Part of what I’ve been doing since changing jobs back in October 2008 is helping my boss move forward with a non-profit that he’s been working on for the last few years. The name of the organization is Brilliant Life, and the goal of the organization is to improve lives and change technology by providing technology training and careers to individuals who aren’t being given a chance to pursue those careers today. That includes juvenile and adult offenders, the homeless, displ... Read Full Story

Flickr photo by fiskfisk On Thursday, I got word that my story, “Castaway,” will be published in the Summer issue of the Boston Literary Magazine. The story is a recent creation, and a “literary” one at that, meaning that it doesn’t feature werewolves, vampires, private eyes, mobsters, purveyors of “the worlds most dangerous game”, hobbits, or quantum physicists from the future. Of course, I have found myself writing in and across most genres over th... Read Full Story

…well, it’s like nothing else. Nothing at all. I am amazed, overjoyed, humbled, anxious, scared and excited–often all at the same time–every single day. My Son, whom I immortalized here holding a Spurs foam finger In Utero and who, pictured above, at 8 days old is already skilled at the Satrom-Heck Art of Fist Bumping (SHAFB), was born at St. Francis Medical Center in Colorado Springs, CO on March 20th at 4:25 p.m. The delivery didn’t exactly go to our birth pl... Read Full Story

Perhaps I should have noted this three weeks ago. On February 13th, 2009, I finished the first draft of my novel, The Siege of Thaddeus Wilkes. 5 months (if you count planning and outlining, which I do), 128,000 words and 563 pages later, I have something that just might be something. One day. For now, I can’t really describe what it felt like to finish. It was euphoria mixed with fatigue, I suppose, since I finished at 2 a.m. on a Friday night and promptly climbed into bed. What̵... Read Full Story

The March issue of Niteblade magazine is out and my story “Guzman’s Labyrinth” is contained within. If you haven’t checked out Niteblade before, I’d highly recommend it. Great fiction, reviews and poetry in the horror and fantasy vein. There is a free version of the issue up on the site, and an add-free PDF available for a couple of bucks, which is a great way to support the magazine. One of my favorite things about the magazine is that the editor works with a g... Read Full Story

The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. Pearl Buck, The Joy of Children, 1964 Read Full Story

If I could summarize 2008 as I saw it in one word, I think it would be this one: Negativity. From politics to economics to religion. From publishing to the arts to culture. From one topic to the next, it seems to me that more time was spent in 2008 talking about what is not rather than what is. More time talking about what’s wrong with the world than what’s right. More time focusing on our doom than our hope, which ought to be everlasting, by the way. I watched online communities ... Read Full Story

My sister Shauna and I ran a 12k this morning to kick off Thanksgiving in style. Nothing like a morning 12k to make for a guilt-free Thanksgiving. My dad and sister’s friend ran the 2-miler and my mom and Sarah walked the 2-miler. I sense a new tradition in the offing… Here’s the route (in beautiful Lubbock, TX): Turkey Trot (Running) | Lubbock, TX, USA Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!! - Satch Read Full Story

At one time or another, I had intended to post a daily update of my progress with NaNoWriMo this year. HA! Intentions are great, no? Lesson #1 on the Words of Redemption blog: Don’t listen to what Brandon says he plans to do until he actually does it. In any case, NaNoWriMo itself is going swimmingly. I hit 34,224 words this morning, putting me at 68% complete only fifteen days into the competition. The novel itself, which I estimate to be about 120k+ and take me well beyond December to... Read Full Story

Photo By: restlessglobetrotter NaNoWriMo is tomorrow. So, if you’re considering diving in, or already have, here are a few tips that helped me last year: 1) Meaningless dialogue that would NEVER EVER EVER make it into a published novel can do wonders for your word count. “What did you have for dinner?” “For dinner?I had the Chicken Stew that mom used to always make when we were kids.” “The Chicken Stew? Oh, I love that stew.” “Yeah, it’s ... Read Full Story