Walldren's World

This post originally appeared on my now defunct marketing blog "Waiting for the Conversion" in 2014 As a father of three, I am growing used to experiencing the unknown -- or at least experiencing the other side of things as the now adult in the relationship. As a result, the older I get the less certain things appear to be to me. Perspective is an amazing thing. Each experience adds new data, if not an entirely new dimension to my consciousness. It’s scary and exhilarating and frustrating all at once. To quote Aldous Huxley, “Experience is not what happens to a man; it is what a man does with what happens to him.” Because a lot can happen to you but if you do not take the lessons and gain the insights, it benefits you little. I began working on the web in 1997 as a 17-year old summer intern at a company where my brother worked. I did research finding public e-mail lists and newsgroups and entered their pertinent information into a database that talked to a subscription ...

In 2004, I wrote my first and only novel to date. It was something that I did more or less to prove that I could do it. The plot idea occurred to me as a sophomore in high school and I even had most of the story germinate by the time I sat down to type it out. Many sleepless nights later, I emerged with a draft that was somewhere close to 60,000 words, which I then trimmed down to 'round about 50,000. Human Resources  is not a great novel. At best, it is an amusing piece of near-satire written by a much younger (read: less mature and experienced) version of myself. In some ways, I think the fact that I wrote it makes me reluctant to pick up the pen (or word processing software) again because I'd like the next thing that I write that others might read to be more clever, more articulate and reflective of the way I've come to see the world. The statistics of the first couple of months my novel has been available for free online tell me a few things: I should write t...

Several months ago I began the practical application of my Master's degree in Liberal Studies through the creation of a Tumblr blog entitled, The Daily-ism . The blog seeks to provide an ism word a day with a definition gleaned from Google without commentary. To date, I have posted 86 entries and garnered 17 followers. What has been most interesting to me is seeing how people respond. The most popular posts so far have been: egalitarianism (20 notes) prescriptivism (7 notes) I've identified enough words for almost an entire year's worth of content if I post five times per week. One thing I like about the functionality of Tumblr is the ability to schedule posts out in advance. This means that I can essentially plan out a month's worth of content in an hour of spare time.  Not that I have a ton of spare time, but I've discovered that micro-blogging is much easier to accomplish while working full-time and being a father of three. A great resource for catal...

It’s been a fun experience getting to learn the Wattpad platform and community over the past few months. Having observed some great talent serialize their works through online distribution, I am glad to have tried it out. That said, it’s been close to 10 years since I completed work on my debut novel and less than 9 since I self-published it in 2005. 10 years later and I still haven’t recouped the initial cost of publication. But I didn’t write Human Resources for the money. Like graduating college, I ultimately did it to prove a point to myself that I could be persistent enough to see it through. Since writing that book 10 years ago, I’ve had 10 years of experience reading new and interesting books. I have discovered authors that the person I was wouldn’t have read back then and have learned a great deal more about what great writing can look and sound like. And, I still have a ways to go. Maybe that’s why I hesitate to write anything new. There are also new challenges I...

Human Resources reaches its exciting conclusion in this week’s update. It’s been an interesting journey together, releasing the novel in weekly installments since March 31. My thanks to each of you who’ve taken the time to check it out. As the days and weeks approach, I’ll be sure to update this blog with more information on the next project I’ll be working on.

I hope everyone had a great long weekend. The next six chapters are up today! The Human Resources story continues for free over at Wattpad. We are racing to the finish. Tune in next week for the final six chapters on: June 2, 2014

The plot thickens like a custardy pudding full of intrigue, betrayals, and yes, even murder. The next six chapters are up! The Human Resources story continues for free over at Wattpad. We are racing to the finish. Tune in next week for more on: May 27, 2014