November 1996, Los Angeles. I’d had this video editing book idea in my head for four months now. Oddly enough, while talking to a product manager for Ulead Systems, he said to me, “We were thinking it would be good if you wrote a MediaStudio Pro book.” Well whaddaya know: I was thinking the very same thing.

That was all I needed to immediately set to work on it late 1996. Then again in 1997. And then again in 1998. (Yeah, I’m like greased lightning.) Granted, most of that time was spent actually doing the video editing jobs and not necessarily writing about it. But as I realized my future in video editing was limited, my thoughts turned back to the book.

In June 1999, I self-published the first edition of Getting Results with MediaStudio Pro. Just a year later, a new version of the software was out so I extended the book and sold two editions simultaneously: one for version 5 and one for version 6. In 2001, the book was further extended. Then in 2003, a new version of the software came out. *sigh* After that, for some crazy reason, I decided to adapt the material for VideoStudio (their entry level video editing product). And after that, I revised the entire MediaStudio Pro book again, based on the new VideoStudio book. At which point a new version of VideoStudio came out and … well, you get the picture.

In what seemed like just a few short years, I’d somehow written eight editions of the two books. Writing technical books was an absolute treadmill. So when MediaStudio Pro 8 came out, I decided that was the end. I was going to write the bestest version ever and call it done. And I did. In 2006, after 10 years, I felt like I’d actually written the book I’d set out to write in the first place. Here it is:

Did I say ten years? Where the heck did ten years go? Holy moly. I mean, sure, it was nice having this done, but had I done the right thing? Shouldn’t I have been working on that epic fantasy novel this whole time instead? Yes. Yes, I should have. And so, with this out of my system, I immediately set to work on … well, a diet book.

Next in the series: A diet book?

So as soon as I realized I wanted to: 1) write and 2) have somebody read what I wrote, I smugly assumed I had it all figured out. Unfortunately (for me) I missed one minor variable in my calculations. I needed an actual topic.

Coming off my Rings read just the year before, I felt the very same thing a very long line of Tolkien wannabes felt before me. I wanted to write squarely in the high fantasy genre. Swords and sorcery! Magic and monsters! Boy, what a concept.

I immediately set pen to paper (er, I mean, fingers to keyboard) and began writing. I wrote paragraph after paragraph, each worse than the one before it. But I never stopped thinking I was still on to something. In hindsight, I almost wish I was writing on actual paper back then because today I could upload for you a photo of me sitting at a desk, staring at yet another blank sheet of paper, the quintessential wastepaper basket at my side overflowing with the quintessential crumpled up failed attempts. (It’s just not the same crumpling up your monitor.)

This was still 1993. I was 27 years old (and, at the time, fourteen years into my mid-life crisis). If I couldn’t come up with a good book idea, then at least I could do something creative with my life. Coupling that with the fact I didn’t want to be in software development for the rest of my life, I started a small video production company.

That went well, but it didn’t completely drive away my desire to write something. That desire was rekindled fiercely when I came across this book and suddenly I got a new idea. I could combine my mad video editing skillz with my desire to write and maybe come up with a pretty cool book on video editing instead.

Next in the series: A pretty cool book on video editing.

I’ve worked in software development my entire professional career. It’s a great livelihood for anyone who wants to experience the thrill of going from absolute brilliance to bone-headed stupidity twelve or more times a day.

After I finished reading Lord of the Rings in 1992, I was by that point full swing into a project at work called ‘TBX’. It didn’t stand for anything, simply being the word ‘Toolbox’ with all the Os and Ls removed. TBX was a collection of reusable components for other software developers to use.

And if I truly wanted other software developers to use it, it had to be documented. And document it I did. I wrote and wrote and wrote. Some parts were ‘how tos’, others were examples, much of it was reference material on how the various TBX APIs worked. But when all was said and done, it was over 400 pages. (And it’s worth mentioning, this reference manual had the greatest twist-ending ever! Turns out the HTX subsystem which was feeding information into the TD.930 components was dead the whole time . . . and never even knew it!)

As I printed copies for distribution (remember, at this point in time, the web was only about six hours old) I got this strange feeling. I thought to myself, “I like this. I like this a lot.” And oddly enough it wasn’t because of the writing. It was the copying that got me. I realized I didn’t want to just write but I wanted lots and lots of copies of it. I wanted what every writer wants: to be read.

Next in the series: An author’s detour.

Welcome to How I Got Here, Part Deux

“I wonder what I should read next,” I wondered aloud at work one day. Stephanie, from the cubicle across from me, said, “I know exactly what you’re going to read next.” The very next day she handed me four paperbacks with odd titles about hobbits and rings and towers and things.

“I’ve actually been meaning to read these for a while,” I said. “I even started The Hobbit in sixth grade, but I never finished it.” For some odd reason I was told it was “too advanced” for me. (Never mind that a ten year old Rayner Unwin didn’t have a problem with it.)

I ripped through Bilbo’s adventures in no time and was eager to begin on the first book of the trilogy Ed: Hey, it’s NOT a trilogy. It’s a single novel published in three volumes for post-war economic reasons. But a funny thing happened to me on the way to Rivendell. I got a bit lost. First, I couldn’t figure out where Bilbo went. He turned eleventy-one, then vanished. And we’re left with Frodo? Are you kidding? Bilbo’s the hero. What kind of sequel is this?

A few chapters into it, I found myself in Austria on business. I decided to start over, in a clear frame of mind and away from it all. My second start was much better. The story gripped me exactly the way it did millions before me. I remember not being able to put it down until I knew if Strider, Legolas, and Gimli would catch that band of orcs heading to Isengard. I was simply stunned to find out Gandalf the Beige was actually Luke’s father. And who didn’t cry at the end when Aragorn finally defeated Oz and married Professor Trelawney?

In all seriousness, though, I took to (what’s since come to be known as) The Books like a duck in water. I’ve read them once a year since then with no plans to stop any time soon.

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves now.

Next in the series: The first book I wrote.

In the meantime, watch this.

HIGH isn’t high. It’s an acronym for How I Got Here. In place of telling the planet how much I weigh this week, I thought I’d branch out a bit and give an extended, multi-part “About Me” series of posts.

(Besides: I created that custom “summer vacation” graphic at the top of this page for a reason. And I’ve only used it once so far! And, out of curiosity, has anyone actually noticed that banner graphic changes based on the post’s category?)

When you come to a blog, it’s easy to forget you’re probably just looking at one tiny slice of someone. And it’s probably safe to say it’s not even the most important slice. (I’m probably wrong, but it at least gets me through the day clinging to the hope that there’s more to some people’s lives than regularly posting pictures of celebrities in bathing suits.)

Now I’m not a writer, but I play one on the internet. And since it’s still what I aspire to (yes, there’s more to my life than regularly posting funny weight and food stories) I thought I’d tell you How I Got Here.

Part 1

It was late 1991 and I was at over at a friend’s house. The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey was on. Near the end, as HAL was being systematically shut down, he spit out an odd bit of information. He told us he was activated on January 12, 1992. “Hey!” I exclaimed. “That’s only a couple months away. We should have a party!”

And so we did. On January 12, 1992 a bunch of friends got together for a HAL party. We watched both movies and ate little snacks in the shapes of Monoliths. (Okay, so we didn’t have monolithic stacks. But we should have.)

When the movies were over, the party’s host asked me if I’d read any of the books. I replied, “no” without even having to think, because frankly, I didn’t read at all. Not fiction, that is. Being a born and bred geek, all my reading tending toward learning and not for entertainment. He handed me the three-book series and I read them rather speedily.

“Wow, that was pretty cool!” I thought to myself after closing the last book. Then I wondered if there were other books out there in the world or if those were the only three. Well, you may all be shocked to learn this, but apparently there were more than three books to read. I know! Crazy, isn’t it?

Next in the series: The next four books.