Happy New Year, imaginary people of the internet! Last year, I did not make a 2025 goals post. I did not recap how badly I failed in my 2024 goals. (It was bad, actually. I failed NaNoWriMo for the first — and last — time ever due to waking up blind. And because I had… Continue reading GOALS ARE BACK
Category: Personal
THE LONG ROAD TO RESTORING VISION
So it’s been another minute or two since we last had a chance to catch up. A few things have happened in that time. Some amazing. Some not so much. Here’s the short version: On October 21, 2025, I had surgery on my right eye. As late as November, I still had a little residual… Continue reading THE LONG ROAD TO RESTORING VISION
WE’RE BACK, GLITCHES!
Hey there. You may not remember me. My name is (not actually) Darren Blake. I’m a random writer from the internet who tries to entertain, inform, educate, and just make a general mockery of the writing life. And I’ve been gone. Like, for a while. As you may or may not remember, if you are… Continue reading WE’RE BACK, GLITCHES!
FEAR AND EXPECTATION
Six years ago, when I published Seeing Red, I had zero fear and zero expectation. I wanted to give this “self publishing” thing a try, but I kept my personal stakes low. Based on all my other forays into “the public eye,” having high hopes would lead to massive disappointment. (In the misspent youth of… Continue reading FEAR AND EXPECTATION
EYES AND EARS: A PERSONAL SAGA
Welcome to the roller coaster that is life. If you’re just joining us, sorry for the crap show. It was like this even before I got here. And the people in charge are just making it worse and worse. There have been some developments in both my public and personal worlds, interestingly represented by eyes… Continue reading EYES AND EARS: A PERSONAL SAGA
A HOLDING PATTERN
I don’t really have anything to talk about this month. The closest thing to interesting that I’ve done at all over the last couple of months is watch some movies. Some of those movies I’ve seen before, most I have not. It’s sad that this is even news, considering when I got on the internet… Continue reading A HOLDING PATTERN
MOTIVATION IS A FINICKY THING
In the last post, I talked about how AI text generation has gotten me excited about writing for the first time in forever. (No, that’s not a Frozen reference. Stop trying to distract me. We’re barely a paragraph in!) That excitement / eagerness has not waned at all. But what has also not waned is… Continue reading MOTIVATION IS A FINICKY THING
SEEKING THE WHY
(Author’s NOTE: Some of these segments were written in mid-January and others in early February. I apologize if such time difference makes this disjointed in any way.) Back in April of 2022, I posted about my struggles finding the why of my writing. I won’t repeat it all here; if you really want to know… Continue reading SEEKING THE WHY
2022: A STUDY IN (MOSTLY) FAILURE
HAPPY NEW YEAR, imaginary people of the internet! It is I, your lackadaisical random writer from the same realm. In our annual January look back on the year that just closed — an original idea that no one has ever done before (/sarcasm) — I would like to say that although from a hobbyist perspective… Continue reading 2022: A STUDY IN (MOSTLY) FAILURE
WHEN YOU CAN’T FIND YOUR WHY
Fair warning: This may turn out to be another one of those whiny “too much honesty from a random internet writer” kinds of entries no one likes. You are invited to skip it. There’s enough venom and vitriol flying around the internet, so if my adding to it would be too much, I wish you… Continue reading WHEN YOU CAN’T FIND YOUR WHY