Introducing Mako - Part 1

Hello steemians!

Yesterday I talked about my goals for this long (and hopefully interesting) introduction for myself as a writer and member of this community, so today I want to start by playing a game that I love to play when getting to know someone new, called two truths and a lie. The rules are simple, I'm going to give you three statements about myself, and you're going to have to guess which one of the three is the lie in the comments! I'll reveal the answer and stories in Part 2 tomorrow. Here you go:

1. The Last Jedi is my favorite of all of the Star Wars films.
2. I used to be a semi-professional streamer and esport player/coach.
3. I have never traveled outside of my home state.

Now, you must know that geek culture fascinates me. I love constructed universes and often know more about them than I do the real universe. I drink up lore wherever I can find it in my favorite universes which makes me a trivia box for Halo, Star Wars, Destiny and Avatar: The Last Airbender, among others. My writing is heavily influenced by my reading, however I try (and hopefully succeed) to tell stories in my own unique style and from my own vantage point.

I speak three languages, English primarily, Na'vi (from James Cameron's Avatar) secondarily and a small bit of Spanish. Learning a second language, conlang or not, has influenced my writing by opening up my way of thinking about how language is used to communicate. I'd like to write more about that particular topic in the future, and I'd love to talk about what Na'vi is and why I'm learning it.

Writing is a secondary profession for me. I work in full-time Christian ministry, so you might see me exercising apologetics in the religion/Christian areas of steemit from time to time and would love to explain my faith to you if you have questions about what I believe and why I believe it. As such, it's taken me nearly 10 years to write 7 chapters. Last night I passed 30,000 words for the first time. My goal is to finish this story and then see where the wind blows, I'm not sure if I will write more after I'm done because I'm pouring everything I can into this one story. We shall see.

I believe that the story I have to tell is unique, and defies tropes and expectations at every turn. Every time the premise piques someone's interest it gives me motivation to continue and share this universe with the world at large. More about the premise tomorrow.

Have any questions? Would you like to know more? Drop a note in the comments below! I want to get to know you guys too!

That's all for today, catch you on the flipside.

~ Mako