Bits and Pieces Vol. 9

Hello Alex,

How are things going on your end ? Things have been wonderfully average here. It is easy to complain about the average-ness of your life, but I am cherishing it right now. No dramas, no major problems and no war. How fragile things are in life. Moving on to...

Robservations

I used to write-in to Robert Meyer Burnett and his Robservations show (on YouTube). But I have decided to stop. Mr. Burnett made some changes that made it impossible for me to watch his shows life. Which turned a fun activity into a chore. (Partially because it locked me out of the chat.) It also ruined the Discord chat for me. So I left and wrote Mr. Burnett a letter saying that I was out. Speaking of writing...

Rewriting

I finished the corrections on Chess Games in Cairo. The good news is that they take as didn't long as I expected. The bad news is that they covered only a third of the novel. So now I'm trying to get my editor to give me notes on the rest of it. (I don't have an official editor, just a friend who did me a favor. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that he'll have time to read the rest.)

MGM/Amazon Deal

Meanwhile, it turned out that my decision to stop writing Stargate fan-fiction was indeed well-timed. The MGM/Amazon deal was approved by the EU this week and the Federal Trade Commission led the deadline for acting action lapse. The thing is.....they were missing a member. 

This is because his appointment is deadlocked in some committee. So they didn't really have a choice. For once, bureaucracy and political infighting actually worked in favor of a fandom. So I am not complaining. Now all the fans - including yours truly - have to do, is poke Amazon into making new Stargate. 

And that's all I have for today,

Best Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)

Bits and Pieces Vol. 8

Hello Alex,

It's been a while since I've written a letter. February has been short, but also stormy. And that has been in more ways then one. The Netherlands was hit by three storms in the early days of the month. Fortunately, my apartment came through in one piece. But the current "storm" unfolding in the Ukraine is far worse and darker. Which brings me to...

My Day Job

I normally don't bore people with my day job. I pay the rent and other bills with euros earned at Cycloon Post. In the morning, I push paper and my afternoon is spent doing work with the sorting team. First I do set-up and then I pitch in. Anyway, we stopped sending packages to Russia and Ukraine this week. And something tells me that this is just the start of the war leaking in...

Fan Fiction and other writing

Tomorrow, I'll start the Chess Games in Cairo rewrite. Today, I'm going to enjoy some down time playing Mass Effect 3. I'm almost done, so I'm hoping that I should be able to finish it today. 

On the fan fiction front, I have finished Stargate: Dark Empire and replaced it by Space: 2029 - Earthbound. 

But with the rewrite taking up most on my time, this new project will be on the back burner.

Next Letter

And that's all I have for now. I do have some things in the incubator in the back of my mind. They're not ready to discuss yet. But with a bit of luck, it won't be another month before my next letter/entry is written.

Regards,

Ruben A. Hilbers (Commander Nash)