2014’s a Wrap

The king is dead — long live the king.

And by, “king,” I mean 2015.  We got a new year — different number and everything.  This only happens once a year.

What’s that mean for yours truly?

• I’ve started work on Boundless, which is a different pace and texture to my previous two books.  I’m enjoying it so far, but am wrestling with a nagging feeling that I should really be working on Night’s Favour’s sequel Night’s Fall (or even Lost Children, the sequel to Upgrade).  The plan has been to sequence them in that order — Night’s Favour, Upgrade, Boundless, Night’s Fall, and Lost Children — but I really like those first two stories and want to go back.  Decisions, decisions.
• Me and SpecFic have parted ways, insomuch as I’ve stopped paying my dues.  This isn’t really an emotional thing — those people are doing good work, but mostly for dudes other than me, so the value is low.  I like what they’re trying to do and I’d like to re-assess this in a year.  Until then, they’re dead to me.
• We built a home gym!  I was authorized by Most Holy to buy more tools, and use a sledgehammer inside.  You can’t ask for a better Christmas.  This muddy panorama shows what it looks like — we’ve put mats down on the floor since.  In related news, one of my Christmas presents was a waffle iron, and I gained 3kg in 10 days.  I’m hoping it’s just water and happiness, and now I’m back at work it’ll be gone in a week.
  
• Speaking of fit, I’ve hooked myself back up to various drips.  I like Fitocracy, Yoga Studio, and have started experimenting — for science! — with the prototypical Metabolic 10 (and following their Instagram).  Fitocracy’s something I’ve used for a while, off and on, but it’s had a bit of a facelift, and I like it’s new clinic-perfect features.  Yoga Studio was given to me by a good friend, and it’s a wizard app at a bargain price.  Metabolic 10 just hurts, but that’s who I am.
• In the interests of not having my data mined by the hive mind, my email has transitioned from Google Apps.  If you don’t work in IT, you probably don’t care, and if you do work in IT, you’ll want to tell me that either a) I’m a complete asshole for leaving the great Google, or that b) I’ve made a sound life decision.  Hint: it might be both, or neither.
• In super-big news, I’ve thrown in the towel with my current pack of G-Men, and have accepted a role with an elite international tech firm.  This is awesome, it’s a life goal realized, and I’ll be able to tell you a bit more about this after the ink has fully set (still getting security clearance, which will be exciting if it doesn’t happen because I’ve already resigned).  Last day at my current stall is 23rd of January, so look for an update nearer then.  I’M VERY HAPPY.  I’m also nervous, because the last time I had leaving drinks I fell asleep in a shower for six hours.  Wish me luck.
• Humanity’s struggles continue: I am trying to whip up a new roster for my dojo that makes everyone happy.  Those last three words are killer, trust me on that.  It’s mostly a math problem, because 5 doesn’t divide into 4 in a clean and efficient way.
• Games: I picked up Advanced Warfare as a Boxing Day sale item, and found I quite liked it (which is unusual, as I don’t really like dudebro shooters).  The last one I enjoyed was the first Modern Warfare, so if you’re in the same boat it might be worth checking out.  Also tried the Halo 5 beta, which I think sucks, and that’s unusual too because I love me some Halo.  The world is changing.  Dragon Age: Inquisition continues to deliver awesome.  No one can give me a straight answer on whether Elite: Dangerous is good or not.

Go forth, and enjoy your new year: it promises great things for us all.