I don’t usually do introductions so if this is too brief, ask away. I’m willing to answer anything.
My name is Richard Ellis Novak. I was born and raised in Nevada. I’m a writer and an illustrator; my illustrations run the spectrum from traditional fine art such as watercolor and oil paintings, to photomanipulation aided by software. I am married to Vivian, a Filipina (see my icon). Together we have two little girls and we are due to have a little boy in February 2013. I live in Guam, and I’m set to move in late 2013 or early 2014. Politically I’m a conservative libertarian hybrid; I think every law should be based on Constitutional authority. I’m also a capitalist, obviously. I’m writing a children’s book (and you can find posts regarding that in the Productivity Forum) and hope to sell it when I’m done.
I grew up agnostic based mainly on the idea that there was so much disagreement between the various religious factions out there, but they one thing most of them had in common was a belief in some higher power. As I got older the belief in some all-knowing, all-powerful creator seemed less and less logical to me. The only creators I can say I’ve seen are men creating the world we live in. Not the dirt or the trees or the animals, but the steel, the structures, and the things we use animals for. We are the creators, I thought. It was several years ago I picked up Atlas Shrugged for the first time, and what I read was shocking. It shocked me that there was someone else out there who thought the way I did. More shocking still was how fine a point she had honed into her beliefs. Ayn Rand spoke to me from the grave through her writing. I did not feel alone in my beliefs anymore.
I am, in addition to being an author and illustrator, an avid shooter (pistol, rifle, shotgun, and archery) and I love cooking. I love much classical music, thrash metal, and the occasional old school rap.
That’s me. It’s good to be here.
Welcome to the forum. Nice to hear about your profession. More writers is always good news. We could always use more of them to put more non-altruist art out there. Do you have any works published yet? If so, that’s great, I know how relatively little writing ever makes it to being published. I intend to eventually support myself on writing and illustrations for said writing and have long expected to go through an extensive period living in a box and collecting rejection notices. 