Rob Ray

Husband, Father, former stunt performer/actor and life long martial artist trying his hand at this writing thing

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Today is Father's Day here in the States. I spent my morning racking and pastuerizing my latest batch of sake.

I ordered the ingredients and a limited edition koji for the next batch. Where this one will cold age for 90 days, the next batch gets a full 9 months.

1st weekend of October is when this batch will be cracked open with friends from around the world at our annual, international martial arts camp in Jacksonville.

And no, I didn’t try it. I want to be equally surprised or disappointed as the rest of the crew.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@karentraviss Without Studio Ghibli...*sigh*. I'm not sure my expectations could be any lower

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@BloodyRedBaron "Well, shit" I paused "Did it work?"

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

My father in law passed on 6/12/2026 from a short and highly aggressive battle with cancer. My wife moved down to stay with her parents, as her Mom has dementia and her father was her caregiver. The last 3 months have been difficult for our whole family. The coming months doubly so.

There are no easy answers, hell, even a break for my wife to breathe. She is doing more than I think either of us know. All I can do, at this point, is maintain and improve our home for when she gets back. I remind her regularly how proud of her I am. For better or worse, wasn't just words. It was a vow. It also didn't apply to our bond, but the bond of our families.

Death is inevitable. Grief is painful. Strength through hardship is admirable.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@karentraviss Agreed. Luckily, my 16 year old kergerator died and I got a really good deal on a refrigerator, which is now for alcohol, sake, and marinating meats lol.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Junmai Ginjo Sake is pressed and aging. This is Batch #2. First batch was Jumai sake. It got thumbs up from friends that are sake enthusiasts. They spend 6 months a year deployed in Okinawa and spend about what I pay for my mortgage for a few bottles a month. This will be ready Oct 2026.
I will be racking and pastuerizing it next weekend.
Then we wait.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@karentraviss Thank you. I will say, only reason I pasteurized is I had a sous vide machine. My mother, God love her, knew I liked to cook and saw some chef on TV using one. So it arrived for my birthday and has collected dust until I started brewing.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Book 1 is actively being queried and a few submission requests have been made.
Book 2 hit 20k words today.
I've written novellas, screenplays, poems, all for fun, but have learned so much more from this process. Cliche, but the lessons learned from the first book have improved my writing in the second.
I am successfully battling the urge to rewrite the first book, however. Happy with it and reminding myself the first book was written to build the world, establish the problem. The second book (and subsequent stories) live in it.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Second time. First one was a real educational experience. I have family that make moonshine and some spirits. Figured it wouldn't hurt to learn something along those lines. My wife got me a sake kit for Christmas and, knowing how I am, also got a few books for me on the history of sake.
After some study, and lots of searching, I found a few yeast and Koji types that seemed like a good mix.
The first batch came out very smooth. I was very happy but, as is true in all crafts, I could make it better. Just had to spend some more money lol
Found a source for the 60% polished rice, used the #9 yeast and koji for this one. Our annual international camp is in October, so after it is pasteurized and racked it will cold age from June 13th till October 1st.
I want to look into buying, or making, some sort of charcoal filter that is semi-traditional. This batch was fully cold fermented where my first was a summer style fermentation process, fermented at room temp then cold aged.
I'm excited to finally try it. More excited to find a place I can get a higher polished grain and improve it.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@karentraviss That was brilliant!

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@BradRTorgersen If it can't be 'controlled' by those in power they just cancel it. Stargate has a very strong fan base. Appealing to them while simultaneously creating a jump on point for new viewers would equate to strong writing. Can't easily manipulate strong writing. So, pull the plug

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@BradRTorgersen The film budget may have been $180m but with aggressive marketing it balloons up into that potential $300 million range. The added $200-$300 million is due to the various splits off the top for domestic and international shares.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Saw a statement online that I really liked, figured I would share -

The first draft is you telling yourself the story.

The second draft is you telling it to everyone else.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

@karentraviss It is the beauty of interpretive art. While it may seem odd to me, and others, who am I to tell someone how to digest the art the purchased. Same with telling the creator what THEY meant. That's a hard no.

[Rob Ray @lonewulph79]

Final round of beta reader feedback led to a strong adjustment to Book 1. Ending beats extended, some midsection refinement for flow. This led to a surge of creativity where book 2 and 3 have been plotted out.
Taking a short break before jumping back into crafting the next book