I think book number two is done now. Why do I only think it’s done? Well, the publisher/editor could always come back and ask for more from me in either edits, pictures or who knows what. However, as far as I know, I am done with my portion of the book and now it’s up to the the publisher to finish it up.

It was tough to get it all done in such short time. I requested that I could get all the chapters for my final edits before next weekend. I have plan with my wife to spend a nice weekend in North Carolina. It would stink if I had to work while I was away. So, my editor was able to get me all my pages back for edits before my trip and now it’s done.

Of course, being done doesn’t mean that I have all this free time again. Some how, I line up job after job and it’s time to start on the next one. In this case, it’s game development related rather than game writing related. At least I have some variety.

I recently got two new games. The first is Battlefield 2142. I’ve played it 30 minutes here and there with the guys in the Tres office. But it wasn’t until this weekend that I brought it home to fool with. Now I can’t put it down. The second game, FEAR Extraction Point, is sitting on my desk waiting for installation. However, I can’t stop playing BF2142.

Looks like it’s time for me to learn about serving games. I have an idea that I am putting into action for the MODSonline.com website. The idea is to allow the members of the site to upload their custom game content and be able to play it right then and there. The trick is that I don’t have any game server experience.

Every time I have some free time, I’m working on getting the game servers working well. You’d think that running a server was simple, and perhaps it is when the server is sitting in your house. However, I am trying to administrate a server that I don’t fully own. It’s a sponsored server which means I can only access what they allow me to access.

The project entails three important functions, the third of which has me open to any ideas or suggestions you are willing to offer:

1. Provide a means for the members to upload their content to me so that I can then dispurse it among the servers appropriately. This is really pretty simple since I have most of the code already in place for the downloads section of the website. Basically, I just allow members to upload their content and I send it out to two locations. One is the server for serving the content and the other is to the web server where other members can download the content being served.
2. Dispursal of the content. Once the content is uploaded, I need to copy it to the game server. Again, I have experience with pushing files around via FTP and other methods without having to physically be the one to do it. In otherwords, I have scripts that can do it all for me.
3. This is the part with which I have issues. I need to restart the server so the uploaded content is available to the players. I can rewrite the configurations files and FTP them to the server, but physically restart the server means I have to login somewhere and then press the reset button. Remember, I don’t own the server so I don’t have the means of automating this process the way I could on the web server which I do own. Hopefully I can come up with a solution.

Keep an eye on the MODsonline.com website for the release of these new features. Or, keep an eye on this site for records of my disasterous attempts at getting it to work.

There is a process that occurs when writing a book. Not a personal process, but one defined by the publisher who’s hired you to do the writing. As you write the book, you provide the publisher with your written pages in 25% increments. This way they know you are actually getting the work done and they aren’t sitting on their hands waiting for nothing. Also, this gives them the opportunity to take each submission and pass it on down the editing line.

The editing line consists of a few people. First the writer types the content onto the pages. Then the technical editor makes sure that what you have written actually does what you say it will do. Next, the copy editor checks the grammar, spelling and other related things so that what you are saying makes sense to everyone that reads it. After that, the copy makes it back to me, the author, where I can make sure those edits are what I want in the book. Last, the book goes through printing.

Well, a few days ago I received an email from my editor (the person that signed me to contract) asking about the cover art and some of the items that will end on the CD media in the back of the book. The email mentioned that she needed to get these items in soon. “Soon?”, I replied. “Should I be worried that I haven’t received the pages for my final edit?” She says, “Nah, they aren’t due until the 16th.”

The 16th, as it turns out, is in about 10 days. That means I have less than 10 days to go through 326 plus pages that I haven’t yet received. Looks like my vacation is just about over. (See, the vacation part is funny because I already have three other jobs. lol.)