’t see me.”
I think that needs to change.
I know many readers prefer not to have a writer’s political/social views shoved down their throats. But no matter what you are reading, chances are that is exactly what is happening whether you realize it or not. I think it would be impossible for a writer not to include at least a little of their personal beliefs in their works. Whether it is intended is another matter entirely.
There are a series of articles currently on Sideshow.com (written by myself) with helpful tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your SDCC Experience! Check them out below!
SDCC Survival Guide Part 1: Pre-Show Planning
SDCC Survival Guide Part 2: Advice, Tips, & Tricks
SDCC Survival Guide Part 3: Keeping Updated on News
Enjoy and hope to see you on the convention floor!
I always have considered July to be my convention season here in SoCal. That the start of the month you get Anime Expo, which is usually a lot of fun. Though this year it did seem a bit more… boobie that previous years. As in there were large animated breasts most everywhere. One or two booths were straight-up porn-a-fied, closed off to prying eyes and where you had to show identification just to get inside. While some other booths had no qualms about just handing out hentai pamphlets and samples to whomever walked by as long as you were obviously an adult. I don’t recall either of those things being the case in prior years, but maybe I’m wrong. Aside form that, this year’s show was pretty standard. I attended a panel or two, and did an interview you may see over on Anime Diet at some point.
I also checked out the new game, Superfight. This is the best new party game I have played in a very long time. Where else can you have a dolphin with a venomous bite and tiny t-rex arms battle to the death with a legless Mike Tyson who spits acid? Nowhere, that’s where. If you get a chance head over to their site and check it out. Gonna be doing an article on them for Anime Diet in the near future as well.
After Anime Expo, one to two weeks later comes San Diego, the granddaddy of nerd gatherings. This year, instead of stressed-out fun the entire time, I went with my day job and peddled our wares. So most of the show was work, but I still got to do some fun things while down there. Collected a few sketches, shook some hands, bought some cool stuff, shared an elevator with Stan Lee – you know, the usual stuff.
Anyone else do the con thing this year? If so, what did you see? Even if you did not go, what was your favorite thing that came out of the show this year (cool announcement or trailer or whatever)?
Till next time,
DC
Words by the Pound 