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Some New Things for 2026

the blue fire synthesis book cover

With everything that’s going on right now, I feel a bit awkward coming here to talk about stuff I’m working on or to “promote” things. Still, if you do make things or have project you’re proud of, or whatever, I guess you shouldn’t feel weird telling people about them. Maybe. I don’t know. It still feels kinda weird. Anyway . . .

I’m happy to report on a couple good things I’ve been working on. First, let’s talk about the novel. Yes, I finished the first book in the trilogy I’m writing.

It’s called The Blue Fire Synthesis (that’s the cover above) and it’s available at Amazon right now. I know, some people have issues with Amazon. I’m not in love with them either. They do make publishing a book relatively easy, so that’s something.

As this is my first “published” novel I wanted to get it out there in as simple a way as possible. I also wanted the chance to reach the largest audience possible. For good or ill, that’s Amazon KDP. So, that’s what I did.

At the moment, there’s only a Kindle version. A print version is coming soon. Just waiting for the cover elements and then it’s good to go.

I’m currently around 50K words into the second book of the trilogy, so look for that to come out later this year. The third book I’m trying to get done by the end of 2026. Just in time for the holidays!

It will make a great stocking stuffer. Heck, get all three! A set for each of you! Let’s go!

And hey, if you like the first book (or even like me a little bit) I’d sincerely appreciate a rating or a review. If you’re up for it. Thanks!

Okay, so what’s the other thing? Well, as many of you know, I love coffee. So, H and I decided to start a coffee company. Well, it was mostly her. I helped a little.

It’s called Divergent Grounds and we have coffee (shocking) and tea. The site is still a work in progress, so I apologize for the state of it. Right now, it’s more of a soft launch, but we’re working on it.

But the coffee is great and you should get some and try it. You won’t be disappointed. Roasted to order and shipped pretty much anywhere. Enjoy!

Okay, that’s it for now. Try to stay kind and be excellent to each other. And, of course, May the Fourth Be With You!

Initial Reactions to the Amazon Fire TV

Amazon-Fire-TV-1

As you may have heard, Amazon released the Fire TV this week, it’s own competitor to the Apple TV and other living room devices like the Roku. Because I’m a fan of all-things tech and love pretty much any excuse to check out a new gadget, I ordered one on the day of release.

It arrived yesterday. Over the last 24 hours I’ve had a chance to play with it a little bit and thought I would report my initial reactions.

The Fire TV ships in Amazon’s “Frustration Free” packaging, which is always a plus with me. I love how easy it is to get the box open, find all the pieces and start to get the device set up. The Fire TV box contains the device itself (a small, black box), a small power adaptor, a remote control with batteries and an instruction booklet.

It does not come with an HDMI cable, or any other way to connect the Fire TV to your TV. But that shouldn’t come as any surprise. Fortunately, I have a healthy supply of cables at home, so this was no problem at all. But don’t forget to buy one if you don’t have one already.

Physical setup was a breeze. Simply connect the power adaptor to the device and a power outlet, the HDMI cable to your TV and the device powers up and gets going. As you might expect, the first thing the device wants is an Internet connection. I decided to connect the Fire TV to my wireless network, mostly because I wanted to see how it handled streaming 1080p content that way.

Navigating through the device’s menu for connection to my wireless network was very easy using the included remote. The Fire TV found my network immediately and once I entered the password using the remote and onscreen keyboard, it connected the first time and I was online. So far, so good.

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