Still rockin!

I am a huge fan of 80’s music. That’s pretty common knowledge. But, it’s more than just liking the songs, or even a sense of nostalgia. It’s also about the artists of the time. And today I will point out the longevity of some of those favorites.

Within the last 10 years, three of my favorite 80’s acts have come out with all-new material that is just as good as their old stuff, if not even a bit better.

Bon Jovi – Have a Nice Day (2005)

This is arguably one of my favorite albums (are they still called albums? Or even CD’s?). Bon Jovi has come out with two new albums after this one, but Have a Nice Day is just so awesome. The sound is unmistakably Bon Jovi, but with some new kicks and great riffs. I actually got to see them in concert a few years later, and they sound awesome. Still one of my top-five bands of all time.


Billy Idol – Devil’s Playground (2005)

Nobody quite matches Billy Idol as an icon in rock music. Over the years, he hasn’t been afraid to try new things, musically. His album Cyberpunk was done completely with electronic music, and it’s very slick. But Devil’s Playground saw him return a bit to his signature sound, with a few twists. Also, he added some whimsy that just makes me giddy when I listen to songs like “Plastic Jesus” and “Yellin’ at the Christmas Tree.”



Rick Springfield – Songs For the End of the World (2012)
Although Rick never really left, he fell off the radar in the late 80’s. But that didn’t slow him down, as he continued to work on TV, in the studio, and most especially on tour almost constantly. Last fall he released his newest album, Songs For the End of the World, and it is amazing. Like Billy Idol and Bon Jovi, there is some signature Rick Springfield in there. But there is also some really great new sounds and some excellent vocals. He rocks out, and you can tell that he still just enjoys being a rock star.

These guys are all in their 50’s and 60’s, and yet they still rock on. All three of these are on my favorite playlist, and I listen to a lot of this music daily.

Whimsical Reading

Does anyone else have this problem? When I get a chance to just sit down and read a book, I often struggle to settle on a title, because my eclectic tastes in literature cause me a great amount of turmoil sometimes. Subsequently, I find that I can only really concentrate on a book, and stick it out to the end, if I am “in the mood” for it.

Due to this, I often start a book, and for whatever reason, have to set it aside for a good while. Then, when I come back to it, I find that, despite the fact that it’s well-written and in a genre I enjoy, if I am not feeling that particular mindset, I can’t dig in. Consequently, I always seem to have at least three books at any given time just sitting on the shelf with bookmarks in them.

I think I am going to resolve to complete those before I start in on a new one. I am currently reading Gauntlegrym by RA Salvatore. But, I really only read it at work, during breaks and such. So, I think that will stay here. At home, I am going to start working on the ones that I really want to finish. I think first up will be The Lion of Cairo by Scott Oden. I’m about half way through it, so I should be able to dig in. His writing and characters are very memorable, so I doubt I will have any trouble settling in if I put my mind to it.

That’s my one saving grace; I seem to have a knack for picking up a book that I started but put down months ago, and getting right back into it without having to move backwards to “refresh.” I just did that with a Mack Bolan book. I had gotten about ¾ of the way through it a couple of months back, but had to set it aside due to many factors. But, when I picked it back up the other day, I got right back in and finished it up within a couple of days.

On the writing front, the next Orc story is progressing nicely. I posted a tease about it on Facebook yesterday, and got some interesting responses. I think this one will surprise some people, even though the plot will probably be predictable and maybe just a pinch cliché. But, it’s more about the characters for me.

Moving forward

Tomorrow we will be signing the lease on our new apartment. We were supposed to do it yesterday, but there was a breakdown in communications between the people working at the new complex. We have not actually gotten to see the apartment we will be moving into (just a similar unit with a reversed floor plan). And the complex has a policy that new tenants can't sign a lease until they have physically viewed the actual unit. So, we set up an appointment to go see it tomorrow, and then sign the lease. We will be moving in on the 31st.

For the next two and a half weeks we will be furiously sorting, packing, and trashing our current domicile. The goal is to minimize clutter in the new place by throwing out what we don't need (which will NOT include any of my books), put some things into our storage unit (which will probably include some more of my books than is already out there), and only moving what is necessary at this time. I am dreading the actual move itself, but I am excited about being moved. We’ve lived in this apartment for three and a half years, and it has been steadily shrinking. It’ll be nice to stretch out.

In the mean time, life moves forward. Still working on school. My current class is a huge disappointment. It’s History and Popular Culture. That sounds like it would be fun, right? Talking about pop culture today, and maybe comparing it to what qualified as pop culture in past eras (and even other cultures). But no, the focus is exploring “Popular Culture” through the lens of a modern city. So far we have talked about Streets (actual, physical streets), Hospitals, and Hotels…zZZz…

Trying to keep myself mentally active is tough these days. With all of the stress of the impending move, the failed attempt to buy a house, my daughter’s graduation and subsequent relocation to our house, and the normal day-to-day stuff, I have been somewhat creatively dry. This week I had plenty of time to write. My boss is out, and I found that I had a ton of free time on my hands. But, that blank Word Doc just keeps mocking me.

I have done a bit of game-related writing, including a good spat of writing that ended with a low-level adventure. We’re also playing some D&D Next. But I’ll leave that to my other blog, and spare my non-gamer friends.

Last night I did have a sudden inspiration, though. I have been rolling around some ideas for my orc stories, continuing the adventures of Gortek, Pekra, and the Reavers. Right now I have a short story in process focusing on Pekra and Bofdek (the dwarf from The Orc Way). But, I am determined to move past short stories, and start writing longer works. And last night I got an idea for a novel (or maybe a novella, we’ll see) about these characters. It involves invaders and a war.

I’m hammering out some interesting ideas for this. One of them is a character who is a dwarf/human hybrid. This has been done before in fantasy fiction, and it’s interesting to see the various points of view on this idea (mainly from D&D gamers, who are very familiar with interspecies breeding in fantasy settings). I’ll just have to come up with some kind of unique twist on the idea.

Gaming Fiction

I have a question for the fantasy readers out there: How do you view gaming fiction? What I mean is, where on the heirarchy of literature do novels based on role-playing games (like D&D) fall? This question comes to mind for a couple of reasons. First of all, a few weeks ago I was on Goodreads looking at some of my favorite books, giving them ratings, and a few reviews. And while reading some of the reviews for the Dragonlance Chronicles, I was disheartened to see so many disparraging comments regarding this trilogy, and gaming fiction in general.

Most of the commentary seemed to be pretty dismissive (even if backhanded), and the books are viewed as nothing more than geeks talking about their roleplaying sessions and their favorite characters. As anyone who has actually read these books should know, this couldn't be further from the truth. Yes, there are certain conventions that refer back to the game rules. But really, how is that different than any other fantasy (or genre) fiction? When an author writes a genre story, he sets out specific rules and parameters for how things like magic and religion work within the world of his writing. Just because, in the case of gaming fiction, those rules are actually written in detail, and in the context of a game, doesn't change the fact that they are still rules, and that the characters are still characters.

That being said, I will concede that some gaming fiction seems to step over the line, and come across as a description of a gaming session. However, the higher quality works do not do this. They are fully realized works of fiction that stand alone, and I would wager that the better stuff is on par with more "literary" genre fiction.

The other reason this comes up is that I am starting work on an epic fantasy trilogy. The premise and many of the ideas are closely related to my gaming experience. Now, my trilogy is going to be set in an original world, and will have no actual connection to D&D per se. However, I can foresee some people looking at it and making the connection anyways. And therefore, it could be just dismissed as "gaming fiction" and forgotten by non-gamers. I'd like to avoid that, if possible (assuming I can motivate my lazy ass into writing the damn thing).

I'm not really sure what I'm asking as far as my own writing is concerned. But, I thought it might be good to get some others' perspectives on game-related fiction as a whole to begin with.

Gaming and Stuff

So, I posted this over at my gaming blog, Wishful Gaming, but thought I would re-blog it here too.  Cuz I'm excited!

...

So, I get to really get my Geek on in November. I just registered for a 3-day, VIG (Very Important Gamer) pass for Gamehole Con here in Madison on November 1-3.

This will officially be my first gamer convention where I am strictly a patron. I went to Gen Con a few years back, but that was as a vendor, when I worked for ACD Distribution. This time I will be participating in games, sitting in for panels, and probably spending too much money on RPG-related crap that I don’t need (I need to start squirreling money away for this).

I’m kind of excited because, as a VIG pass-holder, I get access to early registration for special events. There is a good chance that I could play in a game run by either Ernie Gygax or Frank Mentzer (or, heaven forbid, BOTH!). Truth be told, this actually makes me nervous. I have this fear of being looked down on by other gamers because I “do it wrong.”

I never said I was a rational person.

Regardless, I am also looking forward to just taking it all in. I’m hoping this thing has a pretty big turnout, and that there will be lots to do. My wife is only going to go on Saturday, so two of my days there I will be on my own. I have a friend who is supposed to be getting the 3-day pass as well, so I will probably hang with him most of the time.

It has taken me many years, but I think I have finally accepted the fact that I am just a big ol’ geek. My exes tended to try to nudge me away from my hobbies, and none of them were ever interested in sharing in my adventures (well, there was one who played AD&D with me…but I’m sure it was just so she could keep tabs on me). My current wife, however, is a gamer. And though our tastes in games are sometimes a bit different (she is a huge Vampire fan), she totally gets my love for the hobby.

So, if you are coming to Madison, look for me. On one of the days, I will be the guy in the black Barbarian t-shirt from my Zazzle store. Not sure what I will wear the other two days, though…

...

In other news, I got confirmation from the editor at Weird tales that my stories are slated to be published in the near future.  The issue after the next one is a S&S issue, and he would like to publish both stories there.  I offered to edit the stories together, so I may do that, if he likes.  This is awesome news, as I had not heard anything in many months, and was about to start shopping the stories around.

There are some new developments on our housing situation, but I will wait until things are finalized to chit-chat about that.

All in all, life is pretty good.

Silver linings

Well, we made it official.  The house-buying is a no-go.  We contacted the crappy-assed broker who screwed us over with his incompetence, and asked for a letter of denial from the lending institution, so we could get our earnest money back.  But, we're still having to move next month.

Turns out that, soon after we put in our notice to vacate on the word of the shitty broker who said he was sure we would be approved, the apartment complex rented out our place.  The good news is, they have another one with the same floorplan in a different building opening up at the end of August.  The bad news is, we have to be out of our current one by the end of the July.  But the good news is they have a smaller 3 bedroom that they will let us rent for a month in the meantime.

Good lord, I need a drink.

Bottom line is, we have about 15 more months of renting.  In that time we will be focused on organizing and decluttering, both physically and metaphorically.  We will work on growing my wife's business so that, when we are able to count her income, it will be significant.  And we will continue to improve our credit scores.  All in good time.  Sometimes it's hard to watch people who seem like they don't deserve good fortune enjoy an abundance of it, while we suffer for stupid reasons.  Universe?  Yeah, I'd like to order a Break Special with a side of Good Fortune, please.

In other news, my recently graduated daughter has secured employment, and as of Monday, will be enrolled in cosmetology school.  She's pro-active and motivated, and impresses me with her drive and determination.  I'm glad she didn't get that part of my laziness.  We're also hoping that her forward momentum will inspire Isaac to follow suit.  It's time he started learning to be a man, IMHO.  But, I don't blame him for his hesitancy.  He went through some tough times, and this whole thing is forcing a lot of learning on him.

But, just so this post isn't only about me and my personal problems, let's talk writing.  With all of this stress lately, writing has been difficult at best.  However, today my head is a bit clearer, so I think I can start to refocus myself.  Yesterday I tinkered with an unfinished sci fi story I have.  Some of you may recall my attempt to do serial fiction about a character named Thomas Magni, Galactic Man of Action.  Well, I have his first story about 2/3 to 3/4 done.  I just need to figure out the particulars of the ending and then write it.  It's only a short piece, and probably won't break much beyond 5k, if that.  But, it's a fun story, with a lot tongue-in-cheek humor and action.  I'll probably try to shop this one around the markets more before I just give up and ePub it.

Yesterday, while perusing Facebook, I saw a comment regarding the late, great Richard Matheson, and the older days of Sci Fi/Fantasy literature, and it made me think.   The comment was about how stand-alone novels seem to be things of the past.  And it seems that every book written these days, regardless of genre, is geared towards a series or trilogy.  Related to that comment was someone else's opinion that they prefer shorter works, and are tired of the gigantic doorstoppers.  I was just glad I'm not the only person who feels that way.  So, I'm thinking this may be where I am going to steer some of my writing.  Individual novels of moderate length, that can stand on their own, without sequels.

We'll see how that goes.  First I need to knuckle down and just write a damn book.

Rollin’, rollin’, rollin’

Imagine this guy as an Orc
wearing a battered red beret.

Not much has happened that I haven’t bored my reader with before lately. We’re still awaiting a final loan approval on the house. This part makes me nervous. If, for some reason, we don’t get the loan, we have to come up with a Plan B. Which will be difficult. I’m sure the apartment complex we live in would let us withdraw our notice and stay here. But, then again…

It’s all made more nerve wracking because the guy doing our loan doesn’t inspire a lot of confidence. He just asked me a question regarding my income last week that was exactly what he asked me a few weeks ago. And it’s not even a difficult question, and one he, as a mortgage professional, should already know. We were told he can be a bit eccentric, so I hope that’s all this is.

Things are interesting at the Doolan house these days. With my daughter there full-time, I get to see how she and her boyfriend interact on a more regular basis (you may or may not recall we rescued him last November from a very bad situation). For the most part, they have been very well-behaved. Expect that they tend to talk to each other like they are 12, and he can really be a smarmy ass sometimes. I sometimes have to bite my tongue, so they can work out their own relationship. But, it’s starting to affect the younger ones, so I feel that we are going to have to have a sit down with them.

Anyways, enough of that stuff. Last week I finally got around to watching Predators with Adrian Brody. It’s a sequel of sorts to the 1987 Arnold classic, and was really well-done. I thought this one was actually better than Predator 2 with Danny Glover, and I liked that one. But this brought to light that my daughter hasn’t seen some of the great sci-fi action movies that I love, like Predator and Aliens. So, we watched Aliens last night. I think she liked it, but it was so late when we were done last night I forgot to ask what she thought. She did get creeped out at the right spots, so that’s a good point.

Interestingly, when I was watching it, I realized something. One of my recent projects is a military sci-fi story featuring Orcs and other fantasy races in space. I’m building my own universe, but it’s highly influenced by Fantasy Flight’s Dragonstar RPG.  This story is based on a squad of Orc mercenaries. So, when I watched Aliens again, it struck me that I seemed to be basing my main character, Sgt. Gorm, on the character of Apone. And I’m cool with that, though it wasn’t a conscious effort. I worked on that story last week, and may work some more on it today, and this week.

Another note on this project, I recycled a snippet that I had written about an Orc sniper a while back. I might have posted that here, but I can’t recall. Either way, with a bit of trimming and tweaking, it fit perfectly into the story I was writing, and will serve as an excellent opening scene.

Yay for recycled writing!