Cookie Clicker

Posted by swestreich

No post today. I’ve discovered this new game called Cookie Clicker.

Have you heard of it? It’s fun. You click on a cookie.

Each time you click the cookie, you get a cookie. You use the cookies to buy more things to click on the cookie for you, so that you can get even more cookies.

I’m not quite sure why this has me so spellbound, but it does.

Check it out:

http://orteil.dashnet.org/cookieclicker/

Cookies.

I have a friend I’ve never met.

Posted by swestreich

Hey, uh, you mind if I share your seat with you? Bus is crowded this morning, and I’ve got, like, 30 stops until mine.

Thanks. Sorry about the bag.

What? No, I don’t have a phone charger. I usually charge mine at the office. Sorry.

Cute? Who?

Oh, on my Facebook. Here, let me scroll back up – her? Yeah, she is kind of cute, I guess. It’s a weird story with her, though. I’ve never actually met her, or really talked to her at all. But we’re friends.

No, it doesn’t really make sense. But it’s sort of an interesting story. If you don’t mind listening. I mean, if you’d rather just go to sleep for the rest of the bus ride-

Okay, I’ll tell it. Continue reading →

I’m moving!

Posted by swestreich

That’s right! Not that the blog is moving, but I am moving, out in the real world! The physical world. The world outside the internet.

I’m not moving far – just across town – but most of my stuff is currently stored away in boxes. I’ve got approximately 48 hours to move the contents of a two bedroom apartment, packed into the space of a one bedroom apartment, into a different apartment.

I feel like I’ve been saying the word apartment too much. Apartment. A part mint. Like an entire building – but only part of it.

You might be able to tell that my thoughts are a little scattered at the moment. Continue reading →

Plenty More Fish

Posted by swestreich

I arrived at the brewery to find him already seated at a four-person table, his head buried in his hands. From the dent he’d managed to make in the oversized plate of nachos in front of him, I guessed that he’d been here for a while.

“Hey, buddy – I didn’t realize that you got here early,” I remarked, patting him on the back as I stepped around to sit opposite him at the table.

My friend Rich lifted his head up from his hands, blinking at me in confusion. “Early? I’ve only been here for a few minutes.”

I opened my mouth, but closed it again without speaking, as Rich reached out and scooped up a literal handful of nachos, cramming them indiscriminately into his mouth. That answered my next question, then. Continue reading →

Missing Brains: 2016 Edition

Posted by swestreich

New Year’s Goals

That’s right, it’s the new year! 2016, baby! And there’s going to be some changes around Missing Brains (here).

Schedule

First off, scheduling. Missing Brains, the blog, is sticking with a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Three posts a week!

However, since I beat the 52 book challenge last year, I’m going to be doing something different with the Monday posts. Instead of providing a book summary each week along with my thoughts, I’ll be keeping to the following schedule:

Monday: I’m going to be telling a serial story, called The Amateur’s Guide to the Apocalypse, in segments. I’ll post a new segment, about a thousand words per update, every Monday. Hopefully, the story will end at exactly 52,000 words.

Wednesday: Wednesday will be a short story, with a theme focusing on real life.

Friday: Friday will also have a short story update, but Friday’s theme will focus on the fantastic, science fiction or fantasy themed.

Other improvements

Twitter: Missing Brains is going to have a twitter handle! Of course, it won’t be @MissingBrains, since that’s my personal handle – but maybe I’ll make @MissingBrainsBlog into a channel. I’ll hopefully attract a larger audience through Twitter.

RSS: I don’t really know how RSS works, but I’m going to try and use it.

New Website Design: In the works, probably not coming for a while.

Patreon: This is a new thing – when I’m not writing, I’m a graduate student. Notably, neither graduate students nor writers make much money. That’s why I’m going to see about setting up a Patreon, so that readers (you) can fund writers (me!), to help me afford to keep on writing! I’ve never set one of these up before, so we’ll see how it works out.

The future

Can I keep this up? Will my well of inspiration run dry? We’ll find out – together!

My latest novel is LIVE and for sale – for just 99 cents!

Posted by swestreich

Hey there, reader! Do you like stories with comedy, drama, angels, sassy female heroines, and the end of the world?

What am I saying, of course you do. Who in the world wouldn’t like such an amazing sounding story?

Well, now you can read the very story I described above, all for just 99 cents! And you know that it will be good, because I wrote it!

Check out my latest book, Apocalypse Before Coffee, by clicking the picture of my book above! It’s for sale on Amazon, and it’s only 99 cents, or free to borrow and read if you’re a Kindle Unlimited subscriber!

Seriously, give it a look. It includes a plucky female heroine, a rather sarcastic angelic guardian, sneaking into Hell via the back entrance (located in the DMV), multiple celestial beings getting pepper-sprayed (it’s nothing they don’t deserve), people nearly vomiting from inter-planar travel, a climactic showdown for the fate of the entire Earth, and spiky demonic toilets.

And if that doesn’t describe the perfect novel, well, I don’t know what you want.

NaNoWriMo winner, 2015 edition!

Posted by swestreich

Another National Novel Writing Month challenge bites the dust!

That’s right, I just passed 50,000 words on my latest novel! And all of it done in under 30 days, with an average of approximately 2,300 words per day. Not bad at all!

Of course, the novel’s not done yet. 50,000 words is a good start, but I’ve probably got 10k more to go before the story’s wrapped up.

And then comes editing, and cover design, and compiling, and rewriting…

Still, I’m pretty proud!

"Danni California" is now available as an ebook!

Posted by swestreich

California Priest – A Western Thriller

“The girl’s eyes widened – just as I pulled the trigger…”

It’s the end of the nineteenth century in a growing nation, and unrest is close at hand. Jasper might wear the high collar of a priest, but he’s a trained killer, highly paid to assassinate anyone troubling the shadowy Organization. He’s just received his latest target: a young female redhead robbing banks from Mississippi to Illinois.

But as Jasper hunts his flame-haired mark, he finds himself growing closer to her. Danni is smart, sassy, and sensual—even when Jasper’s looking down the barrel of her Colt.

As fate pulls the robber and the assassin closer together, they find comfort in each other’s arms. But can these two outlaws hope to stand together as the nation’s forces rally against them?

That’s right! The story I’ve been telling on here for 25+ posts is now its own ebook, available for purchase on Amazon.com! And it’s less than a dollar!

So, want to support your local, organic, GMO-free, whole grain blogger? Pick up a copy by clicking the link above!

A true flight saga, told through tweets.

Posted by swestreich

On a late night flight, I’m being distracted from a very loud baby by watching my seat mate attempt to understand the wifi.

— Sam Westreich (@MissingBrains) September 4, 2015