Editing an old project, trying to bring it into this decade. Writing scifi is hard these days since science has been moving so fast... (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hezIB9OmA_/

Here is the total word tally from my #nanowrimo novel this year. I am pleased, for sure. (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hb6v70umK4/

Here's one last shot of the the #nanowrimo manuscript in #WriteRoom. OK, auto-suggestion, I think I WILL end my book right where you say! (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hXehpjumBj/

#nanowrimo 2013 has ended for me! We have achieved "THE END"!! #WHEW (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hXcXkDumNs/

Crap! Just one coffee candy left to finish my #nanowrimo :/ (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hXGE9tumEW/

Urg! Story should be done by now! Chapter 20 has begun!! #nanowrimo (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hXDBnROmO9/

Chapter 19 of my #nanowrimo is going to be a long one, but look! I'm wearing the nano T-shirt I made for myself the last time I won for good luck! (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hWstvPOmGQ/

Here we go! #last #nanowrimo writing session of 2013! (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hWKW18OmII/

Planning to finish chapter 18 tonight and the book by tomorrow, midnight east coast time. #nanowrimo #stayontarget (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hUZVJ_umJa/

Watch me write chapter 17 of my #nanowrimo in glorious time-lapse video! Well, not ALL of 17. #bloodyinstagram! (from my Instagram)

http://instagram.com/p/hPxTTmumOU/

via http://instagram.com/p/hPxTTmumOU/

From last night's 4k+ word #nanowrimo writing session. Sometimes you have to turn off the lights to turn on the imagination... (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hNKpAqOmB3/

So, this happened this morning around 4:30am... #nanowrimo #winner Now I just need to get to "THE END." (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hMXKx0OmOl/

OK, I'm not DONE done, but I won #nanowrimo. And so I dance! But tomorrow, I must write much more... #50kAintTheEnd! (from my Instagram)

http://instagram.com/p/hLCTiwumON/

via http://instagram.com/p/hLCTiwumON/

Not done writing yet, but wanted to post this because I thought it was a fun number of words. (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hKc05HOmAe/

Getting started on the #nanowrimo early tonight. I'm setting up the final story arc of the novel tonight... (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hKCSZlOmIY/

Chapter 14 preview! (Assuming you can squint!) The full chapter will be on fiction.nichollspete.com at noon NYC time today. My #nanowrimo novel is at 45k+ words! (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hIema-OmEV/

And chapter 14 begins... that title may change... (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hHmPk9OmIc/

WHEW. I'm now ahead of where I'd be if I had started on time and just done the minimum per day on my #nanowrimo novel. Things are looking good. (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hFx4tAumLf/

Cracked 40k words on the #nanowrimo novel just now! I'll reach 50k for sure, but will I reach "THE END" of the novel by 12/1? (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hE9VQ5OmBn/

Of course, the #nanowrimo site tells me I've only reached 39,024 words while the #WriteRoom app tells me I've written so much more!! Whyyyyy??? (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hDZT-AOmCA/

Updated my Instagram bio. It should be adequately pretentious now. (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hCUzo3OmAq/

Not only did I pass 35,000 words in my #nanowrimo novel tonight I'm approaching 36,000! (And passed it, according to the #WriteRoom app.) (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hAhGQOumJy/

Oswald is helping me with my spelling in tonight's chapter. Everybody can use a friend during #NaNoWriMo :) (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hAbNkQumFd/

I love whole-word typos that end up having ironic meanings, like this one. (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/hAS4DPOmOi/

Just added a bunch of new words to the back end of chapter ten. I hate when I forget to include plot points! (from my Instagram)

via Instagram http://instagram.com/p/g_tfH3umIv/

Time-lapse of me writing chapter 8 the other night. That was a damn good night of writing!! (from my Instagram)

http://instagram.com/p/g_aNBWumJw/

via http://instagram.com/p/g_aNBWumJw/

The Man from Zero: Chapter 1 (fiction)

OK, here it is! The first 1977 words of my novel for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month)! I have not proofread what follows. The only reason everything is mostly spelled right is because of spellcheck. This is the most raw of first drafts so enjoy it as such! Constructive criticism is welcome, but I decide what is constructive and what is just unhelpful. In other words, I reserve the right to delete any comments from here or anywhere else I can delete comments if I feel they're just not helpful. If you don't like this, I'm sorry, go find someplace else to say things I don't like. Thanks, though!

Also, I'll be moving this post and all other fiction I write to a dedicated fiction blog. For now, please stay tuned here. You can follow the RSS or get posts in your email inbox. You can also follow me on Twitter or Facebook (cringe). I also have a Tumblr.

OK! Here it is! Obviously, everything on this blog (both my fiction and non-fiction alike) is all (c)2013 Pete Nicholls. No stealing. But if you like it please feel free to publicize it with excerpts, but don't do it without letting me know you are--I want to make sure to thank you and link back.

The Man from Zero: One
by Pete Nicholls (c)2013

Chapter One: Trap of Cards

Sometimes I wish I could skip to the end of my life.

It's not that I don't want to live.  As I stare forward into my future, I find myself wishing to already put it behind me.

The first time I realized this, I had only just been sentenced to life in Living Stasis.  They found me guilty of something I actually did, so I can't complain too much.  The only problem I have with that is, that life in LS is really much worse than being dead.  You're stuck there--awake but immobile.  Alone with your thoughts, with your fears, with your guilt, with the things you've done.  But I don't want to die, either.  It's a strange thing to say, but after all the things I've seen and done, even since that day when the young man from Two came to see me, I still have things to do in this truly fucked up life of mine.

Though, at that moment, I was staring at a wall.  A mess of gray and silver that seemed to reflect the dull depression that my life had become.  I saw no way out but through.  I had no lawyer to appeal my sentence and I wasn't stupid enough to expect some sort of pardon for what I did.  I knew when I broke the law no one would be defending my actions and everything I'd done during the Poor War.  Ridiculously, nobody ever gets blamed for what we did.  We were getting paid incredibly well to put down the "Revolting Ones" as our employers called them.  We were called heroes for what we did.  Yet, before too long, I stopped being a hero and started being something else.  A convict.  A convict with no one left on his side.  So, as I sat in my holding cell, before getting shipped off to the Life Stasis camp in the Australian sub-desert, I was surprised to receive a visitor.

Finish reading this on my fiction blog.

Welcome to NichollsPete.Com

This is where you can come to catch up on my life as a writer and cartoonist.  I've created a lot over my years on this blue orb (10+ novels, 5 screenplays, short stories, etc) and I suspect I'll be creating a lot more.  I'm a pretty good storyteller and am pretty good at helping other storytellers tell better stories, too.

I live in New York City with my wife of 15 years and the ghosts of my two cats.  I'm a big gadget freak and may mention or even write about my Google Glass in this space, from time to time.  I have a pretty strong passion for Japan and have been studying the language for years, most recently, studying at the Japan Society.  If you're considering classes, I highly recommend it!  I also recommend classes at the Japan Society, specifically, with Akai Sensei.  She's got a wonderfully relaxed demeanor that really helped me relax and learn.

Please read my rants about writing in Hollywood on my writing blog, "Pete Saves Hollywood."

Yes, it's an ironic title as I lived in Los Angeles for 14 years and barely got noticed--but it wasn't from a lack of trying.  And, as you'll see on PSH, I am perfectly capable of saving Hollywood, if they'll just let me.