Writing Priorities

This week will be one filled with priority writing.  First off, I have a little over a week to write an 8-10 page paper on the Battle of Artemisium (which is, by no coincidence, the subject of Scott Oden's next novel, Serpent of Hellas).  I have a basic outline, and a plan for completing it.  So, it will just be a matter of doing the work.

After finally seeing John Carter this weekend, I am inspired to finish my Sword & Planet WIP, so that will probably get the bulk of my fiction attention for a while.  It'll probably be novella-length.  I could cut it shorter, but why?  There is so much story to tell, and I really like the slightly alternate take on the classic S&P setup.

I won't go into too much detail detail about my views on John Carter, except to say that, if you didn't catch it in the first-run theater, you should try to catch it in a second-run, which is where I saw it.  It is AMAZING.  I saw it in 2D (which is fine, since 3D gives me a headache sometimes) and I was astounded.  Imagine the special effects from The Phantom Menace, cleaned up a little, and applied to a real story, with a real plot and GREAT acting.  My favorite part: the Tharks.  They are exactly how I pictured them when I read the books.

On a related side-note, my rants in previous days about the crappy marketing of John Carter inspired my sister-in-law to seek out A Princess of Mars for her Kindle, just to see what the hullabaloo was all about.  She is now addicted, and has officially read more of the series than I have.  She's also downloaded a ton of other ERB books.  It's nice to know I had a hand in spreading the Cult of ERB.

A writer friend of mine, Chris Blanchard, recently blogged about his experiences with dedicating himself to an achievable writing goal.  He has written at least 500 words a day for a few months now, and it has netted him some fine results.  I think I will take his challenge, and set myself the same goal.  Mind you, that's 500 words of fiction.  Facebook and blogging won't count.  And neither will schoolwork.  But I think I can handle that.

Life in general

Good morning, folks! *sips coffee*

It's been a while, so I figured I would chat up a little bit here about what's going on.  First off, I just had a nice vacation.  My beautiful wife, Michele, and I drove down from Wisconsin to visit Scott Oden and his lovely wife, Shannon, in Alabama.  We left last Wednesday and came back this past Monday.  The drive down was a bit rough (hitting Nashville at rush hour SUCKED!), but the stay was fun.  We just sort of hung out, and I got to know a friend I have had for a few years, but only ever knew online.  There will most likely be future trips, one way or the other.

One of the coolest things was chatting about history, and writing about history with Scott.  The conversations were fun and exciting, and got me pretty fired up about it all.  So much so, that I am focusing on writing my historical novel again.  The one about Agesilaus, the "Lame King of Sparta."  But now I am approaching it more methodically.  I've written the opening scenes, and I like them.  But, before I get too far, I am going to work up a good synopsis, and take copious notes.  I am looking at it kind of as if it were a research project.  So, I think I may actually make some good progress in short order.

We were supposed to go see John Carter (Warlord of Mars, dammit!) this past weekend, but we just weren't able to.  I really want to see that film.  And I am so angry at Disney for dropping the ball on it.  All of the news outlets are reporting that it's a bomb, and it's not even been out three weeks yet!  There are conspiracy theories abound about this film's apparent failure, but I have to say, it almost seems intentional.  Especially when you consider the number of positive reviews that came out, you know, AFTER people saw it.

All that aside, I'd like to close with a bit of a plea for some friends.  Scott Oden is going through some rough times right now.  I'm not going into details, because it's not my place.  Suffice it to say he could use some prayers and good vibes right now.

Also, some of you may know Charles Gramlich (if you don't, you NEED to hit Amazon and get some of his writing, he's pretty dang brilliant).  His wife, Lana, was recently diagnosed with cancer, and they are in the process of getting that treated.  He posted a blog about it yesterday.  Prayers and good wishes need to be sent to them as well.

Sometimes, I want to scream because I just can't do much to help my friends.  But, what I can do is keep them in my thoughts and prayers, and hope for the best for them.  So, that's what I do.

Talk to you later!