In the words of Tom

Back to Geeking Out

2012-01-31T14:52:00.000-06:00

After yesterday's health stuff, I figured I better get this blog back on track with some good geekery.

A friend of mine has been bitten by the OSR Bug, and has decided to run a 1st Edition AD&D game for his birthday in April. And I am TOTALLY jazzed about it! I'm playing what I always play (the hulking warrior), but with 1E flair. Been persuing my old AD&D books in preparation already.

And AD&D books are somewhat related to something that has been on my mind today, and something I have touched on before: Artwork.

In the old books, the art was not always that great. It may be because I grew up in the 80's reading Marvel Comics, but I sometimes have pretty high standards for things like dynamic perspective, heroic proportions, and action poses (I blame John Buscema 100% for this).

So, when you look at some of the work done by guys like Jeff Dee and Erol Otis...well, they don't always measure up. However, in recent months I have come to a greater appreciation for the "imperfect" illustrations in those old books. They had style and expressiveness in spades, and really captured a specific feel that I have come to associate with AD&D.

As you can imagine if you have read even half of my blog, I am a creature of nostalgia. It dictates many of my likes and dislikes. So, while I understand some of the weaknesses in the old gaming art, there is a certain amount of nostalgic charm that is lost these days.

With 3rd Edition, the artwork of D&D books was raised to a much higher level. Full-color illustrations by Wayne Reynolds form the standard in my mind. And I absolutely LOVE his art. As I did many of the older cover artists (who occasionally did interiors as well), like Jeff Easley and Larry Elmore. But the style is very different. It's very dark and gritty, and, well, for lack of a better word, "pointy." I miss the soft and dangerous lines of Larry Elmore.

Does that make any sense?

But, even when you consider Elmore, Easley, Clive Cladwell, and Keith Parkinson, you're still talking about 2nd Edition. Basic and 1E were filled and covered with some rather imperfect art that has become quite iconic in the intervening years. And this is something I miss. A lot of OSR stuff that I have seen (though admittedly, I haven't looked at much) seems to be going back to the old art styles. Perhaps it's because the art is cheaper (who could afford Reynolds besides WotC and Paizo these days?). But, I like to think that it's part of the whole OSR package.

On a related note, I intend to do my own cover illustration for my S&S book. The character is Conan-esque, so I will probably reference Buscema and Frazetta. Not sure how I will color it, as I am not very good at "painting" in PhotoShop, which is what I will be using. But, I think I can do something passable.

We'll see how that goes...

Follow up

2012-01-30T15:09:00.000-06:00

For the benefit of those not Facebok friends with me, here is a quick follow-up to my earlier post.

Basically, everything is ok. Turns out the intial tests show that I don't carry the gene for hemochromatosis, and I will be seeing a specialist soon to confirm that. My shoulder pain isn't bursitis. She used the term "calcified tendonitis." Meaning, there is some damage to the tendons in each shoulder, and there is some build up of some kind that shows up on X-rays (possibly scar tissue). The prognosis is that I need physical therapy. Normally, anti-inflammatory meds would help, but I am allergic to aspirin, ibuprofin, motrin, etc. So, that's not an option.

I'm mostly relieved, and slightly irritated. Relieved that, assuming all signs are correct, I'm back down to only being a Diabetic. I can live with that. But I'm oddly annoyed by it not being brusitis. That had a relatively quick fix. Instead I will have to endure physical therapy, and no doubt, a lot of pain. But, then again, I'm getting used to te pain anyways.

Regardless of all that, we're still going to make an effort to improve eating and activity habits. This will become easier as the weather starts to warm up. I was a little disgruntled at my weight, but it wasn't unexpected (I LOVE good food). Chances are, the fatigue that could have been too much iron in my blood is most likely just fatigue from burning the candle at both ends.

The last few months have been very stressful and hectic. But things are slowing down, both deliberately and as a result of our efforts running their course. My kids still stress me out, but all parents know what that's like (though I have to say, my son is more of a handful than either daughter were). Overall, I am relieved and hopeful for the future.

Deep Thoughts (without Jack Handy)

2012-01-30T10:08:00.000-06:00

In about 45 minutes, I will be leaving for a doctor's appointment. Last week I was tentatively diagnosed with Hemochromatosis (basically, my digestive track processes too much iron from what I eat, and it gets stored in bad places). It's not as bad for me as it is for some people, according to some reading my wife did. But it can be pretty debilitating (even fatal) if not treated. Basically, I have to consume less iron, eat foods that prohibit its absorption into the body, and get "phlebotomized" (bled out) about once a month.

Add to that, I was also tentatively diagnosed with Bursitis. Hopefully, the two aren't linked, and a simple shot in each shoulder will relieve me of the paralyzing pain I feel when I move my arms the wrong way.

So, yeah. Physically, I'm a mess. But, it's all pretty treatable and manageable. Still, when this all hits in succession (add being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last year), it causes one to examine one's own mortality.

I will be celebrating my fourth anniversary in March. I have three kids, and the best wife a man could hope for. I am really just starting to enjoy life right now in a way I have never been able to. And I want to continue to do so for many, many years to come.

Am I scared? You bet. Who wouldn't be? I don't relish the idea of dying. And I'd be really pissed if it happened sooner, rather than much later. But, from all accounts, at this stage, all of the symptoms and damage from my various genetic ailments are manageable, and even reversible. So, I am kind of eager to get this going. Once my shoulders stop hurting, I will be able to work out again. Michele is already researching dietary options that will help with my problems, without having to restrict my diet, or make me eat cardboard (or worse, strictly vegetables!).

In other news, I am making some real headway in my first serious attempt a novel/novella-length story. It's Sword & Sorcery, and it involves my own "Clonan." But, the character isn't just another "barbarian in civilized lands." He has many of the same qualities as a Conan-type, but the origin of those qualities is unique, I think. I'm having fun writing him, and his cast of supporting characters. Already, they have altered some initial ideas I had for the story. And I finally feel like I know what I am doing. Now, to just devote more of my time to actually writing.

Damn Star Wars MMO!

Anyways, I may follow this post up later today with a rundown of what the doctor says. Until then...

150th post!

2012-01-23T11:41:00.000-06:00

Is that really a benchmark these days? I dunno. I took a few years to get here, but that’s not surprising, since I have only started blogging with regularity in the last year or so.

Anyways, so what can I talk about on this momentous occasion? Well, I finished my first two classes for my Masters in History yesterday. Not sure how I did. I got a strong B in one class, but the other is questionable. 30% of my grade is based on a research paper that, admittedly, was kind of weak. I had my reasons, but suffice it to say, I was unable to put forth the effort I should have. Guess I’ll find out soon enough how it all turned out.

With the end of this term, I have a month before school starts again. At that point, I plan to only take one class at a time, instead of two. Fortunately, from here until near the end, it will be straight up History. No Historiography, no Historical Research Methods. Just reading and writing about History. That’s the part I like.

In the meantime, I will endeavor to finish up a couple of small writing projects, make some headway on a couple of larger ones, and most importantly, READ FOR PLEASURE! I just got a Kindle Fire not long ago, and although I still hit up the book store for TreeBooks, EBooks are amassing quite nicely. I’m fairly certain I have enough reading material to last me to retirement at this point. With several more titles waiting in the wings.

Had a doctor’s appointment this morning. Found out some things that shed some light on possible causes of my recent ailments. I’ll know more next week when the test results come in. Regardless of what they say, I definitely need to exercise more, and eat healthier. Winter is terrible for that, especially here in the Great White North. And some of my ailments have prevented me from even doing indoor stuff. Not to mention time. But, with the easing up of school, I should be able to make time for that soon enough.

Been playing a LOT of Star Wars: The Old Republic. My Vanguard Trooper is 24 and my Sith Marauder is 23. Michele started playing as well, and has a Jedi Consular that she is really enjoying. I’m going to let my Trooper languish until she gets to her early 20’s, so we can team up. I should take screen caps of my characters. They both look cool as hell. Especially my Sith. He is absolutely badass. He punched out a Hutt the other day. Yeah. Badass.

The game has also provided some inspiration for an Orc story I have been mulling over. I may have to work on that one this month as well. Though my focus will have to be on the story for Scott Oden’s anthology.

Speaking of Scott, he has opened a business for himself. He is now going to offer professional critiques and editing help for aspiring writers. He has a website at The Editorial Goblin. Check him out. If you need an experienced set of talented eyes on your work, look him up. As the recipient of casual advice in the past, I can say for certain he has already helped me.

That’s about all I got for now. Stay safe out there. It’s dangerous!

Sidetracked!

2012-01-19T15:32:00.000-06:00

I have spent the last couple of days contemplating ideas for D&D Tom Edition. I did some brainstorming, and realized that what I will probably end up with is basically 3.5E, with some modified rules from previous editions, and a few ideas of my own. In the end, it will probably be my own entry into the OSR craze that hit a few years back (Pathfinder, Castles & Crusades, etc.). So, yeah, I'm behind the curve. No worries, though. It's not like I am doing this on a publication schedule for a major company. I'm just one geek playing with his toys.

But, more on that in future posts.

Today, I am going to talk about someone who is near and dear to me. And in so doing, I am going to do that thing that all D&D nerds do, but that we all hate when others do it. I'm going to talk about my favorite character. (If you're not interested, get out now. I will completely understand.)

In the beginning...

Some time around 1985-86, my friend, his sister, and I decided to start a D&D campaign using the Expert Set. As I recall (it's been years since I had those books in my hands, so I could be misremembering), this set introduced the idea of Half-Elves in D&D. So, I made a half-elf fighter named Tomos.

Though visually Tomos was initially based on the Marvel Comics character Longshot, he was an idealized version of myself. His stats were phenomenal (and honestly rolled), and I have never truly matched him in that area since (though I occasionally come close). By the end of that short campaign, he was 5th level. I'm pretty sure we fudged the XP rules, but whatever. He was the highest-level character I had ever had at the time.

First Upgrade
Jump forward to my Senior year (1987-88). The old friend has graduated and his family has moved away. That year I reconnected with some friends who I met in 8th grade, but who had left and come back three years later (it should probably be noted we were all Air Force brats living on Kadena AFB, Okinawa). They played AD&D, and had middle-level characters. We decided to start a campaign together, and they wanted to use those characters. So, I dusted Tomos off, since he was the only one even close to their level, converted him from OD&D to AD&D, and went gallivanting around Oerth with Panthrus, human ranger, and Styol Ganthral, elven fighter/magic-user.

The very first Conan
book I ever read.

About this time I was deep in the throes of my budding love of Conan and Robert E. Howard. So, when I converted Tomos to AD&D, and his 18 Strength became 18/90 (the strongest a half-elf could be in AD&D), I naturally started thinking of him as Conan with blond hair and pointed ears. But, he also had a 17 Charisma, and since we were using Unearthed Arcana, his Comeliness came out to be 19. So, he was a VERY attractive and pretty Conan. That's when his personality took off in my mind. He soon became an amalgam of Conan and D'Artagnon.

That campaign got him up to 9th level, and I had much fun with his Vorpal bastard sword (treasure from his very first campaign), with which he was Double Specialized (UA...you do the math). I had decided that Tomos had spent much of his amassed fortune on a ship, and was now a seasoned sailor and ship's captain. That worked well, since the adventure took place on an island, and it provided a neat way for the three characters to meet (they hired my ship).

Back from obscurity

I drew this in the early 90's.

Skip forward a few more years. I'm graduated and completely out of touch with all of my old friends from high school. But, I still have Tomos' character sheet. Somewhere around 1990-91, I'm in the Army at Ft. Bliss, TX, and I get the 2nd Edition books. Not having anyone to play with at the time, I proceeded to convert Tomos to 2E just for shits and giggles. Not much effort there, but I made some cool additions (remember fighter followers at 9th level?). I eventually found people to play with. But, sadly, I never played Tomos in that edition.

Cameo appearance
Jump forward again to the late 90's. I'm out of the Army, living in Salinas, CA. 3rd Edition comes out, and I jump in with both feet. Found a group through the FLGS, and started playing. After a while I get an idea. I convert Tomos to 3E, and run him in a short game that lasted all of one module. I'm not even sure he leveled beyond 9th. And it was the last time I ever saw him as a D&D character.

Fiction
Tomos has stayed with me through the years, usually as a character I planned to write fiction about (I wrote one complete story on my first PC, but lost it in the course of several moves). I would also imagine him meeting famous characters from Forgotten Realms, like Drizzt Do'Urden, where he had ported to for 3E. Of all of my characters over the years, Tomos Elvenblood (he picked up that none-too-imaginative surname somewhere around 2E) has always been very special to me.

The Future is Now
But something is missing. I have yet to convert him to 4E. Why would I do this, when I have stated that I don't even like that game? Because I can. And because I'm a dorky completist. And because Tomos is my variation of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion. There is a half-elf named Tomos in every fantasy world where half-elves exist, as far as I'm concerned. I would even venture to say there is some Tomos in Hida Gotetsu, my long-running L5R character.

So, what is the point of all of this you may ask (assuming you stuck with me through this trip down memory lane)? Well, I have downloaded character sheets from every edition of D&D, and I have decided to re-create Tomos for each one. The old character sheets are long gone, but I have a 3E version as an Excel sheet, so I will use that as the basis. I think this will be a fun exercise. It will require me to go through my old books, and maybe even find a copy of the Basic and Expert Sets (if possible). I think I still have them somewhere, but I can't be certain. He may not be exactly as he was in previous editions, but he should be pretty close.

Either way, it will be fun to sit down for a long visit with an old friend and comrade.

D&D Tom Edition – Part 1: The Foundation

2012-01-17T10:00:00.000-06:00

So, I had this great idea. In light of WotC’s announcement of 5E, I thought it would be cool to make my own Edition of D&D. This would be the equivalent of forming a mercenary company for the Edition War.

What I am proposing is to take all of the bits I like from all of the previous editions (there are even a couple of things I like in 4E), and see if I can make them all mesh smoothly into one system. Personally, I think it’s doable. All of the various editions have a few elements in common. These I consider the foundation:

Six Attributes – Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. These have never changed. In a variation of 2E there were optional modifications, but the basic attributes stayed the same. So, they will in mine as well. I will probably also add Comeliness from Unearthed Arcana.

Hit Points – This is the one point that seems to get a lot of flack from non-D&D fans. The idea that you can fight at full strength until you hit 0 HP. True, it defies logic, and I may integrate wound rules, but the basic premise of having Hit Points is a good mechanic, so it stays.

Armor Class – There have basically been two variations on this, with various third-party alterations. Either higher is better, or lower is better. I will probably go with Higher for simplicity, but either way, AC stays.

Classes – I have always liked classes, and each edition seems to have a different explanation for their use. Personally, I like 3E’s version, wherein “classes” are not the same as “professions.” Rather they are classifications for a specific set of skills, abilities, etc. So, a level in Fighter doesn’t necessarily mean you have been trained to be a professional soldier. It just means that you have learned to use a set of skills (wielding weapons, wearing armor, etc.) that are typically associated with the Fighter “class.” It’s up to you to determine how you got them.

Levels – Related to Classes are Levels. In the 1E PHB, there is an extensive explanation for the use of the term. Basically, “level” is a way to level the playing field, so to speak. It’s a way to measure one’s ability against the ability of others, including monsters and foes. Also, in 1E character levels had a title associated with them. For the most part, this was just flavor text. But in the case of Clerics, for instance, those titles could be used as Ranks within an organization. This was how I always justified level-limits for non-human characters (though I think in some cases, they were set too low). After all, how many churches would allow a half-orc to gain much power and influence within their hierarchy?

Half-Orcs – 4E lost major cool points with me when they dissed my beloved half-orcs in the Player’s Handbook. True, they included them in the PHB2, but that meant I had to buy a whole other book just to play one. But, all kidding aside, there are basic races that should always be available: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, Halflings, Half-Elves, Half-Orcs and Gnomes. Everything else is optional.

As you can probably surmise, these foundation concepts will lead into some decisions about other rules (such as multi-classing, Advanced/Prestige classes). I will admit that much of my Edition will draw heavily from 3E (or more accurately, 3.5), as that is my favorite edition, all nostalgia aside. But, if I could compile all of this into an actual RPG format, it would definitely have a more old-school feel. B&W illustrations, tables, etc.

I basically have my ideas for this already in place. But, I’m interested in hearing others’ opinions as well. Have I forgotten or overlooked something you think is essential?

5 More Fantasy Films

2012-01-11T09:06:00.001-06:00

This post is a direct sequel to this one. Here I list five fantasy films that may not be all that great to some people. But I love them. I own a couple of them, and if I can ever get them, I will also own the rest.

Legend (1985) – Pre-“Top Gun” Tom Cruise makes his first and only foray into the fantasy genre as Jack, the young wild boy who is in love with Mia Sara’s Lili. This movie is a very dark fairy tale, with amazing effects (for the time), a haunting soundtrack, and some really great acting by Tom and Mia. However, all is overshadowed by Tim Curry’s portrayal of Darkness. His performance, combined with mind-bending make-up make Darkness one of my all-time favorite fantasy film villains. He would eat Kylar Zym for a snack. Ridley Scott is a master director, and this is just one more example of why.

Dragonslayer (1981) – I started playing D&D just about the time this movie was first available on that new-fangled Videotape Player. I remember going to the mall, and the electronics store next to the toy store would always have it playing, and I would spend hours standing there, enthralled with it. This film was a major influence on my early gaming days, and thus on my whole life as a geek. I can still watch this film and enjoy the heck out of it. Vermithrax Pejorative is one of my favorite movie dragons; dark, sinister, and very scary. She’s how I imagine Smaug looking in real life.

The Sword & the Sorcerer (1982) – Honestly, I have only watched this film once, when I was about 13. But that was enough. It scared the hell out of me and gave me nightmares. But man, was it cool! I really need to own this, because I have a feeling that on my current big screen TV, it would be amazing to behold. The sorcerer is scary as all get out, and Talon is a total Howardian hero. What could be better? Why, giving him a three-bladed sword, of course!

The Neverending Story (1984) – I could totally identify with Bastion in this film. The lonely kid who turned to books for solace; I might not have been as well-read as he was at the time, but I understood him to the core. The amazing journey he goes on with Atreyu is magical on a level that can fire the imagination in anyone. And the idea of Fantasia dying because no one believes anymore is tragic, and really gets to your inner child. By the way, like Conan the Barbarian, I disbelieve any sequels to this one.

Labyrinth (1986) – David Bowie, probably one of the coolest rock stars in history (it’s no wonder my wife is enthralled with him); Jennifer Connelly, with whom I share my exact birthday (same year and everything), is on my “list” of actresses. Great story, dreamily haunting score, and some excellent songs by Bowie, this movie is a favorite in my house. My daughter will often put it on for kicks, and even my son will watch most of it. Gareth (Bowie), the Goblin King, manages to be both sinister and tragic at the same time. And Sarah is the perfect blend of innocence and blossoming womanhood to make her a wonderful window for the viewer into this fantastic world.

Once more, as with the other list, you can see where my tastes lay, since these were all made in the early to mid-80’s. I don’t know. Maybe they just don’t make films like these anymore. Or maybe I am just a slave to my nostalgia. Of course, I could do a list of my favorites from the 50’s and 60’s as well. Maybe next time.

D&D 5E...?

2012-01-09T10:13:00.000-06:00

Today Wizards of the Coast announced that it is developing Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition (technically this will be #7, but who’s counting?). This may cause many people to roll their eyes and wonder “Again?” To that I say “Yes!” And here’s why...

First of all, it’s not like this kind of thing is new. How many editions of GURPS are there? HERO System? Shadowrun? Tabletop RPG’s are supposed to be evolving, ever-changing. Otherwise, we’d all still be using Dave and Gary’s original rules.

Second of all, 4th Edition sucks. Let me just say that right up front. Your mileage may vary, but this is my blog, so I say it sucks. And when I say it sucks, I mean that it just isn’t D&D anymore. It’s an MMO on paper. 4E tries too hard to emulate the button-mashing strategies of MMOs and video games, and leaves behind the nuanced playing and social interactions that D&D pioneered. In short, with 4E they left the D&D track, and now they need to get back…er…on track.

That being said, it’s still a fun game. The problem I had with it the few times I played was that I got easily confused about what my character could do, and when he could do it. So much so, that I found myself concentrating on that, rather than enjoying the story. Maybe I should say it sucks “for me.”

So, what would make a “perfect” edition of D&D? Well, in my opinion (shut up, it’s my blog, I said!) they already did that with 3.5. 3E was innovative in that it created a game that works, no matter how many or how few of the rules you use. At it’s core, using a very few rules can garner a very enjoyable game. But, it also provided tons of rules to make the game as crunchy or as smooth as you like. In short, if people were willing to open their minds to the possibilities presented in 3.5, and get rid of the notion of “If it’s in the rulebook, you have to use it,” it could be ANY game they wanted it to be.

Can WotC do that again, and do it better? Probably. Based on their announcement, they are relying heavily on massive playtest feedback. This will no doubt inundate them with varying ideas. But, I can see that the most popular ones will get some good treatment. And as long as they keep the game itself flexible, the rest can work as well.

One of my all-time favorite
D&D illustrations. Inspired me on
many levels as a 12-year old boy.

For me, personally, what I would like to see is some scaling back on the presentation. Rules are rules, and with a little adjustment, I can handle most of them. But, something about the recent books (even as far back as the 3.0 books) seems overblown to me. Maybe it’s the full-color art inside. Call me nostalgic, but there was something very charming and inspirational about the B&W illustrations in the old books. Also, I rather prefer the Medieval Europe look and feel of the equipment being depicted. I can see going kind of “alien” with the demi-human races, but for the most part, I like the pseudo-realistic portrayals in older editions.

I think I still have a copy.

Also: Pricing. D&D has a long tradition of requiring the Big Three core rulebooks; Player’s Handbook, Dungeon Master’s Guide, and Monster Manual. With those three books alone, infinite games are possible. The downside is, with production costs being so high (see my comments on art), these books run about $40 each. That’s $120 just to get the basics! Maybe they can provide variations of the game. A “cheap” version, similar to the old red book that had just about everything you needed in about a hundred soft-bound pages. That would be cool, I think.

However, as a business in it to make money, these may not be valid considerations.

In short, I want a flexible game that allows me to be as detailed or flowing as possible. One that caters to as many different play styles as possible. And most importantly, one that allows for improvised rules on the fly. That right there is, from a rules standpoint, the one issue that separates Tabletop from Computer. If my character wants to improvise by throwing his shield, he should be able to do that without much fuss, and with a reasonable chance for success. Can’t do that at all in WoW.

I wish them luck, and I will no doubt buy at least the core books when it comes out. If for no other reason than to have the right to bitch about and bash them.

Hello 2012!

2012-01-03T12:16:00.000-06:00

So, it’s 2012. Supposedly the end of the world is less than a year away. But, I’m pretty sure it ain’t gonna happen. So, let’s get on with life. After all, even if the end is nigh, worrying about it and trying to prepare for it won’t do any good anyways.

2011 was an interesting year. Started with some heartbreak, went through various ups and downs, and ended on a relatively high note for me, personally. My life is pretty good. I have a beautiful wife, and wonderful kids who, despite being pains in my ass, mean more to me than anything. I have a steady job that may not be exciting, but it is by far not the worst job I have had.

I managed to sell two stories last year. My very first professional fiction sales, to be published later this year. Very much looking forward to that! Also got invited to contribute to a couple of anthologies (thanks, Scott!). I’m a little more confident in my writing, and now I only need to work on the motivation/discipline necessary to do more of it.

School is rough. My two current classes are probably the hardest ones I will have in my Masters program. And I was a dumbass and took them together. During my first term back in school in a long while. Nothing like jumping in the deep end! Hopefully I can pull passing grades out of these two, and move on to a more comfortable academic pace next month.

Had Faith for a week over the holidays. I was able to take the entire week off. And even though we didn’t get to do a whole lot together, it was still a great week. Pretty relaxing, for the most part. And I just enjoyed knowing my baby girl was around. I will miss her dearly until Summer. Then it’s one more year, and, if she stays with her plan, she’ll be here in Wisconsin for the foreseeable future.

Also managed to play a lot of Star Wars last week. Very fun game. In fact, now that I am back to work, I am jonesing for it again. Funny thing is, Michele has decided that, if she makes enough in tips this week, she will be buying it for herself soon.

Resolutions? Nah. I never follow through with them, so I don’t bother. However, there are a couple of things I would like to try to do this year, and hopefully for every year thereafter. I’d like to make myself stick to a schedule for certain things. Setting aside specific amounts of time on a daily and weekly basis for things like writing, playing games, doing homework, and exercising. I think if I have a schedule in front of me, I might be more inclined to do things I should do. And, as I get more accustomed to following that schedule, they will become habits, and I won’t need the schedule anymore.

In 2012 I am hoping to find more happiness, more fulfillment, more success, and generally more in life. As the saying goes, I’m not getting any younger. And while I have friends who will read that and roll their eyes, I know that I sometimes feel older than my 41 years. I don’t like that feeling. I want to feel 18 again. But, that’s not a goal. It’s an ongoing process that will only end when I do.

Happy New Year to all my faithful minions out there. May this year, and every year, be better than the last, but not as good as the next!

Last day of “work” in 2011

2011-12-23T15:39:00.001-06:00

John L. Sullivan
This post needed some random manliness.

I’m sitting at my desk on a Friday afternoon. But not just any Friday; it’s the one before Christmas. And I literally have nothing to do. Most of the people here are taking an extended weekend for the Holiday. I’m taking all of next week off, so I am here today. My boss is here too. But, since he has no meetings scheduled, he is spending his day getting caught up on a lot of stuff. Stuff that I can’t help with, really.

So, what do I do with myself as I watch the clock slowly tick towards quitting time? Well, a lot of Facebook, some emails, internet researching, etc. I even started some homework. In fact, homework is probably what I should be doing. But I just can’t bring myself to concentrate on that.

On a related note, I am pondering the idea of changing the focus of my major from Ancient and Classical Cultures to American History. I’m not really sure why. I love ancient cultures, but there is so much about them that I don’t know. Now, conventional wisdom says that that is precisely why I am in school, right? To learn more? But sometimes I feel like I don’t even know as much as I should. I blame that on the circumstances surrounding me getting my degree (as in taking 14 years to do it), but there you have it. I have not retained nearly enough historical knowledge.

So, why American History? Well, whenever I read about it, I am drawn in. From the Native Americans (a slightly misleading term, by the way), to the Revolutionary War, to the Civil War and the subsequent “Wild West” period. I like reading about it all. It’s more personal. I love Sparta and Athens, but I can’t personally relate to any of those cultures. Yet, I can relate to the plight of the Irish immigrants in Boston in the 1880’s. To the founding fathers, who, despite their relative faults compared to modern sensibilities, were brilliant men with vision that dwarfs anything any of our own political leadership can conjure.

In short, American History is my history. It’s the history of who I am as an American. Fortunately, I’m in my first term, and I’m pretty sure that the two classes I am currently in will carry over to the new focus. So, it won’t be such a leap. But it will be into an area that I am already more familiar with, will probably be more comfortable studying, and will be able to garner at lease some passion about.

In the meantime, I’m still writing. I have decided to write two more sequels to the Orc Space Pirate story I wrote, Blackskull’s Captive! My goal is to flesh out Captive to about 15k words (right now it’s a trim 9k), and then write two more stories of about 15-20k each. Then I will package them all together as a book. Whether I try to go with a traditional publisher, or self-publish an e-book, I don’t know. But, with a final length of around 45-50k, I’m thinking an e-book would be better. Too short for today’s publishers. Anyways, the second story got a full plot outline, and some thumbnails of the main characters, so that’s moving along nicely. And I know where and how the whole saga ends, so it shouldn’t be but a matter of writing from here on out.

And then here comes Christmas. My daughter comes to visit all next week, and I am very excited to see her again. I miss her when she is gone. But, thanks to the internet and texting, I dare say we have a closer father-daughter relationship these days than most men who live with their daughters have. Certainly it’s better now than it has been for us. But, a large part of that is the fact that she is 16, and can see through the screens of BS her mother puts up to the real truths. In the end she knows I love her, and I only want what’s good for her. And she appreciates that. As a dad, that means a lot.

So, there you go. Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, etc. Happy New Year to all, and I hope 2012 is a better year for everyone involved. I may post something during my vacation, but don’t hold your breath. Between spending time with my kids and family, doing some homework, and playing Star Wars: The Old Republic, I’ll most likely be swamped.

Star Trekkin’ Across the Universe!

2011-12-19T11:20:00.001-06:00

Despite spending about four hours last night playing Star Wars: The Old Republic (very fun game, and more immersive than any other MMO, in my experience), I find myself unexpectedly in a Star Trek mood today. This happens a lot. It usually only takes a glimpse of something Star Trek-related, and my brain is off and running. I think today it was an ad for StarTrek.com.

Anyways, I got to thinking about my favorite parts of Star Trek; shows, characters, ships, quotes, etc. So, here are some of my favorites in a few different categories. No doubt a lot of this will get me hazed to no end by my Trekkie (and Trekker) friends. But, as always, I likes what I likes. Sue me.

*Note: None of my list includes anything from Enterprise. For some reason, that show never caught on with me, and I don’t think I ever watched more than a couple of full episodes. I’m not saying that it was bad show, I’m just saying that I never watched it, and therefore can’t comment on it.

Favorite Captain: James T. Kirk

This was actually a tough one. Each of the Captains has brought something new and different to that chair. Even some of the peripheral Captains are pretty damn cool (Captain Sulu of the Excelsior, anyone?). But, when it all comes down to it, it was Kirk’s rogue attitude, his penchant for thumbing his nose at regulations to get the job done, and his loyalty to his crew and friends that made him an amazing character, and the greatest Starship Captain to grace the screen. He is iconic, and sets the standard that all of the rest must measure themselves by. I thought Chris Pine NAILED the character perfectly, but I will always be a Shatner-fan.

Favorite Series: Voyager

This is where the booing, hissing, and eye-rolling occur. But what can I say? Star Trek meets Lost in Space is a pretty cool concept. Add to that a neat ship, some great and memorable characters (Janeway is my second favorite Captain), and the best uses of the Holodeck to date. Voyager tread new ground, while still holding true to the original spirit of Star Trek. More so than any other show, IMHO.

Favorite Ship: Constitution-refit

It may be nostalgia, since my love of Trek began with the TOS-era movies, but this ship still gets me excited for Trek. It has the sleek lines and flowing style that I like, without excessive details (like the Enterprise-D's windows). It’s not a huge ship, but it can hold its own against just about anything in the Galaxy. All-in-all, though I like many other ships in the Trek-verse, this one is the one that I always enjoy looking at the most.

Favorite Supporting Character: Ensign Kim

This was a REALLY tough choice. Tougher than the Captain. There are so many great characters. Even if I were to narrow it down to just Voyager, it would still be a tough choice. But I always liked Kim, because I could relate to him more than anyone else. He was young, naïve, wet-behind-the-ears, and yet had a lot of common sense, intelligence, and ingenuity. Plus, he had a holodeck program of Beowulf. You just don’t get any cooler than that!

Favorite Quotes:
All my favorite quotes come from the TOS-era movies. And usually involve Bones. He always seemed to have the best lines.

Kirk: *Giving the Vulcan hand sign* How many fingers do I have up?
McCoy: That’s not very damn funny.
- Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Kirk: Spock, where the hell's the power you promised?
Spock: One damn minute, Admiral.
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

McCoy: My God, man. Drilling holes in his head isn't the answer.
- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home

General Chang: I am constant as the northern star!
McCoy: I'd give real money if he'd shut up.
- Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country

So, what are your favorite Star Trek elements?

Orcish Martial Arts?

2011-12-16T12:44:00.000-06:00

http://nexodus.deviantart.com/art/orc-fighter-sketch-11437127
Image of this badass orc
borrowed without permission.

The idea of martial arts in fantasy has been bandied around and used for a long time. However, it is usually in relation to the more “civilized” races. But, imagine if a culture such as Orcs had developed an organized fighting art.

In order to imagine this, one has to first define what kind of culture the Orcs in question live in. There seems to be as many different types of Orcs and Orc Cultures as there are fantasy writers willing to write about them. From Tolkien’s hate-filled brutes, to Stan Nicholl’s near-human warriors of honor, to World of Warcraft’s tribal crusaders; the common threads seem to be that Orcs are strong, brutal warriors. So, it would stand to reason that any fighting art developed by Orcs, regardless of culture, would be filled with offensive strikes, debilitating defenses, and the mindset that “anything goes” in a fight.

Techniques
As an eclectic martial artist myself (though way out of shape and practice), I am drawn to the more direct, non-flashy styles of fighting; boxing, kickboxing, Krav Maga, etc. I think Orcs would feel the same way. In fact, I would wager that your average Orc would get a huge kick (no pun intended) out of MMA. So, in my mind, an Orcish martial art would resemble that. Imagine Randy Couture with green skin and tusks.

For techniques we’re looking at a lot of heavy punches, direct kicks, and maybe some simple joint locks and throws. But Orcs wouldn’t abide by no rules, so head butts, groin shots and rabbit punches would be pretty normal. Hell, even a bite or finger gouge would be called for, should the need arise. Punches and kicks would be heavy, with the aim of crushing flesh and bone. Joint locks would be designed to break limbs, or at least disable them. And throws would preferably involve a solid object to aim your opponent’s body at.

An Orcish martial art would probably operate on the principle of “The best defense is a good offense.” While blocking an attack would be something that would be done, it would most often be done in a way that the blocked appendage would suffer some damage. Basically, an incoming punch makes the arm your new target, etc. And like many Asian arts, defending yourself while making a simultaneous counter-attack would be the norm. Add to this dodging, bobbing, and weaving, and you have all the defense you need.

Conditioning
I always envisioned Orcs who “train” doing so in very strenuous ways. Physical strength and endurance would be paramount, so many of their exercises would involve developing those attributes. Kettle bells are an ancient tool for strength-training, and I envisioned in one story I was writing that Orcs would use something similar. Basically two round stones of equal weight, with rope handles attached. There are tons of exercises one could do with these, not the least of which would be to simply carry them from place to place.

Your average Orc village won’t have access to any kind of gym equipment, so calisthenics would be largely used. Push ups, pull ups, and squats might form the foundation. Then add in running, rope-climbing, and moving around various sizes of logs and stones. For an idea of the kinds of things Orcs might do, watch a Strong Man Competition or Highland Games. Those guys are animals!

As anyone who has ever punched a heavy bag, or even a person, can attest, if your knuckles aren’t either protected or conditioned (or ideally both), you can hurt yourself pretty bad. And that will end your fight or training session real quick. So, how would Orcs condition their knuckles? The answer: Punch a tree. Similar to how Wing Chun artists use a wooden dummy and sand bags, Orcs would practice punching solid objects that, while solid enough to resist their force, would be pliable enough to not break every bone upon impact. A nice, ripe Pine is perfect. The bark is thick, and the trunk is solid. Besides, who cares about trees anyways? They’re an asset. The same could go for kicks, knee strikes, and elbow strikes. You ever see Van Damme’s Kickboxer? That’s some harsh, Orcish training right there.

Practicing
Most formal martial arts involve choreographed movements done in a specific order, usually referred to as forms or katas. These are designed to develop muscle memory on how the body moves from one technique to the next logical technique, in response to a likely attack or target. However, Orcs would probably eschew such formalities. Rather than performing a “dance” with an imaginary foe, Orcs are more likely to test their knowledge and abilities on live targets. Ideally, each other. Therefore, students in a class would be encouraged to pick fights with one-another. These might be formal challenges, or on-the-spot walking up and punching someone. No hard feelings are usually left after it’s over. And if they are, so what? Are you an Orc or a pansy Elf?

That being said, chances are Orcs would be pragmatic enough to know to pull back a little. Especially when applying joint locks and other wrestling-type moves. Pile-driving your foe’s head into a rock might work when fighting for your life. But in practice, well, it’s just a waste of resources. If you kill your foe in practice, who are you going to practice with next time? And when it comes down to it, if you go to battle, you want as many fighting-worthy mates with you as possible.

Conclusion
So, what do we have now? We have a brutal, no-holds-barred style of fighting that closely resembles a WWE wrestling match combined with the Spartan agoge. Savvy martial artists might come to the conclusion that this martial art could be seen as Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do on steroids. Either way, Orcs who practice this art would be formidable, scary, and downright nasty in a fight. But, it wouldn’t stop there. This unarmed form is just the beginning. Once the Orc learns to deal damage and mayhem with his bare hands (and feet, knees, elbows, head, teeth…) he gets to learn to apply all of that to weapons!

So, what do we call this art? Ideas?

A Real American Hero!

2011-12-13T08:33:00.000-06:00

Oddly, growing up first in homes without the benefit of much watchable TV, and then overseas where we had a single English-language channel to watch, a lot of the cartoons of the early 80’s are kind of lost on me. The original incarnations of Dungeons & Dragons, Thundercats, He-Man, Voltron, and G.I. Joe were all, for one reason or another, unavailable to me at the times of their release (actually FEN got Voltron, but I never liked it). In recent years I have made some efforts to reconcile this, to little success.

Most of those original cartoons look like crap to me, now. The 2005 re-incarnation of He-Man is cool, though, and I own it on DVD. The one I always wanted to like, but still can’t get into, is G.I. Joe. I had some of the toys, and I played my own stories out. But, instead of leading me to the cartoon, they lead me to Mack Bolan, and so my military action fix was in the Executioner series, and some of the knock-offs.

Then Hollywood brought G.I. Joe to the big screen in live-action. And I liked it quite a bit. The first film was a little hokey maybe, and definitely aimed at the nostalgia crowd, but still a fun ride. Now, there is a second one coming out. And this one features Dwayne Johnson. For those who don’t know, I LOVE Dwayne Johnson. I think he is amazingly talented for what amounts to a jock-turned-actor. He has a terrific sense of comedic timing, an amazing screen-presence, and is just fun to watch.

So, when you put him in a G.I. Joe movie with a rather dark and sinister plot…well, this is just good action movie-making, in my opinion. In this, the first trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation, we are treated to some really good visuals, the promise of some superior action, and even a surprise star at the end. I got giddy when that part showed up…

Between this, Expendables 2, and The Avengers, I am excited about movies again.

And now I wish I could play a military action RPG…

Guns for Toddlers!

2011-12-05T11:25:00.000-06:00

For Halloween 2010, my wife dressed up as Tank Girl (totally hot!), and she had a plastic AK-47 to complete the look. Not that accurate to the comic book, but close enough for a costume party. Well, after Halloween my son started playing with the thing. He liked shooting me and watching me do the “bullet dance” and even started doing it himself when we shot him with it.

Yeah, we’re sick, I know. I can almost hear the heart attacks of Bleeding Heart Liberals out there. *cackling with glee*

A few weeks ago my wife took him outside to play in the apartment complex’s playground on one of the last “nice” days of the season. While there, he was apparently running around shooting the other kids with a Nerf gun. “PEW-PEW-PEW!!” Makes my heart swell with pride.

For Christmas last year, my wife got me a kick-ass Nerf machine gun. Unfortunately, there are inherent problems. I can totally see my son riddling his sister and the cats with Nerf darts. And those darts would end up chewed on by those cats, and pieces of them everywhere. So, I have yet to actually unpack the darts, and may never do so (as an aside, the gun will someday make a fine sci-fi soldier prop).

This is the exact one I got.

So, there seems to be two schools of thought on the whole “toy gun” issue. One is that they will trivialize guns, making them into nothing but playthings for kids, should they get ahold of a real one. My issue with that is when it happens, it can usually be traced to being the parents’ fault for not clarifying the difference between “reality” and “fantasy.” Which is the main problem, IMHO. Columbine, for instance; those kids killed because they played DOOM, right? No, they killed because they were mentally troubled kids whose parents were passively neglecting them (YMMV...this is not a political debate).

As you can imagine, I’m on the other side of the fence. Toy guns are fine, and are a long-time tradition for little boys (and probably for little girls sometimes). Since my 3-year old will probably never see a real-life gun until he is MUCH older (as in he’s an adult), chances are by the time he does, he will have learned to respect the weapon for what it is. In the meantime, it’s just playtime and make-believe. And it’s not like I encourage him to kill things. Hell, he throws things at his sister and the cats already, for which he is scolded and punished on a regular basis. However, despite the violent nature of his antics, I know that at the core, he’s just playing (you can see it in his face when he’s serious…just like me).

So, what it all this about? It’s about Christmas, and my idea for a present. I’m thinking of getting him some kind of toddler-sized rifle. Something bizarre-looking, that bears little to no resemblance to anything real. Nerf is GREAT for that sort of thing. Or maybe something like this…
After all, it is about time to start educating him on Star Wars.

John and Frank

2011-12-02T10:43:00.000-06:00

Many of you may not know that John Buscema (December 11, 1927–January 10, 2002) is my all-time favorite comic book artist. He is probably one of the most influential artists in the medium this side of Jack Kirby, and he practically invented "The Marvel Way" of comic book art. I belong to a Facebook group for his art, and they post pictures of his work on a daily basis. There have been several pics of the Punisher, and I always loved those.

On a whim, I did a Google search for Punisher pics by Big John, and discovered a trade paper back that collected a five-issue story arc from 1994's Punisher: War Zone. It immediately went on my Amazon wish list. But last week, I found a copy in my local comic shop, and being one to support local businesses, I picked it up.

The story is called "Barbarian With a Gun" and it is awesome. Written by Chuck Dixon, one of my favorite comic book writers, and illustrated (pencils and inks) by John Buscema, it seemed a win-win without really even trying. But try and succeed it did. The story is typical Punisher, except that instead of the dirty streets of New York, the action takes place in fictitious sub-tropical island nation known as Puerto Dulce. Through the story Frank is put to the test. He is beaten, shot at, and otherwise abused. But through it all he perseveres in typically stoic Punisher fashion. The story also boasts some great dialogue with Microchip, Frank's nerdy computer-whiz sidekick, and a guest star from Marvel's comic The 'Nam, Iceman. The ending is a pretty cool piece of irony.

But for me, the best part is John Buscema's artwork. It is always a pleasure to see, and makes any book worth reading, IMHO. Inerestingly, this TPB collects five issues, but the fifth issue was only broken down (rough pencils) by John, and finished by Tom Palmer. And you can tell. Tom is a good artist, but something is lost when he finishes John's work. However, John's layouts and breakdowns are still very evident, so it's forgivable. the only other critique I had was that the covers for each individual issue weren't done by John, and don't really reflect the story within very well. but, that's typical for comic books in general.

I had the chance to meet John at the San Diego Comic Con in 2001. But, I was shy and chickened out. He passed away that following January, and I have been kicking myself ever since.

All that being said, if you enjoy a good Punisher story, and enjoy John's art, I highly recommend this book.

Back in the saddle again!

2011-11-28T16:04:00.000-06:00

After a few weeks of hiding behind various excuses (some legitimate!), I am back to writing fiction. Nothing majorly astounding. Just working on some WIPs.

Last night and this morning were all about me getting myself caught up on school work. I was a week behind on my online postings, and I managed to make that up in one class. The other class, I couldn't do it, so I get a Zero for last week's assignment (the Prof closes the discussion board at the end of each week). But, I managed to do this week's post for that class, so I'm not behind anymore. This morning I got about 800 words done on my Academic Book Review. Did I mention that the original draft, which was about 1100+ words already, got corrupted? Same way as my Orc story a couple of months ago. I think it had something to do with my flash drive. When I plugged it in at home, Windows Vista detected problems and fixed them for me. But, too little too late. Now I have to start over, and it's due on Sunday. No problem.

This afternoon I decided to do some fiction writing in between work-related tasks. So, after some snooping amongst all of my various projects, I decided to work on the new Orc story for Scott Oden's anthology. What ensued was almost 700 words of mostly dialogue. The story progressed, and the chase is on. The rest of it is going to be pretty action-oriented, with a cool ending (well, I think it's cool, anyways).

I'm also thinking about a few other works. I wrote an orc story based loosely on the universe of Disney's Treasure Planet a while back. Today I started thinking about the sequel. I think I may go back and expand the first story some, and flesh it out. Then write two more stories about the character as sequels. Then self-publish (or maybe send off to a few publishing houses first) the whole collection as a novel. I kind of like that idea.

And lastly, I am going to try to finish up the Thomas Magni story, and submit it for publication. Already have a couple of markets scoped out for that one. I just need to write the last third, which is already done in my head, and I just need to get it on paper, so to speak.

In non-writing news, I got a new car. A 2008 Chevy Impala. It's a red sedan, and is a very nice drive. The gas mileage is a smidge better than the XTerra was, but the payments are much lower, and insurance should be as well.

But, the biggest news of all is that my wife quit her job on Saturday! She is a hair-stylist, and has been working at the same salon for about fifteen years. She'd finally had enough of various problems, so she is going out on her own. She is renting a suite, and expects to be opening her doors to clients on December 8th. She is now self-employed, and it is very exciting. So, if you're in the Madison area, and you are looking for a new stylist (men, women, children) look her up at Lily's Head Space.

Top 5 War Movies

2011-11-24T10:55:00.000-06:00

Been a while since I did a list, so, in honor of my obsession with Battlefield Play4Free, here are my top five war movies.

Heartbreak Ridge (1986) – Because of this movie, I almost joined the Marines. Had I not had a pathological hatred of Jarheads (they invaded my high school and took all the hot chicks), I might have been in a Recon platoon. As it was, the story, characters and technical details of this movie make it an instant classic. One of Clint’s most quotable non-western films, too.

The Wild Geese (1978) – Mercenaries in Africa on a mission to rescue a political prisoner. This movie has got it all. Cool characters, a bit of spy-noir at times, superior action, intrigue, danger, and betrayal. And in the end, there are even some tears. For pure military action, you just don’t get much better than this. I’ve never been a fan of Roger Moore as James Bond, but in this role he stands out.

A Bridge Too Far (1977) – A semi-fictional account of Operation: Market Garden, the largest Allied Airborne operation in WWII, the cast alone makes this movie worth watching. Add to that some real stunning action, heart-wrenching battle scenes, and more paratroopers than you can shake a Nazi stick-grenade at. I used to don my old red beret while watching this movie. Nothing brings out my Airborne pride like this one.

Platoon (1986) – Probably Oliver Stone’s best movie, this is the story of a young college kid who volunteers for Vietnam. While there he meets an outrageous cast of characters. And although no unit ever had all of them, every one of those characters probably really existed somewhere. This was Vietnam; the black stain on our military history. But told with heart and guts. Nevermind the politics of the war, the boys who fought it deserve respect.

Saving Private Ryan (1998) – I admit, I have a thing for WWII movies. That’s probably due to the romanticized representation of the era that Hollywood has always given us. This movie takes that view, and makes it brutally real. From the moment you’re taken to the beaches of Normandy, all the way to the last stand, there are moments in this movie that will stay with you forever. Sometimes I get chills just thinking about some of the scenes.

Honorable Mentions:

Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) – I would classify this movie as more “action” than “war.” Otherwise it might have made the list. This film was highly influential on me, and I regard it as one of the main reasons I joined the Army as an Airborne Infantryman after high school. And although it seems almost hokey nowadays, I still hold a special place for this entire series in my heart.

Full Metal Jacket (1987) – Admittedly, I only watch about the first 45 minutes of this film. The basic training segment is brilliant, and R. Lee Ermey is amazing. Funny thing is, he wasn’t really acting that much. He was basically playing himself. After they graduate I turn it off. Because at that point it becomes just another Vietnam film. And after the emotional roller coaster of that first 45 minutes, I don’t usually have it in me to watch the rest.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) – I classify this as a “superhero” movie, but it definitely captures the spirit and feel of the old Hollywood WWII epics perfectly. This movie does a great job of blending history with comic book mythology. The acting is superb, and the sets and action are amazing. This is currently my #1 favorite movie. But, I may be a little biased.

Thanks!

2011-11-23T16:20:00.000-06:00

Sydney, Me, Michele, Connor and Faith.
My family.

Well, with tomorrow being Thanksgiving, I thought I would do that thing that so many bloggers do these days and talk about what I am thankful for.

First and foremost is life. I have an extraordinarily good life right now. I have a steady job that pays decent, and would be difficult to get fired from, unless I REALLY tried. I have three loving kids who love me unconditionally, even though sometimes I’m kind of a failure as a dad on some levels. And I have the most amazing wife a man could dream up. She is beautiful, funny, nerdy, geeky, and several other qualities I love. I can’t imagine life without her in it now.

I’m thankful for my talents. I’m a pretty decent writer, with a good grasp of the English language. I understand what makes a good story, even if I am still learning how to use that knowledge. I can draw fairly well, at least better than stick figures. And I have an eye for the artistic, to some extent. I have other talents I am thankful for, but we don’t need to get into those here.

As a friend of mine recently stated in his blog, I am also thankful for my stuff. We have a decent apartment to live in, the neighborhood may not be the best, but it’s a far cry from the ghetto. I just recently bought a new(er) car that I LOVE. I have a computer, a smart phone, a Blu-Ray player, and a large plasma TV. Yeah, I got cool stuff, and I love that I do. I also have a healthy collection of old comics, and many, many books that will one day see a nice bookshelf, instead of boxes in storage.

I have friends. Lots of friends. Some old that I’ve known for decades, some new that I only just recently met. Some I have spent many hours and days with in person, and others that I have only communicated with online. Some that I have learned many things from, and others who are eagerly receptive to what knowledge I have. I have friends I talk to almost daily, and others with whom I have shared very little communication, but they are still there, and I still consider them my friends.

I’m thankful for my memories and experiences. Without them, good or bad, I would not be who or where I am today. Sure, I have regrets. But who doesn’t? I wish I had played high school football. I wish I would have tried to get into Special Forces. I wish I would have moved to LA and pursued my dream of making it in Hollywood. But, hey, if I had done any one of those, where and who would I be today?

In short, I am thankful for all that I have, and all that I am. But most importantly, I am thankful that I have a future. Though there will be dark periods, and some points in my life will no doubt be very difficult (as my past has already illustrated), I know that in the end, I will come out ahead. And mainly thanks to the aforementioned things I am already thankful for. Life is funny that way.

But, at this moment, I am thankful that I am about to have a 4-day weekend. And I am thankful that you came here to hear me ramble for a bit. That means a lot to me.

God bless, and have a happy Thanksgiving!

A wee bit...

2011-11-18T13:55:00.001-06:00

Oddly, I feel very Irish today. For those who don’t know, I’m probably about a third Irish (along with some other European descents, topped off with a healthy dose of Native American), and I really identify with this part of me some days. Today is one of those days.

Perhaps it’s my gray tweed flat cap and wool scarf that come out when the temperatures drop. I would like to be wearing my Pea Coat as well, but right now it’s more of a “pee” coat, thanks to those furry, four-legged freeloaders who think they run the place. Combine these with my growing beard, and I feel like I could walk the Irish countryside down to the Pub and share a pint with me mates!

Well, today I settled for walking down to the Capital Square to Brocach Irish Pub for some Bangers and Mash. Although I was tempted to have a beer, I opted for iced tea, since I would have to slog it back to work afterwards. The food is pricier than my normal lunch fare, but so worth it. I am stuffed to me gills, lads!

I sat in the pleasant atmosphere of the pub reading about the Persian Wars of Sparta and Athens. That’s the other thing about this ensemble, it makes me feel scholarly. And considering I am studying for a Masters in History, with a focus in Ancient and Classical Cultures, that seems like a good thing. Perhaps someday I will have a University office with “Prof. Thomas Doolan, PhD” stenciled on it. Wouldn’t that be some shit?

Looking forward to getting my game on tonight. Been a month since we played D&D, and I miss it. I mean, I’ve been playing CoH and Battlefield a lot lately, but it just isn’t the same. There’s something very personal about rolling dice and interacting with my voice, rather than my fingers.

That being said, a couple of friends are playing Skyrim, and with each new report from them, I find myself just a little more envious. Almost makes me want to switch to WoW, or maybe some other FtP fantasy MMO. But then Star Wars comes out next month, so I need to just bide my time. Besides, I really should focus on writing more. Games tend to cut into that severely.

Speaking of writing, nothing new to report. I still have all of my WIPs sitting around. And eventually, I will start carving away at some of those again. Orcs, interstellar mercenaries, and a Spartan King all want their stories told. Calm yourselves, boys. All in good time.

*leans back in his chair and stares out the window at the rolling hills while sipping tea and puffing his pipe*

A man must dream to appreciate life.

Great scott!

2011-11-15T12:59:00.000-06:00

It's been almost two weeks since I blogged! I am shamed.

Actually, not much to report. Been stressing over school, work and life recently. No time for writing for fun. And forget NaNoWriMo. I have to admit, I get jealous when I see people posting word counts on Facebook. But then, I just remember that if there is any blame for my lack of production, it is 100% on me and my own choices. And I'm actually ok with that.

What I am writing is academic in nature. I did a 1,400+ word essay in a few hours, citing five different sources. Despite all of the markups my professor put on it (mostly editorial and technical aspects) he really enjoyed the paper, and gave me 10 out 10 points on it. I'm sure if I were to polish it up it would be pretty darn good.

Today I am starting to write an Academic Book Review on The Spartans by Paul Cartledge. The difference between an "Academic" review and just a regular review is intent. With an Academic, I need to make comments and cirticisms on not only the delivery of the author's work, but whether his goal for the work was achieved, and to what degree it succeeded or failed.

Interestingly, this needs to also be about 1,250+ words. So, as far as length, I'm getting to where I can do that in my sleep. And even though I haven't finished reading the book yet, I could probably fudge a pretty good review just based on what I have read so far. I'm fortunate in that I have read certain portions of this book before, when I started researching the agoge and King Agesilaus. But I do intend to read the whole thing, and will eventually add a copy to my personal library, as it pertains to my main area of focus, Ancient and Classical Cultures.

On a more whimsical note, I am enjoying taking time in the evenings, before the kids go to bed, to play online video games while they play and watch TV (after they go to bed, I try to focus on homework...sometimes I even succeed!). Lately, I have been really getting into Battlefield Play4Free. Basically it's a modern warfare FPS. I actually made a micropurchase and got my character a beret and a MUCH better rifle. It makes a huge difference. Plus, as I play more and get better familiar with the controls, I can start using basic infantry tactics. I'm to the point where, generally, I end an engagement with as many kills as I do deaths. A far cry from the 1/20 ratio I started out with a few weeks ago.

Last night I also reupped my City of Heroes account, just so I could play with my wife. She has been playing a couple of years longer than I have, and has some serious time and energy invested in the supergroup (of which she served as leader for quite some time). We started new characters last night, just to test out the new content for low-levels. The whole game is really slick now. Granted, the graphics are still just a little sub-par (especially compared to DCUOnline), but the content, social interface, and character options more than make up for that. Even the FTP content is better than most games, IMHO.

Of course, that all goes away at the end of next month. Star Wars: The Old Republic comes out, and I am chomping at the bit for it. A friend got to play in the first beta last weekend, and he gushed on and on about it in chat today. I take that as a really good sign, since he is somewhat of an MMO snob, and judges these games with a very critical eye.

With all of this, life is kind of moving pretty fast. My wife is gearing up for her new business venture that will be taking off like a rocket in about two weeks. Then there is the AdvoCare business, which is already starting to gain some momentum. The future looks pretty bright, and the darkness we have been bumbling through lately seems to be lifteing, slowly but surely.

Like butter over too much toast…

2011-11-03T15:51:00.000-05:00

Because he said it in the movie...

Well, it’s only day 3 of NaNoWriMo and I feel like I may be stretched a bit this time around. Working a full-time job (which admittedly is not that busy, and affords me some ample writing time…if the muse strikes), taking care of a rambunctious nearly-3-year old boy, and worrying about my daughters and their own problems and obstacles. Not to mention the changes in our personal life as my wife embarks an another incredible journey. And finally, as if that weren’t enough, throw in a dash of Grad School and mix well.

I’m still going to plug away at my book. I may not make 50,000 words by the end of the month, but I will still try (stranger things have happened). But, in the meantime, I have to read Spartans, an historical reference book, by the end of the month and then do an Academic Book Review, as well as the weekly assignments for my two classes. Unfortunately, even though they are History classes, they are more about the study of studying history (a discipline referred to as Historiography). Granted, after these two, it will be more straight up reading about history. Which is the part I like.

In other news, Scott Oden’s Orcs Anthology should be getting a due date for the submissions soon. I’m about 1/3 done with that story. I have a basic plot, some interesting characters, and I’m sure I will get it done. But, there’s still a part of me that dreads deadlines. Even though I work well under them (my prof. gave me a 10/10 on my essay this weekend…one that I wrote and cited five sources for in a single afternoon).

And, not at all surprising, my brain still keeps wandering in and out of different genres. Right now, with my degree focus being in Ancient Cultures, I am once again reminded of the historical novel I started about Agesilaus. I think I’d like to finish that some day. And who knows, maybe it will spur me on to do an academic study of him. I’m also thinking about some offbeat stuff. My friend is developing a campaign setting that he would like to see published as a compatible setting for the Pathfinder RPG. It’s kind of a a blend of Dragonstar and Stargate, with a Steampunk feel. At least that’s the vibe I am getting from his stuff so far.

Some good news on the tech front. I got my computer working again. Turns out it was some corrupted sectors. Running CHKDSK cleared it up, it appears. I still plan on getting a new laptop for me, and making my desktop the “family” computer. But at least now it’s not a priority. I also found the flash drive I thought I had lost last week. I was working around not having it. I couldn’t back all of the files up on an internet site (thankfully, I had backed them up on my work computer just the day before it disappeared), because my work blocks “file sharing” sites. So, I was using Google Docs, which works, but is a little cumbersome, compared to the convenience of a flash drive. Now, that’s a non-issue.

Well, looky there. Another “off-the-cuff” blog post. I’m getting pretty good at these.

NaNoWriMo

2011-10-31T08:47:00.000-05:00

Yep, it’s that time again. For those who don’t know (and I can’t imagine there are many these days), November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), wherein writers (published, unpublished, under-published, and wannabes alike) set a goal to write a 50,000 word novel inside 30 days. It begins tonight at midnight, and ends at midnight on November 30th.
Personally, I’ve tried this three times now. So far the best I was able to ever do was about 15,000 words. Usually, November seems to be that month that bites me in the ass with all kinds of uncontrollable distractions. I start strong, but as the month wears on, things happen, and I just cave under the pressure. To be honest, I doubt this year will be any different.

However, I am ok with this. For me it’s not about finishing the project. I am still learning the craft of writing well. So, to me the important thing is to get quality stuff on paper. Other writers have a different philosophy. Some feel that it’s important to get the words out there and polish them later. And that is perfectly fine. If it works for them, bully! But, with my writing and storytelling abilities being where they are…well, no matter how much you polish a turd, it’s still a turd.

Therefore, my personal goal is to write something that isn’t a turd. If I manage to make it to 50,000 turd-free words, that’s bonus! Otherwise, I’m usually happy with getting something started that I can chip away at in the future. Something that may only be a beginning, but in the end will turn into something good. I don’t want to be one of those writers with a hard drive full of un-publishable material. I want everything I write to be publishable. And since I am not making my living from writing, I can afford to take my time to ensure that.

The question is, what am I going to write? Normally I try to sketch out at least a basic premise and a rough outline. Usually that amounts to nothing more than a “back cover blurb” with a description of the ending tacked on. I’m not one for real outlines or long synopses. Which, as I’m sure I have stated before on this blog, may account for why I have never finished anything of novel length.

So, during my various bits of spare time today, I will brainstorm some ideas, and see if I can come up with something usable.

How many of my loyal minions out there will also be trying their hand at NaNoWriMo?

Film-making Dreams

2011-10-26T14:13:00.000-05:00

Last week I watched a movie on NetFlix that I had been eyeing for some time. Hunter Prey (2010) is a low-budget sci-fi film that is surprisingly good. Although it does seem to combine elements (both visual and story) from other films, it does so with a flair of originality and a couple of surprises. If you get the chance, I highly recommend seeing it. It’s currently available on instant view and DVD.

But, that’s not what I want to talk about today. What I want to talk about is film-making. Watching this film made me recall a dream I used to harbor. Many moons ago, I had aspirations to become a film-maker. I read books on the subject, watched featurettes, and basically tried everything I could to learn how to do it without 1) actually doing it, and 2) going to school for it.

I have to say, if I hadn’t gotten married at 19, I may very well have pursued that dream. But, as it was, having a new family and being rather naïve to the ways of the world, I decided that I had to just give up that dream and concentrate on other, more practical things.

Well, I didn’t actually give the dream up. It just sort of got put on the back burner indefinitely. It would resurface every now and again. Once I even started planning and writing a film based on a short story a friend of mine wrote. Like Hunter Prey, it was to be a (extremely) low-budget sci-fi movie. It never got past some initial writing and concept sketches. But it was still fun to think about.

I think what I really liked, and what really grabbed me about Hunter Prey, was the production values, and how good they were on such a small budget. The alien make-up was top-notch, and looked as good as anything George Lucas ever did. In fact, there were many elements that were reminiscent of the original Star Wars film. The equipment was extremely well-done. It had that functional, well-used look, without being cheesy.

And this all appeals to the closet Cosplayer in me. I have never Cosplayed, and have never owned a good costume of any kind. But I have always wanted one, and have spent many hours planning and designing costumes that I would like to have and wear. One day, I will go to a geeky con in a costume that will have people asking for pictures all day. That would be sweet!

So, anyways, back to film-making. With the advent of digital cameras, and film-editing software, the prospect of doing a short film is probably more feasible now than it ever has been. Who knows, maybe I will make a dream come true in a small way. After all, I used to dream about getting published in Weird Tales magazine, and I have two stories that should see print there next year.

Blood & Thunder Writing

2011-10-21T12:59:00.000-05:00

After a recent discussion on the Sword & Sorcery League’s Facebook page, I have determined that a new term should be used to describe what many refer to as “old school” Sword & Sorcery. I guess we could just go ahead and call it Old School, but that gets so overused in so many different contexts these days. No, what we need is something that is evocative of the genre itself.

Now, when I say “Old School” I am referring to a specific type of Sword & Sorcery writing that is slightly different than what is commonly seen these days. These stories were high on action and intrigue, with detailed descriptions of spilt entrails and split skulls. Typically, the protagonist is a warrior, often a barbarian or one with barbaric tendencies. Now this image should immediately draw in your mind Robert E. Howard’s Conan. And for good reason. REH is almost solely responsible for pulling this image from myths and legends (such as Beowulf) and planting him firmly in the minds of modern readers.

For decades, Conan was the archetype of this kind of hero, especially in the 60’s and 70’s after his resurgence in popularity thanks to the Lancer/Ace paperbacks. However, since Howard was long gone from this world, and unable to fill the need people suddenly had for more of this type of action-oriented fantasy, others were called upon. What ensued was a plethora of Conan knock-offs (some call them “Clonans”) seeing print. Gardner F. Fox’s Kyrik and Kothar, Lin Carter’s Thongor, and John Jakes’ Brak were some of the more noteworthy endeavors. Like the tales of Conan, these stories were filled with action, perpetrated by barbaric warriors. And they were wildly popular.

However, in recent times, the genre of S&S has undergone some changes. The plots have become more nuanced and detailed. The characters are often less brawny and more brainy. Many feel that the modern incarnation of S&S has more in common with High Fantasy (minus the elves and such). It could be argued that the older stories were able to support such linear plots and action-oriented characters due to their short lengths. The Clonans of the 70’s were often no more than 150 pages long, and usually much less. The novels of today generally range in the 300-350+ range. This gives the author a lot more room to explore various aspects of the characters, introduce subplots, and have more non-action storytelling.

The question becomes then, what do we call these quicker, more brutal stories? One term has been bandied about for some time, in various contexts, but is sometimes associated with S&S fiction. “Blood & Thunder.” According to Phrase Finder, the basic meaning is “An oath, alluding to mayhem and bloodshed.” Sounds pretty apt to me. And that may be why noted Robert E. Howard Scholar, Mark Finn used it as the title of his biography of the man.

There you go. In my mind, Blood & Thunder succinctly describes these stories of barbaric violence and mayhem. So, from now on, I will refer to such tales, including anything similar that I may write, as “Blood & Thunder Fiction.” No idea if it will catch on, but who cares? I know what I mean. And I’m sure that, in the context of any given conversation it comes up in, the listener/reader will probably know what I mean as well.

Now, the other question: Is there still a market for Blood & Thunder?

Change I can believe in!

2011-10-19T10:17:00.000-05:00

As most of my friends on Facebook probably already know, I recently had a story accepted for publication by Weird Tales magazine. Now, most of you who read my blog should already know the significance of that particular title. For those who do not, let me sum it up: Robert E. Howard published his Conan tales (among many others) there in the 1930’s. Yes, this magazine has been around, in one form or another, for that long. As a huge fan of Howard, and an admirer who would love to follow in his literary footsteps, there is a certain amount of extra pride in the fact that my first professional fiction sale is in that particular magazine.

The details of the publishing of this story are not yet set. It looks like possibly April of 2012. And word has it that it may be part of a Sword & Sorcery Special issue. I know of several people who write in that genre that have recently had stories accepted. We’re all part of a Facebook group called the Sword & Sorcery League. Fun stuff. And I will be in good company.

But there’s more! The editor loved my story so much that he said the only thing he didn’t like was that it ended. He asked if there was another story that continues the adventures of the character. I responded that I did have a sequel done, but that it needed a lot of revision. He said he would love to see it too. So, chances are I may already have two sales under my belt to Weird Tales! Needless to say, even though I have months to get him the second story, I have already done revisions and editing, and am currently awaiting feedback from alpha readers. I suspect that I will be sending him a copy within a week or two.

(Incidentaly, it should be noted that Weird Tales recently underwent a change of ownership, and the new owner is still in the process of changing things over.)

Indeed, these are exciting times for me. But I’m not alone in my house.

My wife, Michele, is starting a new phase in her professional journey that just excites me and leaves me in awe. She is an amazing person, and her ability to do what she sets out to do astounds me. I know I don’t have the kind of dedication and discipline she has, naturally. But there’s something about her success that is infectious, and I find myself looking to her example, and having more confidence in my own abilities.

She’s also brilliantly intelligent. She is currently double-majoring in Poli Sci and Economics, all while being a full-time hairdresser, amazing mom and the best wife I could have ever asked for. And, if that weren’t enough, last night she proclaimed that she would like to write a fantasy/romance story, and that she may try her hand at NaNoWriMo again to that end. Maybe, if she is willing, she can do the first draft, and then I can take a crack at it, and we could end up with a collaboration of sorts.

Yeah, things are looking up for us. I have a steady job with good benefits and a decent salary. She has a career with a high potential for financial success. The kids are all healthy and happy. My daughter, who has had her share of hardships and troubles, seems to be doing wonderful, and is on track to having a wonderful life herself.

All-in-all, life in the Doolan household couldn’t be much better at this point. So, I am taking this time to help spread my joy. I have friends who are going through rough times. And though I can’t do much more than be there for them and lend them support, I will at least do that much to my utmost ability.

I just want the world to be as happy as I am. Is that so much to ask?

Lost tales…

2011-10-10T13:43:00.002-05:00

It happened again. Only this time, it happened in a different way. I’m talking about losing a writing file that I had done a lot of work on. In the past, I had lost files due to actually losing the method of storage, as in I lost my old flash drive. On that one were many writing projects that I lament. One was a Doc Savage-inspired pulp adventure, and the other was a story of an ogre who saves a human girl from orc assassins. That last one was actually really good, and I want to almost cry when I think about how much work I put into it. Then there was the Sword & Planet story, the Military Sci-Fi story…

But today’s incident was different. I opened my Orc story of Mahak and found nothing but little squares. 20 pages of them. No formatting, no paragraph breaks, no weird symbols. Simply a 20-page string of squares. This also happened to another document. The only things relating these two docs was that 1) they were on my flash drive, and 2) they were last modified on Friday, here at work. Nearest I can figure our system did something to MS Office during the afternoon (which seems like it would be par for the course here), and it messed up those two files, as they were the ones open during that time. Every other file, Word or otherwise, is fine.

I’ve tried everything I can find from online sources to friends’ advice, but to no avail. There are some programs that supposedly can help, but I can’t install third-party programs here at work, so I will have to try from home later. But, the general consensus is that I’m SOL.

So, when this happens to you, when you lose a file for good, what do you do? Do you painstakingly re-create it in the hopes that it will be as good (or maybe even better) the second time around? Or do you abandon the idea and move on to another?

In this instance, I’m inclined to abandon it. I liked the Mahak story, but I kept getting the feeling that it was missing something. That it didn’t flow well. That the whole thing was trash and would have been a huge headache for poor Scott to edit into something resembling a decent story.

Unfortunately, that option leaves me with nothing to submit for the anthology. And though no deadline has been mentioned, I can’t imagine it will be established too far from now. So, I need to get busy. Either re-creating Mahak, or starting fresh.

Hmmm…what to do…?

Back to Orcish Fantasy

2011-10-07T13:01:00.000-05:00

Apparently my watching The Hobbit the other day (which Connor now wants to watch all the time) was enough to stave off my Space Opera jones, and place my creative urgings squarely back in the fantasy realm. Only now, instead of Sword & Sorcery, I am looking at more "Epic" fantasy. What's the difference, you ask? Well, maybe you don't ask, because chances are, if you read this blog, you already know. However, I will tell you (from my perspective) anyways.

Epic Fantasy has two main qualities that distinguish it from S&S; 1) non-human races like Elves, Dwarves, and most importantly, Orcs; and 2) magic is much more prevalent, and often used by the "good" guys. There is a third element that is often used, the scale and scope of the story. However, both genres tend to occasionally cross this line, so I can't really classify it as distinguishing figure. Ok, in thinking about it, there are other defining characteristics (such as character archetypes, morality, etc...), but in the interest of staying focused, I'm going to ignore those for now.

Anyways, so my musings are on Epic Fantasy. And I know this will come as a shock to some of you [/sarcasm], but my focus is on...wait for it...ORCS!!! As you may recall, I'm working on a story for an anthology about Orcs being edited by Scott Oden. However, I thought maybe I would produce my own, similar anthology for eReaders. To make it interesting, I thought I would invite all of my un(der)-published writer pals to contribute. However, I currently have nine stories of my own in various stages (two complete, one fragment, and six ideas). Regardless of how I do it, the theme will be "Orcs across realities." Basically, the stories can be from any genre, but the protagonist (or at least one of the main ones) has to be an Orc. Scott's anthology has the same basic rules, but he also has a bevvy of professional and published authors contributing (in addition to little old me). If I open my idea up, it will only be for writers who have yet to be published, or have only published a couple of low-profile stories. I dunno, I think it will depend on how much interest anyone else has in it.

The cool thing is, even though my current mood is Fantasy, with this premise, I can work in just about any genre (I even have a "modern" setting for Urban Fantasy) I want to. So, the odds of me actually doing it are pretty good. Well, good for me, anyways.

Now, of course, some of you are probably rolling your eyes. "How many projects are you going to dream up and then leave moldering on your shelf, Tom?" The answer is 972. This is only #353, so I have some wiggle room.

Also, this:

The Greatest Adventure

2011-10-04T11:05:00.001-05:00

When I was a kid, watching movies on TV was a special thing. Aside from the made-for-TV movies, seeing films on TV was usually something that you planned around. Among these were the standards like The Wizard of Oz and Miracle on 34th Street. They came on annually, and were kind of a family event. But for me, I always looked forward to one movie; Rankin/Bass’ animated production of The Hobbit.

Years before I had ever heard of D&D, I was enamored of the tale of Bilbo Baggins and the thirteen dwarves. I was both scared and excited by the old wyrm, Smaug, the Spiders of Mirkwood and the Dwarf-eating Trolls. I loved Orcrist the Goblin Cleaver, and Glamdring, the Foe Hammer, and Black Arrow. I wanted to be Bard the Guardsman.

My mom owned a set of books that included The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. At the time I was too young to really be able to read them (I didn’t develop the necessary reading skills until sometime around junior high), but I used to look at the cover, with its image of Bilbo floating down the river on a barrel, and wonder what it would be like to live in that kind of world. The covers of the other books were equally enchanting to me, particularly Fellowship, which depicted Hobbiton.

Then, in 6th grade, I was introduced to D&D. And the spark that Rankin/Bass had ignited was fanned into a blaze that burns bright to this day. Suddenly I could be Bard. I could wield magic weapons and slay dragons. I remember in those first years of playing the game, I always imagined the adventures looking like The Hobbit, and narrated by John Huston (who provided the voice of Gandalf).

This past weekend, on a lark, I dug out our DVD of the movie and watched it with Connor. He was somewhat interested, and paid some attention. Oddly, the scenes that most caught his attention were with Gollum. And while I was watching it, I was totally taken back to my youth.

As a kid, my life was not very easy or pleasant at times. But the music and adventure in this movie always transported me away. If I could go back, I would make my young self read The Hobbit earlier.

Suffice it to say, I am very much looking forward to Peter Jackson’s new movies. I absolutely love his version of LotR, and have watched all three extended cuts in one sitting (that’s about 12 hours of movie) on more than one occasion. And I am looking forward to being transported to Middle Earth yet again.

I have also been struck with a wonderful idea for a collector's edition of The Hobbit. If it turns out to be somewhat doable, it could be a great gift idea for some of my fellow geeks. More on that later, if it materializes.

Wandering to the stars

2011-09-30T12:47:00.000-05:00

It's a slow day at work. Basically, my job is to provide admin support. Primarily to our Bureau Director, secondarily to one of our regional offices (which is two buildings over and consists of two people) and thirdly to the Bureau in general. Today the director and both of the regional people are out of the office. And the Bureau in general rarely asks much of me on a daily basis. The result is, I have little to do.

When this happens I invariably spend an unhealthy amount of time on Facebook (though lately I'm also on G+ a bit more). I also let my brain wander to my various and sundry writing ideas, the nature of which is greatly dependent on my current mood. Today, that mood is Science Fiction, and more specifically, Space Opera.

I am finding myself fascinated with the ideas of space travel, aliens, futuristic weapons, and all of the other things that make up Space Opera. I tend to like my SO to be a bit gritty and realistic. I don't mind mystical elements, such as The Force, but really the focus should be on the technology and how the characters interact with it. Well, that and a decent story.

A lot of this comes from having been a huge Star Wars fan for years, long before I started reading for fun, let alone writing. Some of my earliest non-D&D role-playing was in TSR's Star Frontiers game. Although it had the potential to be more "clean" or "hard" sci-fi, like Star Trek, at its core, SF was gritty Space Opera. I could easily see running and playing in something similar to Firefly using that game.

A few years back, I ran a pretty successful campaign of DragonStar with my gaming group in San Diego. For those who don't know what DragonStar is, let me summarize: Take D&D and put it in space. Keep all of the races, tropes and stereotypes, and add in technology (often mixed with magic), and you have DragonStar. A lot of people made comparisons to TSR's old SpellJammer games, but it's really a different kind of animal. My game was very Firefly-esque, and I downplayed the magic somewhat. In essence it was just a Space Opera game, that also happened to have Elves and Orcs and whatnot.

So, what does all of this mean? It means that my brain is unfocused and wandering about alien stars today. So far I have spent an average of about fifteen minutes each on several writing projects, as well as doing lite internet reading into the genre. I'm also reading an Alpha-Test version of an RPG called Cascade Failure by Greg Christopher. Really cool stuff here.

Now, when am I going to get a new Space Opera movie or TV series, dammit!?!

I'm still here!

2011-09-29T10:38:00.000-05:00

Wow, this place is still here? It’s been an off couple of weeks for me, so this blog has kind of fallen by the wayside. After my 5-day blogging marathon, I think maybe I was a bit burned out. Of course, last week I had my first overnight trip for work, and all of the stuff that went along with that. But really, there just hasn’t been much to geek out about for me lately. At least, nothing I haven’t covered in spades before.

One thing did occur recently. A friend of mine invited me to become a founding member of a guild for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO. So, that got me all jazzed up over Star Wars again. Still haven’t had the urge to watch the movies, but I know that will come soon. In the meantime, I’m thinking of the game, and what kind of character I’d like to play. Right now, I’ve settled on a Republic Trooper. Heirs to the Republic Grand Army from the Clones, these are highly trained “Special Forces” types of soldiers. I considered going with some kind of Jedi, but I think there will be a glut of those, and since we’re playing the “good” faction, the Trooper seemed like a great fit for me.

I’ve also taken my Stargate pastiche idea and began modifying it into an original setting and premise. Had a huge flash of inspiration the other night, and wrote a bunch of notes in my notebook. I think it could be cool, though it will take some tinkering to get it to work on its own, and to not be a blatant Stargate rip-off.

My brain has gotten pretty derailed from fantasy and S&S lately, and though I still have occasional thoughts about those (particularly about Orcs), nothing in those genres is really pulling on me lately. Mostly I’m thinking about Space Opera and military sci-fi. I think I need to write something in that vein, just to see where it could go.

My computer is still on the fritz. Basically, the NVIDIA drivers stopped working, and I can’t reload them. I’m not sure if it’s a software issue or a hardware issue. I’m leaning towards software, as some of the Windows (Vista Home) elements have malfunctioned as well,. In particular, the Windows Updater. I can’t get updates to download and install properly, and I have had to shut off the updater, since it kept locking up my system. So, basically my computer is using a standard VGA driver, which restricts me to 1024x768 resolution, thus negating me playing any of my games. The plan is, when I get my disbursement from student loans, I will be buying myself a new laptop, and making my old desktop a “family” computer for the kids to use. That should all happen late next month, I hope.

Other than that, life is ok. My wife has some exciting things coming up. More on that as time goes on, but right now it’s a bit hush-hush for legal and financial reasons. My daughter will only be here for the week after Christmas, thanks to my ex-wife being…well, she’s an EX-wife for a reason. Let’s just leave it at that. My stepdaughter is getting to be handful. Love her dearly, but sometimes I want to give her a brain-duster. And my nearly-3 year old is way too smart for his own good. We’ve discovered that if we don’t engage him intellectually in public, he turns in to Jack-Jack’s demon form. Guh!

Oh, and I want one of the new Kindles for Christmas.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 5

2011-09-16T10:39:00.000-05:00

So, here we are, the final day of my blog series for the Speak Out With Your Geek Out event. I’ve tried to bring some new ideas to my blog, and avoid the tired subjects that have been staples of mine for going on three years now. So, what should I talk about today?

Honestly, I have no idea. I guess I’ll just ramble in a geeky way.

Last night I was thinking that maybe I would talk about the old animated series Gargoyles. There was a time when that was my absolute favorite show. It was during my first year of college, less than a year out of the Army. I was taking Summer classes in 1996, and I would leave class each day around noon or 1:00, pick up my daughter from daycare, and go home to watch an episode of M*A*S*H and then Gargoyles. It was a ritual. Later that year I was introduced to the World of Darkness games, with a Vampire campaign run by my new friend, Chris Blanchard. Interestingly, I could not wrap my head around vampires being the “good guys” in a story, so my first character was a Mack Bolan/Frank Castle-type who hated vampires almost as much as he hated being one. I was the combat monster in the group. It was pretty fun, for the most part.

Anyways, back to Gargoyles. Sometime in 1997 I had the brilliant idea of adapting them for the WoD setting. So, I set about doing just that. The final product was pretty good, considering it was my first attempt to write anything RPG-related beyond a D&D adventure. Gargoyles: the Awakening borrowed a lot from Werewolf, actually, but it was compatible with all of the 2nd Edition WoD stuff. I recently discovered that the whole thing is still available online here (my crappy old website).

Interestingly, if you want to see what kind of stupid shit I used to get into, that website is kind of embarrassing. I should probably just delete the whole thing. But, there’s stuff I want to keep there. Like the Gargoyles game supplement.

Also, you can see the website I built for our long-running Stargate RPG campaign. I loved that game. Chris really outdid himself, and I have often pondered writing some fan-fiction based on those events. But, because I’m a stickler for technical accuracy, I have a hard time coming up with ways to make it fit seamlessly into the show. This idea has been on my mind lately, and I am considering trying to figure out a way to adapt it to an original setting, without referencing the show or Stargate in general. We’ll see.

Well, there you go. A relatively short end cap to the week. I enjoyed this, but I doubt I could sustain this momentum for long. As evidenced by this post.

Live long and prosper.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 4

2011-09-15T10:56:00.002-05:00

Unfortunately, there are still guys who
look like this at your local game store.

In trying to figure out what to write about today I started going down my list of geek topics. And I realized that, since starting this blog back in 2008, I have talked about everything I love that is considered geeky. Movies, comics books, games, TV shows; you name it, I have at least one blog about it, somewhere in here. And then there are topics that I could go on and on about, like RPGs or Star Wars or Robert E. Howard…but each one of those has about a bazillion articles on the ‘net at any given time. So, what could I possibly hope to contribute to that?

Then I got to thinking, what if I talked about life as a geek in general? I mean, my first post this week was kind of a general “What is a Geek?” post. But what are geeks like in real life? Do they all eat, sleep, live and breathe geek passions? Well, I’m fairly certain that, with a relative few exceptions, the answer to that would be no.

First, let’s look at what the “stereotypical” geek is like. There are certain traits that seem to be commonly associated with geekdom. Here are a few:

Bad hygiene: Ok, this one is hit or miss. And unfortunately, it is more common than some of us like to admit. The smell of sweaty body odor; yellow teeth with perpetual food in them; oily, uncombed hair. Yeah, we’ve all seen those people. When my gaming group used to meet at the game store on Tuesday nights for an RP session, we would invariably see many people like this. Guys and girls alike. Now, I will admit to not being the most fastidiously neat person, appearance-wise. But I shower every day, brush my teeth, keep my hair clean and somewhat styled (that last part is much easier now that I am sleeping with my hair stylist), and try to wear clean(ish) clothes at all times. It’s really not that hard, folks.

Horrendous fashion sense: I admit that I like to wear my geeky t-shirts. Most of mine are comic book related, and I have a ratty old Star Trek shirt I still wear around the house. But they are clean and more or less serviceable (no holes you can put more than a finger through). And I try not to wear the really bad ones in public. That being said, that is by far not my entire wardrobe. Generally, most geeks who suffer from bad fashion would be well-served with just buying some clothes that fit, including pants that cover the tops of their shoes. Speaking of shoes, dark-colored tennis/running shoes are a fashion faux-pas. If it were up to me, those would be banned from even being produced. Also, it’s 2011. Try buying something that is up-to-date. Dagger collars are only cool for runway models and rock stars. And the bow tie? Only Bill Nye can pull that off. Sorry.

Mmmmmmmmmmm...

Couch (or Computer Chair) potato: Probably the biggest problem with the stereotypical geek is health and fitness. Now, I’m not saying you should be half-jock. But, maybe if you eat a salad every now and again, drink diet sodas and less sugary drinks, and walk faster than my grandfather. And nothing says you have to eat that entire pizza in one sitting. Bring a veggie tray to your game instead of bags of chips. Take the stairs whenever possible. I admit to being bad about this one too. But I try. I’m not as fit as I have been. And I can feel the difference. When I am in decent shape, everything just feels better. Interestingly, a lot of geeks who are in decent shape look to their geek passions for inspiration. I started weight training in high school because I wanted to be Conan. And I started practicing martial arts because I wanted to be Iron Fist (actually it was more like Bruce Lee).

The point is, it doesn’t really take that much effort to appear “normal.” Now, I know a lot of hardcore geeks will rail against the normal. I mean, after all, what is the point of being passionate about your geekdom if you bury it normalcy? Well, the two don’t have to be mutually exclusive. And trust me, living on the fringes (or in the basements) of society isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Interacting with Muggles can be very rewarding. And you may even discover some who are actually geeks at heart.

My beautiful wife.

And the best part is, if you clean up and shape up, you are more likely to attract a member of the opposite sex. And let me tell you, no amount of Star Trek marathons can compare to the joys of that!

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 3

2011-09-14T09:47:00.001-05:00

Guess what, folks? I’m still not going to talk about RPGs today. Ok, that’s not strictly true. I’m not going to talk about tabletop RPGs. Rather, I’m going to talk about Massive Multi-player Online games, aka MMOs. Now, while I have some pretty good experience with them, I’m by far no expert. So, take what I have to say about them with a grain of salt, and know that this is based solely on my own personal experiences, and a little bit of research.

What is referred to as an MMO today has its roots in the games played on the old Bulletin Boards of the Internet’s early days (usually called MUDs, Multi User Dungeons). In fact, the BB game has kind of split into several variations, with the Forum-based RP threads being closest to the original. Now, take a quick step to the right, and think back to the old SSI video games based on D&D. They were first person games (meaning what you saw on screen was what your character was supposed to see with their own eyes). The graphics were primitive, and the game-play clunky, but the stories were excellent, and like the old “choose your own adventure” books, you could have multiple variations on the same adventure, based on your choices.

Well, sometime in the late 90’s, someone had the idea of combining the MUD with the graphic-based RPG game. There were many types and variations of this, like Ultima Online (an extension of the old text-based adventure game). But the field really changed with EverQuest in 1999. From there, MMOs of all genres, some based on established IPs, others wholly original, have sprung up. Though the most popular ones are pay-to-play, there are actually scads of free-to-play games out there. And even some of the P2P ones are developing F2P variations (like City of Heroes).

Dynamo-Man (me) and
Masked Revenger (Chris Blanchard).
I made this based on a picture of
Power-Man and Iron Fist.

Personally, I have played in four MMOs with any regularity. I started with City of Heroes, an original superhero MMO. I still play it today, and am somewhat active in the forum community (funny story, I met my wife on that forum…yep, she plays too). I have also played World of Warcraft quite extensively, and for a long time I would split my time by playing CoH for a few months and then playing WoW for a few months. Both are P2P, so I could never justify paying a fee for both games at the same time. Generally, the P2P games run about $15/month, plus the cost of the initial game and, as in the case of WoW, expansions.

I’ve also played Warhammer Online, though it feels like a graphically superior, yet content-inferior version of WoW. Similarly, I recently spent a lot of time playing Sony’s DC Universe Online. But, like WHO to WoW, DCU felt like a graphically superior yet content-inferior version of CoH, but with the added bonus of including iconic DC superheroes like Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman.

One thing that separates MMOs from computer/console based video games is the social factor. During play you can chat with other players, as if you were right there with them. This gives you a very immersive experience when teaming up. Traditionally, this has all been type-written interaction, with voice interaction being an option as well. Although it is sometimes harder to type while playing, especially in the middle of a combat, typing gives you more freedom to Role Play your character. For instance, if I am playing a female superhero, typing what she says is more believable than hearing me say such things. This is actually the biggest weakness of DCU. That game was developed with the PC and PS3 in mind, so it is geared towards voice-chat, which makes it more of a tactical game like Gears of War, but with superheroes.

All-in-all, MMOs are a wonderful distraction. But, make no mistake, they ARE a distraction. If you have a busy schedule already, adding an MMO can be dangerous. However, if you are into role-playing and exploring fantastic worlds first-hand, then they are amazing experiences.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 2

2011-09-13T10:40:00.000-05:00

I’m sure most of my loyal minions…er…readers expect me to talk about Role-Playing Games today. But, in looking back a few pages, I think I’ve said all I need to say about that. For now.

So, today let’s talk about Stargate SG-1. For those who don’t know, this show began as a feature film released in 1994 titled simply Stargate. It starred Kurt Russell and James Spader. Ok, right there you should be hooked. Kurt Russell in a sci-fi action movie? Genius awesome. The premise was that archaeologists found this giant metal ring buried in Egypt during a dig in the 1920’s. It took them 70+ years to figure out what it was, what it could theoretically do, and how to control it. Then they bring in a young archaeologist with wacky theories named Daniel Jackson (Spader) who proceeds to solve the last piece of the puzzle with a sort of book-nerd distraction. What ensues is a trip across the galaxy and a battle with an alien posing as an ancient Egyptian god, in a city of people who were taken from Earth and enslaved millennia ago.

If you’ve seen the movie, you know the details and how it all ends. If you haven’t, I highly recommend doing so. We’ll wait, but hurry back.

Ok, you’re back. Cool, wasn’t it? But didn’t you find yourself wondering what came next? Well, in 1996-97 Showtime started producing a weekly show called Stargate SG-1. The “SG-1” came from the designation given to the first team of explorers to begin using the Stargate on a regular basis, after the whole thing (which had been mothballed after the events of the film) had been “restarted” by another alien/god/being looking for slaves. The team consisted initially (by the end of the pilot) of Col. Jack O’Niell, the character played by Russell in the film, now played by Richard Dean Anderson (TV’s McGuyver), Michael Shanks taking over Daniel Jackson’s character from James Spader, Amanda Tapping as Captain Sam Carter, and Christopher Judge as the alien warrior/defector, T’ealc.

The show ran for ten seasons, surviving several casting changes and a network change (from Showtime to SciFi Channel). It spawned three spin-offs (including a Saturday morning cartoon) and two direct-to-DVD movies. Unfortunately, due to studio decisions, the property is officially dead on-screen. There have been novels, comic books, video games, and even a highly detailed RPG (which I played for quite some time…someday I’ll tell you about Col. Matthew Valentine and SG-4). There are still novels being written, at least I saw one at B&N the other night on the “New Sci Fi” shelf.

So, why should you watch this show? After all of that, you still need to ask? Fine. I recommend it because it is a good sci-fi show, with plausible science, accurate technical details, exceptionally well-conceived and executed characters, and, unlike many sci fi shows, it evolves. The humans of Earth begin as very “young” and “naïve” in the show, but grow through the course to become a major player in a huge universe. It involves military action, ancient history, theoretical physics, and damn good storytelling and character development.

And as a bonus, if you are a fan of Star Trek, you will no doubt recognize many of the plot devices and tropes. I think many of these were included as an homage to the granddaddy of all space exploration shows. Well, the one that really put the genre on the map, anyways.

So, there you go. All of the seasons are on DVD (maybe Blu-Ray, if not yet, then soon I’m sure), and are currently available for instant view on NetFlix. If nothing else, watch the pilot episode. Oh, and then skip to season four for the episode entitled “Window of Opportunity.” If you do not laugh and cry during that episode, something is wrong with you.

Speak Out With Your Geek Out – Day 1

2011-09-12T08:42:00.001-05:00

For those of you who haven’t read my last post, I have decided to honor this week’s event by blogging geek for five days straight. Well, that’s what I am going to attempt. We’ll see if my inner Lazy Bastard wrests the remote from my hands. It should also be noted that each post will "off the cuff." I will sit each day with nothing but a basic idea of what I am talking about, and a blank page on my screen. Let's see if I make any sense...

I thought that I would talk today about what it really means to be a “Geek.” Wikipedia, that bastion of infallible knowledge, has several different definitions on its page (none of which seem very flattering). However, the one that most closely resembles my own view is this:

“A person with a devotion to something in a way that places him or her outside the mainstream. This could be due to the intensity, depth, or subject of their interest.”

Yeah, that about covers it.

The term Geek is often used interchangeably with Nerd and Dork. However, there are distinct differences. The term Nerd, for instance, generally refers to an extreme intellectual who is more interested in academic pursuits over social or physical. Now, a Nerd could very well also be a Geek, as many are. Nerds automatically find themselves on the fringes of society, so their interests will play out accordingly. However, a Dork is an all–together different species. A Dork is strictly a social class. Generally speaking, a Dork is someone with no social graces, no sense of tact, and very little empathy. Additionally, many Dorks are less intellectual than Nerds. It is possible to be all three, but such beings are rare, and generally fall to Darwinian social evolution. Meaning, they cannot stay in that state for long. Either they will take interest in intellectual pursuits, more social Geek pursuits, or just fall out of both and embrace full Dorkhood. Fortunately, full-on Dorks have few, if any, redeeming qualities, and thus are very unlikely to reproduce, thus passing their Dorkness on to future generations.

Ok, so now that we know the differences, lets look at some things that make one a Geek. As a rule, Geeks tend to have a store of “trivial” knowledge of a specific subject. In fact it is this knowledge, and more importantly the pursuit of such knowledge, that often defines a Geek’s life (at least in part). For instance, most Americans (and many others around the world) enjoy watching Star Trek. I mean, who doesn’t like Kirk and Spock, or even Picard and Riker? But the difference between a casual fan, and a Star Trek Geek (often referred to as a Trekkie or Trekker), is the fact that the Geek will know what the maximum Warp Factor of Constitution-Class Starship is (it was Warp 8, though it could reach Warp 9 at extreme risk), and that the reason Klingons didn’t have forehead ridges in the 60’s was due to budgetary constraints of the show.

Generally speaking, Geeks tend to like fringe subjects, such as Science Fiction, comic books and Role-Playing Games. However, it is possible to be a Geek about other subjects. In fact, that jock who used to put nerds in trash cans, and can now quote names and stats of every Superbowl team in history, is a Geek as well. They just don’t get referred to as such, because most Geeks resent anyone not in their circles taking what has become a badge of honor. I mean, even if that math-wiz who plays D&D and can quote every line from Star Trek II can run a 6-minute mile, it still doesn’t make him a Jock.

So, there you go. Geeks, Nerds, Dorks, Jocks; it’s like High School all over again. Me? I’m a pure Geek. I have no abnormal intellectual interests (and I suck at math), I have a beautiful wife and kids and can hold my own in just about any social situation. But, I can’t run very fast, and am a bit overweight. Yet, I can quote Star Wars, Star Trek and Conan all day long, I know the origins of dozens of comic book characters, and I play in a regular D&D game (with my wife and two other married couples).

Yeah, I’m proud of my geek pedigree.

Geeking Out

2011-09-08T13:17:00.000-05:00

Ok, I started writing a long, detailed blog about geeks and geek culture, building up to the week-long event going on next week called “Speak Out With your Geek Out”, but I soon realized that every other geekblog was talking about the same thing (a nice, succinct summary can be found here).

Instead, I plan to blog an unprecedented five times next week. Each blog (Monday thru Friday) will feature me talking about a specific geek hobby I have or had, and why I think you should have it too (though many of my readers and casual lurkers will already be involved in one or more of them, I’m sure).

So, what are my topics going to be? I have no idea yet. Well, I have ideas, but nothing concrete. Here is a list off the top of my head of things I could write about:

Role-Playing games – A geek standard. This is the mother of all geek hobbies, IMHO.
Comic Books – Probably the second-largest geek hobby, but also probably the most closeted.
Collectible Card Games – For a while I played a few of these obsessively.
Video Games – Probably my weakest geek subject. But I guess I could concentrate on MMOs.
Star Wars/Star Trek Mania – Each of these could be its own subject.

There are probably several other subjects I could come up with, if I gave it some long thought. But, I’m thinking I might just start with a general entry about what it means to be a geek, and how it is (mis)represented and stereotyped.

So, what do you guys think?

New Directions

2011-09-02T11:53:00.000-05:00

Today I have no specific topic to blog about. But, in keeping with my desire to be a prolific and regular blogger, I will talk about various ideas that have been rolling around inside my brain (of course, you have to read that last part using the voice of Madagascar's King Julien to really get the proper effect).

First of all, my orc story of Mahak the Vengeful has stalled. I've kind of hit a creative wall, and the story has stopped making any sense. I'm sure this is temporary, and I will go back and finish, edit and revise it before long. In the meantime, my tastes in writing have been all over the place. I am going through one of those periods where I just don't know what I want to write. As I have stated in previous posts, this all comes back to my lack of focus, and my wide variety of literary tastes.

One thing that has recently caught my attention again is Erotica. Yeah, I know, I'm a perv. So? Anyways, several years ago I had written a couple of short vignettes about a northern barbarian having some erotic escapades. But, being me, I couldn't just let it go at that. I mean the vignettes were well-done (at least all who read them thought they were), tasteful, and decidedly NOT in the Penthouse Forum vein. But, I wanted to link them all together in a cohesive narrative with an actual story, of which the sex was only a small (but somewhat important) part. Well, the narrative died because I couldn't decide where exactly it needed to go. Unfortunately, those vignettes disappeared. So, yesterday I began trying to re-create them. I have the first one done, with plans for two more parts. However, the overall narrative will be much shorter, less involved, and easily handled in less than 10,000 words. I think I can do this. And I even did some research and found a couple of possible markets. So, we'll see how that goes.

Thanks to an article I read today about Raiders of the Lost Ark, I now also have this desire to write some plain old pulp adventure. I have a character in my head (and some of him on paper) that is a direct homage to characters like Doc Savage and Indiana Jones, named Jack Redstone. He was first developed as a character for White-Wolf's Adventure! RPG. Though I never got to play him, I wrote an extensive background for him, and even had a couple of stories plotted out and started. Unfortunately, both of those efforts were lost when my last flash drive mysteriously disappeared. Still, I think I have it in me to start over, and do something cool with the character.

Related to that, a friend of mine told me I need to start a Pulp Revival. There are ups and downs to that. First of all, how cool would it be to have a source for new stories in the Pulp Adventure vein? The downside would be that the audience would be relatively small, as many people don't really have any interest in that era (beyond an occasional movie), and, in the case of younger readers, don't even know about the existence of such literature (see my last blog entry about this). I did have an idea of how to do it, though. Basically, I would set up an eZine, and each story that was published would have a link to a virtual "tip jar" that would link to a PayPal account for the author. That way, people could read the stories for free, and if they liked them, and felt compelled, they could drop a bit of change in the author's account to let them know. I dunno. We'll see how that goes.

Speaking of Indiana Jones, I'm kind of eager to get started on studying ancient cultures. Though, for some reason, I know it's not going to be as fun as I'd like. But still, it will motivate me to read about actual history. I love ancient cultures and hearing about them. I just hate reading that much academic stuff, and usually only do so when forced to. I'm lazy, I know.

I've also been thinking of trying my hand at screenwriting. Mainly because other writers I am friends with keep talking about it. And after the fiasco that was Conan, I wonder how hard it would be to adapt an actual Robert E. Howard story for the screen. Again, we'll see how that goes.

So, there you go. I managed an entire blog post off the top of my head. I know, I astound myself as well, sometimes.

Thoughts on Education

2011-08-29T14:59:00.002-05:00

Ok, I just wanted a picture of
Betty Page somewhere on my Blog.

So, with all of this Pulp stuff rumbling through my head lately, a thought came to me. There are no classes in secondary or post-secondary education that focus on the Pulp Era of American Literature (at least not that I know of). This seems to me to be a great travesty.

Ok, lemme back up a bit and tell you where this line of thought came from.

I am in the process of registering for a Masters degree program with a new online school. I received my BS in History last August. Now, as you can imagine, a BS in History is about as useful as a man's nipple, so I either have to just eat the cost of a useless education, or expand and do something else. Right now, I have a good job with the State. And even with the cuts that my douche bag Governor has made to my benefits, it's still not a bad deal. Ok, it's about as good as I could get in the private sector. But, hey, it's a job. The point is, further education will probably not get me further in my job (only experience, or a specialized education that I don't find interesting AT ALL will do that). But, I need to defer my student loans for a bit longer until we can get more financially secure. Right now we're in that gray area, financially. We make too much for me to claim an Economic Hardship Forbearance, but we don't make enough to actually make payments on the loans yet. So, the compromise will be that I go back to study just for me. To that end, I am enrolling in a MA in History program, with the focus being Ancient Cultures. I think this will be very fun. And who knows, maybe someday they'll ask me to consult with the Stargate Program.

But the uselessness of my Bachelor's degree got me to thinking that, if I had it to do over, would I have chosen a different program of study? Probably. Maybe something more marketable, like Computer Science (though that always seemed kind of boring too). As a writer and fan of reading, I thought about a degree in English and Literature. The problem is, those classes require us to read really old crap that is no longer relevant to modern society except as historical references. None of the English and Literature classes I took ever had me reading anything remotely cool, or in a genre that I liked. Which led me to think of the fact that the Pulps are never covered.

If I were to ever teach an American Lit class, I would most likely have at least some portion of the curriculum dedicated to the Pulp Era. It was a very influential period, and much of it resonates with modern sensibilities. In my opinion, it was the last period where the Literature of the time reflected a sense of wonder and adventure. Post WWII and Cold War lit is always so depressing and doom saying. I think that's why people still love the Pulp heroes. We, as a people, need to believe in something good. Believe that it's possible to fight evil. Today, Comic Books are about as close as we get. And even there, modern comics are all about angst and darkness.

I dunno, maybe I'm just rambling now. I know I took a nice, circuitous route to get to my point. If I even had one at all. But, this is a blog, not a newspaper column. I'm not really required to make any sense, am I?

Conan Review

2011-08-28T18:42:00.001-05:00

Watching this movie was like reading a Robert Jordan, Roland Green or John Maddox Roberts pastiche from the Tor era. The spirit of Conan was there, the basic character was there, the world was there, and as a cohesive story (even with a rehashed plot), it was perfectly fine. Sure, there were plot holes. But most movies (and many books) have those. I guess I'm just one of those viewers who doesn't let a little thing like plot cohesiveness and plausibility get in the way of a good story.

My personal opinion is this: If, after watching this film, someone genuinely thinks it's a steaming pile of crap, they think so based on preconceived notions. As a movie, it was good. I enjoyed watching it. The action was suitably intense, the acting was fine (with a few minor foibles), and the visuals were astounding. It wasn't a movie that required you to turn anything off, other than rabid-fanboyism (regardless of what you're a fanboy of).

That being said, it was definitely made to be a rehash of the 1982 film in many ways. The revenge plot has been done, and I would have been happier without it. However, it was done well this time. Unlike the 1982 film (which I loved), the raiders who slaughtered Conan's village had a real reason to be there. Not some vague notion about "searching for steel." And in keeping with that, it provided a motivation for Conan to do what he did. Personally, assuming that the events that happened to this Conan were to happen to REH's Conan, he would have acted in the same manner. Throughout the movie, it was never a "quest to save the world." It was always personal. Just because his personal vendetta ended up saving the world, it's still just an unintended consequence. We are shown through some narrative that Conan has been traveling and adventuring for years, without any attention given to this revenge "quest" beyond a passing thought. Basically this movie is an origin (obviously meant to both set up the rest of the film, and also to wipe away the origin presented before) that jumps to a story that takes place in the middle of his career. The story picks up when he sees something that brings to mind the fate of his village. That's when it becomes a revenge tale. And when it's all done, he moves on. His work here is done, now on to bigger and better things.

Most of the details that people point out as weaknesses are minor points, meant to strengthen a weak argument. My only irritation was the design of the Cimmerian swords. They were ridiculously large, and when Rose McGowan hoisted dad's sword, it looked even more ridiculous. You could see they were made of wood or aluminum. An actual iron/steel sword that big would probably weigh about 25 pounds. But, meh. It's a minor complaint. Over all, it didn't detract from the movie itself. The good thing was that they were consistent. Which was actually one of the film's strong points. For good or ill, everything was consistent.

So, there you go. The opinion of someone who was introduced to Conan through the 1982 film, started reading the Lancer/Ace editions, and then Savage Sword of Conan. I feel I got my money's worth.

I laughed, I (almost) cried, I cringed, I cheered, and I am content.

I just wish more people would have seen it. I would love to see a sequel with Mamoa.

Back at it again...sorta.

2011-08-25T13:46:00.001-05:00

In light of Conan's latest release in theaters, I find myself compelled to go back to the REH Forums over at http://www.conan.com/, where I post as Reaver. I had left that forum about a year ago, mainly due to the rampant negativity, and some of the more vocal "Purists" who would get downright confrontational and insulting if you didn't see things their way. Not surprisingly, most of them are still there, and still doing their thing. But, in the interim months, things have changed for me.

I've made some friends outside of those forums that I have come to realize that I already knew from there. Small world, REH-fandom is. I've also matured and mellowed a bit, and no longer rise to others' bait on some issues. When the hell did I grow up?

Regardless, it's a good community of people, all fans of Robert E. Howard and his works (those who only know Conan from other mediums are quickly converted or killed...yeah, it's like Riddick in there). It's a good place to discuss all things REH, as well as those things only peripherally related. And I'm now testing it to see if it's a good place to bounce writing ideas off of.

Some of you may remember my idea for a "sequel" of sorts to L. Sprague DeCamp's Conan pastiches. Particularly his creation and treatment of Conan's eldest son, Conn. Well, after giving it some thought, based on some comments here, I have decided to do some more work on that project. However, I am changing the names and making it an original work. If/when it is completed, it won't be a Conan pastiche (based on another Conan pastiche). Yet, there may be enough in there for fans of Conan to recognize the nods and homages. I have 10 chapters outlined. I see this being a relatively short book. Nothing over 200 pages, for sure. I plan to split it into two parts, with the first part being outlined already. There is a possibility that it could go to three parts, but I still don't foresee it being much longer than 200 pages.

Why am I doing this? Because I can. And I like the premise of the son of a barbarian usurper taking over the throne from his father. It will allow me to explore the possibilities of nature vs. nurture. The Prince was born and raised in opulence, but how much of his wild father's nature did he inherit? Of course, there will be plenty of action, sorcery, adventure, danger, excitement, and maybe even a little romance. You know, everything that makes a book fun to read (for me anyways).

So, here I go!

Conan's Failure: Pre-viewing thoughts

2011-08-22T11:53:00.000-05:00

This will be what I call a "Pre-review" of Conan the Barbarian (2011). Rather than focusing on the film itself (which I will do later, after I get a chance to see it), I will instead focus on why it appears to be failing in the theaters.

Bad Press
Since the day it was announced, there has been bad press circulating throughout the net. And as details were announced, such as the director and casting choices, and the initial draft of the script were revealed, the hate just got worse and worse.

Basically these "pre-haters" are divided into two camps. The first, and most vocal, yet smaller in number, are the Robert E. Howard purists. These are men and women who have dedicated a good portion of their lives to studying the works and worlds of REH. In relation to Conan, they have a passion for the character that is only rivaled by their passion for his creator. For these people nothing beyond his original stories will be good enough. They look down their noses at the pastiches, in all mediums, as lesser works, derivative of the Originals. To a certain extent, I agree with them. No other Conan can compare to REH's most excellent prose. And yet, I seem to be nearly unique in that I can separate the "original" from the pastiche, and enjoy each on their own terms. However, these purists cannot seem to do that. Rather they view anything that is not based 100% on a REH work as somehow "insulting" or "disrespectful" to the man. This is a very narrow view, and does a disservice to the character, and a large portion of his fans. More on that later.

The other group are the Milius Fans. These are people who only know the character from the 1982 Arnold movie. To them "Arnold was Conan." Well, no, actually, he wasn't. Arnold was John Milius' Conan. Or more accurately, he was Ed Pressman's and Dino De Laurentiis' Conan. To these people, of which they are legion, no one else will be able to "fill Arnold's shoes " (if I had a dime for every time I've read THAT phrase in the past week...). Unfortunately, most professional critics fall into this group as well. They are responsible, along with the press in general, for perpetuating the myth that this movie is a "remake" rather than a "reboot." (Really? And was Nolan's Batman Begins just a remake of Tim Burton's 1989 film?) Be it known, I am a HUGE fan of the 1982 film. I still count it among my all-time favorites, and have watched it literally dozens of times since I was a teenager. That being said, I am well aware that it is a far cry from REH's creation. However, it lead me to read REH's stories, as it did for many, many people. And, if this new movie had been given a chance, perhaps it, too, could have done the same for others.

Bad marketing choices
When it was originally announced, the film's title was simply Conan. Then some idiot in marketing decided to try and capitalize on the popularity of the 1982 film, so they added the Barbarian to the title. Big mistake. This is no doubt the main reason so many people just assume it's a remake. Add to that some of the visuals that were also designed to allude to the previous film (the sword of Conan's father is like a cartoon version of the previous movie's sword).

Conan is now more than just a Pulp Hero
Conan as a character was created in the 1930's. He was introduced to the public through the pulp magazines of the depression era, which were (and in some circles, are) considered "trash" writing. No one beyond the fans took them seriously. But Conan survived the demise of his creator, and that of his venue, thanks to many people who had a passion for him. The character has been reprinted by several publishing houses over the intervening decades. Often heavily edited, but still, it's Conan. Then there is the issue of the Comic books. Marvel comics had a Conan title in print for decades, in one form or another. And to some people, THIS is the Conan they know.

The fact is, Conan has grown well beyond his pulp roots. He is larger and more well-known than his creator. And the creators of this film knew this. So, they attempted to make a film that would appeal to the broadest swath of Conan fans. The Pulpsters, the comic book geeks, and the Arnold fans. And at the same time, they had to make a film that would appeal to the general public as well.

Were they successful? Depends on who you ask. But in the big picture, probably not. Because the very thing that they tried to do was what doomed the project to failure. The old adage of "You can't please all the people all the time" is no more fitting anywhere than it is in Hollywood. By trying to create a movie with mass appeal, they actually created mass derision. Much of it before it was even in pre-production. And all of these people who pre-hate the movie, and those who listen to the pre-haters, will go into the film with pre-conceived notions, and pre-formed opinions, whether consciously or not.

In short, there are a variety of factors that have caused this movie to do poorly. And those don't even take into account the actual film itself. The outcome of opening weekend for a film has nothing to do with the quality of the film itself. It has to do with marketing, word of mouth, and pre-conceived notions. However, everyone wants to judge a movie's quality based on that opening weekend. So, since Conan the Barbarian did relatively poorly during its opening weekend, it's already being considered a "flop." And, in my opinion, this is in large part the fault of a lot of people who need to just shut up and let a movie stand on its own. But, that will never happen. Especially now that we have the Internet, and anyone with a computer can put their opinions out there for the masses, no matter how misguided and misinformed they are.

Science Fiction anyone?

2011-08-17T10:29:00.001-05:00

So, the other day I was perusing somewhere on the web (can't really recall where), and I saw some mention of Science Fiction needing a revival similar to what Fantasy is experiencing. And that got me to thinking about a couple of things.

First of all, could I write some good Sci Fi? I think so. In fact I have several projects underway in that genre. Granted, the majority have been "underway" for literally years. But I have experienced enough Sci Fi that I think I could write something passable. I considered trying my hand at some established IPs like Star Trek or Star Wars, but abandoned that right away. For one thing, there seems to be a glut of those two, especially Star Wars. Plus I'm that guy who is never happy with how someone else sets up their sandbox. I invariably want to change or add to the rules. So, I am probably better off working with an original setting. Of which, I have plenty in my head.

After I went down that road for a while, I also started to think about Sci Fi in general, and whether it really needed a "revival." Unlike Fantasy, Sci Fi has kind of always been around, even if only on the fringes. There have usually been scads of TV shows that run the gamut of Sci Fi, from the hardcore things like Star Trek and the Stargate shows, to the more sublime stuff like Fringe and Doctor Who. Heck, for a long time there was a whole cable channel devoted to the genre (until some clueless executives got ahold of it). And I know that I have only scratched the surface of the sheer amount of Sci Fi that has always seemed to be present.

In my opinion, what Sci Fi needs is not a revival, per se. Rather it needs a power surge, a shock to the system, a jolt of adrenaline. And in this day and age, that means a really high-profile movie, in my opinion. Something that will spark the public's imagination in a way that the Star Trek TV show did in the late 60's and that Star Wars* did in the late 70's. Something that is (perceived as) pure Science Fiction. Comic book superheroes, while generally utilizing many Sci Fi tropes and ideas, is not what Sci Fi needs. We need a movie with alien landscapes, fleets of starships, desperate heroes, hi-tech gadgetry; all presented with with high production values, and good acting. Characters who are both real and extraordinary. Aliens who are plausible and relatable, yet vastly different than humans. Technology that looks and feels just beyond what we know now, but still attainable.

We almost touched it with Starship Troopers, but alas, while I love that movie to death (never saw part 2, and part 3 was pretty good, but went direct to DVD), it had weaknesses and plot holes you could pilot a cruiser through. 2009's Star Trek did a very good job of refreshing that franchise. But that franchise is so ingrained in our psyche now, that it kind of exists in a void. Avatar, while very entertaining, and one of the most beautiful films in history, had its faults as well (mainly criticisms of the rehashed plot and overly PC tones).

What we need is something new. Something we haven't seen before. And there are literally thousands of books that would make good movies, if only they could be handled properly.

I don't know, what do you think? Is there a book or series that you think could really get people excited for Sci Fi again? And do you think a good movie is the best way to go?

*For the record, I understand that Star Wars is not strictly Sci Fi, but rather Space Opera. But, in my book, it still qualifies, as it has some pretty solid (if extraordinary) Sci Fi elements, mixed in with some mysticism, and a very operatic plot and characters. However, it should be noted that it inspired several other shows and movies, such as the Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers TV shows.

Orcs: Fantasy's Antiheroes

2011-08-15T10:08:00.000-05:00

In recent years (well, maybe not so recent anymore) there has been a huge upswing in Antiheroes in fantasy fiction. Not to say the idea was born recently. Many feel that Robert E. Howard was doing it in the 1930's, and indeed, the pulps were full of anti-heroes like The Shadow. But the idea of an antihero, according to Wikipedia (take it with a grain of salt), has been around since at least the 18th century. However, the definition has always been so broad that most authors and readers have their own version of what constitutes an antihero.

For me the definition is pretty simple: Someone who uses traditionally villainous tactics in an effort to promote the greater good. That's a pretty general definition, and leads to the necessity of other definitions, which will vary from fictional work to fictional work. Such as, what constitutes the "greater good?"

Ok, so how does this all relate to Orcs? As you may know, I am working on an entry for Scott Oden's Orcs anthology. I had actually written one story where the Orcs were the antagonists, but they were kind of secondary in nature, and the story really wouldn't fit in a collection of fiction where the main focus was the Orcs. So, I set that one aside for something else, and started a new one. In this story, Mahak is an Orc, but he's also a hero. This presents certain challenges as Orcs are normally perceived as villains, and to make them heroes runs the risk of removing what differentiates them from just being "ugly humans." In other words, they need to act like Orc Heroes. And for that to happen, you have present them in the proper context.

This reminds me of the difference between Disney's Hercules and the mythological Hercules (or Heracles). In mythology, Herc was a right bastard. He killed his own wife and children in a fit of jealousy. He was often unfaithful, self-centered and generally not all that likable by modern standards. But by ancient Greek standards, he was quite heroic. He fought monsters, furthered the cause of mortals, and upheld the many virtues that ancient Greeks held as heroic. His evil deeds were just seen as his own half-human weakness, and really just normal weaknesses in general (the Greek Gods were a bunch of bastards and bitches most of the time as well). Yet the Disney version was much more innocent, forthright and had all of the qualities we deem "heroic" in modern times.

And that's why it works. The character is still there, and he still elicits the same reaction from modern viewers that the mythological version elicited from the ancient Greeks. He just does so in a different manner to appeal to different social sensibilities.

So, again, back to Orcs. In order for an Orc to be "heroic" he has to uphold the virtues that Orcs hold in high regard. This in itself can also vary from author to author. But the key, in my opinion, is to present those virtues in a positive light, and then remain consistent. An Orc hero should be proud to be an Orc, and should remain so even after the story is over. There should be no "turning to the Good Side" at that critical moment. And in the end, his chosen cause should be furthered by his actions, no matter how vile they may seem.

I am fortunate in that the subject of my story lends itself easily to this line of thought. But I can see that other authors may have more of a struggle with this if they want to make the protagonist an Orc. Orcs are a violent, generally nasty lot. So, how does one make them sympathetic without stripping them of their heritage?

Reflections on Gaming

2011-08-08T10:51:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was GenCon. I'm Facebook friends with many people in the gaming industry, and a lot of them talked about their experiences over the last few days. I have been to one GenCon, and that was a few years ago, as a vendor. I worked for the second largest game-distributor in the country, and I spent my weekend mostly in meetings with game companies; talking about what was coming up, how we could best serve them, and generally trying to cultivate working relationships. Of course, I was fired a couple of months later, but that's neither here nor there. I enjoyed the experience, and kind of miss having an inside track on the industry.

My only regret was that I was unable to just experience the Con as a gamer. My wife was allowed to come with me, and she got to view a lot more than I did. But, neither of us got to participate in any games, or sit in on any panels. We were hoping to make it this year, but money and the economy...well, you can probably see where that went.

The plan is to try to make it next year, and hopefully make a road-trip to DragonCon in Atlanta as well.

This is how it all started.

As always, the presence of GenCon and DragonCon gets me to thinking about my gaming experiences; past, present and future. I was introduced to the hobby, like many of us, through D&D. In 1981, I moved from Kansas back to my hometown in California. I was just entering the 6th grade. One of my new friends there asked me one day "Do you play D&D?" I responded with "What's that?" And thus a lifetime of gaming was born.

Throughout high school I played a large variety of games. D&D, AD&D, Marvel Super Heroes, DC Super Heroes, Star Frontiers, James Bond...the list is rather exhaustive. I even still have some of those old games in my collection. While in the Army, the hobby continued. A lot of Champions (and various other HERO games), AD&D 2E and Call of Cthulhu.

When I got out of the Army, we moved to San Diego, and I started school at a junior college in 1996. While there, I was reading a Forgotten Realms novel before class. This guy noticed and asked if I played. And thus began a friendship that has lasted for years, and has lead to a lot of new friends. And indirectly, it lead to my current marriage, and my moving to Wisconsin (through the City of Heroes MMO).

The pseudo-medieval settings of D&D lead me to explore history, which lead me (and continues to lead me) academically. The interactive story-telling of RP-sessions has lead me to pursue writing. The games I have played have fired my imagination on so many levels, and lead me to read books and see movies I might never have experienced otherwise.

Sometimes it's kind of amazing to think of how much my life has been influenced, directly and indirectly, by Role-Playing Games. I can't even imagine what life would be like if my friend hadn't asked me if I played D&D back in 6th grade.

The First Avenger

2011-08-03T09:22:00.000-05:00

So, I finally got to see my dream movie last night, and I was not disappointed in the least. Captain America: The First Avenger was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I had very few complaints, and those were only minor.

Rather than do a full-on review, I think I will focus on what they changed/added to the story, and why it all works.

*SPOILER WARNING*

If you have not seen the movie yet, you may not want to read the following.

Howard Stark

I know that the character was mainly added as a way to tie this movie together with the rest of the Avengerverse movies. However, the character added so much to the movie. He was comic relief at times, that element of the unpredictable at others, and made a great foil for many of the other characters. I loved the shades of Tony Stark (especially the first time you see him) and the fact that he seems to be everything Steve is not when it comes to women.

James “Bucky” Barnes
In the original comics, Bucky was a 15-year old kid. He was basically Robin to Captain America’s Batman. His death in the comics was much different than in the movie, as was the character himself. In my opinion, the movie version was better. First off, the idea of sending a teenager into combat is kind of ludicrous, especially in WWII. So, making him a peer of Steve was a good move. His death actually served a very good purpose, IMHO. In the original comics Bucky died during the same incident that dumped Steve in the Arctic. However, having him die during a different mission allowed Steve to have more of a focused motivation in his quest to get to the Red Skull. It also allowed the climactic battle to focus on the showdown between Cap and the Skull, making the fight that much more personal. In hindsight, they might have been able to make Bucky’s death a bit more heroic, though he did die as a result of saving Steve. So, I’m happy with how it was portrayed.

The Red Skull
Is there anything Hugo Weaving can’t do? His Red Skull was simply amazing. Perfect. The fact that they separated Hydra from the Nazis the way they did, made him that much better of a villain. He was more evil than Hitler. And you just don’t get more villainous than that. The scene where the two characters meet for the first time is so iconic.

The Howling Commandos
When this movie first came out, I was both excited and disheartened by their appearance. Mainly because I knew they wouldn’t include Sgt. Fury. But they managed to blend the characters into Cap’s story seamlessly, and the fact that Nick was not present was not even a problem once the movie go going. It was awesome to see “Dum Dum” Duggan, with his signature Bowler hat. Some of the other characters were straight out of the comic book, while others were added to give the team a very diversified feel. And it worked.

The “death” of Captain America
In the original comics, Captain America falls into the Arctic after Bucky is unable to diffuse a bomb on a plane. So, Cap’s death is imposed on him. He is unable to stop the inevitable, and in the end, he dies. However, in the movie, his death is a choice. It’s a conscious decision to sacrifice himself to save the lives of millions. This is very Captain America.

I know they probably changed and added a lot more things that I am not thinking of right now. And I’m sure they will come to me when I see it again…and again.

Suffice it to say that this movie is now my all-time favorite super hero movie. Sure, I’m biased. So what? I am a firm believer that comic book movies (and really any movie based on an established IP) should be made first and foremost for the fans. And this movie was just that. There are subtleties and details that only fans will “get” when they see them. But they are wrapped lovingly in a rollicking good film that anyone can enjoy (except for many film critics, who obviously just don’t “get” movies anyways). Was it predictable? Yes. But it’s Captain America, for Christ’s sake! If you went into this movie expecting something new and different, you completely missed the point. A friend of mine said he was disappointed that there was no “wow” moment. Honestly, the whole movie was one big “wow” moment for me.

My only real complaint about this film was that it had to end. I cannot wait for The Avengers next year.

Obstacles

2011-08-01T11:02:00.000-05:00

I HATED this thing!

When I was in the Army, I ran a few obstacle courses. Oddly enough, I didn’t do one in Basic like most soldiers do (my MOS training kept me away from that particular day, along with bayonet training and the big, long road march at the end). But, during my second enlistment, my platoon would occasionally utilize the rickety old obstacle course at Ft. Polk, LA. There were about 10-15 stations, and only a couple of them were in such disrepair that they were deemed unsafe (scary, I know). When running this course, it was for time, and you got :30 added for any obstacle you bypassed. I think we were only allowed to do so on one or two. For me, there was one that I routinely bypassed. Imagine a house roof without the top, just the rafter beams set about two feet apart, and going up to an apex and down. The point was to go over the first beam, and under the next, and then repeat all the way up and down. For some reason, I could never do it. So, I got to where I would just run up the beams and down, and take a hit on my time.

Why do I bring this up? Mainly because I like remembering some of my experiences in the Army. But also because it seems relevant to other areas of my life. Particularly writing. To me, writing can be like an obstacle course. There's usually a time-limit (deadline), there are intangible obstacles that will hinder your progress that you must conquer (fear of heights/writer's block), and there are certain steps that should be adhered to, and if you bypass any, there will most likly be consequences. But in the end, when you cross that finish line, you can look back and feel a sense of accomplishment.

As of now, I have crossed only a couple of finish lines. For me, the first was to write a complete story. Believe it or not, that part has always been very difficult. I'm great off the starting line, but I tend to stumble sometime after the opening scene. I can see the finish line, but there is so much in my way. And even though I have conquered that first step (completing a story), each new project seems to be plagued with new obstacles. Right now, they are mostly external.

My home-life is not conducive to writing; I am beseiged by small children who demand so much attention, personal obligations (both mine and others') get in the way, not to mention working full-time, and now looking at a new Grad School. There are even physical barriers. My desk is built in such a way that typing is uncomfortable. I don't have a reliable mobile writing platform (ie: laptop). In short, sometimes I feel that Fate is trying to tell me to give it up.

Screw you, Fate. Kiss my ass. Suck it. I'm not quitting. Even if I never make a dime from writing, or even finish a major project, I will continue to work on doing so when I can, however I can. Why? Because I like it. It's in my blood. I can't see a movie poster, or a book cover, or a painting, or even some interesting person on the street, without wondering what the story behind that is (or could be). And I feel compelled to explore the possibilities through writing.

I've become a semi-habitual blogger. And I think this is a good way for me to become a better writer. I get in the habit of writing a blog, and it will only be a short hop over to getting into the habit of writing fiction.

So, what obstacles do you have?

Marvel Musings

2011-07-25T09:40:00.001-05:00

Probably one of my favorite illustrations of Cap.
So iconic.

So, this weekend was the opening of Captain America. And I have yet to go see it.

Normally, when a big movie comes out, I am more than willing to forgo the crowds on opening weekend and wait a good week or two. But for this one, I am chomping at the bit. I have been waiting for this movie for over 20 years. I still get giddy when I see the trailers (which I periodically watch, just to get my temporary fix). And after seeing a low-quality pirate of the after-credits Avengers teaser, I almost want to cry. So, it’s with some great sadness and frustration (mainly due to financial hiccups) that I sit idly and await the time when I do get to see what is, for me personally, the ultimate superhero movie so far.

I have always been a Marvel fanboy. I mean, I loves me some DC; Batman and his family (particularly Nightwing), Superman, and Captain Marvel have always been cool characters. But there is something about the Marvel Universe that always pulls me in. And within that universe, Captain America has long been my favorite. That’s probably due to some really great writing in the 80’s. Particularly the story that introduced John Walker as Super Patriot, who then went on to take over as Cap, and Steve Rogers became The Captain…anyways, yeah. Big Cap fan here.

I’ve spent the last week watching all 26 episodes of season 1 of Disney DX’s The Avengers cartoon on NetFlix. It is amazing! The animation is pretty tight, the action is nice and fast, and the stories and characters are so well-done. They take familiar character traits and story elements, mix in some elements of the new wave of movies, and come up with a show that is both fresh and exciting for new fans and old alike. If you have NetFlix, and can stream instantly, I highly recommend them.

But, I have one gripe about the “new” Marvel. Editor in Chief Joe Quesada came out with an alternate universe a few years back in which to re-invent the iconic characters of the Marvel Universe. He called it the Ultimate Universe, and it’s still around and has a lot of followers and fans. For the most part, they did a lot of cool things. But one change is both cool, and disheartening at the same time. Nick Fury.

As a lark, they modeled the Ultimate Nick after Samuel L. Jackson, with his permission. I thought it was a cool idea, and worked for the Ultimate Universe. But, it became so popular, that it worked its way into the movies. And even in the Avengers cartoon, Nick is a black guy. Why does this bother me?

This is the Nick Fury
I grew up on.

Because Nick Fury is white. He is a hero of WWII, leader of the Howling Commandos, he was created before Captain America*, and later fought alongside him. Nick took an experimental serum, meant to try to replicate the Super Soldier serum that created Cap. It didn’t work quite right. All it managed to do was to slow Nick’s aging down. So, even though he is over 90 years old, he looks and fights like a man of 30-35 years. That was one of the things that made Nick so cool. He had a huge amount of experience, and provides a good bridge for Cap, who is a man out of time.

But now, that Nick is slowly being forgotten. I would wager that there are many fans who don’t even know about the original Nick Fury. And that saddens me a little. But, times change, and so do comic book characters (despite them not ever seeming to). Still, he does get some play. He is featured (in a different form) in recent issues of Steve Rogers (a spin-off series after Steve was "killed" and gave up being Cap...again). But it's not really Nick Fury. Not the leader of S.H.I.E.L.D. And who knows, maybe I am missing something. Admittedly, I don't read comics nearly as much as I used to.

All that being said, as long as they are writing and telling good stories with the new Fury, I’m ok with it. I still have the memories of my old Nick, and he will always have a place in my geeky little heart.

So, here I sit, looking at the Captain America action figure on my desk, and eagerly anticipating this weekend, when I can finally see a dream come true. I tell ya, I actually get a little lump in my throat when I think about how wonderful this movie will be.

*EDIT: According to the Marvel Wiki, his first appearance was in 1963. However, in the continuity of the Marvel Universe, Nick was fighting Nazis in WWII before Steve Rogers became Captain America. So, technically I'm at least half-right.

General update

2011-07-19T10:53:00.000-05:00

So, I have this need to blog today. It helps me get the writing muscles warmed up, so I can move on to some fiction.

This is how I envision Mahak.

Currently, that fiction is the story of Mahak the Vengeful. I'm rather liking this one. Yesterday I had to cover the front phones during lunch. So, I took my notepad and pen, and in between fielding calls, I wrote out some notes. Interestingly, I had started this story as just a straight-up, brutal action/revenge story. But as I write, I find myself filling in details, which has lead to more subplots and story elements. This is actually a good thing. My aim was about 10,000 words. The initial story I was trying to go for might have stretched enough to get to 5,000. With these added elements, I think the thing will be closer to 7,500, maybe more. We'll have to see. Also, some elements are setting themselves up for sequel stories, and a lesser character that was intended to be for one scene and nothing more is suddenly playing a much larger role in the story as it progresses. Amazing how that happens!

Thank you, Scott, for planting this seed in my head.

In other news, my computer at home is cranky. It boots up, and then freezes. There is obviously something in the whole process that is corrupted. And I can't really run any good diagnostic programs, because the ones I need to run won't run in Safe Mode. I've uninstalled a couple of programs (including Avast, my anti-virus software), in the hopes that they were the corrupted ones. This all started not long after a new version of Avast came out. But, it's still not working. So, yesterday I decided to upgrade to Windows 7. It's something I need to do anyways, and Michele is a student right now, so she can get a really good deal on it ($60 or so). I hope that fixes it. If not, it's off to the Geek Squad!

Related to that, we're thinking about getting me a new laptop, and making my desktop the "Family" computer. But that won't happen until I figure out what I am going to do about grad school. I have completely lost any semblance of interest in the program I was in, so I am dropping that. But, being an online student (my life just does not allow for a traditional school), my options are limited. We've decided that I should pursue something just for me, rather than something career-oriented. I'm looking at a Masters in Military History from Norwich. I think that would be way cool.

My wife is taking my 15-year old and her friend to Warped Tour today. It's a bunch of neo-punk bands (very different from the punk of my youth, but the spirit is still there). Funny thing is, my wife is very into fashion and what is currently cool (not only personally but professionally, as she's a hairdresser), so she is dressing pretty much like my daughter is, with her own flare added. Normally, when moms attempt this, it's disastrous. But Michele pulls it off well, and honestly, it's not that different from her normal look. I'm looking forward to hearing about it, and how many teenage boys try hitting on her. She looks a lot younger than she is.

Other than that, life moves on. Looking forward to Captain America this weekend. I'm bummed we won't be able to hit the first showing on Friday like we did with Thor. But, it's ok. I just get giddy when I think about how cool this movie is looking to be.

What are you guys up to?

So, I married a Geek

2011-07-14T10:05:00.002-05:00

Before I even relocated to Wisconsin., she had me.

I'm a geek. What can I say? Fortunately, my wife finds that aspect of me very attractive. Which is as it should be. I used to try to hide my geekiness. But, eventually I just decided to display it like a peacock and his tail-feathers. And it netted me the most amazing peahen. Seriously.

Last night we were watching Stargate SG-1 on NetFlix. She had missed most of the pilot episode, so she had a few questions. She had never seen the show before (it came out when she was still gaga over Buffy and Babylon 5, I believe), but she had seen the Kurt Russell film, and she had loved that. So, I explained the relationship between the two, including trivia about Richard Dean Anderson's casting. Then I mentioned that watching the show always made me miss playing the RPG back in San Diego, run by my long-time friend and fellow writer, Chris Blanchard. She responded with "Do you still have all of the source materials?"

You see, my beautiful wife is a gamer too. In fact, we have a D&D game tomorrow night with two other married couples. She's also toying with the idea of starting an online multi-media empire about gamer chics. Once she gets that going, it will be geek paradise!

She has this on a t-shirt.

Admittedly, her tastes run more "art house" than mine in some areas, such as comics. Where I love 4-color superheroes, she loves Sandman (she has a Death t-shirt). Her RPG passion has always been the World of Darkness games, particularly Vampire (I always liked Werewolves better, but that's just me). Still, she is just as giddy as I am about all of these cool superhero movies coming out (though I daresay she is more excited for Harry Potter opening tomorrow than for Captain America opening next weekend).

All told, I think I really lucked out with this one. And we are raising some good, wholesome geeky kids as well. Both of my daughters like to read. My eldest actually has tastes similar to my wife's. I know none of them will ever read Robert E. Howard (well, maybe Connor might), but that doesn't matter. I'm just glad that we are a house where reading is considered fun. My 8-year old waffles on what she likes to read, but she's just exploring her tastes right now. However, she does enjoy reading my comic books, and is a huge superhero fan. And my teenager says she may join an RPG club at her new high school when she moves to Las Vegas after this Summer. I figure if she does, and they are playing 4E, I will mail her my books. I don't use them, and she would be well-served to have them.

Yesterday was Embrace Your Geekness Day (or some such). For me, like most geeks I know, that's every day.

Old blogs and new Flicks

2011-07-11T11:32:00.002-05:00

You see what I did there?

The other day, after suggesting to a friend that maybe a private journal would help him sort through some tough times, I dug up my old Xanga page. I blogged there daily (often multiple times in a day) from late April to late November of 2006. Mainly it was a place for me to try to sort my feelings about a very tumultuous time in my personal life. It dealt with a huge break up, new romances, old romances renewed, and financial struggles. I also talked about fitness, gaming and various and sundry other things. But, it was mainly about relationships with women.

Looking back on those posts, I can't help but laugh. I spoke so much of endless love and "soul mates". Funny thing is, the last entry was just about the time I met Michele online. It's pretty amazing how she came in and just swept all that crap away without even trying, or even intending to. My life has taken some major turns since that time, and I have to say, I am ten times happier now because of those turns.

I had briefly considered recycling that account for my own use now. But, really, why? I don't have any personal demons to excise there anymore. And I have this blog to chat about what is important now. So, I'm just going to delete the account. I mean, I skimmed through the whole thing this morning, just to see if there was anything worth saving. Nope. It's all pretty whiny and all over the place. Nothing even worth talking about anymore.

Anyways, less than two weeks until Captain America opens in theaters! I am positively quivering with excitement over this one. Cap has been my favorite superhero since high school. I mean, when I first started reading comics regularly, Spider-man was my favorite. But I still loved Cap. Eventually, Spider-man just kind of fell away, and Steve Rogers took the throne as the Coolest Superhero. The movie looks amazing. With enough old-school Cap, mixed with some updated designs and such. Like all of the recent Marvel movies, it definitely draws a lot from their Ultimate Universe. But, in the end, it's still the classic WWII super-soldier.

Also looking forward to Peter Jackson's The Hobbit. When I first heard they were doing it as two movies, I was hesitant. The Hobbit has always been my favorite of Tolkien's books, and I still occasionally watch the old Rankin-Bass animated movie. But, I trust Pete to do the book justice.

In other news, been having a hard time concentrating on writing any fiction lately. I have a bunch of ideas in my head, but when I sit at the keyboard to get them down, nothing comes out. It's frustrating, but not uncommon for writers, so I hear.

Other than that, life moves on.

My Music and Me

2011-07-08T12:47:00.002-05:00

If this music doesn't get you going,
you must be dead.

Ok, I'm not the most musically-inclined guy. I can't play an instrument of any kind (beyond a few notes on a piano), and I am not much of a connoisseur of music. But I do have my favorites, and my mood and mental state can be influenced by what I am listening to at any given moment. Certain types of music, and more specifically, certain pieces of music, bring about certain behaviors and moods.

For instance, the scores to the Rocky movies still manage to get my blood going. And I'm not just talking about "Gonna Fly Now" (though that one does indeed get me going...just like practically anyone else with a pulse). The training montages from just about every one of them is great. Particularly "Going the Distance" by Bill Conti from Rocky II, and "Training Montage" by Vince DiCola from Rocky IV. Not to mention the various songs from those movies. I mean, who doesn't feel like throwing a punch when they hear Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger"? And "Hearts on Fire" by John Cafferty from Rocky IV is just awesome. I hear these songs and I just picture in my mind's eye Rocky wailing away on a heavy bag (though that may have more to do with having seen all of them dozens of times each).

When I am writing, music is both a boon and a curse sometimes. I tend to like silence when I write, as my brain is easily distracted. However, the right music can help me along nicely. When I write (especially when I write action), the scene tends to play out in my head like a movie. And every good movie needs a soundtrack. When it's fantasy/sword & sorcery I'm writing, I find that the soundtracks to Gladiator, Troy, The 13th Warrior and Conan the Barbarian are all particularly helpful. I also like the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. However, sometimes the music needs to fit the genre. If I'm writing modern action, I prefer a heavy metal soundtrack. Something with a lot of bass and electric guitar riffs. Metallica works well, though I do tend to head back to the 80's for some of it. The afore-mentioned John Cafferty did some great songs, such as "Voice of America's Sons" from Cobra, and "On the Dark Side" from Eddie and the Cruisers.

I also prefer certain music when I am just not doing anything. I own all of Enya's CDs and will often just play her songs on my iPod when I need to relax. In that regard, Loreena McKennit and Clannad are also good. And sometimes I will put on those soundtracks I mentioned. Gladiator is quite possibly the most emotionally charged soundtrack I have ever heard.

My first "favorite" album.

If you looked at my iPod you'd probably laugh. I doubt there is much of anything on there (aside from a couple of soundtracks) that's less than 10 years old. And most of it is probably closer to 25 years old. I'm a huge fan of the 80's (I'm sure I've mentioned that a few times here), and this extends both to movies and music. Heck, I even have a pair of black and white checkered Vans that I wear. But my teenage daughter has a pair just like them, so that's not so bad.

Anyways, enough rambling. Time to hit Play, and get on with the day. Happy Friday, all!

Wishful thinking

2011-07-07T09:43:00.001-05:00

Look, it's me and Michele!
Except I don't play the sax.

So, today I find myself wishing for things I don't have. I think that's a pretty common thing. Most people call it "daydreaming". When I was a kid, my folks tried selling Amway, and they called it "Visualizing" (would you belive that, at 9 years old, I could give The Plan in its entirety?). Call it what you like, but today I am thinking about cars I like, cars I would want, cars I've had, and cars I wish I could have.

I have long been a fan of cars. Oddly, I've never learned how to work on them, and only in recent years have I gotten a good grasp on how to properly maintain one. But when I was about 7 years old, my mom married a guy who was big into hot rods, and I learned to share that love with him (aside from baseball, that's the only thing I shared with him, and now I don't even care for baseball). Even after my mom thankfully left that abusive SOB, I still maintained my love of cars.

When I watch movies, if the hero drives a hot rod, he's just that much cooler to me (Stallone's Cobra was awesome for this). My all-time favorite movie car is the 67' Camaro from Better Off Dead (which someone tracked down and restored).

1968 Shelby Cobra

However, if I were to have one car that would just be a ME car, it would be a Shelby Cobra. There is just something about this car that gives me feelings very close to those I feel when I look into my wife's beautiful eyes.

Yeah, at the risk of sounding creepy, it almost nears a sexual attraction in intensity.

Anyone have about $80,000 I could have for one?

The first car I bought with my own money, all on my own, was a 74' Nova. It was red, had cool mags, no seatbelts, and was a total lemon. But I loved that car, and if I could get another one I would love to fix it up and cruise. That was when I was 19. The only other "muscle" cars I have owned were an 87' Fiero and an 88' Trans Am. I kind of miss both of those cars as well.

When we finally decide to retire and move to San Diego, I would like to get what I consider a "retirement" car. Basically, a 2-seat roadster of some type. Maybe something classic, maybe something that isn't even out yet (I have about 20 years before retirement is an issue). But, if I were looking right now, I found a 1976 Fiat Spider project car that would be totally cool to own and fix up.

Eh, it's fun to dream. Maybe I'll write a book someday, and have my character be a car afficianado, who drives something wicked cool. That's probably as close as I will get (for a while). But, hey, that's life for a middle-class dad, right?

Lazy days of Summer

2011-07-04T11:30:00.000-05:00

I am lazy. There, I said it. I got it out in the open.

What? You're not surprised? Yeah, I suppose that comes as no shock to those who know me. But lately I have been feeling even more so than usual. I have written barely a paragraph or so in the last week. Mainly because it seems that these days I can only really write while sitting at my computer at work. And up until now that has worked, since my job is in a relatively new department of the state government, and I am still in the process of defining my exact function beyond a few necessary tasks. However, things have been heating up, and I actually have work to do. So, less time to just sit and compose. Add to that the fact that sleep seems to be a commodity I am short on these days. Not sure what is causing that. You know, aside from staying up too late and getting up early.

Anyways, I have been writing a lot in my head. I have completely revamped the entire opening of the Gorus book in my head. So, all that I have written for it now will be going to the "Cut Bits" file I started, and I will be starting all over. I think the tone and pace of this new idea is much better for the story and genre. Basically, I'm starting with a barroom brawl. Classic stuff.

I've also been developing some ideas for the Mahak story. I think I may have enough for a book. I'm also considering, if I can get a good short story done about him, submitting it to Scott Oden for his Orc anthology instead of the Orc Space Pirates one I did. In reading a lot of the commentary on the Facebook page, it seems that most people are going for more dark tones, with the majority of the stories having an Orc as the protagonist. In mine, the Orcs are the villains, and not a whole lot is explored about them. With Mahak, I can explore Orc culture, as it exists in the community world that Scott is creating. I dunno. We'll have to see how it goes.

So, anyways, it's Independence Day. Standard BBQ with friends. Copious beer and brats and good conversation. Remembering that our founding fathers, though not perfect, and quite reprehensible by modern standards, gave us something that will endure. Something worth fighting for, and even dying for. Freedom.

Enjoy your day, folks. We'll talk later.

The Art in the Action Movie

2011-06-27T10:24:00.002-05:00

To most people, action movies are about muscle-bound lunks solving the world’s problems with guns, knives and their bare hands (and booted feet).

Ok, so that’s a pretty accurate description. The problem is, most people who espouse that view do so as an insult. They refuse to see beyond the face-punches and bullet-dances to the artistic expression of man’s violent nature, and the often visually striking ways that action can be presented, not to mention how an action movie can also hit your every sense and strike at every emotional level.

Most action movie aficionados who agree with me will probably point to the films of John Woo, among other Hong Kong directors. And while I am in total agreement on that point, I would like to point out a few Hollywood films that fit the bill as well, in my opinion.

Streets of Fire (1984) – This film personifies the type of film I am discussing here. Walter Hill’s brilliant “Rock & Roll Fairy Tale” is chock-full of everything one could want from an action movie. From the setting, a fictitious city that is reminiscent of both the 1950’s and the 1980’s, to the ass-kickin’ music, brutal action scenes, and brilliantly subtle acting of a wonderful cast, this movie has it all. There’s humor and romance as well, along with a “buddy-film” element that is a bit different than what we’re used to seeing. Add all of that to wonderful color-schemes, extensive use of mood-lighting, and break-neck filming techniques and foley work, and you have a treat that will delight anyone who loves action movies.

The Crow (1994) – Based on the indie comic book of the same name, this movie is tragic on many levels, not the least of which is the fact that the film’s star, Brandon Lee (son of Bruce Lee) died during the filming of it. But beyond that is the film’s story. It’s about death and second chances, and the difference between revenge and justice. The soundtrack is still one of my all-time favorites with moody tunes by such bands as The Cure and Stone Temple Pilots. As an action movie, it is top-notch. Though Brandon was an accomplished martial artist, very little of this makes its way onto the screen. Rather, Eric Draven is a force of nature, plowing through his targets with brutality, and a decided lack of finesse. Lighting, sound, the weather; these are all used with utmost effectiveness to convey a very dark and morbid tale of revenge and justice, and the pain of love lost. If this movie doesn’t hit you on an emotional level, you need to see a shrink.

Boondock Saints (1999) - I was turned on to this one by my wife. There is just something so cool about this film. It's slick, brutal, funny and surprising. The acting was amazing, and for me, Willem DeFoe almost steals the movie. The action is excellent, with film techniques that would be later duplicated and over-used in bigger budget films. The characters are so likable, you really feel like "Hey, I could do that, if I had to." This is one that inspired an almost-equally great sequel, with the promise of a third installment on the horizon.

When I started this blog entry, I had a vague notion of a few ideas, and figured more films would come to me as I wrote. But, sadly, not much did. I'm sure there are more that would fit, but I am disheartened by the fact that the list is so short. And I wonder why that is. I think it’s due in part to the fact that most action movies are made with an eye towards cheap entertainment. Something akin to a Harelquin® romance novel for guys. But also the fact that most films that might fit the bill actually fall under other genres, with a couple of action scenes. Take, for instance, Blade Runner (1982). That film is definitely high-art. But when you watch it, it is clear that it is a sci fi/noir crime-drama with some action scenes where necessary. It’s not really an action movie.

Nowadays, action movies are becoming artsy again, but not necessarily in a good way. With the proliferation of CGI and other expensive special effects, action movies now are becoming caricatures of their predecessors. There’s no more substance, no more artistic value.

That’s not to say that today’s action movies are bad. Most of them are pretty good. They deliver on action, danger, some pithy dialogue and good, wholesome, family fun! But, in the end, they are just slick PhotoShop manipulations compared to the oil paintings of yesteryear.

Am I wrong? Am I missing something in my blind nostalgia?

Vacation

2011-06-23T12:44:00.001-05:00

Great Wolf Lodge. Wisconsin Dells, WI.

We just took a short vacation, and I am exhausted! A 3-day, 2-night stay in the Wisconsin Dells with the entire family can seem like enough to drive a man to drink. And yet, it was fun and I enjoyed most of it. For those not in Wisconsin, the Dells is known as the "Waterpark Capital of the World." There are literally dozens of resorts and parks with a cumulative hundreds of water slides and rides. We stayed at the Great Wolf Lodge, and it was very nice.

Anyways, between the 15-year old, the 8-year old and the 2-year old, there were some very stressful moments. The teenager was definitely the best-behaved. She has matured a lot in recent months, and we loved being able to include her in this. She watched over the smaller ones when asked without complaint, and even volunteered to do so several times. Don't get me wrong, it's not that the other two were "bad" per se. They were just typical for their ages and personalities. The 8-year old is very needy at times, and always pines for attention. And if she's already at the center, she simply wants more. Usually, this isn't a big deal. But sometimes, it's a bit much. She has a tendency to overstep boundaries, and not know when she should just be quiet. Just like ALL 8-year olds. The 2-year old is "THAT" kid. You know, the one who screams and runs off anywhere in public? He's also deathly afraid of water. But I think he made some good strides in overcoming that this week. He is a charming little turd, and very cute. So, it makes it hard to come down on him at times. But he pushes the limits, making us often thank God he will be the last.
Still, the trip wasn't a waste by any stretch. We all enjoyed the water park, the food and just bonding as a family. But next year...well, we're already re-thinking the initial plans for next year.

(And now to turn this into a Writing discussion...and Scott thinks he's the only one with that super power!)

I also took my flash drive with me, in the hopes of snatching some keyboard time on my wife's laptop. Probably should have just left it at home. I had one small span where I could have done some writing, but I was exhausted and ended up napping with the 2-year old instead.

However, in lieu of writing with my fingers, I wrote in my head. Having finally finished the first draft of the Orc Space Pirates story, I started thinking about what comes next. Right now, I have two main projects. First is the book about Gorus the Gray. And it was this one that I thought about the most. In my brain, I was editing and revising the plot to make it more streamlined. This morning, having some open time at work, I ended up stripping an entire scene from the first chapter (almost 1,800 words), because it just slogged the story. That was hard to do. I thought the scene was well-written, and I put down some good dialogue. But it slowed things down too early in the story, and I need to get my protagonist on the road to adventure. So, I "cut and pasted" it into a new document entitled "Cut Bits" and moved on. I know I won't be using that bit in this story, as it detailed a turning point. But, I kept it, just in case I find another use for it later. I then proceeded to re-write the chapter from that point on. I like this version much better.

The other idea I thought about was the shared world my friends and I are working on. The idea is for each of us to write three stories, each story being about our own cast of characters, giving us a total of nine stories, and three separate story arcs, to contribute to an anthology for the eBook markets. One friend has finished his first story, is working on his second, and has already plotted out the third. I'm not sure where the other friend is at this point (like me, he has a lot of irons in his writing fire), but I'm sure he's chugging along (he writes a lot faster than I do). I, on the other hand, have one story done, have a seed for the second story, and a vague notion of where I want the entire arc to go. And nothing more. I should really put some more thought into that one.

So, how many other writers out there find it hard to write while on vacation?

Yo Adrian! I did it!

2011-06-17T12:05:00.000-05:00

The first draft of the Orc Space Pirates story is done! I typed "The End" and let out a huge sigh. All in all, I am very pleased with it. No doubt Scott will find plenty of room for improvement, but I think the story is pretty good.

This is huge for me. As I have often lamented, I am horrible about finishing projects. But I finished this one. And with plenty of time to polish it and make it awesome. The tentative publish date for this Anthology isn't until somewhere around March of 2012.

I am jumping for joy on the inside right now!

It takes the village to write a story

2011-06-16T10:10:00.002-05:00

I’ve come to the conclusion that, regardless of our penchant for desiring solitude while we work, writers are social animals, and need interaction from like-minded people to survive. Whenever I get bogged down, and have a hard time forcing myself to (as Steven Pressfield says) “Do the work,” I will often strike up some kind of conversation with any one of my many friends who also write. We chat about the process, about ideas, and even about mundane, non-writing topics.

I can’t speak for my friends, but for me I think this helps because it is a reminder that writers are people just like me. To understand this, you have to know something about who I am. I am easily star struck. Since I was a teenager, the idea of meeting and talking to “famous” people has always thrilled me. And that includes writers. Whether or not you are a “bestselling author” you have achieved a level of notoriety that I have not, and thus are worthy of praise.

I got my first real taste of it when I sent a letter (on paper in an envelope…real old-school stuff) to David Morrell after reading one of his books. A few weeks later I received a letter back. It was type-written, but with hand-written corrections for grammar by David himself. I about jumped out of my skin! I cherished that letter for years (though sadly it got lost in one of several moves). Since then, I have friended him on Facebook, and exchanged several emails. He is an extremely accessible person, with real passion, not only for writing, but for helping people understand writing.

Facebook has been a boon in this regard. I have friended several authors; most notably Scott Oden, Charles Gramlich and Dave Gross. Anyone who has read this blog knows how much I talk about Scott (in hindsight, it might be seen as downright creepy). We have a lot in common, and he is very easy to chat with. The same goes for Charles. Whenever I post a blog I eagerly look forward to the comments he makes (Hey Charles!). And Dave is responsible for my one and only publishing credit. He was the editor of Dragon Magazine who bought my article back in 1998. I was giddy when I sent him a message on FB mentioning that, and he replied that he actually remembered my article.

(By the way, have I mentioned what talented writers Scott and Charles are? You should look them up on Amazon and read their works. If you are a fan of the genres they work in, you will not be disappointed.)

But, getting back to my original point, sometimes writers need reassurances from other writers about what we do. Although I have no fiction publishing credits yet, I feel hope well within me that someday I will whenever I get some positive feedback from these guys. Even from my fellow non-published writer friends. We all feed off of each other’s enthusiasm, I think.

And outside that circle, writers also need support from their non-writer friends and family. I have to say, my wife, Michele, has been instrumental in fanning the flames of my hopes and dreams. She encourages me with everything I write, and makes me want to write more. She has even inspired a character here and there. I have to say, without her support, I probably wouldn’t have even made what little progress I have.

So, if you’re reading this, and you like to write, don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation about writing with “famous” writers. You’ll find that they are human just like us. They have a lot of the same fears, doubts and stumbling blocks. And who knows, maybe your enthusiasm could spark some creativity and motivation that they are lacking at that time.

And of course, feel free to chat me up too! I love talking to other writers.

Mash-ups

2011-06-14T11:02:00.002-05:00

This term gets thrown around a lot. I most often hear it in reference to music (my wife and like to watch Glee), though lately I have seen it used in reference to fiction and games, particularly RPGs. In essence, a mash-up is a mixture of two seemingly disparate styles. When done skillfully, the end result is often nothing short of amazing.

In RPGs there’s some buzz over a new game called Sword Noir, a mash-up of Sword & Sorcery and hardboiled detectives, like Sam Spade. Fellow blogger Berin Kinsman has a good write-up of that one on his blog.

As a writer, mash-up are something that have come and gone in my own mind. I have often considered what would happen if you combined two different genres. Oddly enough, most of my ideas stem from placing a “Mack Bolan” character into another setting. I’ve toyed with him as a Western character and as a Sci-Fi character, and even as a Fantasy character. This last idea never saw any work beyond a bit of musing in my head…until yesterday.

I posted on my Facebook status that I was taking a break from S&S and reading an old Mack Bolan book. Scott Oden commented that I should combine the two, and suddenly something clicked. Like I said, I had considered the idea before, and had summarily tossed it. But now, hearing someone else state it (and a published author at that) made it sound more plausible. Then, before I could even start to imagine the details, Scott comes back with an off-the-cuff description of an Orc character.

An Orc! That was something I hadn’t thought of before. Immediately ideas began to form, based on the sketchy premise that Scott had posted. I determined early on that I would place him in Tharduin, the community-developed world that Scott is creating. Which then prompted more ideas.

So, basically I spent yesterday thinking about this character (in between work-related tasks), and began taking notes about him. Today I wrote a quick intro to a story. Not sure if I will use it, but it helped to get some exposition on the screen.

Great. One more writing project on my plate. And with me looking at starting school back up soon. I need to set some priorities, and some scheduling. I think I also need to get my hands on a usable laptop. I mean, I have a really old one. But it used Windows ME and got corrupted. So, I loaded up a copy of XP. It doesn’t like that. My current desktop has more memory in its RAM than the old one has in the Hard Drive. Of course, there is my wife’s old laptop. But it needs a new power cord, and because it’s a Dell, it needs a Dell cord. The generic replacement she bought doesn’t work too well. Still, if I can get that one going, I might be in business.

Because my house is a writing black hole. Too many distractions. I need some mini-retreats. A way to go out and write in comparative solitude. Then maybe I will make some progress on all of these things that my brain keeps telling me to write.

Only a ninja can stop a ninja!

2011-06-10T13:14:00.000-05:00

Today, I am thinking of the martial arts. Last night I wanted to watch something that wouldn't tax my brain, and would be filled with the awful awesomeness that I so enjoy in my films. So, browsing through the NetFlix instant view selections, I found it. Sho Kosugi's first starring role, Revenge of the Ninja (1983). Though not his first ninja film (that would be Enter the Ninja, which, incidentally, was much cheesier), it was the one that put him on the map, and really started the ninja-craze of the 80's. The whole thing is filled with camp, cheese, over-the-top acting, sub-par acting, cliche villains, and a surprise plot twist that was revealed much too soon.

This movie got me to thinking about martial arts again. And, since I'm a dork, and this is how my gamer-brain works, I immediately started thinking about martial arts-themed Role-Playing Games. Back in the days before the d20 OGL, (pre-WotC) TSR put out a PDF game called DragonFist. Based on the AD&D (2E) system, it was heavily inspired by the Wuxia films of Hong Kong, and did an admirable job of representing that. At least, from what I remember. Unfortunately, my copy is long gone, and the original game is not available anywhere that I can find, on account of Green Ronin buying it and then letting it sit.

During the heyday of the Street Fighter craze, Capcom contracted with White-Wolf Games to create an RPG based on their IP, using the Storyteller system. I have that game, as well as all of the supplements. Very cool stuff. Even managed to play it a little. But mostly, it's just a collector's item. because I am a HUGE Street Fighter fan.

This morning I browsed John Kim's Free RPGs on the web, and found a couple of games to download and look at. Slayer of Dragon looks pretty cool, though I can't figure out how to print it so it's readable. I also grabbed Final Stand. This one looks less "fun" but I haven't really reviewed the rules yet.

I don't know. What do you guys think? Should I do a list of my favorite Martial Arts movies?

Harm no child

2011-06-08T12:46:00.001-05:00

This is my boy, Connor. I love him.
Just as I love all of my kids.

A couple of months ago, when I was first invited to Scott Oden's Orc anthology, I made a comment on the Facebook page about not harming children in fiction. Some people reacted to that as if I were making a directive, which I wasn't. I was merely pointing out that, due to the details of my life and personality, descriptions of violence against children really upset me.

Case in point, I was reading a fantasy novel in which the villain threw an unwanted infant, barely a few days old, into a river. That scene wrecked me, and almost brought me to tears. The image I get in my head when I think of it still puts a lump in my throat. And that was just a piece of fiction! But when I was reading that book, my own son was barely a few months old. So, it hit me on a very personal level.

Now, I know that the purpose of that scene was most likely as a way of further illustrating what an irredeemable bastard the guy was, and in that regard, it succeeded in spades. I could not wait for him to get his comeuppance (which never happened as of the end of the second book in the trilogy...still need to read the third). But I always felt the point could have been handled better.

In Phil Elmore's first Mack Bolan novel, Vigilante Run, the opening scene includes a description of an infant who was killed in the crossfire of a vigilante shootout (not by Mack, but the main bad guy). That scene also bothered me. But it was handled much better. It shown from the point of view of a very remorseful Mack Bolan, and was brief and bereft of gory detail. I asked Phil about that scene (he frequents the Mack Bolan forum, and is a great guy to talk to), and he even stated that he had struggled with that scene when writing it. But in the end, he felt that it really illustrated the main character flaw of the villain (his disregard for collateral damage), so he left it in. That actually made me feel better about the scene, in an odd way.

So, what does this all mean? Probably that, at heart, underneath all of my manly bluster and violent tastes, I'm a big sap who loves his kids more than anything in the world, and who holds a special place for children, even fictional ones. And thus, it's a safe bet that no child (fictional or otherwise) will be harmed in the writing of my stories. If the death or harm of a child would serve my story best, it will be understated, and will most likely happen "off camera."

IN OTHER NEWS

I have been making a little progress on Age of the Sword. I finished the brief section on Sorcery, and am now writing the section on Religion. I've also decided that this game will never be for sale. It will be made available as a free PDF, and I am looking at possibly creating a format that is more usable as an electronic book. One of the blogs I follow is by a guy who does this exclusively. He's written some great games, and formats them so they are best used on laptops for the new generation of gamers who like to do that with their table-top RPGs.

The first book of Gorus the Gray is taking shape. I'm almost done with the first chapter, and have been adding to and tweaking the outline. Oddly, what started out as an attempt to recreate the S&S tales of the 60's and 70's is turning into something much more detailed. I'm starting to think that while that old style of telling these sorts of tales may indeed be a thing of the past, that's probably not such a bad thing. That being said, this book, and any sequels, will still be somewhat shorter and more simple than a lot of the fantasy fiction you find on the shelves today. Which, in my opinion, fits well with the eBook model.

My Top Five Craptacular Fantasy Films (and one Sci-Fi film)

2011-06-02T12:07:00.001-05:00

For some reason I just felt the urge to do another list. As always, this list is based on my own opinions and experiences. YMMV.

These movies are the ones that I enjoy immensely, despite their cheesy effects, low production values and often sub-standard acting. Many of these I still watch on a regular basis, just because I enjoy them. I’ve been told I have very low standards for what makes a movie enjoyable, and that I am way too forgiving when it comes to bad films.

So what? I like what I like. So here they are, in no particular order…

The Beastmaster (1982) –My second favorite S&S movie after Conan the Barbarian. Marc Singer’s Dar is at once a tragic figure and a hero. Cut from his mother’s womb, this son of a king is meant to be sacrificed, but instead is saved and raised by warrior-chief of a small village. Through the circumstances of his “birth” Dar has the ability to speak telepathically with animals. When his village is destroyed by a barbarian horde, he sets out on a quest for revenge, and finds himself saving the kingdom of his father.

Does it get any better than that? The sword work is excellent, the dialogue, though cheesy at times, it still pretty good, and Rip Torn is brilliant as the psychotic sorcerer-priest, Maax. And of course, John Amos. Love that guy.

The Scorpion King (2002) – Over the top action with a heavy metal soundtrack, and some serious over-acting, this movie is huge fun. When a warrior-king conquers the known world, the last rebels hire a group of assassins to take out the sorceress who is responsible for the conqueror’s success. But betrayal foils the plan, and the surviving assassin must rise above his station to avenge his brothers, save the life of the sorceress he has fallen in love with, and free the world from a tyrant.

I am a big fan of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, and in his first outing as a headliner, he delivers a pretty good performance, all things considered. Fight scenes that are well-done, an excellent cast (including Kelly Hu *drool*), and story that is at once campy and serious, this movie makes me feel good inside.

Krull (1983) – It’s like Star Wars and D&D combined. An alien known as The Beast invades the pastoral planet of Krull, and kidnaps the princess whose marriage to the son of her father’s rival will unite the lands in peace for the first time in generations. The prince sets off on a quest to rescue her, with the help of an old sage, a band of misfits, and a legendary weapon.

What can I say? This movie is campy and cheesy, yet at the same time brilliant and entertaining. The special effects are dated, yet still hold up. The villain and his minions are evil to the core, and quite frankly, very scary. And it has a young Liam Neeson! Oh, and the princess is freaking HAWT!

Hercules (1983) – The mythological hero is brought to life by the humongous Lou Ferrigno. Cinematically, this movie is by far the worst on this list. Crappy special effects (even for the day), badly dubbed dialogue, and a storyline that kind of meanders in places, the only saving grace is that Lou is the most convincing looking Hercules since Steve Reeves. I’m of the opinion that with a bigger budget, and better writers, this could have been the greatest retelling of Hercules ever filmed. As it is, it’s horrible fun to watch. Just not too often. And don't even bother with the sequel.

Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone (1983) –Futuristic bounty hunter Wolff (Peter Strauss) takes it upon himself to rescue three women who have crash-landed on a Road Warrior-esque planet, ravaged with a plague, and ruled by a cybernetic dictator called Overdog (Michael Ironside). With the help of Niki (Molly Ringwald), a castaway young survivor, and Washington (Ernie Hudson), fellow bounty hunter, and oftentimes rival, Wolff not only rescues the women, but saves a girl, and deposes the dictator.

This movie deserved much more attention than it got. Originally released in 3D, it had an underwhelming showing, and most people simply never saw it, or just forgot about it. To me, this movie was the standard for gritty space opera adventure, and inspired a few games of Star Frontiers. The dialogue is great, the acting is not so bad, considering the script, and the special effects are perfectly fine. Best verbal exchange:

Amazon: I bet mating with us would kill him.
Wolff: I’ll take that bet!

So there you go. Yes, I also noticed that, with the exception of The Scorpion King, they were all made in 1982-1983. Those were formative years for my sensibilities. Which probably goes a long ways towards explaining why I have the tastes I do.

Cross-Pollination

2011-06-02T09:33:00.000-05:00

Cross-Pollination - Influence or inspiration between or among diverse elements.

This happens a lot between my writer side and my gamer side. Like many gamers (particularly RPG players), I imagine my characters' adventures as stories, and indeed have chronicled such adventures (whether actual play or just made up) in fiction of one form or another.

However, this happens more often in the backgrounds of said characters, rather than with actual game-play. Either my latest D&D character is inspired by a fictitious character I made up, or my latest fictional character is inspired by an RPG character, the two seem to go hand in hand for me.

WARNING: What follows could be construed as me doing that thing that dorky gamers do when they talk about their favorite characters.

For instance, when I was in early high school, a friend and I decided to start a D&D game using the Expert Set (remember that blue box?). These rules had details for making half-elf characters. Brilliant! So, inspired by Longshot from the Marvel Comics X-Men titles, I proceeded to roll up Tomos the Half-Elf Fighter (yes, he was my alter-ego). Had some fun times with him. Eventually, the game petered out, and I put Tomos away.

Later, I started gaming with some new friends after my old friend had graduated and moved on. They had higher-level characters. So, rather than roll up a new character, and artificially advance him, I converted Tomos from D&D to AD&D. And thus was born a bad-ass. Tomos had the maximum strength allowable to a Half-Elf (18/90), 18 Dex, 17 Cha, and he ended up having a 19 Comeliness (from Unearthed Arcana). At the time I was reading a lot of the Conan paperbacks, and I was highly influenced by them. So, I decided that Tomos was a cross between Conan and D'Artagnan. Physically powerful, but roguishly handsome and charming.

Tomos soon became the subject of MANY planned works of fiction. From short stories to novels, to fan-fiction involving established Forgotten Realms characters. Nothing was ever written beyond copious notes, the beginnings of a few novels, and one complete short story (which, unfortunately, got lost in the computer shuffle years ago).

Tomos has since been converted to each new incarnation of D&D (with the exception of 4E, because that game just sucks), but has seen very little play since high school. I've also made him in a few D&D-based computer games, like NWN. Yep, Tomos Elvenblood is probably my all-time favorite D&D character, and a source of seemingly endless inspiration.

Even today, I find myself using details I developed for one character to flesh out others. From game to fiction and back the other way. Shades of Tomos crop up every now and again, but other characters have also been highly influential.

Like Vin Diesel said, "D&D is a training ground for the imagination." I wholeheartedly agree, Vin.

How much is enough?

2011-05-31T10:17:00.000-05:00

I'd like to discuss the concept of story length. As a little background, my current WIP is a sword & sorcery yarn in the vein of some old school works by Lin Carter, John Jakes and Gardner F. Fox. I'm going for the kind of story you get where the hero is a brawny warrior, somewhat outside of societal norms, if not a downright outsider or outcast, and the adventure is straight-foreword, without a lot of esoteric exposition and social commentary. It will be a rousing adventure with plenty of action, some intrigue and more than a little supernatural danger, all set in an original, mythical world. I currently have ideas for about three books about this character right now. I'll give more details about him later.

But today's topic is about length. How long should this work be? Using the works of the above-mentioned authors as a guide, I have determined that these stories will probably be relatively short, running the equivalent of 165 pages (41,250 words) or so. Information presented on the Wiki page on Length of a Novel places that firmly in the "novel" category, according to Locus Magazine. However, as also noted on that page, conventional publishing wisdom makes that just shy of a novel, and only a novella.

The question is, is this distinction even a concern? And more importantly, is it even relevant in the ePub view of things? For that's where my market is. This book, and any sequels, are planned as self-published eBooks, most likely through Amazon for the Kindle.

Of course, this could all be academic. The story could very well end up being much longer (or even shorter) than planned.

This cover by the late Jeffrey Jones
is similar to what I will be attempting.

As a side note, this whole thing has me pretty excited. This is the type of story I like to read, so I think it will come more easily to me. I'm also doing it the right way and focusing on a lot of planning elements, such as character sketches, story plotting, and a chapter-by-chapter summary, before I even start writing the actual story. I'm also going to dust off my art skills and attempt to do a cover in the style of those 70's-era S&S books. I think I can pull that off well.

So, stay tuned for more information on Gorus the Gray!

Memorial Day - From Scott Oden

2011-05-30T18:26:00.000-05:00

Rather than try to re-invent the wheel, I will direct you to the Memorial Day post by Scott Oden. Finer words there may never be.

Something old, something new

2011-05-26T10:41:00.000-05:00

Yesterday I had a six-hour class on the purchasing procedures for my job. Most of the information was not new to me, and what was new was provided in a detailed PowerPoint presentation that I can read at my leisure. Basically it was a mind-numbing experience. I was fully capable of learning what I needed to know while only half paying attention. So, what did I do with the other half of my brain? Why, I wrote, of course!

But, since I didn't have a computer in front of me, I had to change things up. I am a computer composer. I rarely pick up a pen or pencil for anything, preferring to brainstorm ideas and compose notes in MS Word. However, all I had in front of me was a notepad and a pen. And this proved to be plenty.

I have recently been interested in seeing if the "Clonan" I mentioned in my last blog post is truly dead. I am convinced that in commercial circles, it is. Publishers probably won't touch such simple, straight-forward action yarns anymore. And that's fine. They're in the business of making money, so they have to go with what sells. And let's face it, hulking barbarians in literature probably won't sell much these days. But, there's a relative handful of holdouts like me who sometimes prefer these simpler tales to the angst-ridden, verbose and detail-heavy fantasy tales of today. Don't get me wrong, I like those too. But sometimes I just want to crack open a short book filled with action, danger, and maybe a little sex, all brought to life through the exploits of a huge warrior who has the power to carve his destiny with the keen edge of a broadsword. And since it doesn't seem that I will get any of that beyond forays into used book stores, I thought I would produce some short novels of my own for the eBook market.

To that end, I took up my pen, and began to scribble notes about a character that I had recently envisioned. As I said, I usually do this on the computer. So it was with some amazement that I found details flowing from pen to paper. Admittedly, it was slow at first. I find that I rarely have to write anything by hand these days, so the muscles involved, which are different than the muscles involved in typing, were a little stiff. My penmanship looked like a ninth-graders. But, it's legible, and understandable. In the end I had two, hand-written pages consisting of notes about the character, his background, and a rough outline for his first book.

The whole experience reminded me of when I was about 14 years old. At the time, I was huge into Mack Bolan, and my friend and I would write stories about our own Men's Adventure characters (mine was Darryl Knox, as portrayed in my mind by Marc Singer). I still have the notebook that contains my efforts in that regard. Handwritten, with paragraphs and passages scratched out and re-written. It's an interesting way to write, to say the least.

This also illustrated a point that I have read from authors and writers a lot. That change will often be what is needed to get past a rut or writer's block. In this instance, a simple change in how I write seemed to provide a good creative spark.

Old School S&S

2011-05-24T11:09:00.002-05:00

I recently went to a local used book store, and managed to score some really good stuff in the S&S genre. Based on some recommendations from the Swords & Sorcery League Facebook page, I picked up a couple of books by Gardner F. Fox, one by Lin Carter, and one by John Jakes, as well as a collector’s hardback Conan book. One thing all of these have in common (aside from the Conan book, for obvious reasons) is that the main characters all fit into what I call the “Clonan Mold” – basically, muscular, barbaric warriors who battle dark magics with cold steel and iron will.
These books were all part of a trend that was very popular in the 60’s and 70’s. With a resurgence in the popularity of Conan thanks to the Ace/Lancer paperbacks, as well as the long-running comics from Marvel, publishers were looking to capitalize on the readers’ need for more of Conan’s ilk.

This got me to thinking; is this trend truly dead? Are simple, straight-forward characters like these out of vogue now? Have we, as discerning fantasy readers, evolved beyond the hulking barbarian cutting a swath of death and destruction through his enemies? It seems that most fantasy characters, even those who profess to be “Sword & Sorcery” ones, are layered with complexities and “depth” that was previously understated, or non-existent.

And if that is true, and these characters have indeed becomes relics of a bygone era in the publishing industry, then why are there so many people haunting used book stores and snatching up these out of print books? Is it perhaps that readers just don’t have the confidence in today’s writers to deliver a good, old-fashioned action yarn? Perhaps it’s because new authors don’t want to be pigeon-holed into being a “Howard-pretender.”

Personally, I think it boils down to “literary snobbery.” The Pulp Era is derided by the literary community, thus why it is never covered in English classes, or included in scholarly studies of literature, aside from being a footnote. Sort of a “literary Dark Age” so to speak. And those who do know of the treasures brought to life back then are relegated to the “fringes” of society. They’re looked at the same way comic books are often looked at. Cheap entertainment for the masses, with little to no literary or intellectual value.

Ok, I think I am getting off-track here.

The point is, those of us who do enjoy this genre of stories, are often forced to seek facsimiles of the tried and true tropes. Modern barbarians are really just angry savages with personal issues that create drama and depth. There are no more unapologetic barbarians, proud of their heritage, who deride “civilized” weaklings.

So, the question is, is this a result of readers? Or publishers?

And if someone wrote S&S in the old-school vein, how would it be received now?

Note: Most of the opinion expressed here is based on, admittedly, limited exposure to modern writers. Unfortunately, I don’t have the time or money to invest in a lot of reading. So, I find myself spending most of my resources on used books. And because I tend to get bored with books if they are too long (I get limited reading time), I tend to like shorter works, which is also a thing of the past. You’re hard-pressed to find a new book of less than 250 pages these days. That may seem like a small amount. But to me, it can be big when I can only snatch a few minutes here and there to read.

Learning my lessons

2011-05-19T08:27:00.001-05:00

Last week I learned an important lesson for writers: Deadlines are good.

I worked feverishly to finish the story I was planning to submit for an anthology. I had a schedule in my head, and had given myself an entire work-week (five days) to complete it. Lo and behold, life interfered and two of those days were shot. However, in the past I would have said "Oh, well" and given up on it. But this time I was determined to sprint for the finish line. And amazingly, after a good chunk of writing (about 2,000 words in four hours) I did it! And even though the story was promptly rejected, it didn't matter. What mattered was that I set myself a deadline and stuck with it. This is a huge step for me.

The rejection was a blow, to be sure. I was really hoping to get accepted. The letter (email) was short and sweet. The editor stated that the story was "perfectly good" and encouraged me to submit it elsewhere. Now, my cynical side says "canned response." But my optimist side (which is stronger) says that it was an honest, albeit brief, assessment. And I am choosing to go with that. I know the story isn't perfect. It is a first draft, and I'm sure there are areas that could use improvement. So, I am going to step away from it, work on something else, and then go back and polish it up. Once that's done, I will begin the process of shopping it around. Or, I may set it aside and save it for the anthology eBook my friends are working on, since it takes place in that world.

So, taking that lesson, I am imposing a deadline for my Orc story of next Friday, 5/27. I was going to say tomorrow, but my daughter is coming home for the Summer after being away for almost a year. So, I may be a little too distracted to write coherently for a couple of days. However, I do plan to put some effort into the story today, during my downtime. And since it's already 2/3 done, I expect to come close.

Ok, deadlines are one lesson I have to learn. I know there are several others (outlining, "show don't tell", and working schedules come to mind). But I figure if I can get one lesson learned at a time, eventually it will all come together and I can live the dream.

Stay on target...ooooo, shiney!

2011-05-18T11:36:00.000-05:00

As I often do, I plugged my flash drive in this morning, and opened up Word. If I'm not already inspired, I will usually browse the titles I have in my various projects folders until something catches my interest (which goes a long way towards explaining why I am the King of Unfinished Writing Projects). The last couple of days my brain has been slowly shifting gears from fantasy to more reality-based interests. I'm currently reading The Gods of Mars by Burroughs on my iPhone, but I have been eyeing some Mack Bolan books I found used a while back. Something about modern-day action is pulling me in.

So, with that in mind, I opened a file I haven't looked at in a few months. Last November I attempted once more to do NaNoWriMo. I managed to get about 5,000+ words into it before life just overwhelmed me (school, a court battle, adjusting to a new job, etc...). So, I put it away. But now I am dusting it off and giving it another go.

The premise I have is based on a City of Heroes MMO character I had been playing. Basically it can be described as "What if the Punisher didn't use guns?" With that as a springboard, I created a character, a suitably tragic event, and planned his journey into darkness, as this former IT professional transforms into a adrenaline junkie, hell-bent on testing his new found martial prowess against the darker side of humanity, with the ultimate goal of finding justice at the ends of his fists. The book will have a lot of martial arts action, dark exposition, and probably some disturbing imagery. I envision it being something akin to Fight Club but with less blatant psychosis and more technical detail.

Following the stars

2011-05-16T09:40:00.000-05:00

My horoscope on my Yahoo! page today:

Just like money, fresh ideas can burn a whole in your pocket -- urging you to take them out and spend them! A new inclination to do something unexpected may hit you like a ton of bricks this morning, so pay attention and consider revising the plans you had for today. When lightning strikes, you need to pay attention and get some momentum going. Try not to delay acting on your newest, craziest ideas -- whatever you start today has a huge chance for success.

Oddly enough, I am thinking today about a character I thought up on Saturday. Malachi Sampson is a an old-west gunfighter who hunts supernatural evils. I have ideas for a few stories already.

This is new territory for me. I have never written a western before, though I have flirted with the idea on several occasions (even started one at one point). And I've never done horror either. Again, I have flirted with idea as well, and actually started a few projects, but nothing ever came of them. So, now I am thinking of combining the two. Inspired by Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane stories, I decided to set Sampson in the frontiers of the 1870's. He's a Civil war veteran, as many gunfighters of the time were. But he fought for the South. As a southern gentleman he is well-versed in sabre-fencing, as well as pistols. And, I see him being pretty handy in good old-fashioned fisticuffs as well.

Here's a teaser:

The worst thing about my life is that I can recall my death.

It was fairly inglorious, all things considered. As an officer in General Lee’s Confederate Army, I was leading a charge from horseback against the Northern Aggressors. I can’t recall the exact date, nor where the battle took place. I can only recall the impact of the bullet that tore me from my saddle, and dumped me in the bloody muck. I remember wondering what had hit me, and then panicking when I couldn’t move. A coldness had crept over me, and I tried to scream. I don’t reckon anything came out, since I was already dead. After that, nothing but black.

I woke up with a gasp and a purpose. I knew I had died, but something had brought me back. Was is God? As a Southern Gentleman, raised on the Word, I like to think so. And most days, that’s the only thing that keeps me going.

One might ask what purpose a man might have in being brought back from death’s dark clutches. Why would I be denied the everlasting paradise? Well, to put it shortly, I weren’t always a good man. In fact, one might say I was downright bad. So, maybe I had some things to atone for. Maybe. I don’t rightly know. I just know that there are worse things in this world than I ever was, and I am compelled by the Power to put an end to such evil.

Mission Accomplished!

2011-05-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

I did it! I finished my story. Most of my writer friends are probably thinking "Big deal, dude." Well, for me, it is! I am the King of Unfinished Writing Projects. So, when I can actually finish a story, it feels like a real accomplishment.

Next up: getting something published. To that end, I submitted this story today. It's for the Sword & Sorceress Anthology #26. I rather like the story. It may need some polish, but it reads well as it is.

I'll probably dive right into something else now. Possibly the Orc story. Though I think I will watch Treasure Planet again before I do so.

Or maybe I will peck away at Age of the Sword and Life of Rage.

Or how about the Conn Project?

Then again, yesterday, during my (unplanned) day off I came up with a new character that might have some promise. I've never written a western nor a horror story, so I thought about combining them. Thus was born Malachi Sampson. Imagine a cross between Jonah Hex and Solomon Kane...

Hmmmm...

Sorcery and Magic Difficulties

2011-05-11T15:18:00.003-05:00

I left my flash drive at home again today. So, in lieu of working on the story due Friday, I have been looking at dormant projects that I have on my hard-drive. One of which is Life of Rage. After some consideration, I have decided to forgo the idea of rewriting the whole thing in first person. I put a lot of work into its previous incarnation (called Being Green), and it seems a waste to just toss all of that text. However, some of the elements created for LoR will be finding their way into the new BG.

Anyways, in reading through it today, I noticed something. I don't like magic. Perhaps it is because I read too much Conan as a teen, or because I almost always play a warrior of some kind when I game. Whatever the reason, magic just does not come naturally to me. Especially when writing about the mechanics of it. In both Age of the Sword and Life of Rage the sections on player-used magic is devoid of detail (in AotS it hasn't even been started yet).

This is largely due to the genres these games fall into. AotS is a Sword & Sorcery game in the vein of Conan and his ilk. Magic is evil, mysterious, and often entails sacrifices and other diabolical actions. Life of Rage is about Orcs. The characters are Orcs. Orcs generally distrust magic at best, and usually avoid it all together. In both games, it makes sense (to me) to restrict magic to NPC's. But I know that there will always be players who ask "Why can't I (go outside your rules)?", and wish to make magic using characters. My first instinct is to tell them to just play D&D and leave my game alone. Which is what I am leaning towards doing anyways.

Of course, another reason may be because magic in an RPG tends to be the most complex section of a rulebook. Look at the D&D Player's Handbook. Literally half of the book is dedicated to magic and spell lists. And that goes for every edition of that game. Frankly, I just don't want to put that much effort into it. Maybe if I was working on these games with a team of writers and creators. But I'm not. It's just me.

So, there you go. No magic using characters in my games. Anyone think that will detract from the playability? Will I lose a significant number of players (you know, maybe 25 out of the 100 people who might like the games)?

Hammering away!

2011-05-09T15:33:00.000-05:00

Yep, saw THOR this weekend. Kicked all kinds of ass! Was it perfect? Maybe not. But it hit all of the right points, and I thought it brought the character and his cast to life admirably. But, I'm not here to talk about that movie. I'm here to talk about writing. Because that's what I do.

First and foremost, the deadline for the Sword & Sorceress anthology is this Friday. The story I am doing for it is about half-way done (maybe a bit more than that), so I am confident that I will be able to submit it on time.

Next up is the Orcs story. I had jumped head first into writing that, but kind of petered out on it. Especially after finding out that most of the people involved in the anthology haven't even started writing yet, but are merely ironing out rough ideas at this point. So, I figured I would step back and take some time with it.

In other writing news, I hope you saw that I have added a lot of stuff to the Age of the Sword RPG. It's getting much closer to being finished, and I expect that, barring any rules revisions, I will only be polishing up the setting, adding rules for Sorcery, and commissioning/drawing original artwork for it. In the meantime, I'd really like some feedback. Even if it's to tell me how much is sucks and how you think I should stop wasting my time on it. So far, no one has responded with anything resembling a critique.

Other works in progress: Life of Rage ( an Orc RPG written in first person), the Conn Project (Conan pastiche that may be modified for an original setting), and various other minor projects. Oh, and I'll try to get the final part of the Thomas Magni serial done. Though that one seems to not have caught on much, as I get no feedback or followers on that page. So, if I do manage to finish the first story arc, that may be it.

The dangers of Free Comics

2011-05-08T07:54:00.000-05:00

I have been a comic book fan since I was a kid, and really got into them in high school. Between my friend and I, we managed to be reading every Marvel title available in 1986. Because of that, I have always been a Marvel fan. I like some of the DC characters. Batman has always been cool, and Superman has grown on me a lot lately (though Nightwing is still my favorite). But nothing beats Captain America, Spider-Man and Moon Knight. Those are probably my top three Marvel characters, with the top five being rounded out by Colossus and Hercules (they so need to make an animated movie about the Prince of Power). So, you can imagine my giddiness with all of these kick-ass Marvel movies (THOR was effing AWESOME, btw).

But, all that being said, I don't really read comics much anymore. Every once in a while I'll get on a kick and collect a handful of titles for a few months. But, invariably I get burned out and stop. However, Free Comic Book Day (the first Saturday in May) always manages to rope me back in, even if for just a short while. I'm sitting here staring at the cover for the free issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Having browsed through it real quick, I am very intrigued. Not to mention that the Elric comic from BOOM! is pretty amazing. And of course, there's my FCBD stand-by, Atomic Robo. They do a free issue of his every year and it never fails to entertain.

So, what does this mean? It means that the local comic shop will most likely get some business from the Doolan household (Michele found one she likes too) for the next few months. After that, who knows?

Age of the Sword ver. 1.1

2011-05-04T13:34:00.001-05:00

So I did some work on Age of the Sword. You can access it here:

Age of the Sword - Play Test ver 1.1

Changes include:

Added blank pages to seperate sections
Edited some text
Removed Skill "Specialties"
Added some images
Added a large amount of information about The World
Modified the Character Sheet

Quick question for anyone who has actually looked at it; do you like the page borders? I'm iffy on them right now.

As always, comments, criticisms or requests can be directed here, or emailed to me.

Slacker!

2011-05-03T14:55:00.001-05:00

Ok, so lately I appear to be slacking in my writing. And for the most part, that’s true. I mean, I am working on a story for my shared world that I am hoping to have done in time to submit to an anthology. And I do seem to be blogging with some frequency. And today I even tried my hand at a 5-minute fiction (wasn’t selected as a finalist, but it was an interesting exercise).

But, the fact of the matter is, I have yet to make the commitment to writing that I really need to. When I’m at home, I almost never write. I spend most of my time in front of the computer on Facebook or playing WoW. I know both are a detriment, but I can’t help it. I enjoy both so much. And if I’m not doing that, I’m watching something on NetFlix (Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is freaking awesome!).

I need to write more. I need to set aside a scheduled time and make it a habit. I need to set myself a goal, and see it through. I need to plot out a story, develop the characters, and write the first draft. I need push aside distractions and resistance. I need to do the work.

Ok, so maybe that’s all very easy to say. But, for me (and I suspect a LOT of writers, both professional and not), it’s a lot harder to do. I’ve never been one for self-motivation. I’m inherently lazy sometimes, and cannot stay focused long enough to do anything all the way. I blame my second stepfather. Because of him, I have been battling a crippling fear of failure. I have adopted the “If I don’t try, I can’t fail” attitude so often that it has become second-nature. I hate him for that. Everything else I ever got from him that was good is wiped out because of this.

Eh, now I’m just starting to complain.

Ok, so focus on writing. Set a schedule. Write a plot summary. Sketch the characters. But most importantly…

WRITE!

Been here a while

2011-04-29T09:21:00.001-05:00

Because I wanted an image of a barbarian.
Probably my favorite shot from Conan the Barbarian.

So, another blogger I recently started following is celebrating her one-year anniversary this month. That got me to thinking about how long I have been blogging. This particular blog has been going on since October of 2008. But before that, I had a Xanga page for many years. That one was much more personal. In it I discussed all of the shit that was hitting the fan in my tumultuous love-life, my constant battles with my ex-wife, and the anguish I felt over not having my daughter around. Some of that stuff is still around, particularly the ex-wife (unfortunately…isn’t she due for a house to fall on her?), and my separation from my daughter. But, that’s my life. Prior to 2007, things were far from perfect. Now, things are much better.

Suffice it to say, I like this blog a lot better. Funny thing is, I went back and looked at my first posts. While my very first one here was a basic intro post, the very next one was all about gaming. And in it I mention my S&S RPG and my Orc RPG. Both of which I have continued to work on here and there for the better part of three years, and have recently ramped up my work on. Amazing how little some things change.

Speaking of my S&S game, Age of the Sword finally has the framework of a setting. I have a rough map, and at least some tertiary information about the various regions in the world, which, oddly enough, I refer to as The World. I’m enjoying coming up with societies and cultures. I find that I have my go-to tropes all represented. But a lot of the stuff is inspired by the imagery presented in Fire & Ice. I look at a mental snapshot and extrapolate how that came to be. It’s a cool exercise.

Other than that, not much to report. I’m toying with some ideas for the shared world my friends and I are building. I hit a wall with that, so I have set it aside for a bit. But the idea forming in my mind is still percolating. I also started working on a story for publication. The theme of the anthology is strong female S&S characters. I had an idea about a Greek Mythology-inspired story dealing with a daughter of Ares. My initial idea was built on the premise of “What if there was a female version of Hercules?” The idea has some merit, but after 1,100+ words, it kind of started meandering, and I lost interest quickly. Probably because the tale needs so much more than a short story can provide. So, I will most likely restart with something different, and just file that one away for future reference.

My wife is running in Crazy Legs tomorrow. I’m very proud and in awe of her. She amazes me with her dedication. And I thank her for motivating me to work out. Sometimes I absolutely DO NOT want to do it. But, she sets up the video, and we just do it. Afterwards, I’m beat, but I feel better for it later.

Anyways, what’s new with you guys?

A day off

2011-04-25T13:05:00.000-05:00

With my wife out of town on business today, and my daughter having no after school care and having Tae Kwon Do tonight, I chose to take the day off of work, and stay home with the boy. Originally I was going to send him to his day care provider, but the schedule was going to make that not really worth the drive (she lives on the other side of town). So, I opted to keep him home with me. We watched some TV this morning, including the animated film Batman: Under the Red Hood (which I highly recommend). Now he's napping, and I'm getting caught up on some chores.

Been reading my copy of Barbarians of Lemuria lately. It's a fun, simple little Sword & Sorcery RPG. Kind of along the lines of what I am trying to do with Age of the Sword. In fact, it made me start to second-guess doing AotS, since this does the genre so well. But, it's nearly done anyways, and I've put a lot of effort into it. So, what the heck, right?

Also been thinking about stories, though I haven't written anything fiction-wise in a couple of days. Which brings up something that has been on my mind, and was punctuated by today's post over at Man Cave Authors. I really need to come up with a schedule for writing. Right now I do most of my writing at work, in between, well, work. And at home, it seems we are always on the go. After the kids get to bed, we are jumping around the living room doing P90X. When that's done, I am so exhausted, and it's so late, that writing is the furthest thing from my mind. So, where does that leave me? I have no idea. I just know that if I don't buckle down and make time to write, I won't get anything written. So, that's something I need to start working on.

Aside from that relatively minor problem, life is pretty good. We're getting the house a bit more organized and clean. My daughter comes home for the Summer in just a few weeks, and my family is totally awesome. I have good friends, good health, and I even get to game every now and again. Could things get better? Sure. But it could get a whole lot worse. In fact, it has been. And I am thankful for all of the blessings I have.

Tom the Wanderer

2011-04-21T12:50:00.000-05:00

Sometimes I feel like a literary adventurer when it comes to my writing. Some days I find myself up to my neck in a story. I am battling a deluge of ideas and words, in an effort to subdue the beast that lurks in my mind. On other days my creativity is like a vast desert that I have to cross. But most days, I spend at least part of the time meandering from idea to idea. New ideas for stories, or even just snippets that could grow into stories with the proper cultivation, spring up from odd places.

The other week a Sword & Sorcery parody came to mind from something my daughter said. Sydney (8) has this habit of trying to "translate" Connor's (2) babble-speech for us. Finally, while driving down the freeway, I said to her (tongue-in-cheek, of course) "Sydney, stop trying to translate for your brother. We know you don't speak Toddlerian." I have no idea where that came from, but I loved it. Even used it in my first Thomas Magni entry. But the image it conjured keeps coming back to me. I imagine my son in a horned helmet with a battle-axe bigger than he is, a savage grimace on his face, as he battles monsters and demons. Connor the Toddlerian! I even tried to imagine what he would fight. Connor and the Raging Broccodile, Connor and the Killer Kitten, Connor in the Land of Noisy Sisters; the possibilities are endlessly funny. In my head. It even inspired a D&D scenario where our gaming group would take on the roles of our children as D&D characters. I would play Connor as a Gnome Barbarian. Sydney would be a Wild Elf Sorceress who is also a Princess (and makes sure everyone knows it). And Faith would be the Goth necromancer NPC, with her Emo-boy minions. Hilarity would no doubt ensue.

Anyways, back to reality (sorta). I posted my S&S game, and am eagerly awaiting feedback. By the way, if you downloaded it and are reading it, pay no attention to the references in the "Enemies" section to the film, Fire & Ice. Those are placeholder names, and I forgot to edit them out. The setting I am working on is based on that world, but heavily modified and augmented by other ideas. The names will be changed, but it will probably still be recognizable to those who know the movie.

Then there's the story I wrote yesterday. I had invited a couple of friends to share one of my worlds with me. It was an incomplete world, mainly just some notes and a few general descriptions. Naturally, they both had a lot of questions. Which is cool because their questions made me think, and I have added a lot of detail to the world, based on their suggestions and story ideas. But I hadn't been writing any stories of my own in this world. Well, yesterday I did. It was only about 1,200 words, but I liked it (though it needed a LOT of editing, which I did today). And it occurred to me that it could easily be continued into a much larger story. So, that's what I am doing with it now.

Fortunately, my Sci-Fi mood seems to have been a flash in the pan, and I am back into a S&S mood again.

I also keep eying my ever-growing "to-read" pile, adding two more books this week, with an RPG on its way. I am playing WoW again, and enjoying it. And I discovered that Netflix has the entire Farscape series up for instant view. I think I may be stretching myself too thin...

The game is afoot!

2011-04-20T12:39:00.000-05:00

Lately a lot of my writing efforts have been directed towards the various Role-Playing Games I have on my plate. None of them are being written for profit (well, maybe one of them will be), and all are just for fun. Subsequently, they all kind of get nibbled on as time permits, and usually when I am not knee-deep into something else.

Well, today I put the first "playable" game of my own design up for criticism and comment. Age of the Sword is a Sword & Sorcery RPG using a system I created years ago, and have been tweaking and playing with ever since. The system itself has an interesting history (I think). It started as an effort to put an entire RPG onto one side of one sheet of paper. The fruit of that effort was called Wizards & Warriors, and it was a very rules-lite fantasy game. No setting, no detailed descriptions. Just the bare bones, geared towards those who were already in the FRPG Know.

W&W was lame. I admit that. But, it did spark an idea. What if I took the core mechanic that I had come up with, and expanded it into a full-scale universal system? Thus was born EGO: Endless Gaming Options. I spent several months of unemployment in early 2000 (having just left my job to follow my then-wife to Salinas, CA from San Diego) working on EGO. It turned out pretty good, and I even had a few people download it for use in their home-brew games (though no one ever got back to me on how it worked out).

Anyways, interest waned, as it always does, and EGO fell to the wayside. I would look at it every once in a while; add some stuff to it; tweak the system. But, meh. Nothing major. Then, a few years ago, I got another idea. I wanted to create a Sword & Sorcery RPG. So, I dusted off EGO, stripped it of all non-S&S detail, and started playing with it again. Interest waxed and waned, along with my literary mood swings (see my last blog entry).

And today, after a few weeks on an S&S kick, I have finally made a (more or less) playable version, complete with some artwork (borrowed from Frazetta mostly) and some extra flavor text. Still no specific setting attached to it, though. The setting I was going to use got re-tasked somewhere else, and I lighted upon an idea for a new one last night. So, while I chip away at working that up, I put the basic game on Google Docs and shared the link with my Facebook page.

[Download/View it here]

A few people have already said they would take a look. I hope they don't hate it.

Yeah, I'm a pretty "low self-esteem" person, especially with my writing. So, I always start with assuming people will hate what I do, and then hope that I'm wrong. It seems to work out fairly well for me.

Mood swings

2011-04-18T12:51:00.000-05:00

Today I find myself slipping into a Science Fiction mood. It happens a lot. I will go long periods of being in a specific "genre mood" and I will write, read, watch, and sometimes play, in that genre. Then, seemingly out of nowhere, another genre will intrude and insinuate itself in my mind like a virus.

Ok, it's not usually out of nowhere. But it is commonly the result of something minor, even mundane; a casual remark, the cover of a book, a piece of news. This time, I'm not 100% sure where it came from. It could possibly be that my bi-weekly D&D game has been going on for so long, and I am not accustomed to that happening. When I lived in San Diego, my gaming group had ADD. A "long-term campaign" would last maybe ten sessions. Then, invariably, we'd all silently agree that it was time for a change. So, we'd switch gears. Sometimes for a single night, sometimes for ten more sessions. Occasionally we'd even switch back to what we had done before.

Anyways, whatever the cause, the SciFi bug has bitten me, and I am wondering what to do. I am currently writing a serial about Thomas Magni, which is SciFi/Parody. But interest is waning a bit there, and it's not enough. Then again, it's only week three.

My wife suggested taking a "cheat day" and exploring it. Not sure if that will be enough either, but it's worth a shot. So, maybe I'll set the Sword & Sorcery stuff aside for a bit, and look at some hard SciFi writing. Maybe watch a good movie. Don't want to pick up a book just yet, as I am currently trying to read about four different books as it is.

You know, it just occured to me while writing this blog where the bug came from. A few days back Black Gate Magazine ran an article about Star Frontiers. That's what did it! It was that damn Larry Elmore cover for Alpha Dawn. Gets me every time.

Ok, fine. Lemme put away this broadsword and pull out my laser rifle...

You know, sometimes it ain't easy being me.

Futile Efforts

2011-04-14T13:00:00.001-05:00

Has anyone ever felt an overwhelming urge to write something that you know you will never be able to sell, or even publish, and did it anyways?

I have had an idea for a series of stories, possibly even a book, about a character that is proprietary, and would be a legal miasma if I were to try to get it published. This idea has been rolling around in my brain since I was in high school, but I have never started it due to the impossibility of it seeing the light of day.

The property I am referring to is Conan (c), and more specifically, his firstborn son, Conan II (or Conn, as he is more commonly called). Conn is not the invention of Robert E. Howard, but rather of L. Sprague DeCamp.

For those who don't know who that is (and you may want to skip this paragraph if you do), DeCamp was a science-fiction/fantasy writer of moderate ability, who managed (sometime in the late 50's or early 60's, I believe) to become the custodian of the late Howard's Conan stories. For several years, DeCamp labored over these stories with the help of Lin Carter and Bjorn Nyberg, organized them chronologically, and filled in time gaps by either converting non-Conan stories into Conan stories, or by writing original works of the character. The product of these efforts was a 12-volume set of books (that would later be added to by DeCamp as well) published by Lancer/Ace Books. These books remained in print until the late 1980's. It should be noted at this point that DeCamp considered himself somewhat of an armchair psychologist, and I later learned that much his analysis of Howard's person were born of misinterpreted information, and possibly a sense of jealousy. DeCamp knew that Howard had been a more talented writer than he ever could be. That much is plain. And his character assassination of Howard, along with his self-serving custodianship of the Conan character, did little to ingratiate him to true Howard fans.

Be that as it may, these books were my first literary introduction to the character of Conan. Suffice it to say, they developed in me a lust for Sword & Sorcery, and a love of the Conan character. At the time, I recall not noticing the difference between the original stories by Howard, and the pastiches. They were all Conan, and they told the story of the life of an amazing character. I have since gone on to read the re-release of the original Howard works, as well as many of his non-Conan stories, and have come to appreciate his genius, and how DeCamp, though talented, never quite measured up to the Original.

The last three books in the original twelve, Conan the Avenger, Conan of Aquilonia and Conan of the Isles, were all book length works written wholly by DeCamp. And the last two book featured Conn somewhat prominently. First as a 10-year old would be warrior in Aquilonia, and later as the Prince turned King in Isles. Near the beginning of the final book, Conan abdicates his throne to his 20-something son, in favor of running off on one last hurrah. The rest of the book was fun, but it was Conn that always intrigued me.

What happened when he became king of the most powerful nation in the Hyborian Age? Was he able to balance his savage heritage with his civil upbringing? By this point, his mother had passed, and all he had were a few advisers, and three younger siblings. Would he have stayed on the throne and remained a good king in his father's image?

I imagined not. Conan had made many enemies in his lifetime, and it would not be far off to assume that one of them, or even the offspring of one of them, might make a play for the throne during this time of change.

And that's the story that is demanding to be written. And I have decided to give in to that demand, and see where it takes me. Perhaps if I like the results, I can do a find/replace for all of the proprietary names, and give it a legally original facade.

Yeah, that's what I'm doing.

World Building Logic

2011-04-13T11:25:00.003-05:00

A few years back I had this idea of creating a world to set Sword & Sorcery stories in. The premise was that the “world” was nothing but desert. Naturally, I thought of Tatooine, from the Star Wars films. However, I immediately ran into a problem with that. A problem that is rooted in my own writer’s personality.

Scientifically speaking, a planet like Tatooine (or even Hoth…which is technically also a “desert” world) could not exist. At least not as it does in the films. Without a large portion of the planet covered with vegetation, there would be no breathable atmosphere. And in all of the films where Tatooine appeared, never once do you see any significant vegetation. Now, take all of that with a grain of salt, as it is based on my limited knowledge of science. I suppose there may be other methods by which such a world could create a suitably oxygen-rich atmosphere. I just don’t know of any.

So, with that thought in mind, I decided that the “world” was actually an isolated portion of the planet. Which lead me to deciding how it had become isolated. What I settled on was a great “bowl” of a valley, spanning a thousand miles in each direction. The defining feature was a great river running through the middle. But, where did the river originate? And where did it go?

Well, it originated in the mountains to the West, and flowed into the mountains in the East. The river became analogous to the Nile, and I decided that the culture that lived along the river was Pseudo-Egyptian. But, what about the areas surrounding the river, beyond the fertile shores?

To the North, still within the bowl, the climate became more temperate, and the hot sands slowly gave way to sparse grasslands and rolling hills, dotted with lakes. But in order to keep the inhabitants of the bowl inside, I decided that the farthest reaches in that direction were bordered not just by impassible mountains, but sheer cliffs that stood a mile or more in height. This region was dominated by a culture of city-states. Many of these existed on the shores of lakes, but a few existed up against the cliffs, with caves dug into the cliff-sides in some areas. Originally, these were going to be Pseudo-Arabic in nature, but I also thought that some, particularly on the grasslands, could be more Mongolian-based.

To the South, the desert becomes excessively inhospitable. This was also to keep my cultures within the bowl. And to ensure their placement, I peopled the south with a savage, bestial, cannibalistic race who bred by the thousands and made exploring this region impossible.

That left the mountains to the East and West. To the West, the foothills are dominated by thick forests. The river folk in this area harvest some of the wood. But they do not venture very far into the forests. Why? Because of the dark and ominous creatures who live there, of course! Little do they know that these “creatures” are actually tribes of barbarian hillmen who disguise themselves as monsters to keep the militarily superior river people out of their lands.

To the East, the river disappears into rough mountains, and eventually dumps into a vast region of swamps and jungles, populated with primitive life of all types (including dinosaurs).

And then, there are the mutants who inhabit the wastelands between the two major cultures. And of course, the geography, climate and cultures helped me create the religious and social beliefs of the various peoples, including the large, semi-nocturnal race of desert-dwellers.

So, what is the point of all of this? Well, it illustrates how I tend to build a fantasy world. I start with a germ of an idea (a desert world) and allow that to dictate the details, leading me down roads of logic at every turn, until finally, I have a workable world. It also illustrates how, even when creating a “fantasy” world, I like it to be logical and somewhat realistic.

The world I have described above is somewhat fleshed-out already, though it does need more fine-tuning. It is inspired by several settings and stories from various authors, as well as my own study of history.

And why is this pertinent to now? Because I am writing yet another RPG (or rather finishing one I started ages ago), and I need a setting. Age of the Sword will be set in this world. You know, once I buckle down and finish it…

Some things need to remain dead

2011-04-12T10:51:00.001-05:00

I’ve always been a fan of resurrecting a dead character in D&D and other RPGs (though I have never actually had to do it). However, it occurs to me that sometimes what’s dead needs to just stay dead (especially the cat in that Stephen King movie). And sometimes this even applies to writing projects.

A few years ago I started a project about a human boy raised from infancy by Orcs. I really liked the characters, the background, and I enjoyed writing many memorable scenes. As usually happens, I got burned out on it, and put it aside. Mainly this was because I hadn’t really plotted anything out. I was just trying to let the story tell itself naturally, building a plot off of the events as they occurred. That didn’t really work so well, as I got lost and started meandering.

Today I decided to reopen that project and work on it. My original vision was a novel-length work, with the possibility of it being the first in a trilogy. But, after much reconsideration, I thought that maybe I would rewrite some of what I had, and turn it into a novella. With this thought in mind, I proceeded to reacquaint myself with the story.

And that’s when I realized that the writing sucked. It’s bereft of colorful descriptions, and filled with mundane terms like “asked” and “said.” In order to make it entertaining, I would need to go through and do a major rewrite that would almost match the amount of work required if I just scrapped it and started over.

In short, the project is dead. And I’ll probably just let it stay that way. For a while. Maybe someday I might pull a Dr. Frankenstein and steal the better scenes for a future project. But, as a whole, the story will just be a file on my computer, and not much more.

Has anyone else had this happen?

Let’s talk…

2011-04-08T09:47:00.004-05:00

I readily admit to being rather naïve and somewhat clueless as to the details of the publishing industry. I have exactly one publishing credit (an article in Dragon Magazine #243, January 1998), and nothing else. But I talk a lot to published authors, and one thing I have noticed is that a lot of them often speak cryptically about their latest project. Unable to divulge details due to legal constraints (I assume).

As anyone who has been following this blog, or my Facebook, knows, I have been invited to write a short story for an anthology. Yes, a real, physically printed, anthology. But, because of my perceptions based on the above, I have yet to divulge details to any but a few close friends, and people who could be involved.

Well, word has it I have been secretive for nothing. I can speak openly about it all I want (I feel kinda dumb now). So, to that end, let us discuss the theme of this anthology …ORCS!

Wow. Quelle surprise. Right?

Yes, the anthology is the brainchild of my mentor and good friend, Scott Oden. He and I share a deep passion for these brutes, and it is his purpose to gather talented writers to produce a definitive collection of short fiction about Orcs. To that end, he has gathered quite an impressive roster of writers. I don’t think the list is complete or finalized yet, so I won’t mention any names at this point. But, suffice it to say, there are writers from all over the fantasy spectrum involved. From long published names, to newer authors who are starting to gain some real notoriety. And in the middle of all of that, there’s me. I am both honored and humbled to be counted among them. And I know I will be brought to tears to see my name in the table of contents next to some of these giants.

This has motivated me to write the best story I can. And I really like it so far. Interestingly, the publication date is tentatively sometime in the Spring of 2012, so there is plenty of time to get the story done. The word length is 5-10,000 words. I’m already at about 4,300, with my story almost 2/3 done.

One thing that has come up in the Facebook group discussions is that most of the writers are looking to put a new spin on Orcs. This was a suggestion by Scott, and many people are running with it. In fact, the idea was so infectious, I put my original idea on the back-burner in favor of a new idea. Oddly, this new idea was sparked by a single, tongue-in-cheek comment made in jest. Scott had laid down the rules, and told us, in no uncertain terms, what he didn’t want. Well, the internet being a breeding ground for desktop comedians, some of us had to chime in with snarky comments. One of those was something akin to “What? No Orc space pirates fighting psychic vampires?”

Orc space pirates…brilliant!

The idea took hold of me and I couldn’t let it go. So, I changed my course, and set sail for the ether.

As you may recall, Disney’s Treasure Planet is one of my favorite animated films. And having recently read Stevenson’s Treasure Island, the whole concept of galleons in space was something I would love to explore. And now here was the perfect opportunity. My story is a nod to Stevenson, as well as a nod to the now defunct SpellJammer setting for D&D.

So, there you have it. My “secret” project is not so secret. Stay tuned here and on Facebook for more details as they come. This is Scott’s first foray into editing, so I know he feels overwhelmed at times (not to mention everything else he has going on). So, being the guy I am, I’m going to try to help with any aspect of this that I can.

In the meantime, here is an opening snippet of my (as yet untitled) story…

I was but twelve years old, traveling with an estranged uncle in the wake of my parents’ deaths, when the Orcs swooped out of the ether to bring doom upon our ship. Like some leviathan from an ancient mariner’s tale, their vessel was a mass of spikes and solar sails, her rigging crawling with Orcs like flies on a corpse, each as eager as the next for blood and plunder. Their appearance sent the crew of the HMS Mandrake into a panic. For my part, having been caught exploring the deck of the ship, I was mesmerized in horrid fascination, and could scarcely move. I had read of Orc marauders plying the space lanes, waylaying unsuspecting vessels, and leaving few, if any, survivors. These tales had given the Orcs a bogey-man’s gloss in my imagination; never did I expect to meet one – much less a whole crew of the freebooters.

And yet, such a certain death was staring me in the eye.

I remember well the guttural voices above all. I had met many a man through my father, a scholar and a teacher, and none had had a voice as baritone and menacing as that of an Orc. So, to hear a myriad of them, bellowing and howling like a pack of beasts anticipating a kill, even as their grappling hooks crunched into our deck, was an assault on my senses I was not prepared for. As their ship came closer, and I got my first (and what I assumed would be my last) up-close look at Orcs, I was struck by how human they appeared, despite their gray skin and bestial facial features. Dressed more or less as one would expect such spacefarers to be, many were shirtless, their bodies decorated with ritual scarring and tattoos. In their brawny hands and toothy maws they bore barbaric forms of cutlasses and daggers. A few shouldered plasma muskets, and took shots at some of the similarly armed crewmembers of the Mandrake.

Reporting in!

2011-04-07T09:13:00.004-05:00

Like many people who undertake the goal of improving physical fitness, I slacked off during the winter. This was mainly due to adjusting to getting a job at the end of September, and having my schedule make hitting the gym as often as before next to impossible. It’s also due to the depression of winter weather. As I’ve stated before, I love Wisconsin, but I did NOT move here for the weather. A foot of snow on the ground and bone-aching cold make me want to just sit and hibernate. But, my biggest obstacle was that I just burned myself out on the gym. I looked for other physical outlets, but again Time reared its head and struck down any ideas (with a little help from his sidekick, Finances).

Well, this week my beautiful wife got us started on P90X. After three days of intense workouts each evening, combined with sensible eating and taking a pile of vitamins and supplements, I can already feel the difference. Yesterday, my energy was at a very low-point. I was tired and drained. But today, after some quality sleep, I feel much better. Still a little sore in places, but it’s easily manageable.

On the writing front, I am still chugging away at the story for the Anthology. It’s coming along nicely, and I’m enjoying it a lot. Also enjoying the light-hearted stories of Thomas Magni. After a false start that was much more “literate”, I think I have found a good format for that. Now, to work on some artwork for him. I did a sketch yesterday that I really like. I’ll see if I can get it up soon. Then there’s the Everlasting WIP, Life of Rage, my Orc RPG written in first person. I was considering starting an Orc-themed blog site, since much of my writing and imaginary life revolves around them. We’ll have to see about that. I don’t want to bite off more than I can chew…

On the work front, things are getting better. I got my letter last week informing that I am now a “Permanent” employee. Which means that firing me is much more difficult and drawn out than during my 6-month probation. And that stays, even if my douche bag Governor gets his way, and my union is emasculated. I also got a new computer for my cubicle. It’s a laptop with a docking station. And I have another docking station at the other office I work at part-time. So, I can use the same computer from two locations now. I love new tech stuff!

Other than that, not much to report or complain about. Sydney is improving her attitude at an amazing rate. She’s less sensitive and more able to cope with small pains (like the kind you get when you rough-play with Daddy). Connor is full-on into the Terrible Two’s. Some days he’s the coolest, sweetest kid; other days he’s like Jack-Jack’s demon form. Faith is having a rough time in Guam. She hates it there, has no real friends, and misses Wisconsin. I try to keep her spirits up, but she makes it difficult sometimes, with her teenager drama. Still, she’s a great kid, and I am very proud of her. We’re all looking forward to seeing her this Summer.

And of course, my wife is amazing. She’s the most caring, beautiful and loving woman I have ever known. I am blessed everyday to have her in my life.

Thomas Magni, Galactic Man of Adventure!

2011-04-04T10:21:00.005-05:00

Ok, so my pulp-ish serial of Thomas Magni is now live for your viewing pleasure at Thomas Magni.

I waffled back and forth on the format and voice of this little side endeavor. I'm not 100% sure how long it will last. I'm also not sure I like how it looks. The graphic at the top is kind of a placeholder until I can sit down at PhotoShop and do something better. The font and color are iffy, as is the background. So, basically what I am saying is that everything is probably only temporary. I'll try to settle on something that I like before I post the next installment.

Anyways, take a look, and let me know what you think!

(And, yes, some of you may recognize the story...)

Thanks Scott...

2011-04-01T12:55:00.000-05:00

So, what do you think of this new layout?