Goal Post: I Have a Pulse and That’s My Only Victory

Last weekend was relaxing for the most part, but it’s really where our quick story begins.  I had a lot on my plate this week.  My son had two tests, a big project, and his continuing food issues.  We had a better week on that last one and he did great with the other two, but it was tons of work.  I think I really earned my parental stripes and my parents earned their grandparent stripes too.  It was a big team effort to help with all of this since it was more work than we expected.  This is what happens when you have a short break and don’t have long before the next one.  Just happy to make it through.

Work wasn’t any better . . . All I can say is that I juggled a bunch and did pretty good.  It did feel like every day was crazier than the last.  Next week might not be any different, but at least my son doesn’t have any big tests or projects.

Huh . . . That’s really all I did.  I worked and parented until I collapsed on the bed.  Some nights I got some puzzle time in, but my mind was too shot for writing.  Do I Need to Use a Dragon? will get a little attention as the week progresses.  I think it’ll take a few months to get this done though.  I’m too exhausted during the week to really compose my thoughts.  Can’t even touch outlines, which is ridiculous.  Simply too tired.  Then again, it is that time of year.

I noticed that my creativity is still active, but my energy and urge to work is really low during the winter.  Partially seasonal depression, but I don’t operate too well in the cold either.  I get drowsy very quickly.  Either it’s so cold that I start falling asleep or I bundle up to the point where the warmth consumes my energy.  I get some done on weekends when I have time to ease into the day and direct all of my time to writing, but it isn’t as good as in the warmer months.  Even this post is a slight challenge thanks to the combo of cold weather and a long day.  At best, I can set up blog posts for the future and clear more time down the road.  Not a bad thing.  Maybe I should find a way to become better at all of this since I still have 54 sections to go.  They’ve been clocking in at 3-4 pages each, which I hope is good for what I’m doing.

This weekend I have my son, so we’re going to be spending as much time together as we can.  Bad weather today means a lot of indoor fun.  I might work on an outline while he plays this chemistry game he loves now.  I really want to get ‘Ruins of the Zodiac Gods’ done in terms of outline before I tackle the next big project.   We’ll see what happens.  It could just be some work at night while ‘Yu Yu Hakusho’ plays.  I took a break after 3 seasons of ‘Schitts Creek’ to jump back to this one.  I noticed that I wasn’t paying full attention to the latter like I should have.  With YYH, I’ve watched most of it before and read the full manga.  I can afford to have it as semi-background noise, especially since the Dark Tournament is done.

A great, amazing friend sent me a fun present to go along with a birthday one:

The front one is Sparkle Toots and his Taco friend.  The one in the back is Shadow Toots and his Spicy Taco friend.  All of them talk when you squeeze them.  The unicorns make farting noises too.  I have them sitting atop my DVD rack.  Obviously, Shadow Toots (the birthday present) is the evil one.  My son thinks these are his though.

Not much else to talk about.  I’ve been in a funk for a few months, so it’s difficult to find things to ramble about.  The urge to curl up and hide from the world is pretty strong, but I have responsibilities.  Those lead to events and people that remind me why it’s worth rolling out of bed.  Hard to do that since it’s so cold and I have a weighted blanket that saps my strength.  Sooooo warm.

Goals for the week:

  1. Working and parenting.
  2. Get some work done on Do I Need to Use a Dragon?
  3. Buckle down to use some free time for outlining.
  4. Buy a new toilet to avoid cleaning the current one.
  5. Puzzle!
  6. Dentist at some point to fix this chipped tooth.
  7. Watch more shows.
  8. Shtuff
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 16 Comments

2020 Holiday Wish List from the Windemere Characters

The Witcher

I don’t know if I’ve done one of these every year, but it’s always fun to take out all of the characters and get them to speak.  I’ve got Legends of Windemere, War of Nytefall, Ichabod Brooks, & the Bedlam crew in here.  That’s a lot, so I better get right into it and run down the list.

Luke Callindor– I could use some new shirts.  I keep getting slashed in the torso and I can only sew them back together so many times.

Nyx–  I could use a vacation and a babysitter.  (Confused?  Change out the series.)

Sari–  Candy.  I really miss candy.

Fizzle–  APPLES!  APPLE PIES!  CIDER!

Timoran Wrath–  For my family to be happy and live in peace.

Delvin Cunningham–  There’s a really nice shield and sword polish that I keep having trouble finding.  What did everyone else say?  Wow . . . I feel shallow.

Dariana–  I’ll be happy if my friends come and visit.

Queen Trinity–  I could really use a weekend at a spa.  If Nyx is willing to pay then I can get her that babysitter.

Kira Grasdon–  To forget the rest of what pains me.

Rayne–  What is this?  I’m confused.  Can I pass?

Ichabod Brooks–  I’d like a few books on Windemere that explain what the world was like before the Great Cataclysm.  Keep running into ancient things, so I’d like to be prepared for anything.

Lloyd Tenay– To eventually have another adventure.  That or some kielbasa soaked for three days in beer.  Whatever works.

Cassidy– I’ve got a list of upgrades for my baby.  Do you think an anti-aircraft missile system can be put on a jeep?

Clyde–  I could really go for a slice of pizza.  Being moved from Earth to Windemere means I don’t get my old diet.

Mab–  Forgiveness.

Gregorio Roman–  Peace between the vampire factions and a cute assistant.

Lost–  For Grandpa Roman to fall down the stairs because he already has a cute assistant in me.  Also, three rocking chairs, a magic sword, a barrel of pickled pears, a pet cactus, two and a half boots, and one of those metal things you put on your knuckles to help massage your enemies.

Titus Winthrop–  I really need some chainmail polish and a new set of whetstones.  I like going practical.

Luther Grathan–  *requests snails in raven*

Bob–  Anything with horses.  I’m not picky.

Chastity Sullivan–  Jewels and dresses are always a welcome gift.  I’m always looking for new ensembles to show my beloved patrons.

Xavier Tempest–  There is truly nothing that I need besides victory against Clyde.

Nadia Sylvan–  An interior decorator would be nice.  The castle is looking fairly drab, love.

Stephanie Talon–  A portrait of a beautiful graveyard under the four moons for me to hang in my ritual chamber.

Kai Stavros–  Time.

Kenneth Decker–  Titus makes a good point on supplies to maintain my equipment.  I do need a more durable night cloak as well.

Archillious–  A list of people that nobody will miss.  I’m going a little stir crazy here.

Desirae Duvall–  So many things are on my wish list.  Maybe all of you are too.  Come to the Pleasure Shadow and find out.  Besides, I’m more interested in giving than taking this time of year.

Dariwn Slepsnor–  Hello!  I wish for my series to start being written next year.  Then, I can say a real hello in 2022.  By the way, I’m Darwin Slepsnor.  Looking forward to meeting all of you.

Posted in Bedlam Series, Ichabod Brooks, Legends of Windemere, War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

What’s In a Edit?

Joan Hall's avatarStory Empire

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. Let’s talk about editing.

I recently read a book that had a good plot. The story was intriguing. The writing grammatically correct. I didn’t find any spelling or punctuation errors. Sound like the person had a good editor, right?

Not necessarily. Throughout the book, there were countless repeated words. Here are two examples.

“Yardley stood outside the bedroom doors. Double doors, white with copper trim. She pictured Isaac in the morning, opening both doors and what he must’ve seen. She took both knobs and pushed the doors open, the way a child might.”

Or this:

“Yardley knew she was lucky to be a federal prosecutor. The state prosecutors were overworked and had little time to help in any investigations or interviews. Federal prosecutors could pick and choose their cases and take all the time they needed. Whereas a state prosecutor

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Smorgasbord Cafe and Bookstore – Christmas Book Fair – #Romance Jacquie Biggar, #Fantasy C.S. Boyack, #Fantasy Charles E. Yallowitz, #Relationships Stevie Turner

A big thank you for the shout out. I find myself in great company here.

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Questions 3: Being an Author in 2020

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Coming to the end of a very strange year, I was thinking of something I could do for the December Thursdays.  I began to think about how writing, reading, publishing, and the whole thing took a very odd turn thanks to Covid-19.  Some people saw book sales soar while many saw them either drop or stay low.  I read articles about how more people are reading and others say how lockdowns made people avoid books.  I saw authors explode all over social media in an attempt to sell books to those they considered a captive and desperate audience.  I saw others kind of shrug and figure that this really isn’t going to change their luck.  We all have different thoughts and perspectives on how 2020 went, so let’s share them.

  1. Did you find it easier, harder, or the same to write books this year?  Why?
  2. What impact do you think the pandemic had on readers?
  3. Did you learn anything new as an author or reader this year?
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When Kindness Change the Villain

Sanji and Ghin from One Piece

Above, you will see a picture from the anime called ‘One Piece’.  Don’t go running away yet because there’s a point.  In the scene, you have one of the heroes named Sanji (blonde) with a villain named Ghin (guy on the floor).  Ghin is part of an ‘evil’ pirate crew and actually one of the more violent members since he’s second to their captain.  Yet, here he arrives at the floating restaurant starving and is denied food since he has no money.  Sanji refuse to let people starve to death, so he feeds him.  This results in a later scene where Ghin, under orders to kill Sanji, can’t do it and begs his bloodthirsty captain to show mercy.  There’s also a sacrifice and major change of character for Ghin, which stems entirely from the single act of Sanji giving him food when he was dying.  So, kindness changed the heart of a villain.

I’m sure some people are already rolling their eyes because it can’t possibly be this easy to change a villain.  I mean, you could say the power of food combined with a state of desperation and vulnerability.  You could also point out that it’s a cartoon/manga, which many think are aimed at children.  Anime and manga really isn’t just for kids, but I digress there.  The thing here is that Ghin reveals he has had a tough life and that’s what lead to him being a villain.  Sanji could very well be the first person to show him any kindness and treat him like a human being.  That can go an amazingly long way with a villain who still holds some humanity.  Even in reality, you would be surprised how often a single act of compassion can turn a person around.

In comparison, his captain, Don Kreig, sees everyone as an expendable tool and Sanji giving him food to prevent him from dying is met with a clothesline to the throat.  He goes on to try to kill everyone and take the restaurant that gave him enough food for his starving crew.  Then, he fires a gas weapon that threatens even his own men, which shows how evil he is.  So, you can see that the same act doesn’t work on everyone.  Ghin and Don Krieg are both pirates with violent, evil streaks, but one still holds onto a spark of his humanity while the other is pure villain.

That spark is an important thing to consider too when writing your villains.  Do they have anything that appeals to their human nature?  It can be an act or something rather sweet like animals or children.  In Legends of Windemere, Baron Kernaghan shows a soft spot for a little girl and a cat.  Sure, he transforms them into creatures, but he still shows that he cares about them.  To be fair, neither would have survived in the Chaos Void in their original forms.  Now, this didn’t change the Baron, but it showed that he wasn’t 100% bad.  That’s the type of villain that appeals to audiences nowadays.  They want to see that there is something relatable in there and maybe even the hope of redemption.

To reach that turning point, an act of kindness is something that can go a long way.  You don’t have to make the two happen in quick succession.  There can be the kindness and then a trigger for the change down the road.  It can be the person who was kind or an item that reminds the villain of that time.  A key point is that it doesn’t just change them immediately too.  The reason you need time is because the initial act causes them to doubt their actions and path of villainy.  They see that tiny thing grow into an internal counter argument for what they have been doing.  Truthfully, this tends to work better with secondary villains than the big baddies.  That is unless a disaster is started by the main villain and the act of kindness bubbles into their mind to have them realize they made a mistake.  It may sound cliche, but you’d be surprised how often people will stay on the wrong course and then come to a triggered epiphany at the eleventh hour.  You just have to make it flow.

Personally, I like this twist in a story because it can show a lot of humanity.  You have the villain getting a new dimension that can change him or her for the better.  You have the person who saw beyond the evil or was ignorant of it, so they treated this person that the audience should hate as a human being.  I know we’re always tempted to have the villain come close to redemption and then have them stomp on the act of kindness, which might be a sign of our cynical time.  It’s almost like that’s the new standard and having it change the villain is the surprising twist.  Of course, there are plenty of levels in between that you can run with depending on your story.  It’s all up to you and what you feel is right for what you’re doing.

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Music of Legends of Windemere: Prodigy of Rainbow Tower

Cover Art by Jason Pedersen

Welcome to another week of music videos.  Hope this is hitting the right mark and people are enjoying these.  Today, we have Prodigy of Rainbow Tower where Nyx made her debut.  A lot of action and traveling happened here.  Really got to flex the world-building skills too.

This song has no lyrics and is all about the energy.  I had a lot of fight scenes in this book and it’s where I started cutting my teeth on them.  So, something like this really makes me think of all of the battles that Luke, Nyx, and their friends went through while traveling down the L’dandrin River.

I was really trying to think of something other than this one because it seemed way too obvious.  Nyx depends a lot on fire and explosive magic.  Yet, I did play this one a lot long ago when I was writing this book.  Never really listened to the lyrics, so she isn’t that twisted, but she is a fire-starter.  Another fast-paced song too.

This song has a big defiance aspect to it that works for Luke and Nyx.  Both of them have dreams and goals that require pushing against others.  Luke is out to prove himself and Nyx has been raised to save the world.  Both paths require them proving that they can do it through actions.

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RecordCast: a Free Tool to Create Your Book Trailer

Nicholas C. Rossis's avatarNicholas C. Rossis

One of the free author tools I’ve discovered lately is RecordCast. RecordCast is an all-in-one tool for screen recording and video editing that helps everyone turn screenshots into professional-looking videos in just a matter of a few minutes. This can be great for creating a book trailer within minutes just by adding images and effects.

RecordCast | From the blog of Nicholas C. Rossis, author of science fiction, the Pearseus epic fantasy series and children's book

Highlighted Features

One of the things I particularly like about RecordCast is the fact that you get a high-quality recorded video without a watermark—for free. Also, you don’t need to download anything; the whole process is handled online.

The recording itself is pretty flexible: you can screen capture your whole screen, an application window, your webcam, or a browser tab as you need. You can also choose whether you wish to record audio simultaneously or drag-and-drop your favorite background music to the video.

As for video editing, RecordCast has a built-in video editor, so…

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Returning the Favor in Fiction and Reality

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I was watching anime with my son when I noticed that there was a theme that popped up a bunch.  Not in one episode, but in various series.  It isn’t one that I’ve ever considered or seen much about, so I felt like broaching it.  In fact, we can see how ‘Returning the Favor’ relates to our own lives as well.  We are told very often that we need to payback the help that is given to us and do things without expecting a reward.  Yet, we don’t think about it outside of situations where a favor has been returned in glorious fashion or a selfish snub has been made.  So, let’s examine.

In Fiction

To make sure we’re on the same page, I want to be clear what ‘Returning the Favor’ is in my mind.  Simply put, this is when somebody helps you and, whether immediately or down the road, you help them out.  This happens a lot in fiction both clearly and by accident.  An adventurer saves a village in passing and they show up when a small army is needed or their savior is looking for a place to hide.  Sometimes, it isn’t even direct and the favor is returned by another figure.  In ‘Rise of the Shield Hero’, the main character saves a village during a cataclysmic event while the rest of the chosen heroes ignored it.  This resulted in a handful of soldiers and craftspeople supporting him later on because they had family in that village.  The favor had been returned.

It isn’t too hard to do this on paper.  You can plan it out or notice it when it happens, but it’s really a two-part equation.  Somebody has to do a good thing first.  It doesn’t even have to be seen since it could have happened before the story begins.  We’ve all seen stories where a person helps a hero because a relative or some other connection lent them a hand at some point.  After this has been established or seen, the favor is returned in some fashion that progresses the plot or solves a problem.  Probably one of the simplest plot devices you can use.

Of course, people don’t always like it.  These can be seen as contrived and a coincidence that the person who owes the favor can help.  Well . . . yes.  That’s kind of the point.  If the person returning the favor wasn’t useful for that situation then they wouldn’t be there at all.  Part of the point of this is that they or at least the hero see that they can help, which can be a coincidence.  Happens in real life too.  You just happen to know a person who can help you get a good job.  You happen to know a guy who knows a guy that is trying to get rid of a car while yours just broke.  Reality is fairly contrived and coincidental if you think about it.  Might be getting off topic, but the point is that you shouldn’t let this be a reason to avoid the returning of a favor in your book.  It could be the game changer that gives you the ending you want.

In Reality

Returning the favor is a really big thing for authors too.  One person promotes a book and hopes that others will do the same.  It’s much harder though because authors disappear from social media all the time.  Public calls for help can be missed while there are others who get help without returning the favor.  You get burnt enough times and you might not try to help anyone.  This ends up hurting you as well.  It really shows that returning the favor of promotion is a big part of being a self-promoting author.  Sometimes, it’s the only thing we have because it doesn’t cost money.

I will admit that it is a lot harder than it used to be.  Long ago, authors used to read each other’s published books and do blog reviews.  Some would even write a review on Amazon for a little boost.  Then, Amazon cracked down it because it was seen as cheating.  This is no longer a practice, which means we’ve lost a way to return the favor.  Although, I’m pretty sure many still do this on the sly, but they avoid Amazon when it comes to posting reviews.  Anyway, this is just how it used to be way back when.  Now, we have to be more creative in how we return favors and help each other out.

What do you think about returning the favor in fiction and reality?

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Lost or Stolen Opportunities

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I was going to be more upbeat today, but I got a thought stuck in my head.  I couldn’t shake it loose.  You ever have an opportunity that passed you by?  We all do.  Maybe we missed it because we weren’t paying attention.  It might not have looked like one when we first saw it.  This might turn more into a ‘tell your story’ thing.  Why?

One type of loss of opportunity came to mind.  It’s when one is stolen from you.  Maybe not you, but someone you care about.  I was thinking about someone in my life and the opportunities that they have had over the years.  Then, I realized that several of them were missed because of a third party.  That has to be the most agonizing one and had me spinning my wheels.  Even noticed times in my past where I was undone from smart moves due to other people.  I realized that this happened in two general camps:

  1. The other party simply forgot to relay some information that could have help.  You either find out after the fact.  This is an honest mistake even though it can cause anger and frustration.
  2. The more malicious one is when a person withholds information or makes a move that actively removes your opportunity.  This one hurts.  It could be done because they see it is a mistake, but there are times when they purposely want to get in the way.  Could be someone that wants the opportunity for themselves or wishes to urge you onto a different path instead of the one that is about to succeed.  I’ve been the victim of this one once or twice in some arenas.

Now, I’m not sure where else to go with this idea.  I realize that I’ve stated my point and that’s really all I had.  No idea how to identify this or what to do about it.  Maybe I’m just trying to toss this into the open.  Anybody else have something to add?  Personal story or advice?  Let’s converse and see if I’m just being silly.

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