Author Archives: David Crampton

These are the times when the madness comes.

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Do I delve once again into the depths of my own self-doubt, fear of failure, and fear of success? No, I don’t think that this lifelong battle needs to be rehashed here, once again. It is sufficient to say that I now know more about myself and my more adult coping mechanisms, and that I am pulling myself out of the quagmire. It only takes the smallest misstep to trip and fall headlong back into it.

Sleeping like a BOSS

Sleeping like a BOSS

Acelyn knows she’s the boss.  I’m convinced that she’s acutely aware of how in control she is of our sleep, of the relative amounts of pain in her mother’s arms, and whether or not Nikki gets to accomplish anything while I’m at work.  She then purposefully activates her cute in massive waves that leave everyone around her stunned for hours.

With Google+ coming on the scene, I’ve noticed that my social networking behavior has changed a bit.  I barely visit LiveJournal, and will probably be adding those with active accounts to my RSS reader.  I may even import its history here.  I keep in touch on FaceBook, especially when it comes to kid updates.  A lot of my extended family reads there, as well as friends that are out of town.  Most of my technical and political stuffs have moved over to Google+, which seems a more intimate and friendly interaction, thanks to the structure of its circles.  Twitter ends up being for announcements and retweets.  Overall, I’m pleased with this setup.

Aidan and Cian in their Fall duds.

Aidan and Cian in their Fall duds.

School has started again.  Hunter is incredibly excited about and pleased with his new school, which is a godsend.  An environment in which he can learn and not feel marginalized would be amazing.  Not that he doesn’t require -all- of the attention -all- of the time to not feel marginalized, but that’s neither here nor there.  While I’m getting on his case to pick up after himself, turn off lights when he leaves the room, and for the love of all that’s holy, CLOSE THE SHOWER CURTAIN, I’m silently rooting for him to blow us all away this year.  That boy makes me proud.

Aidan is starting Pre-K this year, and has already butted heads with his new teacher.  He loves doing homework and is very proud about which school he is going to, and that he’s going to a “big kid” school now.  I think I’ll always be grumbly about him being in his other home during the week, but the stability has done him wonders.  The feather in our caps of being able to do what the other family said couldn’t be done makes things a bit more tolerable.

Cian wants to be just like Aidan.  He loves doing his “homework” when the other kids are doing theirs, but hasn’t yet started complaining about not being able to go to school yet.  He can point out Hunter’s school as we drive past it, though.  Who knows where we’ll be when he gets to school age… wherever it will be, it’ll be another fun ride.

Sale at Lulu

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As both the hardcover of The Remembrance and the trade paperback of Todd’s Story are only available through Lulu, I figured that I should clue you guys in to a sale that they’ve got going on until 15 July.

Enter coupon code BIG305 at checkout and receive 20% off your order. The maximum savings for this offer is $100. Enter coupon code BIGGER305 at checkout and receive 25% off your order of $500 or more. The maximum savings for this offer is $500.

Enjoy!

Good Reason for Radio Silence

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Almost 4 weeks ago, on 10 June 2011, Acelyn Elizabeth Crampton came into the world.  She is a healthy little girl, and we are enraptured with her.

While we aren’t getting much sleep (and by we, I mean mostly my wife), she is already sleeping more steadily than her brother did until he was about 10 months old.  She is just now noticing that we have faces, and pays very close attention to them and how they are moving.  I can’t wait for her to start mimicking expressions and for her to realize that those arms, legs, hands, and feet are hers.

As usually happens with new babies, every moment of our days and nights are taken up with taking care of her.  Her older brothers are all proving that they can take being her big brother very seriously, and are doing everything that they can to chip in.  We’re trying to make sure that they’re included in her birth and growing up, instead of being pushed aside.  As with Cian and his older brothers, it seems to be working rather well.  In all honesty, I would have never thought of it… all credit for that idea goes to my brilliant wife.

With the lack of free time, I’m taking notice of a pattern that I seem to have in my life.  When do I come up with the great, inspired ideas?  When I have no means or time in which to accomplish them.  When do I have the most drive and motivation?  When I am unable to take action.  I have the sneaking suspicion that my brain is tricking itself.  When there is no ability to do a thing, there is no associated risk with it.  I don’t have to fear failure, I don’t have to fear success.  I am safe to dream, because I’m barred from action.

Well, I’ve decided to double-trick my brain.  This barring of action due to every moment being either spent with Acelyn, or with the boys, or with the wife, or doing chores around the house… it’s a lie that I’ve told myself.  I’ve scraped some time out of my lunch hour at work, and during my shifts to stay awake at night during feedings*, and I’ve managed to get words down on paper.  I’ve nearly completed the scripts for Issue 2 of Fight or Flight, and have some crazy new ideas for The Glass Crown.  Remarkably, the fear of both failure and success has kept quiet during this double-trick.

Maybe my wife was right all along.  Maybe I can write and be a parent at the same time.

*Nursing can give a strong feeling of euphoria.  When tired, this can easily lead to falling asleep.  As I have a sleep disorder, we’re trying to avoid co-sleeping with Acelyn as much as possible.  So, when the wife crashes while nursing, I stay up until the baby is done, burp her, and put her to bed.  We swap shifts for this duty every three hours, and except for a few missteps on my part, it’s working out quite well.

Job Opening at my place of Employment

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Origami Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center

JOB TITLE: Care Coordinator – Community Based Programs
POSTING NUMBER: 310
OPEN DATE: 06-10-2011
CLOSE DATE: Until position filled

The Origami Brain Injury Rehabilitation Center is seeking a full time Care Coordinator for the Community Based Programs. Candidates must possess strong communication, initiation, attention to detail, organization, and thorough documentation skills. Motivation and enthusiasm for working in a dynamic, post acute environment with persons who have sustained a brain injury is required. This position requires travel into the community working 1:1 and in groups with individuals with various levels of capability.

SPECIFICS:
– Total Hours/Week = 32 (salary status)
o Specific hours are negotiable; flexibility is ESSENTIAL
o MUST be available to participate in a rotating 24/7 on-call supervisor schedule
– Minimum possession of a Bachelor¡¦s Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling or other related service field; Post-Graduate degree and/or two to four years of related experience in a clinical rehabilitation and/or case management position is preferred.
– Strong written and oral communication skills is a MUST
– Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with clients, families, and external stakeholders is a MUST
– Dependable, approachable, adaptable, and team player a MUST
– Commitment and longevity in the Care Coordination position ESSENTIAL

If you’re interested, leave a comment and I’ll get you the proper contact info!

Site Update

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While there hasn’t been any new content in a while, I’m rather proud of the site redesign over at Fight or Flight.  Figuring out child themes in ComicPress (and how to tweak them) was not the easiest in my spare time, but was well worth the learning.  Also, it’s been half a decade since I seriously played with CSS.

In any case, success!  Give it a look-see if you’re so inclined.

Interviewed for a school paper

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Is it wrong to be geeked about being interviewed for a school paper?  If it is, then I don’t want to be right!  After asking for and receiving permission, I’ve decided to post our back-and-forth here.  Enjoy!

Maddie: Why do you choose to write science fiction?

Dave: It was less of a choice, and more of an interest that I have always had, as far back as I can remember.  I’ve read science fiction and fantasy (short version: genre) fiction since I graduated from reading the Hardy Boys a long time ago.  Since then, there have been stories in my mind that I want to get down on paper.  I write what I like to read.

Maddie: Do you feel that science fiction is generally held to lower esteem than other genres?  If so, why do you think that is? 

Dave: That depends entirely on your definition of “esteem”.  I think that it has struggled a bit in popularity in the same way that I struggled back in high school.  It’s not well liked by everyone, takes small facets of society, science, and personality, and blows it out of proportion to see how it works.  That can make people nervous… it’s easier to make small talk with the action novel / star athlete.  Genre fiction is entertaining, but it doesn’t shy away from addressing serious topics.

Maddie: Do you believe that escapist literature is important?  Why? 

Dave: I certainly do.  Everybody needs an escape, and I don’t want TV or movies to be my only options.  If I can exercise my brain muscle (did I really just say that?) AND escape to a high-tech land where interplanetary travel is the norm?  Win!

Maddie: What can good science fiction offer that other genres of literature are unable to deliver? 

Dave: I’m not a competitive person by nature.  Other genres can offer most of the same benefits that genre fiction can, but they can’t offer them in a way that will snag a genre fiction reader.  It all boils down to what you like.

Maddie:  In what ways do you feel that science fiction impacts our culture/society? 

Dave: In the same ways that other fiction does, with the added bonus of shaping what our future toys might look like.

Maddie:  What novels do you feel are the most important/ have had the most impact on either the genre of science fiction or on our society? 

Dave: Anything written by Isaac Asimov.  The man invented the term “Robotics”.

Maddie:  Is there anything else you would like to add? 

Dave: I feel the urge to plug, so here it goes.  I have both a fantasy novel and an urban fantasy/horror novella available for purchase.  Where and how can be found at my website:

http://www.davidmcrampton.com/

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Glass Crown, Chapter 8, done!

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You read that right.  The first draft of Chapter 8 is done and sent out to the Alpha Readers.  Yes, of course they get capital letters.  Why wouldn’t they?

Also, I don’t want to jinx it, but I’ve had cause and opportunity to update word counts in the “In Progress” section of the writery site far more often than I have in the past.

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