It’s tax season, and boy do I have things to say about it

Today I’m not blogging about the books or about writing, but about the dreaded annual American pastime of tax preparation. (If you’re not American, chances are that tax preparation for you is a much simpler, and possibly even automatic, process.)

If you’re like most Americans though, you probably get anxious just thinking about tax season and the necessary paperwork involved. Chances are you’ve probably also used paid software like H&R Block or Intuit’s TurboTax. After all, these services provide convenient tools to expedite the tax process… right?

Living abroad, tax filing for me is an especially arduous process. I’m required by the US government to report foreign earnings as well as any money made in the US. Of course, this includes Amazon book sales and PayPal donations. For years, TurboTax seemed like the best option to handle all of these details. After all, it was only about $40 per year to purchase the software.

Well, this year I ran into major problems. For whatever reason, the 2018 software was incredibly buggy and slow, and update downloads sometimes took hours to complete. I actually had to shut the software down multiple times since it completely froze my computer. It was so frustrating that I decided that next year I’d try some other option and abandon TurboTax altogether. So, while waiting for the program to perform one of its many hours-long updates, I did some digging online.

And this is when I found out the ugly truth behind TurboTax: It’s parent company, Intuit, actively lobbies in congress to make the tax filing process as complicated as possible. In 2016, for example, they spent $2 million on lobbying. This money was primarily spent to fight a bill that would pave the way for a free, automatic tax-filing service. The reason for all the lobbying? Simple. Easier tax filing would rob these companies of their customers. (According to their own fiscal reports, Intuit made $5.2 billion in 2017 alone.)

Of course, this isn’t the only example of big companies throwing money at government entities to protect their interests. Cigarette companies, big pharma, and weapons manufacturers all play the same games.

This blog post isn’t meant to be political in any way, or to suggest any kind of reform or boycott. After all, we all know the only solution to these problems is a completely clean slate, where corrupt governments, lobbyists, and greedy corporations don’t exist. Still, I find it especially frustrating to know that even a simple thing like a piece of software is really just another cog in the greed machine.

Can’t wait for the end!

(If you’d like to read up more on the subject, check out these articles: Vox & NBC)

New podcast epsiode

If you've ever tried working on a creative project but weren't feeling at all inspired, you'll know the struggle I describe in this episode. Fortunately, over the years I've found some helpful tips for navigating those times, and describe them here. Enjoy!

On a roll!

So I'm going to be cautiously optimistic and make it official: I'm on a roll with the writing of the final installment of the FLEE series, STAND. It can be a tricky thing to determine if momentum on such a large project is temporary or stable, but I'm feeling pretty good about this book after taking a few months off after The Bloom of Youth. I'm back on track and hitting daily writing goals and it feels great. There's still plenty of work left on it but we're still looking good for a late Summer release, so stay tuned!

In the meantime, check out the newest podcast episode. I've been asked in the past about the tools I use to write novels, and while I've talked here before about MacJournal, I thought a video of me actually navigating the program would be helpful. Enjoy!

On a roll...?

It's been a productive last couple of weeks. I've set clear writing targets for the last book in the FLEE series, STAND, and have really been motivated to progress with the story. As I mentioned in the last podcast, it's proving a real challenge to connect and conclude the story lines and character arcs introduced in previous books while moving the general plot of the series forward. But we're getting there, and it feels really good!

I've also been chipping away the the newest podcast episode when I have some spare time ("chipping away" meaning working on the illustrations for the video). My drawing skills aren't great and my digital drawing skills are even worse, but perhaps with time and practice the quality will improve some. In the meantime, I hope you can enjoy the illustrations, messy though they are.

This latest podcast episode, number 14, answers some of the questions I've gotten regarding the latest book, The Bloom of Youth, and in particular, whether or not Will's experiences parallel my own as a teen. Enjoy!

Podcast Episode #13 is here along with a sneak peak...

Yep, a new podcast. This one answers some of my most commonly asked questions regarding the FLEE series and also offers a sneak peak of the last book’s cover and title. Enjoy!

New podcast

Hi all! As promised, the new podcast episode is here!

In this episode I offer some suggestions for improving creative writing, and specifically descriptive writing for fiction. So if writing's your thing, definitely give it a look!

I tried something a little different with this episode and did some drawings for the different sections. I realize that this makes it a bit less of a ‘podcast’ and more of a standard YouTube video, but I think it makes the visual aspect of it a lot more interesting. If you like/don’t like the change, feel free to let me know!

Still here...

Hi all, and whew has it been a long time since my last post! I try to update this blog at least once a month, but lately... well, that hasn't happened.

Actually, there isn't much to report, but I wanted to pop in and let you all know that I'm still alive and kicking, and that the third book of the FLEE series is still underway. Additionally, I've got a new podcast episode in the works, so you can keep an eye out for that. (I actually wrote and recorded episode #12 and was about halfway through editing it when I accidentally lost all of my video files, so I'll have to start that one over, but it should be coming soon!)

Aside from all this, there's been plenty of interesting correspondence coming in. In the early days of writing these books, I'd get maybe one or two emails every couple of months, but as the catalog of novels has grown [and readership along with it], it's not uncommon to have new messages waiting each morning. I try to reply promptly to each and every message, but some require a bit more time and thought to form a proper response. So if you've written recently and haven't yet heard back, I'm not ignoring you... :)

As always, thanks so much for your patience, messages, and reviews on Amazon. All of it is greatly appreciated!