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That's just the way it is, Brandy. Welcome to the early 21st century. You go to the store to buy the four-pack of light bulbs you've bought for years, and all of a sudden they're not there anymore. They've been replaced by two-packs for the same price. That extra-large box of laundry detergent you used to buy that would last you all month is now suddenly somewhat smaller, with a new label that advertises "new packaging!" (hrmph!) That 52-ounce supersize drink you used to get at the fast food store and that would last you all day has suddenly become a 48-ounce, or maybe they don't even offer it anymore and all you can get is a 36-ounce large ... which isn't 36-ounce anymore but 28 or 24-ounce. That's how a beloved full-size Volvo can suddenly turn into a frumpy little Lada, Brandy. At least you're smart enough to have noticed it. Many people don't. They're too busy on their PDAs, or tablets, or cell phones, or have their earbuds permanently stuck in their ears as they bebop along. Maybe they'll notice someday ... when they finally ARE reduced to those famous "two squares" of toilet paper, as one idiotic celebrity once put it, for doing their business.

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It's the end of the year for me, and I am about to embark on a well-worn ritual related to my real world job that I've had to do just over the past two decades. If you've read my bio in either of my most recently published books, then you know for whom I work. You will have also heard on the news, or will soon, that this is the busiest time of year for us -- and the report is correct. Things go crazy for us in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because of that, I'll be pulling a lot of overtime -- and that means I won't have the free time to both dabble in my personal hobbies as I'd prefer, or to cruise the Internet at will for long periods as I sometimes like to do. That also means updates to this site will become sporadic during this time. That's just the way it is, folks. I'm letting you know now, so certain of you won't have to wonder and say, "Hey, RMandel's quit updating his site!" It just means I'm hard at work at my real job, dealing with the annual end-of-year craziness that affects my choice of professions. That's all.

That's why I released that roll-up pack of Russian and Soviet era 3D vehicle models, as well as including a few new ones I was actually planning on saving for the next pack. That's why I'm working on wrapping up the current episode of Autumn Spring this weekend. That's why work on the current episode of Star Trek - New Vistas (STNV) has pretty much stalled. That's also why you won't be seeing any new model releases or re-releases of my old stuff until after that annual madness is over. I apologize in advance, but that's just the way it is. I know a lot of you go through the same thing in you own way this time of year, and that you understand. Maybe we can share a pint at the virtual bar once it's over, eh? (laugh)

------------------------------

I want to thank everybody for their support and words of encouragement, both for my activities here and especially with the publication of my two books, Projekt Regenschirm and The Hunt for Resident Evil 1.5. Such encouragement is one of the things that keeps me going. Your support also helps with other things, such as my completely unexpected encounter with cancer. That's one of the great things about dA, though. While there are cliques, while there is some snobbery, and while there are the bottom-trollers (just like everywhere else), most of us are simply fellow artists who have been looking for and have found such wonderful support here, regardless of level of talent. That didn't exist from where I came. Back there, it was a case of the privileged few always constantly dangling their carrots out for all those who they deemed to be the great unwashed, doing whatever they had to do to remain elite and always attacking anyone who even hinted at showing skills and talents comparable to theirs. Not so here. This place reminds me a lot of the traditional artists' clubs or colonies, or even an old-fashioned beatnik coffeehouse. Beatnik -- now THERE'S a word many of you have probably never heard used in your lifetime! (laugh) It comes from an older time. Look it up. Anyway, back to my point. In places like those, and like this, almost everyone reaches out and supports each other regardless of background or skill level. Those who are already artists or creators, or who want to become one, are thus encouraged in their respective fields of work, and thus their creative drives are given much-needed fuel. That's been my overall dA experience so far. I would have never written Projekt Regenschirm had I not come here. I might not have ever finished The Hunt for Resident Evil 1.5 had I not come here, and it would have probably ended up in the same situation as did my first published book, Service Games -- having to wait a couple of decades before events came about that would encourage me to finish it and get it published. Thankfully that didn't happen this time, and I have all of you to thank for it. Your support has always been appreciated, and it encourages me to go on.

I don't know what the year of 2019 (Gregorian calendar) holds in store for me. If it's anything like this year (2018), then it's going to be another wild and wooly ride. I know that I will enter that year a different person than I was at the start of this year. I am now officially an established published writer, with multiple works on the market, and no one can say differently. That's been a lifelong dream of mine, and it's now been achieved. The trick there will be to keep writing more, and getting more published -- but I now know I can do both despite what the naysayers might claim (laugh). I have two more books already in the works, with plans for a few more, and maybe the events of next year will be kind to those plans. My cancer is now officially and firmly in remission (cancer is never cured, it only goes into remission), and I'm fixing to start undergoing immunotherapy treatment in a determined effort to make sure that it stays in remission. Will it? We'll just have to see. (smile). I'm also happy as a lark to be "playing" with 3D models again, now that I don't have all of that Resident Evil baggage to drag around anymore. I can and have gone back to the three loves that predate my involvement with that: science fiction, fantasy, and all things military. The year 2019 is going to be the first year in a very long time that I will begin without some kind of creative monkey on my back, and it's a wonderful feeling ... but I also know that it was the support from you folks that helped in part to achieve that, and I just wanted to give you proper credit for it. Thanks for everything, guys and gals. May you have as much to which to look forward in the coming New Year as do I.

- REM

:) (Smile) — Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

That's just the way it is, Brandy. Welcome to the early 21st century. You go to the store to buy the four-pack of light bulbs you've bought for years, and all of a sudden they're not there anymore. They've been replaced by two-packs for the same price. That extra-large box of laundry detergent you used to buy that would last you all month is now suddenly somewhat smaller, with a new label that advertises "new packaging!" (hrmph!) That 52-ounce supersize drink you used to get at the fast food store and that would last you all day has suddenly become a 48-ounce, or maybe they don't even offer it anymore and all you can get is a 36-ounce large ... which isn't 36-ounce anymore but 28 or 24-ounce. That's how a beloved full-size Volvo can suddenly turn into a frumpy little Lada, Brandy. At least you're smart enough to have noticed it. Many people don't. They're too busy on their PDAs, or tablets, or cell phones, or have their earbuds permanently stuck in their ears as they bebop along. Maybe they'll notice someday ... when they finally ARE reduced to those famous "two squares" of toilet paper, as one idiotic celebrity once put it, for doing their business.

------------------------------

It's the end of the year for me, and I am about to embark on a well-worn ritual related to my real world job that I've had to do just over the past two decades. If you've read my bio in either of my most recently published books, then you know for whom I work. You will have also heard on the news, or will soon, that this is the busiest time of year for us -- and the report is correct. Things go crazy for us in the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Because of that, I'll be pulling a lot of overtime -- and that means I won't have the free time to both dabble in my personal hobbies as I'd prefer, or to cruise the Internet at will for long periods as I sometimes like to do. That also means updates to this site will become sporadic during this time. That's just the way it is, folks. I'm letting you know now, so certain of you won't have to wonder and say, "Hey, RMandel's quit updating his site!" It just means I'm hard at work at my real job, dealing with the annual end-of-year craziness that affects my choice of professions. That's all.

That's why I released that roll-up pack of Russian and Soviet era 3D vehicle models, as well as including a few new ones I was actually planning on saving for the next pack. That's why I'm working on wrapping up the current episode of Autumn Spring this weekend. That's why work on the current episode of Star Trek - New Vistas (STNV) has pretty much stalled. That's also why you won't be seeing any new model releases or re-releases of my old stuff until after that annual madness is over. I apologize in advance, but that's just the way it is. I know a lot of you go through the same thing in you own way this time of year, and that you understand. Maybe we can share a pint at the virtual bar once it's over, eh? (laugh)

------------------------------

I want to thank everybody for their support and words of encouragement, both for my activities here and especially with the publication of my two books, Projekt Regenschirm and The Hunt for Resident Evil 1.5. Such encouragement is one of the things that keeps me going. Your support also helps with other things, such as my completely unexpected encounter with cancer. That's one of the great things about dA, though. While there are cliques, while there is some snobbery, and while there are the bottom-trollers (just like everywhere else), most of us are simply fellow artists who have been looking for and have found such wonderful support here, regardless of level of talent. That didn't exist from where I came. Back there, it was a case of the privileged few always constantly dangling their carrots out for all those who they deemed to be the great unwashed, doing whatever they had to do to remain elite and always attacking anyone who even hinted at showing skills and talents comparable to theirs. Not so here. This place reminds me a lot of the traditional artists' clubs or colonies, or even an old-fashioned beatnik coffeehouse. Beatnik -- now THERE'S a word many of you have probably never heard used in your lifetime! (laugh) It comes from an older time. Look it up. Anyway, back to my point. In places like those, and like this, almost everyone reaches out and supports each other regardless of background or skill level. Those who are already artists or creators, or who want to become one, are thus encouraged in their respective fields of work, and thus their creative drives are given much-needed fuel. That's been my overall dA experience so far. I would have never written Projekt Regenschirm had I not come here. I might not have ever finished The Hunt for Resident Evil 1.5 had I not come here, and it would have probably ended up in the same situation as did my first published book, Service Games -- having to wait a couple of decades before events came about that would encourage me to finish it and get it published. Thankfully that didn't happen this time, and I have all of you to thank for it. Your support has always been appreciated, and it encourages me to go on.

I don't know what the year of 2019 (Gregorian calendar) holds in store for me. If it's anything like this year (2018), then it's going to be another wild and wooly ride. I know that I will enter that year a different person than I was at the start of this year. I am now officially an established published writer, with multiple works on the market, and no one can say differently. That's been a lifelong dream of mine, and it's now been achieved. The trick there will be to keep writing more, and getting more published -- but I now know I can do both despite what the naysayers might claim (laugh). I have two more books already in the works, with plans for a few more, and maybe the events of next year will be kind to those plans. My cancer is now officially and firmly in remission (cancer is never cured, it only goes into remission), and I'm fixing to start undergoing immunotherapy treatment in a determined effort to make sure that it stays in remission. Will it? We'll just have to see. (smile). I'm also happy as a lark to be "playing" with 3D models again, now that I don't have all of that Resident Evil baggage to drag around anymore. I can and have gone back to the three loves that predate my involvement with that: science fiction, fantasy, and all things military. The year 2019 is going to be the first year in a very long time that I will begin without some kind of creative monkey on my back, and it's a wonderful feeling ... but I also know that it was the support from you folks that helped in part to achieve that, and I just wanted to give you proper credit for it. Thanks for everything, guys and gals. May you have as much to which to look forward in the coming New Year as do I.

- REM