Timeout from Fiction

Lately, I've had to step away from my fiction in support of a new effort -- I've become a teacher!

Saturday mornings, I teach a class that helps prepare candidates to take the CISSP exam (CISSP stands for Certified Information Systems Security Professional). This is a class that teaches the students what a corporate, enterprise security model/plan should be and what security subjects they should understand thoroughly to be able to pass the exam.

Basically, it's a class on network security. I've been teaching it the past few Saturdays and I've got a bunch more weeks to go (8, I think). Because of this new job, I've stepped away from the fiction while I draft up my training materials (which takes a while to create).

It's a shame because, while I've paused the physical act of writing, I'm still getting barraged with story ideas on a daily basis. Each morning when I drive to work, I see at least ONE thing that puts an idea in my head. Whether it be someone walking, someone driving, an unassuming tree sticking out of the FEET of snow we've recently fallen victim to in the northeast or the way some garbage was strewn about the street.

So, what's an author to do? Well, I've been keeping copious notes so that I don't miss an idea. Unfortunately, it's going to be a while before I can start to pound them out at the keyboard.

By then, I hope I can still read my chicken scratch.

-Jack