My Big Career Change

Unlearning to code

I’ve been meaning to do an update, but there was a big thing brewing that I thought I should wait for it to settle first. Well, it has, so here we go.

I’m not sure how many people are aware of this, but writing has always been a side thing for me. I’m a computer engineer — and a very good one. For the past five years, I’ve had the greatest day job. I loved the work, had an inhumanly great boss, made good money, and was very happy. I like writing, though, so my habit has been for years to get up at 5 am, drink some coffee and read, and then spend a couple of hours writing — working on my novels and other writing projects (like this Substack). This seemed ideal to me: I have a responsible day job that supports my family, and I can just do writing I enjoy and not worry too much about how successful it is. So after I left The Babylon Bee, I was very content with the idea I’d just do this Substack and my novels on the side and continue to rely on my programming for my income.

Those modest plans got all blowed up.

The Daily Wire has hired me to work full-time for them to help write original programming for them such as children’s shows and sitcoms. I’ll be working along with Ethan Nicolle and Eric Branscum (who were the brains behind the Bee’s animations and video sketches before they left). I already was helping part-time, but it’s a big job, and I’ve gone and quit the programming job I love to change careers and work on this full-time. I was not looking to be a full-time writer, but now I’m going to get to help create and write for multiple TV shows alongside friends of mine. I kind of had to go for this.

Man, though, a career change at my age almost feels like a mid-life crisis. So this is exciting and terrifying for me. I mean, supporting my family will now be dependent on me coming up with weird, funny ideas rather than the useful, marketable skill I went to college for. But the Daily Wire is getting together a dream team of people hungry to make great content, and I think we could all make something really special.

Anyway, wish me luck. And a prayer or two wouldn’t hurt (I know I’m praying). But this could be great. We’re already working on a lot of cool stuff (though it will probably be a while until I can tell you about any of it).

So, I guess a question you might have is how will this affect my side-writing. That is a good question. We’ll find out. I don’t think I will continue to get up at 5 am to do a couple of hours of writing on the side before my day creative job because that could potentially fry my brain. Still, I plan to keep this Substack as my space to play around in (and I’m still aiming for at least two posts a week), and I have novels to finish (like the fourth and final Superego). We’ll see how that works out.

Novels Update

I do have two completed novels you’re probably waiting on updates on. My wife, the lovely and talented SarahK, has finished her pass on Superego: Betrayal, and I’ve gone through her edits and notes. I’ve now passed it on to another editor just to give it one more pass for typos and such. The final and complete novel should be out later this month. And then we’ll have to hit the media and tell everyone. Except I now work for the media.

As for Hellbender 2, that is in the hands of SarahK, who is doing the alpha read and making some notes. After she is done, I will post on here looking for people who want to volunteer to be beta readers (and all paid subscribers will get access to the beta version regardless). I think this one is extra double funny, and I’m very excited for people to finally get to read it.

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Well, that’s my update. Thanks again for being a part of my Substack. Continue to be a part of this for more news on my novels, short stories, and — in the near future — TV shows.