Goal Post: One Month Nearly Down for 2021

Posted on January 30, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

This week was midterms, so I was busy.  That pretty much covers work unless we count that I did some outlining of ‘Ruins of the Zodiac Gods’ when I didn’t have any students in my proctoring room.  Not as much as I expected because I wanted to do work stuff and I was tired.  So cold in the morning that I got drained fairly quickly during the drive in.  I didn’t bother with lunch either because I wasn’t hungry.  Just water and then I ate when I got home.  Somehow, I didn’t lose any weight on that one.  Okay, I’m rambling, so I’ll  move on.

I’m actually writing this Thursday night because I’m doing a birthday party with coworkers Friday night.  Nothing big and we’re taking precautions.  It’s a nice outing since I haven’t done much lately.  Good to socialize at times when I can.  With the pandemic, my social life has been reduced to a sliver of activity.  I didn’t have much to begin with, but everything is a mess now.  I’m bracing myself for the entire year to be like this because I doubt things are going to change any time soon.  Of course, this causes my anxiety to rise, which stops me from doing any more writing.  At least for the day since things always start again in the morning.  How is the writing going?

I fell a little short of my goal of 14 sections for Do I Need to Use a Dragon?  That would have brought me to 10 sections left.  Monday was too busy for me to do anything and Friday I went out, so that brought it down to 12.  I don’t know how well I’m going to do on Saturday, so I’ll be happy if I get it down to 13 left.  The ultimate goal is to get this project done by the end of winter break, which is mid-February.  That’s the latest since I could feasibly get it done earlier.  Depends on how custody is going to be worked out, the weather, and how I react to the second vaccine shot.  Fun!  I’m at 15 to go at the writing of this post, which seems so small comparted to the 72 sections I started with.  This is going to be big.  I still can’t figure out what to have as the final picture in the book.  I have ‘Legends’, ‘Nytefall’, and ‘Ichabod Brooks’.  Thinking of Fizzle doing puppy-dog eyes being on the cover since he’s a dragon.  Who could be the final one?

Been thumbing through the future book ideas and you should be seeing one get mentioned tomorrow.  I’m back to sorting things and trying to figure out what works and what needs to be cannibalized.  Less of that second category this time.  Settling into the idea that some stories will be short story collections instead of series has helped.  Much of this is toying around until I can get the time to begin outlining ‘Tales of the Slumberlord’.  I’ve been considering the title of that one, but I really do like it.  The volume titles are all ‘Darwin & the-‘ stuff, so they might be long.  Picturing his adventures, I think it makes sense because he does overexplain things.  Using his own logic, of course.  There are already a lot of decisions and thoughts turning up.  Darwin freaking out about things and thinking he can just march into the Channeler Queen’s castle to ask for training.  After all, he’s a caster and so is she, so why can’t she teach him?  I have to get used to a main character that has his own taste of logic.  Not totally off the wall like Lost, but rather straightforward and socially aloof.  Darwin is going to be so much fun.  Can’t wait for people to meet him.

That’s really it and next week is going to be mellow.  A new quarter starts for me and my son.  Winter break hits in 3 weeks too, so I don’t know how busy things will be.  I can already see several big projects on the way for him, which means schoolwork is going to be the focus.  That’s as it should be.  I don’t know what to watch from my lists either.  I finished all of ‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya’ and ‘The IT Crowd’.  First one is a quirky anime and the other is a British comedy.  I can’t figure out if I want an anime or an hour long show.  None of the popular things appeal to me either.  Keep hearing about the ‘Queen’s Gambit’ and ‘Bridgerton’, but I’m not interested.  Guess I tend to gravitate towards comedies and anything that isn’t that connected to reality.

Goals of the week:

  1. Fun with son
  2. Work hard at work
  3. Write when I can
  4. March blog posts again
  5. Figure out Sunday post ideas.  Future ideas?  Meme topics?
  6. Puzzle as usually.  Finally started making progress
  7. Sleep
  8. Curse the cold in the morning
  9. Ugh . . . Taxes
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

7 Tips to Having a Reunion Plot in Your Story

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

The Seven Deadly Sins

This storyline might be fairly niche, but it’s caught my attention.  In fact, I think it’s turned up more often than I realize.  ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ and ‘Red’ come to mind.  Both have a reunion plot where most of the characters already know each other.  They have a lengthy history and possibly some fame.  I’ve got a few tips for this, so let’s see what we have.

  1. The heroes don’t need a getting to know you stage.  This can take up a lot of time and patience, especially with a large group.  In a Reunion Story, they don’t have to be introduced to each other.  This connection can be used to introduce them at a faster pace to the audience too.  For example, I was able to show a lot more characters in War of Nytefall since they were already connected than in Legends of Windemere where they were meeting each other for the first time.
  2. With heroes already knowing each other, you will inevitably have some shared stories.  This can be interesting and make for amusing scenes, but there is a temptation to do it a lot.  Your mind can connect to stories that make your established heroes appear larger than life and you may try to top each one as you proceed.  This can overshadow the current story and make the audience wonder why they aren’t reading about the cooler adventures.  While every character can share parts of their past, you can’t have it take the spotlight.
  3. The heroes are established and aware of the world, so they won’t need a guide or mentor.  Of course, there will be some things they are in the dark about since they’re coming out of some form of retirement.  Maybe it’s a new city that appeared after they were traveling or a new creature that they never encountered.  These things will take center stage since the characters will not have to explore the areas that they already know or learn skills from the ground up.  You still have to introduce these things, but you don’t have to draw out an exploration.
  4. Power levels of heroes may be over the top at the beginning.  This is really hard to master with fantasy because magic is involved.  These heroes need to first appear as very powerful and intimidating since they are established.  If they’re legendary like the ‘Seven Deadly Sins’ then they’re downright frightening at first.  This can cause a problem with making the audience question if they will succeed.  It’s tempting to keep them at this level too, but then there isn’t much threat.  All solutions are tricky from making insanely powerful villains to revealing limits that didn’t seem to appear at the beginning.  So, you have to be careful here.
  5. You don’t have to introduce all of the characters at once.  Since you can skip the ‘who are you?’ part, you can have the first one that you show go about gathering the others.  It can be a casual encounter or real hunt to figure out where everyone has disappeared to.  This also doesn’t mean everyone will agree.  A character may not want to get back on the road, which creates conflict within the established group.  (I’ll get to this in a second.)  The point is that you can speed up the arrivals, which gives you more time for other things.
  6. No harm in having one of the old heroes be the villain.  The reunion doesn’t have to include all former members.  Some could be angry about a slight that reveals why the team disbanded.  They could be corrupted by an evil force.  The point is that they don’t always have to return as heroes and friends.
  7. This is probably the BIGGEST TIP!  I saved it for last in the hopes that people will reach it and it wouldn’t get mixed in with the others.  YOU NEED AN OUTSIDER CHARACTER!  Okay, maybe not all the time, but you do need a vessel for the audience who are meeting these heroes for the first time.  In ‘The Seven Deadly Sins’ this would be Elizabeth Liones who set out to gather the Sins and is being introduced to them for the first time.  Her meeting them and learning about them is what allows us to do the same.  Otherwise, the established heroes meet and any revelations of their past or abilities may come off as forced.  If there is one new face then they’re more inclined to explain themselves.  Yes, this is an introduction, but it is a very limited and low key one that won’t waste as much time as a big, nobody knows each other thing.  Consider how much easier it is to meet a new person that a friend is introducing you to when compared to a blind date.  See?  Much easier and more relaxing.
Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 19 Comments

How Latin Became Modern Italian

Posted on January 29, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

In my last post, I explored some ways in which a new language is born. This post examines one of the best-known historical examples (at least for …

How Latin Became Modern Italian
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Immortal Wars: Light, Blood, & Tears Part 3

Posted on January 28, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

(Disclaimer: A warning to those who continue.  This is a sequel to a previous story.  Both of these were written in the mid-1990’s.  While the first one was slightly edited and vanity press published, this one has not been touched in over 20 years.  I figure I should do something with it and people may get a laugh or fright from how I used to be.  Every author comes from somewhere, so this is part of my origin.  To that end, I am deeply sorry for whatever nightmares I will inflict on the literary world and the American English language.  Enjoy?)

PREVIOUS ENTRY CLICK HERE

The planet guardians’ sun base is a large, glass sphere in the very center of the blazing sun.  There are several rooms in this impressive structure and the inhabitants of the sun base only use half of them.  One of the used rooms is a large recreation and restaurant area.  At this moment, the four young guardians are using the enormous multi-sport arena in order to relax.  That is they are relaxing in their own competitive, immortal style.

“Heads up!” yells the black-haired Venus guardian.  Miracle savagely hits a square puck of gold, which ends up ricocheting off the ceiling and hits her right in her head.  The game is called Korlanian hockey, but instead of ice, it is played on churning, molten lava and the sticks are made out of flaming, white metal.  Only immortals and the creators of this sport are able to play it without getting burned.

“Beautiful shot.  Look at it this way, Kelly.  At least it didn’t hit anything that you use,” says Hydrana as she takes the puck off her dazed friend’s face.  Before she can take a nicely aimed shot, Fate skates in and knocks her under an incoming wave of lava.

“Better luck next time, water sprite.  This game is officially over,” announces the Mars guardian.  Suddenly, a thick blast of telekinetic energy knocks Fate through a window and out of the arena.  With Fate out of the game, Infinity gets the last goal and the lava disappears from the room.

“Are you okay, Ed?  I was trying to pin your arms down.  I must have slipped in all the excitement,” Infinity apologizes while leaving the arena. Fate had painfully landed upside down in a row of metal chairs.  One of the janitor robots is already sweeping the shards of glass off of Fate.

“I’m fine.  But it was supposed to be a game without birthright powers.  Just get the large shard of glass out of my forehead.  The wound is starting to heal around the glass.  Owww.  Thanks.”  A long-armed robot brings them four, large vials of a light blue drink that occasionally release tiny zaps of electricity.

“Yes.  Glebnokian energizers.  My favorite after practice drink.  You guys should really have this drink a lot more often.  Still recovering, dead man?” Hydrana casually asks Fate.  She takes a sip of the blue energizer and a feeling of raw energy shoots through her entire body.

“It’s been a month since I died, so I think I’ve had enough time to get over the experience.  Thanks for getting Kilanus to help.  Death is such an eerie feeling when you’re immortal.  But at least my destiny is no longer linked to Adriana.  After we killed each other, and Kilanus brought us back, Startrix privately explained her original vision to Adriana and me.  How long was it before you managed to get our bodies?  Couldn’t have been more than two or three days.”

“Eight days.  Five hours.  Twelve minutes.  Forty-nine seconds.  It would have been a lot less if the two of you hadn’t died by getting sucked into that comet.  The chances of that thing coming by Mercury at the same time you and Adriana got shot off the planet were rare.  Of course your luck always seems to act strangely.  I really missed you,” whispers Miracle as she tightly hugs Fate from behind.

“I know.  Who was in charge while I was gone?”

“Hydrana took over for you.  Draveon took over for Adriana.  In all honesty, Delila did pretty well for her first time in charge.  Of course she decided to go off on her own to retrieve your body because we were busy handling Kilanus.  She defeated half of the evil immortals by herself before we could get there to help.  You would have been really impressed with her,” explains Infinity.

“That reminds me, Fate.  Can I talk to you alone after dinner?” asks Hydrana in a friendly voice.

“Why?”

“It’s something important.  Just meet me here after dinner.”

“I will.  But I have to go talk to SEAS first.  There are some things that I want to take care of.  So, I’ll probably be busy for about an hour after dinner,” says Fate before he gets up and leaves the others without another word.

“I have only one thing to say.  He is getting so creepy,” mutters Miracle after a few minutes of silence.

“No kidding.  I’m unpleased to announce that we have a Solix in training.  Ever since the relic was killed, Ed has been acting very secluded.  He doesn’t even spend time with any of us unless we have a mission, a meeting, or some kind of training to take care of,” replies Hydrana after she finishes her drink.  Electricity jumps from her entire body and they leave small burn marks on the nearby wall.

“I personally think he needs a vacation.  A very long vacation.  Can I have a Neptunian steak with Haley fries?” says Infinity to a nearby robot that moves by using a propeller.

“You’re not actually going to eat that.  Are you?  The meat is dark green and the fries are razor sharp.  It tastes worse than that Tiberian bacon, which was beyond horrible.  Can you please talk some sense into him, Miracle?”

“We have a lot more important things to talk about than your boyfriend’s suicidal diet.  I don’t mean to sound selfish, but what can we do about my boyfriend?  I want the old, warm one back.”

“I have an idea,” mentions a robotic voice that comes from nowhere and everywhere at the same time.

“I hate it when you do that without warning.  How long have you been listening to us, SEAS?” asks Infinity as his disgusting food is delivered.  It is just as Hydrana described it and Infinity swallows one of the fries.  He has to wait until the wound it leaves in his throat heals before swallowing anything else.

“Ever since Hydrana froze Miracle to the ceiling during your second game.  But I have to go soon.  My idea is to somehow lessen Fate’s burdens.”

“Like he would ever let that happen.  He enjoys work more than anything.  He loves responsibility and work more than me at some times.  Ever since Solix left, Fate has never taken time to relax.  Unless you count that being dead for a few days,” the Venus guardian says.

“That may be the case.  But that problem is exactly what I plan to talk to him about.  He needs someone to become his second-in-command.  If Solix had one, he might have lived a longer and happier life.  A second-in-command is just what Fate needs to help him with this group,” says Hydrana.

“And that would be you?  Not in our lifetime.  Which is a very long time considering we’re immortals,” mentions Miracle.

“Look, tomboy.  I am the best fighter among us.  Besides Fate that is.  When he was gone, I took over and never messed up once.  If he needs any help with leading this group, then it should be me because I’ve had some experience.  And I wouldn’t have any problem arguing with him when I think his ideas are wrong.  The two of you are more likely to agree.”

“I know I’m going to regret saying this.  Nothing happened when you were in charge, Hydrana.  The only major event was when we had to fight for Fate’s body.  But that was nothing more than a savage bloodbath.  All you did was walk around the sun base and claim that you were in charge.  I’m pretty sure your parents didn’t bring up to be that lazy,” states Infinity.  Hydrana glares at Infinity and runs out of the room before tears start streaming down her face.

“Nice job, Romeo.  At least I didn’t go into the exact details,” whispers Miracle as she gets to her feet.

“I should go apologize.  But I’ll wait until she calms down.  Last time something like this happened, I was frozen to a space skimmer’s outer hull.  While it was being used in deep space.”

“I remember that.  It is weird though.  Hydrana seems to have developed a much shorter fuse than usual.  It’s like Fate not relaxing.  Ever since we became guardians, the two of them have changed.  Fate stays to himself while Hydrana is getting more emotionally sporadic.  But I’m not going to try and figure either of them out right now.  We’ll let SEAS play has hand and then step in if that doesn’t work.  Hey, Steve.  I’ll play you in that laser warfare game again.”

“Sure.  It’s not like I haven’t messed up enough today.  But I get to use the rocket launcher and laser grenades this time.”

“Deal.  I might as well give you every chance you can get to beat me.  I still think I’m gonna win.”

Posted in Immortal Wars | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

All You Can Carry Adventuring Adventurer Bar

Posted on January 27, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Final Fantasy

Welcome to the adventuring establishment that all people come to.  Love all of your fancy gear.  Means you’re going to need a lot of essentials and have the money to afford it.  Very important not to go out alone and unprepared.

As you can see, we have everything that you need. Rations, sleeping bags, saddlebags, pillows, soap, rope, grappling hooks, bottles, musical instruments, clothes, sewing kits, medical kits, mortars, pestles, oil, torches, whetstones, flint and steel, fishing rods, fishing hooks, bait, tents, pots, kettles, utensils, shower puffs, leather polish, compasses, maps, books, scrolls, cases, flasks, plates, bowls, some kind of a reverse ladle, various repair kits, and the list keeps on going.

So, come with me and . . . you only want rope and a backpack?  Nothing else?  Spent all your money on the sword, shield, and armor?  Well, that’s a little disappointing now, isn’t it?

Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Music of Legends of Windemere: Tribe of the Snow Tiger

Posted on January 26, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Last week was Delvin Cunningham’s story and now we have the one that focused on Timoran Wrath.  I’d always had Legends of Windemere: Tribe of the Snow Tiger planned out.  There were a few tweaks in the plot, but it was probably one of the more consistent ideas through all the changes.  I really enjoyed revealing Timoran’s secret and past here.  That didn’t really show up in song though.

Hate me if you want, but I couldn’t get away from this song.  Aside from being connected to the name of Timoran’s tribe, it really does suit him and the story.  There are rivalry’s and acts of survival throughout the story.  Some of it isn’t as action-packed as one would expect, but there is a battle to save a friend and to protect others.  You see a lot of people rising to the occasion and putting everything on the line including from the supporting cast.

This is a song I played for many of the Nyx/Trinity encounters.  It’s for obvious reasons since they were rivals and enemies.  This book has their biggest battle ever, which was so much fun to write.  I got to have both characters push their limits and go full beatdown on each other.  It was the fight that I wanted to build up to and it came off perfectly to me, so I wanted to give it a song.

Fairly self-explanatory here.  The story involves Timoran Wrath returning to his tribe and facing his past mistakes.  The only spoiler I can reveal about this is that he was an exile for a curious reason.  A song about going home and if one is able to seemed to make sense for him.

Posted in Legends of Windemere, Tribe of the Snow Tiger | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

#2 Post of 2020: Do You Avoid or Tackle Mental Health Issues in Fiction?

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

(Post originally published on April 6, 2020)

Yahoo Image Search

I bring up mental health a lot here.  Usually, it’s in regards to the topic itself and not connecting it to writing.  Well, I’m going to switch that up here.  Wednesday and Friday are going to be some 7 Tip lists for depression and anxiety in fiction while today is going to be more of an open forum.  The question:

Do you think mental health issues should be avoided or tackled in fiction, especially genres like fantasy?

Personally, I think it depends on the author.  You can’t force someone to include a subject or trait that they aren’t comfortable with.  They might know enough about the mental issue to use it, which means research is needed.  It could also be that they are afraid of offending a sufferer with an incorrect depiction or to trigger something.  Since we are talking about a sensitive situation, it’s totally understandable that one would feel this way.  Honestly, I don’t think it’s fair to attack an author who tries and fails to depict a mental health issue even if they were being a jerk about it.  Respond with a rational criticism and try to educate if possible.

That also brings me to the other side of the spectrum that I’ve seen.  Some authors will take the more sensational version of a mental health issue for dramatic effect.  Anxiety-riddled heroes who can barely get out of the house.  Depressives who cry every time they speak and are covered in self-inflicted scars.  OCD is a term that is flung around so casually that it loses all meaning to some people.  Don’t even get me started on dissociative identity disorder, which used to be split personality disorder . . . Mostly because I’m still not 100% sure on how to work this one.  Anyway, these extremes can exist in reality, but they aren’t always the case.  To make it look like this is the only way it can go can be upsetting to those who suffer in a different way.  Especially when your depiction causes readers to expect those extremes in sufferers, so they doubt the words of anyone suffering in any other way.

This really is a delicate topic to add into your stories.  With fantasy, I think there are magical ways to cushion the blow or explain why it isn’t widespread.  Kind of a big cop out there, but it’s something.  At least with the more severe mental illnesses because you have psychics, casters, and healers out there.  One thing that is a dangerous tactic here is to use mental health issues as ‘curses’.  It’s pretty easy to do and comes off like a good idea when it’s in an outline stage.  The brave hero is sudden afflicted by anxiety or depression or a phobia or OCD or any number of things.  Yet, this can backfire and come off as insulting because it makes the conditions appear evil.  They’re not.

As I continue writing, I’m considering adding some mental health issues into my stories, but I’m still twitchy on trying.  There is going to be an addiction subplot in one book series, which stems from severe grief and depression.  I don’t know if this counts since it’s a deep sadness with a source and not a depression with no clear catalyst.  Anxiety is one that I might consider more because I have a better idea of that one.  I guess another reason for me personally is that I really want to maintain the escapism and heavy topics like this can shatter that illusion if you’re not careful.  They won’t be the main focus of a story, so they’ll be there as subplots or character traits.  This kind of prevents me from tackling the really heavy ones because those need a lot of attention and focus.

Anyway, what do you think about this topic?  Also, if anyone ever wants to write up a guest post on a specific mental health issue then feel free to ask for a spot.  Awkward request, but I feel like I’m limited in experience and knowledge here.

Posted in Thoughts | Tagged , , , , , | 14 Comments

Heraldry Basics

Posted on January 25, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Any of you writing fantasy will appreciate Toni Šušnjar’s post on heraldry, shared on Mythic Scribes. The History of Heraldry As Toni explains, …

Heraldry Basics
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments

Pictures from the Father/Son Zoo Trip

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Last Sunday’s funny animals picture went over really well.  I realized that I randomly put it on the same day that my son and I went to the Bronx Zoo.  That was a lot of fun and we got some really good pictures.  Sadly, the tigers didn’t want to come out and you can’t hang around certain areas like you used to.  We are pretty quickly forced out of the viewing area by the crowd.  Anyway, here are some good ones:

Baby bison in a winter coat

Bleeding Heart Pigeon

Hornbill

Dhole (My son’s favorite and we got to watch them play for a while.)

Peacock that got right next to me. Sadly, a bunch of kids chased the poor thing away soon after the picture.

Chinchilla (They’re usually asleep)

Giraffe having a snack

Gibbon (These guys don’t come out very often.)

Leopard (Took so long to get this picture because a guy kept running back and forth to taunt the poor thing. I was so tempted to trip him.)

Lion (This one and the third male that they had inside were arguing when we arrived.)

Brown bear (Every other picture I took was nothing, but bear butt. My son found that hilarious.)

Dwarf caiman (New face at the reptile house.)

Baby alligator (First time seeing one moving around near the glass.)

White Rhino having a snack

Komodo Dragon (Eyeing all the tasty children.)

Fossa (Another animal that we’d rarely seen awake. Only one time before and it didn’t give us any good picture opportunities.)

Little penguins (That’s really their name.)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

A Toast to the Weekend . . . Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Posted on January 23, 2021 by Charles Yallowitz

Not sure if I mentioned this last weekend, but this week started midterms.  Not the whole week, but midway through and it continues through next week.  I work a lot in the Testing Center where kids go if they need extra time or want a quiet place.  Needless to say, things have been busy.  I actually feel asleep on Thursday before I wanted to be, which was around 9:30.  Had just enough energy and sense to turn off the light, charge my dying phone, and shut down the TV once I felt it coming.  Figured I’d be awake again by midnight, but I was out until my alarm went off.  So, you can tell that I didn’t get much else done.

Last weekend was all about getting time with my son.  Saturday was resting since I got the first Covid vaccine shot and my arm was sore.  Sunday was the big zoo trip that I’m sharing the best pictures with tomorrow.  A long day of walking around and running into peacocks.  One of them was very interested in my son’s lunch and he jokingly offered it to the bird, which almost took the opportunity.  The peacocks roam the zoo since they can’t be contained.  It’s a lot of fun to walk along and end up with one of them following along or coming around a corner.  The tigers were the only animals that didn’t come out, but there were a few that we don’t normally see moving around.

I wasn’t that bright on the trip though.  Walking around in rundown sneakers is bad enough, but I didn’t drink a lot of water.  This lead to me having pain in my lower back for a few days.  When this happens, I’ve either hurt my back, which sets off my IBS or vice versa.  Makes things really frustrating and awkward.  I still did my best to play with my son on Monday.  Since I needed to use the heating pad at times, we did indoor stuff.  Cartoons and video games mostly.  I’m not regretting that since the rest of the week was bonkers.  Definitely need this weekend to rest up for what’s next.  It should be fine . . . Right?

Do I Need to Use a Dragon? is coming along fairly well.  I worked on a tough section Thursday, which brought me down to 24 sections to go.  My hope is to get 6 done this weekend and then 1/weekday except for Friday.  If I can do another 3 next Saturday then I only have 10 to go.  The project will be done by mid-February and then I’m going to tackle the next frightening project.  This would be outlining ‘Tales of the Slumberlord’.  I don’t know why I get twitchy about this.  Part of it might be that I keep doing short story outlines, so now I’m getting back into novel mode.  Last time I did a set of outlines for a series was . . . Geez, I was still married.  Well, it needed to happen eventually.  This isn’t something I can do at school either.  My goal will be to get the books outlined by spring and start writing in the summer.  I might edit War of Nytefall: Savagery one more time before doing that too.

Speaking of outlines, I really need to figure out what I’m putting in my next Idea Book since the current one is almost done.  The first one had most of my core series and connected books.  This one has all of the Sin related things.  I’m not really sure what to do next because everything else is kind of muddled.  Part of the issue is that I want to have related books with each other.  So, I’d put the dreaded Project Phoenix with all of the other former superhero things.  I really have to sit down and organize things.  I know I have a lot of stories/series that involve organizations and groups.  There are some random ones like a series where an alien bounty hunter lands on Windemere, which I still wonder if it’s a good idea.  I really want to use this character and her being an alien is essential.  I also want her to get involved with other characters.  Maybe I’ll make a post about the problematic ideas down the road.  Although, I think I’ve done that before.

Well, I’ve basically told everyone my plan for the week.  Television for me hasn’t been very exciting.  I finished one series called ‘Angel Links’, which was pretty good.  Then, I watched the new season of ‘Disenchantment’, which is a fantasy Matt Groening (Simpsons) show on Netflix.  Good story and comedy.  Now, I’m working on an anime called ‘The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya’.  It’s about a girl who can alter reality, doesn’t realize that she can, and the other characters are trying to make sure that she never figures it out.  That’s really basic and doesn’t even cover it.  I own it on DVD, but now I can see the second season too.  Figured I’d start from the beginning since it’s only 28 episodes together.

Goals of the week?

  1. Work and some play.
  2. Do I Need to Use a Dragon? progress.
  3. Sleep.
  4. Puzzle time . . . This one is tough.
  5. Prepare blog posts if I can’t do anything else.
  6. Maybe try to organize the ideas into Idea Books while I’m at work.
  7. Rue something.
  8. Fun outing next Friday.
  9. A few meetings.
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