ʕ⊙ᴥ⊙ʔ Sam Hawken, writer-guy

The beginning.

I wrote my first blog entry in the spring of 1999. There was a shiny new site called Livejournal that all my friends were crazy for, so I thought I’d join the frenzy. What followed has been twenty-five years of thoughts and discussion over various platforms and domain names. Finally, I landed here.

I don’t much care for complicated things. Snazzy graphics. Animations. I work with words, and those are the things I find the most comforting. A good book is better than a good movie. Or at least it should be because it can be interpreted in any way your brain sees fit. As Harlan Ellison said, “A book is the perfect cassette.”

Though I’ve been a professional author for fifteen years, I do not claim expertise or wisdom. I’m as much in the dark as anyone about what makes a successful writing career. Even when it comes to the act of writing itself, I still find it a mystery. I sit in front of the keyboard, and… things happen. There’s nothing more I can add to that.

This site reflects me and where I am in my life right now—stripped down. Unadorned. It’s just you and me and the words. I like it that way.

As we progress, I can only promise to be consistently inconsistent. Sometimes, long stretches will pass without a word. That’s the way writing works. When it comes, it comes. When it doesn’t… well, you understand.

Let’s begin.