Weekly Update 72

Hey there! If you are reading this, I am on vacation. Well, I guess I am on vacation even if you are not reading this. The difference this time is I am not writing this for the week it is designed to be covering but instead as a preemptive measure. So, what do we talk about?

Well, let’s talk about me.

I am a writer. I sometimes forget the purpose of this little project; to introduce myself to prospective agents that stumble upon my website from my query letter. I need to remind myself sometimes that I must be more professional here in case one agent does read this, but I have no way of knowing if they do. So, let’s assume that the person reading this is an agent.

Hello! I hope that introduction wasn’t too strong, I am just very glad you are here. Please make yourself comfortable while I tell you a bit about myself.

I am a writer. I write for multiple reasons, but I think the most important and most prevalent one is inspiration. I am constantly inspired by the world around me. It is very common for me to be in a mundane environment enjoying a simple or provincial activity to be suddenly submerged in deep thought. Thoughts about robots and aliens, thoughts about wizards and dragons. It doesn’t matter what starts these thoughts, only that I am left with a burning desire to explore this new idea. I let them germinate in my brain for hours, sometimes years, before daring to put them on page.

I am an incubator. When I was in second grade my teacher told us we would be hatching live chicks in the classroom. She explained we would need a special device to make sure the chicks would hatch, a device known as an incubator. This large white cabinet showed up in the room one day, bigger than any of us second graders with a thick clear lid that protected a mesh floor. We got eggs and weeks later gross, wet birds were in the classroom. That’s me. I’m the big white machine, and my ideas are wet sickly-looking chicks, eyes wide and scanning. Several of my ideas still need more time to “cook,” but a few are ready to be hatched. So far one has been able to grow from its sliminess. It has thin little legs and a scrawny body, but it can walk, it can chirp. Now, all it needs is someone to help it fly.

As corny as the metaphor got, I am still proud of this chick. We have been waiting for awhile now for someone to help it fly. Maybe that person will arrive soon.

I am working on hatching other chicks, though the work has become more tedious since the first one hatched. I am also playing Destiny 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3 more and more as the summer progresses. I am almost halfway through Becky Chambers’ The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and I am loving it!

That is all. Please excuse any cringe present in this update, you are very brave to have read this far. See you all next week!

Weekly Update 71

What a journey we have been on. Sure, the journey has been a little boring compared to other journeys, but this one is mine.

Still no agents despite my efforts. I have nothing more to say on that.

I was able to see The Fellowship of the Ring in a movie theater with my dad and my sister’s girlfriend! It was magical. I explained to my sister’s girlfriend that as I get older Lord of the Rings means more and more to me. As a kid it was boring and scary… but now I almost cried multiple times finally seeing the story on the big screen.

For those curious it was the extended edition, a form that I prefer but I do not recommend to first time viewers. Don’t you worry fellow nerds: I warned my sister’s girlfriend (who hadn’t seen any of the films before) that starting with the extended editions is a bad idea but we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to see it in theaters. I am very thankful we went!

Ok, I’m going to go. Time to query more agents! See you next week.

Weekly Update 70

And like that a new week comes. Hey! I am Seth Oberlender. I am a writer on his journey to becoming an author.

This weekly update used to be a place for me to update people on my progress writing my first book: The Void Full of Starlight. This was the case until I finished the book and started to query agents. I have been querying agents for more than a year now. The journey has been more than long. It has been humbling, it has been disheartening. Yet still I persist.

I am still querying to this day, and I have plans to make the likely hood of being traditionally published higher. I will let you know about that plan once it has taken more shape. For now, keep your eyes and ears peeled for news here.

Destiny 2’s latest expansion comes out TOMORROW! This means next update will be full of my opinions on the end of this grand story. As I write this update I am six hours and forty minutes into a ten hour video on the entire ten year story by a wonderful youtuber and Destiny fan “My Name is Byf.” I am overflowing with reverence and nostalgia at the idea of this story I have been experiencing coming to an end. Memories from most of the story (I never really played the raids and missed several seasonal story lines) are coming back to me in waves. I spent ten years of my life on this game, and it is shocking to realize that makes almost half my life impacted by Destiny. I have been a guardian since the beginning, and I am so excited to be there for the climax.

Sadly, I must wait one more day. And you must wait one more week to hear from me. See you next week, and if you happen to be a fellow guardian of the last safe city on Earth: Eyes up, guardian.

P.S. My father wanted a shout out, so this is it! Love you buddy.

Weekly Update 69

Nice.

Anyway, hello again! Been awhile, like, a whole week. And today marks the beginning of my summer vacation (if you don’t count the weekends)! So far so good. I am excited to take a break and come back to teaching with new energy and some experience. I am not only a teacher on his first summer vacation; I am also a writer trying to become a published author.

So far I have yet to receive an offer of representation. Still going, still going… like Forest Gump. That’s me. Still running.

Summer has been good to me so far and I have spent that time playing Destiny. I am going to try and take a break this week because of the upcoming DLC. The next update will be right before The Final Shape releases, how exciting! I plan on enjoying Alan Wake, Persona 5, ROOT, and DOTA 2 this summer as well.

I am also reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I mentioned this to you a long time ago and I am pleased to say I have come back to it after a long break. It is such a fun story, and I am only fifty-five pages in. The characters are extremely well written, and the world building is well thought out. So far, I recommend it if you like science fiction and aliens.

I am going to try writing more this week than ever before. Stay tuned for how that will work…

Ok! Time to get back to work (and by that I mean not work), see you next week!

Weekly Update 68

…so, you might have noticed that the number of these updates is getting larger. Yes, obvious observation. Some might have also noticed that the number is getting close to a certain number that some people might find “funny.” I will in no way be encouraging these people. Be warned.

This week I have not received a positive response to a query. That sucks, but I can move on. A wise character once said, “Just keep swimming, just keep swimming…” a shame the voice actor is a little problematic now.

In my personal life, work is… working. I have one more week which means by next update I will be a free man! Well, a man on summer vacation. I am trudging to this finish line, weighed by the stress of to-do lists and negative coworkers. I can do it, but it sure won’t be easy.

I have also been playing more Destiny which has been fun and oddly refreshing despite the grinding I have been doing. For those who don’t know, in video game terms “grinding” means doing something repeatedly, usually to get some item or reward. Destiny is all grinding. That gets tiring quickly but right now it doesn’t feel that bad.

Now, if you have been reading the past few updates, I have been hinting at a few new writing projects. I have decided to shift my newest idea and pursue it more during the summer. If I in any way enticed you in the other updates please be assured something is coming soon.

Ok! Time to get back to life. See you all next week! Summer, here I come…

Weekly Update 67

…and that’s it! It’s been one whole week! Welcome back to Seth Oberlender’s weekly update blog where I, Seth Oberlender, keep you up to date on my journey to become an author.

So far, I have only received rejections. No agent yet, and I will be honest; I have been more focused on the end of my first school year. I am still looking for agents, but most of my energy has been going into teaching. Which isn’t going well. A lot of parents are mad at me. So, that feels great.

I have been playing more and more DOTA 2 as well as writing, and I am sad to say that is it. Life has become so busy as the year closes, and my free time has been appreciated but short. I am a little excited about a new idea, but I am so focused on teaching and agents that my writing has been neglected. That will change soon; only two weeks from now.

Sorry for the dower tone, I will be back next week with more updates! Still looking forward to good news.

Weekly Update 66

Hello and welcome to Seth Oberlender’s weekly update blog! My name is Seth Oberlender, and I am a writer on a quest to become a traditionally published author. I have worked hard on my first novel, The Void Full of Starlight, and have been on the hunt for representation for a year now. The search has been longer than expected, but still, I march on.

…and the march continues again this week. No bites as of yet, and despite the tone of the first paragraph, the rejections are getting to me. I find myself focusing more and more on other potential projects to self-publish as a vehicle for my name and a source of inspiration. If I can get a book I wrote on shelves or in people’s hands, I think I might die from excitement.

In my personal life, I have been reading and playing more video games. Work is becoming more and more stressful as the school year comes to a close, so I have been trying to find catharsis in art. I am about seventy-five percent through Spiderman 2 on the PS5 and the game is still just as good as the day I took a break from it. I also have been tinkering with a city builder/survival sim named Frostpunk. It is fun but a little too stressful for my life at the moment. I had an odd hankering for a top-down strategy game and Frostpunk was on sale at the time. If you enjoy games like Sim City or the Tycoon series, you will enjoy Frostpunk. It also reminds me of the board game Scythe.

I also just got done reading Maneater by Emily Antoinette. Look, we don’t talk about book recommendations a lot here, but if you like romance you have to get this book. It is a fantasy romance that is very steamy (I found this on book Tok. That should give you an idea). It is about a shy male which who saves a confident succubus from a group of other witches. It is so adorable and fun, and the biggest theme of it is consent which I found refreshing. Not for the faint of heart though, I kind of hope my parents skip this part of the update… you should totally get it though!

I plan on doing a lot more reading and writing over the summer, so if you have any book recommendations feel free to leave a comment on this blog post. Look at me, asking for you to leave a comment. I must be growing more confident!

Ok, time to get back to work. Two more weeks of school and then I can relax. See you all next week!

Weekly Update 65

Welcome one and all to my weekly update blog where I keep you up to date on my journey to becoming a published author! This is Seth Oberlender, but you probably already know that.

I have not yet received representation from any agents for my debut novel The Void Full of Starlight. I am still working, still moving forward.

In my free time I have continued to work on the same unnamed project I mentioned in the last update. We will see how far I will go with this one while looking for agents.

Hey, speaking about staying with things, I am pleased to say I have decided to try out DOTA 2. It is a video game that is a big part of electronic entertainment history. It is also very complicated and dense… so I am taking my time with the tutorials both in the game and online. So far it is very fun, though I don’t think I can say if it is more fun than League of Legends, a game I have played a good few hours in. I will update you on my journey with DOTA moving forward.

Ok! Time to get back at it. One more week of testing at work. Wish me luck and see you all next week!

Weekly Update 64

Welcome one and all to Seth Oberlender’s weekly update! This is the part of the internet where I (Seth Oberlender) update you on my journey to becoming a traditionally published author.

I have not become a traditionally published author… yet. I am still querying, don’t worry about that. One of these days.

In my personal life, work is work, and work is ending. 21 days until summer. I can feel every one of them now. It isn’t really anticipation, more like a content acceptance of inevitability.

I have a great announcement: I got a new keyboard! It is the Aula F75, and it is so smooth. I am writing this on it now. It sounds “poppy” rather than “clicky.” It reminds me of light rain on glass and I am in love. The TikTok that got my attention said it sounded like butter and I think they were right. I can’t wait to start Writing on it!

Speaking of Writing, I have been doing that. It is a new project. You might be shocked I am announcing it so quietly and with no “chalance.” That is because I am a little trepidatious about this one. I don’t want to give you too many details right now because I am so early in the process. Just know that I am very into this idea and that I have been working on it for years, almost as long as The Void Full of Starlight. One day, we will see if this will be in bookstores with that one.

Ok! Time to get some rest. We have some things to do before the end of school. You are probably busy too. Stay safe, keep up the good work, and don’t forget to do something nice for yourself. See you next week!

Weekly Update 63

Welcome back to Seth Oberlender’s corner of the world wide web. This is where I update those who are curious on my journey to becoming an author. Yes, a book weaver, a story sewer, a tale maker!

It isn’t going well. No “yes” yet. No agent. I am still, surprisingly, querying. Still trying. Still going.

In my personal life, I have been submerged in the  toxic sledge of live service games. Yes, I am talking about Destiny 2. I am having fun now, but I don’t know how I will feel in a few months when the next expansion releases. I am tired of spending money. I hope one day Bungie can fix this issue and just make it free to play not free to try… one can dream.

I have not been writing as much as I like. I don’t know why; I wish I did. I plan on getting back on that horse soon, and the time is quickly coming. State testing starts next week, and my life will become a lot freer in May. Who knows what will happen by then.

Ok. Time to get back to it. See you all next week!

Weekly Update 62

Welcome one and all to Seth Oberlender’s weekly blog! This week was full of love, laughter, and joy… but no agents. Yes, I know. How could this be a week of love, laughter, and joy when I didn’t get an agent? Well, that is because my brother got married this Saturday!

The brother in question is the oldest of my two stepbrothers, and someone I look up to despite the fact we met later in my life. The wedding was held at a beautiful venue nestled between the rolling hills of central Oklahoma. We had a wonderful plan to hold the ceremony outside, but April showers changed that last minute. The bride (my new sister-in-law) was rightfully upset, and we were forced to move the wedding inside the main building we originally planned for the reception. With some creative fishing line tying and manpower from some very nice guests we were able to get the space ready for a marvelous ceremony officiated by my father. It was a fun and dare I say magical evening. I am very pleased to see my family grow in such a way.

Work is work, and work is ending! Summer is fast approaching, and I cannot wait to enjoy it as a teacher. We have just over a month before the end of my first year teaching and I have learned a lot. If I am brave, I might put some sort of retrospective up on here for you all, but all I care about now is the state test coming up at the end of the month.

That’s it. The track I walk down stretches before me, its unknowable length becomes more and more daunting and otherworldly as I progress. And yet, I progress. Step by step, query by query. See you all at the finish line.

Weekly Update 61

Why hello there! My name is Seth Oberlender, and this is my website. Here is where I give you updates on my quest to become an author. My book, The Void Full of Starlight is a sci-fi adventure about bounty hunters in space.

So far, I have not gained an agent… yet. I am still searching and won’t stop for awhile now. Well, I hope I can stop soon.

In my personal life I have been reading, playing video games, and working. I recently picked up Helldivers II and ROOT on Steam. Helldivers is just as fun as they say, and that surprised me. It is quick and addictive, and very rewarding. I might go into more detail in a different place and way, but for now just know I recommend whole heartedly. ROOT is a boardgame I have heard about for years, and I was stoked to get the video game version on Steam for only $8.00. The video game is nice for me because I can play with the computer and not have to worry about checking the rules every two seconds.

I also started reading The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. I am only a few pages in, but I can tell I will like it. It is a sci-fi story that Barnes and Noble said was “like Firefly.” I love Firefly.

Ok everyone, time to go query again. See you all next week!

Weekly Update 60

Hello everyone and welcome to my website! I hope you had a wonderful week and have been safe.

I have yet to receive any representation. Yeah, it sucks. I am still here though.

I am writing this on Saturday, and I just got back from a weekend trip with my friend to visit my other friend in Arkansas. It was super fun and very relaxing, I can’t wait to see them again!

On the trip we went to a wonderful art museum called “Crystal Bridges.” It was extravagant and extremely cool. There was a temporary exhibit called “Exquisite Creatures” by Christopher Marley we saw and it was just spectacular.

The Crystal Bridges website calls it a “dialogue with art, nature, and science that asks the question: what is it about the natural world that calls to us?” In execution it was an impressive collection of ethically sourced dead insects, birds, reptiles, and fish arranged in expressive mosaics and patterns.

Acquired from crystalbridges.org. Christopher Marley, Continuum II, 2022, Coleoptera spp, Scutelleridae spp, Lepidoptera spp. 40 in. x 40 in. © 2024 Christopher Marley | exquisitecreatures.org

For those who don’t know, I am a self-diagnosed insectophobe. So, I like to say that this was the first form of art to get a visceral reaction from me. I was entranced and repulsed in the best way. Marley really demonstrated a great respect for and understanding of nature, shown in the small blurbs of his motivation around the exhibit. If you have the chance I think you should experience “Exquisite Creatures” in person since the pictures you can find don’t do it justice.

Acquired from crystalbridges.org. Christopher Marley, Convocation, 2020, Monitor lizards, tegu lizard, 48 in. x 68 in. © 2024 Christopher Marley | exquisitecreatures.org

Ok, time to get back to the search. I have officially sent 100 distinct queries and have received 93 negative replies (a combination of straight rejections and rejections from time). The batting average is sad, but I can’t help but feel humbled by my journey so far. When you read next week’s update, I will have sent 101 queries. What a number.

Weekly Update 59

Welcome back everyone! I am very pleased to see you here.

Sadly, I have not received any representation for my book yet. Still going, still writing.

Spring break has arrived! This is my first spring break in years, especially one without working. I am spending it with friends and family, and with myself. I plan to do some more writing this week… I hope.

I got a new book thanks to a gift card from a student. It is Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer. I just started it but it seems right up my alley: fantasy romance with a hint of comedy. I will let you know how it goes!

Well, time to go and enjoy my break! Take care of yourselves, see you all next week!

Weekly Update 58

Hello everyone! Welcome back to my website. This is it. Hello.

I have not had an agent say they will represent me yet, unfortunately.

In my private life, I have been playing video games and watching videos… none of this should be news.

It is hard. I have been trying to achieve something for a long time and it hurts to realize that I haven’t been trying hard enough. That is the only way I can see it now; I have not been putting enough effort into being published. This is going to change.

I am going to start implementing a new regimen in my life. I don’t know if it will stick (many habits I once tried died off fast) but regardless it will start. I need more consistency in life right now anyway and I think having a stricter schedule will help with that.

Thank you for continuing to read, see you all next week!

Weekly Update 57

Well, well, well… if it isn’t you. Back for more, eh?

That beginning won’t make sense if this is your first time here. This is my weekly update blog where I keep people up to date on my journey to “authorship.”

No agents. Still looking. Still difficult.

I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a bachelor party for my oldest brother on Friday and boy was it fun. How much fun? So fun I was still dealing with the “aftermath” several days later (this is a reference to being hungover). It was still fun though! I got to see people I hadn’t seen in a while and meet someone new on top of that.

Other than the party and the lack of representation for my work, life is still the same. Waiting for that one person to say “yes” has taken longer than I hoped, but not as long as some. I persist.

See you all next week. Maybe I will have better news!

Weekly Update 56

Hey there everyone and welcome back to my website. I am excited to announce… I am uploading on time! What? Thought I might say something else instead? Yeah, me too.

This week was way too short and way too long. I spent most of it failing to teach ten- and eleven-year-olds how to write essays. Some are getting it, but others are struggling. Hard. They never warned me about that feeling of failure when I was in school to become a teacher. “Teacher School,” if you will. I am so passionate about writing, yet I can’t teach it. It is frustrating for both me and the kids.

This weekend I did something crazy: nothing. Absolutely nothing. I watched Howl’s Moving Castle, and that was the height of my activity. What a movie. Top five for my life I assure you. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you find a copy, light a candle, and sip on something warm while you do. It is the epitome of comfort movies for me. For most people, actually.

I haven’t played a video game in awhile now, and I feel a little guilty. I spent most of my time on Tik Tok today and I am trying to convince myself it wasn’t an entire waste. It was. The sun is gone, my dog needs to be walked, and I haven’t eaten dinner. After all of that I am going to read though. Read and pretend that time stops for me. Just a little.

Ok, back to work doing nothing. See you on the other side adventurers.

Weekly Update 55

Hey there guys, thought I disappeared huh? Well jokes on you: I didn’t! Just got distracted with work and life. So, hey again.

No agents. That would be wild if I missed a week and came back with that news.

In life I have continued my cycle of work and sleep. I have also been reading more! I am almost done with Star Wars The Old Republic: Deceived by Paul S. Kemp. That means a lot to me because I have been looking for a good Star Wars book to read for… years now. I finally got this one because I love the game, I’m sure you remember me talking about Star Wars The Old Republic the MMO. This book takes place before the game and features characters I know from the game! In fact, there is a trailer for the game that is novelized in the first chapter of this book! It is super fun and also very short, so I don’t feel that bad pausing The Way of Kings. I plan on reading a lot more, but that game Helldivers 2 looks so good… who knows what I will be doing next week.

I wanted to point out something else. I had an idea for a piece of writing and I wanted to put it up here for you to read. I might make a separate blog space for it to keep it away from these weekly updates. So if you are curious about what my writing is actually like, check it out here!

See you all next week, this time I mean it.

Weekly Update 54

GOTCHA! You thought I gave up, didn’t you? Well jokes on you, I just forgot to update last week. I remembered Tuesday as I was walking Winry. You don’t deserve anymore excuses.

You also deserve honesty. I don’t feel like updating you right now, so I am going to be brief. No agents. Week was fine.

You deserve more from me, but I cannot give it. I will update you next week I promise, and it will have more details.

Thank you and have a wonderful week.

Weekly Update 53

Hey guys! Welcome back to my website. It has been a pretty standard week, and I am happy to see you! Well, not see you. That would be impossible… or is it?! Yeah, it is, I’m just joking.

So, of course, no agent. Still trying though! I have been querying agents once, sometimes twice a week now. Sure, when I started it was five a day, but things have changed now. One submission a week is way better than the long dry spell I went through.

I have started to do something crazy lately… I started a book. Please be aware that I usually never tell people this. The fact that I told my friends and family and you is a big deal. I am a little worried that now that I told you it won’t “happen,” as in I won’t finish it. That is the fear that kept me from telling anyone when I started my first book. But since I have successfully survived seven drafts of writing novels and have suffered the sting of rejection upwards of 85 times… the fear has waned slightly.

The book is about a wizard. It is an idea I have had for a long time, almost as long as the idea that became The Void Full of Starlight. I won’t give any more details right now, but you will hear about it again. Even if I get too shaken to work on it now, this is an idea that I won’t give up on.

Aside from writing, I have gotten back into a nasty habit: MMORPGs. NO, I didn’t just have a stroke. That horrible acronym stands for “Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games.” You might not think you know any, but I guarantee you have heard of some: World of Warcraft, Guild Wars 2, Star Wars the Old Republic, and many more. These games are known for having impressively large environments to explore and quests to undertake, along with an astounding number of players (we’re talking 5.6 million active players in World of Warcraft). I have a modest amount of experience with MMOs. I spent many hours in Star Wars the Old Republic (also known as SWTOR), dabbled for a handful of hours in World of Warcraft (also known as WoW), and if you consider Destiny 2 an MMO then I am a certified pro. I called it a “nasty habit” because MMOs have a reputation for being, as the Onion coined, “time vampires:” they take a great amount of time from a player.

If you play something like a first-person shooter, you do a mission or two in the main game or play some online matches with friends. In MMOs, you are expected to undertake quests that require killing a certain number of enemies or going to a certain place (that in most cases is literally miles away). Not only do activities take a while, but most MMOs have a level-based progression system which means the player is also expected to grow in levels through doing quests and killing bad guys, which takes a long time (to get to any max level in an MMO it might take a casual player weeks or months).

For some of you, this might sound miserable. But for others (around 5.6 million) it is fun! You get stronger in very obvious ways, you get to see some awe-inspiring locations, and the biggest draw: you get to make friends.

When 5.6 million people play a game at once, they are bound to run into each other. Massively Multiplayer games are known for getting people who normally wouldn’t talk to others to talk about the game and play it together. Because of this, MMOs have stood the test of time. WoW has been around since 2004 and will probably be around until humans have to cannibalize their computer parts to survive the apocalypse.

Why am I talking about MMOs? Because I love them… and hate them. I don’t usually play with strangers (it’s a holdover from many talks with my dad about internet safety) so a lot of MMOs are only at “half strength” for me. I mean, I only get to explore and level up alone. This isn’t bad, just a toothless experience compared to the rest of the 5.6 million. This is how my current experience is going in another game; Final Fantasy XIV. FFXIV is an MMO with a storied past, one I have a past with. I used to not like it, but after the current climate around WoW (the internet tells me it is “bad” and “not fun”), I have decided to try my hand at FFXIV. I didn’t think I would like it, but I have been having a blast!

The game is very pretty (especially for an MMO, games that usually put graphics on the backburner to handle 5.6 million players) and the world feels large and lived in. I decided to get into FFXIV mostly because everyone agrees that the story is way better than any other MMO, and I love story. So far, the story is “meh,” but I just started. And like the famous South Park episode on WoW has solidified in nerd culture: MMOs take a while to get good.

A screenshot from season 10 episode 8 of South Park: “Make Love, Not Warcraft” -2006

All of that was just to say I am playing a new game. I guess I really wanted to talk about MMOs… awesome. Maybe my words will get some more fans for the genre! Or maybe I pushed you further away from the nerdy computer games that take thousands of hours to play. Let me know!

That’s it, time to go and query more agents then jump back into Eorzea and ride some chocobos! I love being a nerd. See you all next week!

P.S. If you want to learn more about MMORPGs here is a link to an article from The Gamer on the best MMOs for beginners!