Public Appearances Give Opportunities

Song in Head: orchestral theme for the movie "Encanto"

After my last Barnes & Noble book signing in American Fork, I was able to go to another one in Orem the following weekend. I’ve requested to be at B & N in such a way that I basically go to both stores every 4-5 months. It's not a crazy amount of time, but it's definitely worth it when I can go. The last visit in Orem showed me how getting yourself out there can give you great opportunities that you just wouldn't have gotten otherwise. For example, a professor from a college approached me to speak in front of her writing class sometime next semester. I’m grateful for that. And then there was a local writing group that came in for a meetup, I was able to talk to the group and even join it!

For those who weren’t able to come to the signing in Orem Utah, my book will be available there for a few more months to buy! Come on in and get a copy, the pic of the book's location is above.

I don't expect people to believe that I’m the next best author, in fact I feel like my writing skills are lacking compared to a lot of professional writers. But the very thought that I'm out there trying my best to show people that I’m at least more serious about my writing, while going to school, and being a parent, counts for something. I've noticed that last week I was able to talk and transcribe my next novel to my phone a few times. I actually got through and finished a chapter. Now I’m thinking, oh I have to write beyond this part. I didn't have anything planned as of yet after this chapter, so what do I write now? I mean, I have a tiny outline, in terms of the location, but not much else. 

My brain has been focusing so much on my python college class that I've barely thought about a crazy amount of other things, besides the one other gaming class that I have which has me basically playing a game for 2 hours and then writing about it. That is actually one of the activities I enjoy doing a lot, writing about games. I've tried to get myself to write for gaming websites, but whenever I've applied for positions, I've always got the email back saying that basically I wasn't good enough. One day I'll write well enough that I could potentially write for those websites, I know it. If anyone is interested in reading what I think about certain games, you can go to my blog at: www.kurtless.com/blog

I want to be in the game industry, I want to have jobs that are in the industry, even if it isn't paying me a whole lot of money. Sometimes I worry I may never be good enough, the key is always trying to get better, slowly but surely. My wife is the one that is working full time for our family right now, and I hope one day that I'll be able to take those reins over. In the past my wife didn't know what was more enjoyable or harder, staying at home with the kids, or working a full-time job. I think she's at the point now that she would actually like staying home with the kids, and I feel like I would actually like to work more. This is the case for my family. I know that a lot of families are different in regards to who works, sometimes one spouse enjoys being with their kids during the day more than the other. 

I'm happy that the next novel I'm writing is going along. Every month I'm getting down one chapter in a super rough draft form. I’m more than halfway done with the 1st rough draft, it feels kind of strange. The last couple chapters are foreign thoughts to me. I'm not quite sure how the confrontation between the big bad and our gang of heroes will play out. I want to make sure that there is a real payoff, not just after the big bad could potentially be defeated, but stories that happen to the characters afterwards as well. Having a big payoff is something I've been pondering about because I want to make sure the reader gets what they deserve by the end of the book, a satisfying ending. I'll still be focusing on my python class, but I'll let ya’ll know about any future updates that will be forthcoming. I hope you are doing well and that ya’ll have a great two more weeks, until we meet again!

Sincerely, 

Kurt Jensen