Ducks

Glorantha & Ducks

Sorry for the long delay in posting, been working on ducks. Now now, before you run off in boredom, these aren't your average ducks. They're role-playing ducks! Still bored? Okay, well then I would suggest you just run along because it's going to get pretty duck-heavy in these here parts.

So I do editing for a bunch of fine folks, mostly games, but not all. Drew and Neil are two gentlemen behind numerous game supplements for use in the Glorantha setting from Chaosium. The most recent release is Book 4, Volume 1 in their Duckpac series. 

I contributed so much to this manuscript they decided to list me as one of the authors! How cool is that? But they really do deserve all the credit. I just polish their genius so it shines like a diamond. If diamonds shined. Which they don't. But that's neither here nor there. Sorry, the science teacher in me came out for a second. But if you've read this far and are still interested, go grab a copy, either pdf or the good ole-fashioned paper stuff. 

Link: Duckpac Book 4, Volume 1

More about what it contains in the next post!

Maybe one more thing. I am trying to step up my online game and thus have created a simple logo for this blog. And here it is!

And even a little moving one!

Inspirations & Motivations

A writer friend of mine recently asked two questions: 

1. Where do you get your inspiration and your motivation from?

2. What do you do with bits of inspired writing not long enough for a story? 

Inspiration and motivation can be found all around us. Movies for instance. 

Dr. Zhivago

Dr. Zhivago, a story of Russia in the days of the Revolution, wrapped around a love story. But it starts off so dark. In the opening scene of Dr. Zhivago, one of the characters says, "There were children in those days who lived off human flesh, did you know that?" 

Who would write a love story that starts off like that? A guy named Boris Pasternak, who was awarded the Nobel Prize but couldn't go get it. His life was something else, worthy of its own read. For example, the Russian government threw his girlfriend in the gulag for three years because they didn't like what he was doing.

Writer Stuff:

Inspiration and motivation can even come from simple knowledge. Like the following: 

MacGuffin: (n) An object or device in a movie or a book that serves merely as a trigger for the plot. I recently watched another classic: The Maltese Falcon. The statue at the heart of the plot is a perfect example of a MacGuffin. The whole movie revolves around this statue. Definitely inspirational. The Lord of the Rings anyone? Another series set around a MacGuffin. You can do it too!

Obvious State: A website with some excellent literary quotes and fantastic accompanying pictures. One of my favorite, which I was unaware of, was this gem: [Exit, pursued by a bear]. That's a stage direction from William Shakespeare's A Winter's Tale. I won't get any money if you follow the link, I just think it's a good site for motivation. Writers should want their writing to be good enough to be turned into a work of 'art art' to mirror the work of 'word art' it truly is.

French Opera

I absolutely enjoy having friends from all corners of the globe. It exposes me to so many things I would never come across. Like this: a small snippet of song, from one of my writer friends overseas (Howdy AJ Jon!). I reviewed a piece of work by him and some others and they inserted the following lyrics at the beginning of their story, which was about a girl who loved the opera. 

passons nos jours dans ces vergers, 

loin des amours et des bergers,

passons nos jours, 

passons nos jours, 

loin des amours et des bergers

[translated from the French]

Let's spend our days in these orchards, 

far from loves and shepherds, 

let's spend our days, 

let's spend our days, 

far from loves and shepherds

So simple, so powerful. Though I am a little confused on why the shepherds need to be distanced from, lol. The lyrics are from Pomone, considered to be the first truly French opera. Composed by Robert Cambert, Pomone premiered in 1671 during the reign of Louis XIV. You can get some more information and hear the song here. I guess the lesson here is to cultivate friends from far afield, and with different interests than yours, besides writing of course.

That'll do Pig. That'll do.

And lastly, one of the most powerful motivators comes a job well done. The following is a missive from one of my recent editing jobs (slightly edited for anonymity): 

"I started reading the first six chapters. I cannot believe how you have transformed my book. It is so much better! It just tells me how much I have to learn. I will finish reading it this week.

I would just like to say thank you so much. If the rest [of the book edits] are as good as the first six chapters, I am going to be a very happy man. 

I really can’t thank you enough. Let me know when you want the final payment and I shall send it to you. I look forward to working with you on my future books.

A very grateful [Author]

I am grateful to be able to work with such wonderful authors. He is a huge motivation for me to do my best! 

Now go forth and write!

The Year of Bad and Lorelei

31DEC2020 - 01 JAN 2021

It's typical to do an end of the year post, right? Well, I haven't posted in a little while, so not only is this a 2020 wrap-up, but it also contains a few other subjects that have been waiting for me to publish. It's a good thing I haven't posted in a bit, means I've been busier than usual.

The Year of Bad

This year...ugh. Started out pretty normal and then, the news started talking about a novel coronavirus. From China. I remember in March, listening to an African-American say, "I'm not worried about COVID, my Auntie told me Black people don't get COVID." 

Little did we know back then. 

I wasn't able to go to my normal work for several months, in fact all the way to summer. COVID meant more work as I adjusted to working from home, at least trying to. Learned a few new tricks, not bad for an old dog.

Summer was a time of worry instead of relaxation and renewal. What would Fall bring? And then when I was able to go back to work, I had to wear a mask all day. That was, is, a lot. It's not 'wear a gas mask for 8 hours' bad, which I've done before, but it is an extra distraction. Try talking through a mask for seven hours a day. 

We still have toilet paper in the garage, and Clorox wipes, just in case another shortage hits. Kobe is gone. Our Christmas Tree ornament this year is a "dumpster fire" ornament. How appropriate.

In authoring news, I re-released a short story this year (The Legacy), an expansion of a previous release. One of my favorite stories actually, and one I hope to revisit again in the coming years to write a sequel or a prequel. I had so much fun expanding it that I might do the same for a few other stories. 

I have a few short story commitments to fulfill at the beginning of the year, one about dragons! Another one is about a time capsule, and a third one I can't say anything about yet, but it's right up my fantasy alley. I'm real happy to work with a publisher I've worked with before.

The short story compilation I am planning on releasing is still in the works, but my energies this year have been focused more on editing. I did several editing jobs for various clients this year, and am finishing out the year working on two more of them. All met with satisfaction and actually earned me more than my writing did this year. They were a lot of work. But of course editing is writing as well, as the editing jobs included all levels of editing, from straight proofing and copy editing all the way to developmental editing, structural editing and marketing material/blurb writing. I even did some decent graphical work. I really have to get back into that. I love graphics. 

A piece of graphic work that probably won't see the light of day anywhere else (from The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer): 

And yes, it's all spelled correctly, at least for the English of that time. It's about as legible to us today as textspeak would be to Chaucer. I can't imagine what English will look like in a hundred years' time.

So some good news and bad news. Good news, authoring/editing revenues are up. Bad news, not much of my own material released this year. I hope to release more next year! Come on 2021!

A bright spot of news in the Year of Bad! Wolfsinger Publications is ramping up publishing again! The owner, editor, publisher, wearer of all hats, Carol Hightshoe, is amazing and wonderful. She has some calls for anthologies out, and is releasing several books this year!

Another indie press outlet, one I haven't worked with yet, is Black Hare Press. They have several interesting anthologies out, but some of them are only available to authors they have published before. 

Piece of secret knowledge for today: Dryads become air elementals after the death of their tree...They fly away fly away fly away free. Anyone who tells you otherwise is One of the Unknowing...

Picture for today: A scene from the ancient tale of Tristan and Isolde. Various spellings, languages and details aside, it is a tragic tale of love and betrayal. One of my favorite adaptations is actually a science fiction version of Camelot in the future that incorporates the doomed pair (Camelot 3000)! Here the two title characters are getting ready to drink a love potion together. For those interested, this picture is free to use, according to the Wikimedia commons. 

No resolutions for the coming year. Bring it on!

Love to all, hope your New Year is in all ways better than the old year! Salud!

 

Writing Update

08DEC2019

I finally was able to work on a story this weekend. Not a lot done, but progress was made toward the finish line. I haven't written anything for a while now, not counting words about my grandparents. So here's a little writing sample from this weekend.
Characters/Setting: Dave is a Los Angeles police officer, and Carol is a CSI (Crime Scene Investigator). They are returning to an apartment where an unusual murder took place...

*****

They pulled into a spot next to her car. A homeless lady pushed a cart full of belongings into the nearby alley.

Dave, concerned, questioned Carol. “You sure you’re okay to drive?”

“Yeah,” she replied. Yellow police tape decorated the doorframe of the apartment upstairs. “You mind going upstairs to the crime scene? I told my boss I would retake a few photos.”

“Sure. Let’s do this.”

They climbed up the stairs. Dave held the tape as Carol ducked under.

A couple flicks of the light switch did nothing. “You’re going to have to come back tomorrow.” Dave left the door open and pulled out his mag light.

“Over here,” she said. “I just want to take another look at it while we’re here.” She stood near the end of the hallway and waited for Dave to join her. She could feel the symbol glaring at her from the bedroom door.

He pointed the beam over her shoulder. The hash marks and symbol were still there.

She was too nervous to glance down at her hand. “Your ring, Dave. Hold it up.”

“My ring? I don’t wear a ring.”

Carol’s heart thumped in her chest. She tried to sound disinterested, “I thought you were married?”

“I was. Look, can we do the twenty questions later?”

She could hear something raw in his voice.

The flashlight beam danced around. “I don’t wear a ring, so let’s keep it moving. Is this about your ring glowing?”

“Yeah,” she answered, but she was really thinking about the world of possibilities that just opened up between her and Dave. She turned to him and smiled in the darkness. “My grandmother’s ring.” She brought her hand up and reached for the symbol. Her ring glowed, just as before. “See!”

*************

Hopefully this snippet interests you. I'm still finishing up the last few pages of the rewrite. No ETA on the finished product yet. 

Picture for today: In honor of the holiday season. Not my place, but one from a nearby neighborhood. 

  

Helping Other Authors

21 OCT 2018

Happy Sunday all! I haven't written much of my own stories lately. Been helping out fellow authors with their tales. While I am not a professional editor, nor will I ever be one, I do know enough to be a second set of ears and eyes for others. Heck, I taught the English for many years, lol. And I even speaka da English too! 

I'm currently working with a few other authors on editing their works. I know I really appreciate it when others do that for me, so yeah, I don't mind helping others out occasionally. 

I have recently done some non-fiction work too, writing a couple of reviews (comic book and a vlog post) for the TSR's website Multiverse. I used to love love love TSR's products when I was a kid, so a little bit of thrill to be creating some small pieces for them. If you don't know what TSR does, head on over there and find out! 

Pictures for today, in honor of Halloween coming up: 

It's a Trap - Evolution of a Story

22APR18

Spent a few hours this weekend editing a story. Rewrote the beginning with more specifics, eventually adding another three hundred words or so, bringing the total word count up to 10, 300. 

I do a weird thing when I edit. I always start at the beginning of the story and work my way through to the end, editing as I go. This lets me get immersed in the story, feel my way through. While this makes for stronger openings, it also makes for weaker endings, and right now I can see that in this story. I'll be working on it for a few more weeks before I release the story for sale. I'm thinking that it will be around 20,000 words by the time I'm done. I still love the midpoint action in this story! Every time I read it I am inspired anew to keep writing the stuff I like to read. Here's a snippet [not my favorite part in the story, but pretty close to it. Spoiler alert, someone dies, almost, well, maybe. Let's just say he gets better later. Mostly.]:

**********************

Murg and Black Char fell back, aghast. Between them, Jagged Edge tried to scream, to get away, but he was stuck straight through from his shoulder to the seat of his pants. Blood turned pink as the light from the crystal sword shone through the spurts from his neck. 

Black Char kicked, trying to get away from the killer blade and Jagged Edge's flailing arms and legs. Murg sat back on his rump and watched from inches away as Jagged Edge twitched out his last seconds of life, impaled by the crystal sword they had come to find.

**********************

When you go looking for power, be careful. You may find it!

So now I need to keep editing, working toward getting to the end without any more rewrites. I wrote in a mid-section piece which adds some more details to the story and gives it a good building feel to the action later. Right now the ending seems a little loose and unfocused. I'm going to tighten it up some, give a bigger role to one of the female secondary characters and make the ending more satisfying. She's due to have a story of her own in the future anyways.

Picture for today: The female secondary character in my story worships the Sun. She is of the People of the Sun. 

Of course, People of the Sun reminds me of something else as well...

People of the Sun


May your days be good and long upon this Earth.