Well, here I am! This is my first blog / online journal and you're here for the grand opening! Welcome :) My name is Andrew, and I'll be your host during your stay. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show! But first, a few things about myself and what you can expect to see in this journal...

I currently reside in Illinois, although I lived in Australia until last year when I moved to the US to be with my wife. Despite having spent most of my life in Australia, I didn't experience much culture shock after the big move - I've been to the US on long-term assignments through work (I'm a Computer Systems Engineer) and knew what to expect. Unfortunately the job market over here is less than ideal, so I haven't had much luck finding work thus far. Still, I'm not inclined to give up and I have my fingers crossed that I'll find something soon.

One of my many hobbies is writing science fiction (SF), fantasy and horror stories. I've been at it for a couple of years now, but only got more serious around January this year. Before then I'd written a number of short stories and a novella, but didn't consider them good enough to be submitted for publication. Some of the things that deterred me were the difficulty of getting published and the fact that there is little in the way of financial incentives. Writing fiction is a tough business and you've got to be stubborn to keep going in the face of rejection. Still, it's something I enjoy doing and I decided to take the plunge and see how far I could go. This journal will mainly follow my writing efforts, but I'll certainly write about my thoughts on various books, movies and current events from time to time.

As I write, I've completed six stories and have submitted four to various magazines. These have garnered several rejection letters, with the remaining two still needing some editing to get them up to scratch. I have also been working on a novel since May of last year, but this has pretty much stalled since I started focusing on short stories. I'm hoping this journal will get me more motivated about writing, but I guess we shall see :)

Don't expect to see much (if any) fiction posted on this journal - this is considered a form of publication and most editors are only interested in previously unpublished stories. That said, I will put up some information about my stories over the next few days (keep an eye on the "Projects" link).

Earlier I said that writing was only one of my hobbies. I also enjoy playing the electric guitar (I have an Epiphone Les Paul Custom) and I'm an avid reader of Total Guitar magazine. I'm not very good at it though, since I haven't been able to dedicate as much time to practice as I would like (ie it tends to gather dust!). I read voraciously, devouring books and magazines on a daily basis. These are mainly science fiction stories, although I do read plenty of non-fiction and the occasional fantasy or horror tale. I'm also trying to learn Java (the programming language) and brushing up on my C++ skills to make myself more appealing to employers.

From all of the above, you've probably gathered I'm quite inactive and spend a lot of time sitting around. That's only really true in Winter. The rest of the year I enjoy playing tennis, hiking, weight training (this is a suitable Winter activity), and travelling, mainly on road-trips. I never get excited about Winter in Illinois, with the freezing weather and snow tending to keep me indoors as much as possible. I miss the mild Winters in Australia, although the lack of central heating there does make it a bit chilly in the mornings.

This hasn't been the most exciting journal entry ever, but hopefully you'll still want to stick around and follow the adventures of an aspiring science fiction writer. I'll do what I can to keep you entertained :)

Cheers,
Andrew