Wednesday 24 September 2014

Author Follow Fest '14

By random chance, I stumbled upon "Follow Fest '14" earlier this week on Twitter.  Coordinated by Melissa Maygrove, it's a chance to connect with other writers during the week of Sep 22-26.  Feel free to join in yourself, the instructions are here, and if I've done this right, the "Blog Hop" is below.


My responses to the questions are as follows. Apologies in advance for kind of breaking them... I like to think I defy categorization.

Name: Gregory Taylor

Fiction or nonfiction?  Fiction.  (Though my math web serial involved actual math, and I also write a non-fiction education column for MuseHack.)

What genres do you write?  Urban Fantasy.  (aka, I take real life and mix in time travel. Or magic. Or whatever.)

Are you published? No. Nor actively seeking. (Passively, maybe.)

Do you do anything in addition to writing?
Editing for friends (and myself). I’ve also drawn for my own web serial. And I teach high school mathematics.


"I'm going to read your thoughts!"
Tell us a little about yourself:
Late thirties, married, no children yet. Live in Canada, my in-laws are in France. I roleplay. I have seen every episode of Star Trek, and I watch Doctor Who - time travel is cool. For 52 weeks, I posted #AMVFriday on Twitter, because anime. I hate beans, chilli makes me physically ill. I rewrite pop music songs to have mathematical lyrics, and I perform them in my classes. I’m a little weird.

What are you reading right now?
  Shadows Over Sheradan by Scott Barker

Which authors influenced you the most?
That’s a tough one. Going back to high school, I suppose Piers Anthony. Add Douglas Adams, with some Madeleine L’Engle. Then the mystery genre, so Agatha Christie, Eric Wilson, the pen name Franklin W. Dixon, and the like. 

Where can people connect with you?

Oh boy.  Okay...
Blog 1: Personified Math Serial
Blog 2: Choose-My-Own Adventure Serial
Blog 3: Everything else (you’re here now!)
Static Website: Writing Page here

Twitter: @mathtans
Facebook: Personified Math (permanent hiatus)
Goodreads: I have an account, keep meaning to use it.
Google+: Rarely use it, but check here.
LinkedIn: I lurk there.
Pinterest: No.
Tumblr: No.

Do you have a newsletter? No.  (Already busy enough.)

Is there anything else you’d like us to know?

Owing to the day job, I’m a lot more active in the summer. The rest of the year, I tend to spontaneously show up in a forum/chat for a week, then vanish. Particularly around report card time. I'm not being dismissive; keep poking me.

I did once participate in a JulNoWriMo (November, hahahaha, no) and while I managed over 50,000 words, I found it not to my taste - I can’t stop myself from editing as I go. I'm better at serials, since once it's out there, I stop fiddling with it.

Speaking of, I am always looking for anyone who feels like voting in my current ongoing serial.  Thanks for reading to the end!



22 comments:

  1. My mom is a retired teacher, so I *get* your pain.

    I chuckled at your comments about NaNo. I don't do it (*shudders*), but I posted about it once. You might find the how-to-quiet-the-self-editor-while-drafting advice helpful.
    http://melissamaygrove.blogspot.com/2013/11/speed-writing-eleventh-hour-help-for.html

    Anyhow, thanks for joining the fest. :)

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    1. Thanks! I have thought of that idea of placeholders, and have resorted to it on occasion if I don't want to disrupt my flow (mostly for rewriting song lyrics). I think part of me feels like if I go back to readjust things, I'll never stop, always finding things I don't like.

      Though speaking of revisions, I'm wondering why I used "Author" in my header last night instead of "Writer". *shakes head* Reminds me of this post by a friend: http://sonalchampsee.com/2014/05/30/a-writer-or-an-author/

      At any rate, thanks for running the fest!

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  2. My high school junior is sucking at algebra right now. I have no idea how to get him out of his rut. Plus, I'm not the most patient person so I commend you at being a teacher!
    You are quite busy!

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    1. Thank you! Interestingly, I don't know if I'd have the patience for grade school - once they're teenagers, they (in theory) know enough to know better. All the best with the algebra... it can be tough. Sometimes manipulatives like algebra tiles and the like can help.

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  3. I bet you're a fun math teacher! Don't know if you're aware of it, but NaNo has a summer version called Camp NaNo....

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    1. I do seem to have a reputation. Did a quick search, wasn't aware... the flexibility in the dates and word count seems nice, but for me it tends to come back to not wanting to have to edit it later.

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  4. I wish you'd been my math teacher. It's never been my best subject, but I do quite well when it's applied to something that I connect with. Like I aced physics, but slept through a lot of algebra classes. Humor and song would have helped :)

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    1. I struggled a bit with physics - 3D reasoning isn't my forte. If some of my students are like you though, hopefully I'm helping them out! If I ever find the time, I'll probably upload more of them to my YouTube.

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  5. Dr. Who is the best, and I'm glad to hear you're a mathematician who isn't too much of a stickler for scientific purism because that show makes some of my sciency friends (humorless sticks-in-the-mud) sooo crazy. LOL.

    I'm with you in the NaNo being a really terrible time of year for anyone who has to deal with an academic schedule. November is always super-busy!

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    1. Ha! In my opinion, a good time travel plot forgives all scientific oddities. Granted, I will occasionally pick apart paradoxes and characterization (and have done in posts here) but it keeps me invested.

      Fun fact, the first NaNo wasn't in November (I think August?). But yeah, maybe it was academics who created some of the splinter groups other times of the year!

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  6. So glad we stopped by! You have quite the sense of humor... I guess you would have to be, to be a teacher!

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    1. I'm glad you did too, and even commented! I like that my sense of humour somehow comes across in a post like this. I suppose I had it before the teaching started.

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  7. Yes. Time Travel. I really think we need it more than ever. Lots of stuff to go back and fix, then lots to go forward and see if the fix worked.

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    1. Aha, well, now you're entering the interesting realm of paradoxes. Logically, either:
      1) We can't change it, or at least we can't in this universe/time track.
      2) We'll change it, along with our memories, thereby not realizing things changed, and so will want to continue changing things, seeking unattainable perfection. Potentially getting stuck in a time loop.
      3) We'll find that "fixing" things causes it's own set of problems, not the least of which is we won't be able to learn from our mistakes. It all happens for a reason, probably.

      Sorry, probably brought "the serious" to a lighthearted comment there, but I've been writing about time travel since before high school, so it tends to make me babble. :)

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  8. Hi Gregory. I was an elementary teacher for a decade, so I feel you. Especially at report card time. I now teach preschool, less report cards, more bodily fluids. Everything's a trade off. Great to meet you through Follow Fest!

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    1. Thanks for the feels! And more power to you - I think I'd rather have the report cards? It's all perspective. Glad you stopped by/commented!

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  9. My sons love math! Me? Um...yeah, it doesn't like me! :)
    I want to do Nano this year, but I edit as I go, too. I don't know how to "not" edit.
    Still, I may give it a try.
    Nice to meet you!

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    1. Let me say that I like the way you put that -- too many people say they "don't like math" which I think sends the wrong message. Maybe the right equation just hasn't found you yet!
      All the best with NaNo if you try it, editing and all. (It's impossible to turn off, isn't it?) Though participating is the reason I started the blog, so there's always that. Thanks for participating!

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  10. Great to meet you through Follow Fest. Your math lyric parodies are cracking me up. Thanks for that. :)

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    1. Thank you so much for letting me know! :D You actually have no idea how much I needed that smile, this week has been draining. I also don't get many blue haired squirrels here, so there's that too.

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  11. Time travel?You have my attention!Nice to see new faces this year!

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    1. Cool! Now if only my future self would send me a message, so that I know how to best make use of this attention? Ah well, I like to think it all works out in the end. Love that you're working on the diversity angle, by the way - it's something I wonder about, but don't think I know enough to do properly.

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