Imre Z. Balint, BSc, MPM, MBA

As some folks might know, woodworking has been a hobby of mine for ages, and recently, I took to making some slingshots (for sale in my Etsy Store ). There are a couple of varieties I've created thus far, but the latest one has to be one of my favorites. It's an asymmetrical, over-the-top (OTT) no-tie type. I'll likely create a few more like this, but using different types of wood to mix things up. Here are a few pics:

Luckily, I'm better at finishing full-length novels than I am at updating this poor blog! In any case, I'm shamelessly plugging my new science fiction novel, Rave Girl: Change My Mind ! It took me about two years (very on and off) to finish this one, but I'm very happy with how it turned out. So if you enjoy fast paced action / adventure sci-fi with a large helping of humor / comedy, then you're gonna enjoy this! Below is a synopsis and the book cover (which I designed using Blender 3D and finished up with GIMP). Give it a try and leave me some feedback, or better yet, a review. Us indy authors need all the help we can get with the exposure. Synopsis: Allegra could never have imagined how different, how extraordinary, her life would become, just by being in the right place at the right time after a rave. Who could’ve thought that after a long day of dancing and euphoria, she’d end up saving the life of an extra-terrestrial? Or did her ET bestie, Kay’k, save her? After y

I’m ecstatic to say that my sci-fi novel, Circulum, is ready to be enjoyed on Kindle or Kindle Unlimited! Click here or the thumbnail image of the cover to snag your copy today! Trent needed change. He was fed up with his dead-end security job and needed to escape; especially after a nasty reminder of his duties. His escape would come to him in the form of a lucrative contract that would take him off world. Trent swore to himself that he’d never leave Earth after that horrid day left him scarred forever, but in the end, circumstances would prevail. At least the job would be quick, and the credits would help him start a new life, putting distance between him and the Chief. But if only Trent knew a fraction of what he was getting into... Follow Trent on his exciting journey to a strange world as he dances with death, grapples with his sanity, meets a special lady, and discovers that there is more to him than he could ever imagine. Contains some explicit language and scenes

I'm quite overdue for a post! I've been keeping wonderfully busy with my novel, which has now surpassed fifty thousand words. Chapters twenty-five and twenty-six are in the works currently. That puts me roughly at about the mid-point. Woohoo! I also took some some shots for my Making Professional Longboards book, so that one is inching very close to completion now. So that's your quick update from me, but I also wanted to add some additional value to this post. For those of you who are also budding authors like myself, there's a buzz phrase that's quite important to follow: Show, don't tell. If fact, I gave up on a sci-fi novel recently because it did exactly the opposite of this mantra. It told me the story. Now I'll be nice and I won't say which novel or author, but here's an idea of what went wrong, and then I'll give you an idea of how this problem can be corrected. The scene in this particular novel was that of a mugger cornering a woman in

I'm overdue for a post! I guess I've been far too busy writing my sci-fi novel. I'm really close to twelve thousand words, five chapters more or less complete. Overall the progress is going well and I'm sticking fairly close to the plan, with a little bit of deviation. Although I'm not surprised at this. The plan is merely a guide to keep the story, the plot, timeline, etc. on general track. However, as I write, I find new methods to deal with the winding road that my protagonist endures. Things like how he reacts to situations or how how I introduce new characters. Interestingly though, the deviations still haven't affected the scenes much. I see this as a good sign that the plan holds it own fairly well; it did take my nearly two months to construct it. And the surprises don't end with this wonderful process of writing. I've already researched many different topics related to my novel, from those scientific to those related to grammar (ok, a lot of t

I've just finished the planning stage of my novel... for now, and I've finally begun writing the first chapter! It's a wonderful feeling. Planning out all the scenes might have taken several weeks, but it's well worth it. Several twists and turns evolved during this process, but I know this will add value to my story and characters. I'm also glad that I used Microsoft Excel for this, a suggestion from some of the books I mentioned in my previous posts. It made it a snap to add, remove, and rearrange the scenes. Although the planning will help when fleshing out the novel, my path is still going to be long and winding. Breathing life into characters that exist as nothing more than mere words on a page will be both art and science. However, I will ensure that I put maximum effort into this task. I need those characters to come to life in one's mind, along with the story world. Readers must experience the same pains, joys, fears, confusions, anger, and love on the