First Post

FEA and POV

I flatter myself in my uniqueness. I'm not the best at anything. In fact, if I pick a skill, I can probably name someone who does it better than I do. Most people could probably say the same thing. I'm fine with that, but I also tell myself that nobody combines my skills and attributes into the same person the exact way I do. For instance, no father of one in graduate school who reads as much as fantasy as I do also rides their bike as much. Or how about this: I'm pretty sure my homemade pizza is better than anyone else's who plays Wii Fit as often as me. The former is that good, and the latter is that often.
Not stuff for Guinness, I know, but who cares?  When you put all my demographics, skills and relationships together, you get someone who is different from the other seven billion people living on the planet. And like a key to a lock, there's a place and a purpose in this world that I'm meant for. The same is true for all of you (or just you, Lynda, if you're the only one who ends up reading this). I can't prove it, but I've seen plenty evidence of it in my own life and I encourage you to look for it in yours. You fit somewhere, I promise.
That said, seven billion is a big number, and I sometimes wonder who out there shares some of my quirkier combinations. So I'm starting this blog. For those of you who don't know FEA stands for finite element analysis, the tool engineers use to the laws of physics to complex situations. For those of you who knew that already, POV means point of view and is something writers and readers obsess about constantly in the pursuit of a good story. I spend a lot of time thinking about engineering and a lot of time thinking about story telling and I've told myself for a long time that no one else does that.

I could be wrong. Maybe I am. If that's the case, maybe this blog will put me in contact with the vast community of engineers who hope to get their fiction published. Whether or not that happens, I'll still do my best to describe the challenges of writing a novel from a perspective whose uniqueness has yet to be disproven. I hope you like it. (and buy my book when it comes out)

I'll end with a little bio. I'm working on my Masters in Mechanical Engineering and putting a middle and an end to my second novel. I'm married to a woman who is almost as unique as I am and still finds ways to surprise and delight me after four years. My son turned one last month and life is generally good. I'll try to post often enough for this to be interesting.