I love my hobbies, but I don’t feel any of them are
really unique. Gaming, reading, running … nothing out of the ordinary there.
I’ve been fooling around with archery for a couple years so I guess that’s
probably a bit more niche than the rest.
When the pandemic began, however, I got a bit
restless and splurged on a 3d printer. I had no reason to get one, and
certainly no need, but it felt like a good time to branch out into something
new. If was going to be stuck in the house, I may as well have something new to
play with.
3d printing is both an art and a science. There’s
a lot of trial and error and searching the Internet and asking questions.
Sometimes it’s easy, but sometimes a print will fail repeatedly as you try to
determine what’s wrong. It’s both incredibly fun and painfully infuriating.
But the things you can do with a 3d printer are endless
and, before you say “oh, you’re just printing toys and useless things,” I will
tell you I have printed useful objects! Among them are a magnetic sign for the
dishwasher that indicates dirty or clean dishes, a replacement clip for roman
shades, shelf pegs, and even rails to hold my filament spool so I can print
more things.
Of course, I’ve also printed videogame weapon
replicas, statues, and various toys and trinkets.
The most useful prints, however, lie in between
these two categories. Being a writer, I’m always thinking of new ways to
enhance my presence at events or new goodies to include with book orders. A 3d
printer is absolutely perfect for these endeavors.
I was able to create miniatures of my characters, so
I printed and painted them. I now display them when I attend events. I’ve also
printed items that have particular relevance to my books and I use them as swag
and bonus items when shipping books. I’m not the best painter on the planet,
but such an activity adds fun to the process.
I even printed replacement nocks for the arrows in
my other new hobby, because I somehow broke several while learning how to use a
bow.
When I started down the 3d printer path, I had no
intention of blending my writing with printing—that just sort of happened
because, every so often, I have a decent idea. 3d printing is only limited by
one’s imagination and it can be considered both fun and practical. There is joy
in both “look at this cool thing I printed” and “I fixed this thing by printing
a new part!”
Possibly the best thing about 3d printing, however
is, just like the things you might print, it’s all what you put in. You can be
a casual printer, just dabbling and experimenting, or you can go all out and
decide to print an entire suit of Iron Man armor.
It obviously helps to have a friend or two who knows
a bit about the realm of printing but, even if you have that luxury, the 3d
printing community on the Internet is even more helpful, and they’re always
happy to provide advice or help with a problem.
Not that I have any experience with printing
problems…no way, not me. I definitely didn’t break my first 3d printer. Nope.
(it was still under warranty and it was replaced)
I often forget this is a hobby of mine, since I have
blended it with my author side, but it remains a fun distraction and I’m
planning to try my hand at creating my own ideas to print and expand my
horizons.
Excerpt:
Ellyne gently closed her eyes and breathed deeply, listening to the man mutter his incantation. His deliberate and careful pronunciations were a stark contrast to Nicole who simply teleported on a whim—as effortless as blinking her eyes. The Kithrak, too, were more skilled at certain types of magic, though their ability came nowhere close to Nicole’s. For a brief moment, Ellyne wondered if Nicole really could have beaten everyone here.It was an interesting thought—a thought that was interrupted by hot, searing pain erupting from every part of her body. She opened her eyes and screamed, feeling as if she would be torn apart.“What’s wrong?” someone asked.“I … I don’t know!” Torval replied. “The spell failed! Why’s she screaming?”“What the hell is going on?” someone else shouted.Ellyne would’ve liked to see the looks on their faces, but she only saw spots across her vision as the pressure within her mounted, came to a head, and burst outward with a deafening explosion.The hands supporting her fell away and she slumped to the ground, her vision dark and her ears ringing. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, her trying not to pass out, and she was fully prepared for someone to hoist her back to her feet and drag her away at any moment.But as her vision began to clear and her hearing returned, she neither saw nor heard movement. There was no magic battle, no shouts or yells, no flashes of light from spells being cast—nothing. The sound of her own breathing was deafening by comparison.As she struggled to her feet, standing on shaky legs, she began to see what transpired and wasn’t sure whether to laugh or be appalled. She staggered forward, stumbling but catching herself on the bench she’d just a few minutes ago used as cover. It was now bent, the metal having been twisted and shattered by the car that fell on it mere moments ago.“It’s like the Metro all over again,” she muttered.
1 comment:
This sounds very interesting, I'll have to check it out
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