As of today I’ve officially been writing this blog for two years. I thought it might be helpful for readers new and old alike to get the answers to some common questions about the blog, myself and anything else that might come up:
Who is “the little red-haired girl”?
Well aside from being Charlie Brown’s favorite obsession, it’s one of several affectionate nicknames for my beautiful wife. And yes, she does have red hair. She’s also my editor. I kinda got the whole package.
What is your next book?
The book I’m currently working on (and yes I’m getting back to it shortly) is Surreality, a noir/technological murder mystery due to release sometime in the first half of this year.
What does “DM” stand for and what is it?
DM stands for Dark Matter and is the working title of another book in the pipeline, a science-fiction action adventure story. I finished the rough draft of this in 2011 at 200K words, though I plan to significantly rewrite it when I have the opportunity. Dark Matter is the working title in part because as it turns out there are a number of books and even a video game or two with that title, so I will likely change it, but maybe not.
What is a fractal?
Well, for starters my masthead is a fractal. Your brain is a fractal. Every tree is a fractal. It’s all fractals man!
A lot of you came to my site from this post, so you may at least have an idea or curiosity about fractals.
A fractal is a category of mathematical shapes or objects, with a variety of methods for drawing or defining those shapes. All fractals have two main properties: self-similarity and infinite complexity. Infinite complexity means the fractal is, well, infinite. You can zoom in to smaller and smaller portions of the fractal and it will still look as complex or craggy as it does at a higher level. Self-similarity means that one part of a fractal looks a lot like another part (they may even be identical). Here’s a good demonstration of both concepts working together:
Fractals can be used to model nature, or create mathematical art. It’s the art bit I probably like the most, and drawing them is a fun programming challenge (probably why I wrote a book about it 🙂 ).
How do you pronounce your name?
True-bee. NOT Troob. Trube or not trube.
How long is your beard?
Beards cannot be measured only in inches (or feet) but in the memories they carry. So about 7 inches from my chin to the tip.
What is AGFV?
A Game Forever Voyaging was a brief recurring feature in the first year of the blog. Due to a reduced interest and the amount of work that tended to go into each post these are on semi-permanent hiatus. Getting old games to work on modern systems is still a favorite hobby of mine, and if something particularly interesting comes along I might share it (or if you have any requests). I still do quite a bit of technical posts, but these tend to center more on the creation and formatting of eBooks, which is a little more germane to my self-publishing audience.
What happened to CFML?
The Consumers for Fariness in Manufacturing and Labor was another early hallmark of the blog, and one I’m proud of. I still think from time to time about the ways to think about where our products come from and what we can do to encourage fair wages for those who make them. It’s a complex problem and one that needs highlighting so you may see me back in this space again. You can still read all the posts here.
What’s up with all the acronyms BTW?
Blame IVCF. Seriously.
What is your day job?
I am a developer for [a mid to big engineering company]. I work largely in Java, Javascript and C# development for a particular software product or other utilities our team needs. I learned programming with Visual Basic and C++ and still have a strong fondness for both of those languages.
Where are you?
I live in Columbus, OH. I work in Delaware, OH. Both are at about the middle of the state (Columbus is the capital). My state is spelled O-H-I-O!
Who’s this Brian person I keep hearing about?
Don’t bother with him, he’s bad news. Actually he’s my good friend and fellow writer (and occasional anime fakesub partner). He blogs over at BrianDBuckley.com.
Do you do guest posts?
Maybe, but realistically probably not. I’d like to sometime, but each writing year only seems to get busier with projects.
Do you take requests?
Absolutely, in fact if you have any more questions and want to write them in the comments, I might just answer them.
[BTW] : Ben Trube, Writer 
True or false: if your beard gets taller than your wife it will initiate the Beardpocalypse