Woot!

[Andrew goes to order some extra-fine red pen refills...]

Posted by: Andrew at May 3, 2005 10:37 AM

Holy Goat.

"Would you Like Kids with That?" is the best title. Ever.

Posted by: Daynah B at May 3, 2005 10:38 AM

Hey it is great to have something to do
I'm glad you have it figured out - thanks for idea of settig up goals to reach each day - I make afgans so if I make myself finish panel a day I could finish one afgan a week hmmm what colors do your boys like?? so I could make them one

Posted by: Reddy at May 3, 2005 10:57 AM

Awesomw..I have been working on that too..trying to find my writing schedule and force myself to it. Perhaps if we're really really good you'll share snippets? Maybe a sentence or two? *grin* Good luck and hey if you ever need someone who knows your pain to gripe to..drop me an e-mail..trust me I know what it's like to stare at the white screen and feel like your whole world is in it!

Posted by: ArcticFox at May 3, 2005 10:59 AM

I'm sitting here laughing right now. Ryan's got some sense of humor. Best title ever!

Posted by: GeminiLove at May 3, 2005 11:07 AM

This is totally off topic, but I happened to be watching the Nickelodeon GaS channel today and caught an episode of Family Double Dare that you were on. Didn't get to see whole thing (which is unfortunate...you kept doing this weird little happy dance that was rather mesmerizing), so I never saw which team won.

So...who won?? Do you even remember??

Posted by: Jen at May 3, 2005 11:11 AM

Ah the writing schedule. It's true. I have to force myself to write, else I never get anything done.
I totally dig the idea of the stepfather book... I always loved those stories the most. And yes, the title kicks ass. As for the poker one, I'm sure that'll be a great one, but as I know nuttin about poker, that's like Chinese to me. But moo. My bad. I'm new to this.

Posted by: Patty at May 3, 2005 11:14 AM

Please tell Ryan that his brain is very clever!
That is an awesome title!

Writing good. More books from you better. I finished "Just A Geek" and would like some more please.

Posted by: Emily_Nelfnoffen at May 3, 2005 11:22 AM

Please tell Ryan that his brain is very clever!
That is an awesome title!

Writing good. More books from you better. I finished "Just A Geek" and would like some more please.

Posted by: Emily_Nelfnoffen at May 3, 2005 11:22 AM

Ack! Sorry for the double post. Washed my hands and now I can't do a thing with them.

Posted by: Emily_Nelfnoffen at May 3, 2005 11:24 AM

yay!!

Posted by: allie at May 3, 2005 11:26 AM

Glad to read you are doing good. Still that pay pall thing still sounds good to me, because i would like to help you out on the finance isue. Why ? Well because i care and like to and i am a cat owner (lover) myself.
But i guess you are beeing principal. Okay thats good. But tell me, is there a way i _can_ support you ? (yes, i bought your two books)

Hang in there dude and take care, i will be praying for you and your loved ones.

(Freeman, you will agree with me on this one, right ?)_

Posted by: leon at May 3, 2005 11:27 AM

*giggles*

Well, considering that at this very moment I'm "cracking down" and making myself write to meet a deadline, I can sympathize with you. Which I guess means I ought to stop reading blogs and get back to it before I forget what I was writing about.

Can't wait to read the new goodies. Glee!

- Super-Hyper-Team-Writing-Force GO!

Posted by: Code Pirate at May 3, 2005 11:40 AM

Sounds like Mr. Wheaton is becoming a writer. I mean, he is a writer already (and I have two of his books that indicate that), but now it's becoming so much a part of him that it's easier for him to write than to not write.

I remember a story that Neil Gaiman told at Penguicon in 2004, I think it was about Terry Pratchett. He said that Terry (or whoever) would write 400 words a day without fail, rain or shine, vacation or no, holiday or no. Revising was done at a different part of the day. He said that this author once finished the last 200 words of a novel, and then wrote the first 200 words of the next one. Wow.

Posted by: Craig Steffen at May 3, 2005 12:17 PM

The writing schedule is a terrific idea, Wil.

Have you ever heard of Georges Sands?

She was a brilliant writer from the 1800s whose real name was Madame Amandine Lucile Aurore Dudevant, ne Dupin. She had a personal discipline of writing 30 pages every day whether she was "inspired" to do so or not.

Keep up the good work.

Posted by: ShelaghC at May 3, 2005 12:23 PM

you have a publisher lined up for the second book? if not, let me know. i might be able to help

Posted by: sleeplessinlasvegas at May 3, 2005 12:31 PM

So glad that you are going to be giving us TWO new books soon! :) Best of luck and keep being creative.

"Creativity is the absence of fear"

Posted by: Quincey at May 3, 2005 12:36 PM

firstly, perfect title. absolutely perfect. ryan is a genius.

secondly, i too would love to donate, but $50 kind of exceeds my budget. if you put up the paypal tip jar as well as the books, people who can't afford $50 could donate $20 or $5 or whatever they could afford. And the ones who want to donate a lot will get the books :)

Posted by: Aethera21 at May 3, 2005 12:45 PM

Will,
What a fantastic idea involving Ryan in the title. Have you considered getting him even more involved? Maybe not a full collaberation (but that is a possibility) to getting some real give/take type comments in the book. For example: I am going to be discussing this (subject) next. What comments would you like to have written?

This might be the start of yet another good stepfather/stepson bonding thing, which could be even better as it's with him in those mid-teen years where most kids have one-word conversations with any adult.

Anyway, just a thought.

Neil

Posted by: Neil at May 3, 2005 12:58 PM

I will be the proud owner of the Wil Wheaton library, then. I'm asking the wife if we "need" two copies of JaG signed, or just one.

Posted by: Thomas at May 3, 2005 01:03 PM

Wil,
You HAVE to keep Ryan's title. It is so perfect. I am looking forward to that book as I have enjoyed all your entries about your evolving relationship with your sons. I have a pretty cool step-dad, too, so I will enjoy reading the parent's perspective on the relationship.

Amy

Posted by: AmyO at May 3, 2005 02:06 PM

I'm only writing my thesis - which about 15 people in total will read (but only because I have talked so much about it to my friends that they are curious, the other 3 being the superivor and his assistants) - but I have definitely realised that keeping to a writing schedule is essential if I want to meet my deadline. Am now in the "I need to fumble bits in here and there and re-read the whole heap of rubbish" phase - 28 days, 6 hours to go.

And I envy you your cool prospective titles!

Posted by: Sib at May 3, 2005 02:27 PM

I'm also finishing a thesis (PhD) and writing schedules are sooo hard to keep to! But I like this short checklist of questions. It helps focus creativity, since we all cannot be like Georges Sand :-).

As far as good titles go, these can certainly apply to something as dry as a dissertation! My "working title" for my diss is Midnight Pirate of Love, although the official title (the one I tell my committee) is Changing the Orchestra's Tune: Rituals of Identity, Obvious Anxieties, and the Shaping of Indigenous Rights at the United Nations.

I like the first one better. There's a story behind it, but such things are for LiveJournals, not Wil's comment list.

Keep at it, Wil! You are a fine, honest writer and I admire your ability to make a living doing what you love. I hope that I can be in a similar position someday. . . .

Posted by: sunpony at May 3, 2005 03:20 PM

Don't you love that sense of *becoming* when you know you're sliding even that much closer to the Right Thing?! This is fantastic news! Yes, Wil, write! I'm sincerely looking forward to more of your words (books and blogs!).

p.s. I jumped ship on livejournal, and migrated my blog to my site (which I am building without *any* help from my ubergeek husband or friends). You say one of your goals is to inspire people & make them think. Well, count me as just one more person that worked on. Thanks.

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at May 3, 2005 04:26 PM

Oh, and yes, I'm using Wordpress and loving it!
(also on inspiration garnered here at WWdN; though I did it with the webhosting company's one-click install, so I didn't hit any of the troubles you seemed to...)

Right now it doesn't look too impressive; I'm writing my own CSS theme for the site & for my blog; just using defaults in the meantime, but it's getting cooler every second! Wheee!

Next up: figuring out GnuPG...
;)

Posted by: naiah christine earhart at May 3, 2005 04:31 PM

Did you ever finish the Slashdot interview?

Posted by: Gary Kephart at May 3, 2005 06:56 PM

excellent, the schedule. I guess that means I'll have to start saving my pennies so I can pick up more than just two of your books, in the not-so-distant future ;).

Posted by: loz at May 3, 2005 07:17 PM

sold a copy already

Posted by: griff at May 3, 2005 10:36 PM

hi wil,
can't wait for the books! That poker one sounds wicked great! I remember *Lying in Odessa* and how it kept me on the edge of my seat..and that was before i got into playing poker, so now when i re-read it, it actually makes sense!!

good luck, can't wait...
Take care
Rach

Posted by: rach at May 4, 2005 02:39 AM

I ordered both your books from Overstock.com a few days ago. Otherwise, I would have jumped at this chance! Can't wait to get them Wil!

:) Kel

Posted by: kelsquatch at May 4, 2005 02:53 AM

Our lives so have to stop mirroring each other's. Over the past couple of weeks I've been thinking about how I need to commit to writing 1,000 words a day, come fair weather or foul. I'm looking forward to seeing the fruits of all your writing projects.

Posted by: WryterBoi at May 4, 2005 03:37 AM

Nice! Looking forward to the poker book, a lot.
I second the call for the Paypal tipjar - street performers take tips for their art, why not you? It's not like you're holding a gun to our head. If we want to, we'll do it. You may be surprised... and able to finance more poker tournaments. ;)

I second Neil's comment on the collaboration with your son - the title is great! I really enjoy the banter that Neil Gaiman has with his children on his blog. I am wondering if this comment from Neil could have been that Neil - sort of has his tone, but he mispelled collaboration (or I did, or it's the "English" spelling, or something)...

Best wishes on meeting your writing goals. Don't forget the poker though. You do realize that you've spawned thousands of new fish, don't you? ;) Thanks!

Posted by: sparky1234 at May 4, 2005 05:58 AM

I think I write when a thought comes to me. Which is why I never leave the house without a pencil and paper or my tape recorder. I tried to schedule a time to write but it didn't work. Sometimes I don't have anything to say. I have occasionally woke at 2am to write something down.

Good luck with those books!

Madie

Posted by: Madie at May 4, 2005 06:47 AM

Saw this in Iggy's blog this morning (http://guinnessandpoker.blogspot.com/).
"poker blogs by famous players
Author: George Smart

I'm looking for poker blogs by well-known players. So far, I've found Paul Phillips, Wil Wheaton, Chris Halverson, and Annie Duke. Are there more? Please send the links.

Thanks
George Smart
Raleigh Poker Page"

You're a well known poker player Wil! W00t!

Posted by: sparky1234 at May 4, 2005 06:53 AM

The good news is that if you write Dancing Barefootesque, you have a guaranteed sequel

Dancing Barefootesque II: This time it's not Dancing Barefootesque I

Posted by: jslicer at May 4, 2005 08:18 AM

Hey lets not forget to pay the taxes on that income. Your five large is now more like $3300.

Looking forward to "Like Kids With That". Being a stepfather is far more difficult than I could have ever imagined. Your a lucky man Wil.

Posted by: Starkman at May 4, 2005 08:42 AM

Awesome title, Ryan... what a cool kid!

Posted by: sue at May 4, 2005 12:01 PM

Count me in for at least one copy of "Would you like kids with that?" Will this be a Monolith publication? Will you be taking pre-orders on the site?

Posted by: Chris Radcliff at May 4, 2005 12:03 PM

I'm still trying to find a routine that works best for me when writing. Right now it tends to me 'write when I have the time and am not too exhausted from the Day Job' which generally equals Not A Lot Of Time Spent Writing.

How does music fit in with your writing? Do you like to listen to music while writing or does it distract you? Are there certain bands/genres that you work better with than others?

Posted by: csarakas at May 4, 2005 04:50 PM