Goal Post . . . Was This a Week or a Month?

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

I really can’t remember much of what happened prior to Thursday.  I know stuff did occur and a lot of things were moved from mine and my son’s room.  It’s still 1.5 weeks until the floors get worked on and I’m left without a room to call my own.  Learned that even my bed is being moved out, so that’s something new.  The roughest parts of this are going to be the first two days since I have to work too, which means I’ll be crawling in minimal sleep.  I snore and the pull out bed isn’t really comfortable.  Maybe thinking about this so much is why I don’t remember much of the week.

Another issue is that I didn’t do any writing.  Managed to do a few April blog posts, but most of my time was spent getting things ready and finishing up a puzzle.  It’s the last of the Ocean Life set, which I’ll be posting tomorrow.  I needed to get it done because I had to pack up the table and everything else before the work is done.  This means that I don’t have puzzles, books, or DVD’s in my room.  Nights are going to get really boring fast since there isn’t anything on TV either.  My hope is to get a lot of the April/May posts done, which clears a lot of time in March to do writing.  Won’t be much, but it could be enough to bring War of Nytefall: Ravenous to completion. By the way, I’m still hoping to release War of Nytefall: Eradication by the end of February.  Hope I’ve got all the volunteers written down.

Gearing up for Super Bowl this weekend, which is going to be the annual party.  Got a lot of guests coming this time including my son’s godfather and one of my best friends showing up later today.  Been a while since we hung out and even longer since he spent time with his godson.  A challenge at Super Smash Bros has already been issued.  It’s going to be a lot of fun and I’m curious about the game too.  Might leave me with a rough Monday, but I’ll survive somehow.  Pretty sure a lot of people are going to be out that day, so I’ll need to be on top of my game to some extent.  Good thing I’m eating a healthier lunch of fruits . . . I’d say if it went smoothly.

Here’s where the big part of my attention went.  I repeatedly had a lunch of grapes, strawberries, a pear, and this sugar free/caffeine free/high protein/coconut-based coffee drink that tastes good.  It helped me get through the days, but was kind of boring and my hunger caught up with me on Wednesday.  Plus side, I didn’t take more than a cupcake and a slice of pie from the dessert day.  Still, I realized that I needed more substantial because I’m on my feet and walking around almost constantly.  Otherwise, I’m gorging myself at home and I’m not able to exercise for now.  More on that later.  My plan is going to change to doing the drink and getting a small panini that they make at school.  I usually get a deli-sliced buffalo chicken with mustard and pickles, but the things aren’t that big at all.  Going to avoid the cheese stick and chocolate milk, which is why I’ll stick to the zero sugar coffee-like thing.  Lunch is really the big challenge and I’ll be watching how much I eat in general.

This brings me to exercise, which is repeatedly an epic failure.  I can’t do 15 minutes of biking in the morning because I’m too busy getting breakfast and lunch ready for my son or trying to get a little extra sleep for the day.  I can’t do it when I get home from work because I only have 40 minutes before my son gets back and that’s only if I leave as soon as the bell rings.  That usually doesn’t happen and I need the shower too.  Finally, I can’t do it at night because I’m already drained and the nighttime phone call with my son is inconsistent.  I could get it in the middle of biking and it’s hard to do it when I know my ex-wife is listening in.  So, this leaves me with only on option:

Once the work on my room is done and I get my space back, I’m going to get rid of the old stationary bike and find a collapsible one.  I’ll do 30 minutes on Saturday and another 30 on Sunday, so it’ll be weekend workouts.  Weekday mornings, I’ll try to do 10 minutes of 10 pound free weights while watching the news.  Found the ones I borrowed long ago and I plan on not losing them again.  This won’t really kick in until after Winter Break, which means I have time to adjust.  Mornings are going to be tough because it’s freezing and that’s draining, especially when I lose the carpeted floor.  With any luck, I can maintain this and not run into a problem with finding time.

Wish I had more to talk about, but it was one of those weeks.  The things I can remember involved the ex-wife or stuff at school that I shouldn’t share.  There’s a medical thing with my son that is more annoying than harmful.  That’s really it.  So . . . Hope everyone enjoys the week.

Goals of the week:

  1. April and May blog posts.
  2. Move more stuff out of rooms.
  3. Plan more for fantasy tip book.
  4. Research folding stationary bikes.
  5. Work.
  6. Read more Ranma 1/2.
  7. Get extra sleep if possible.
  8. Enjoy the Super Bowl.
  9. Write some of Ravenous if possible.  Won’t hold my breath.
Posted in Goal Posts | Tagged , , , , , | 22 Comments

Top 5 of 2019: 7 Tips to Creating a Fantasy Army (#1)

Posted on January 31, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

And the #1 post of 2019 . . . Really?  You know, I really didn’t expect this topic to come out on top.  Heck, I didn’t even remember it.  Another odd thing is that 3 of the 5 are 7 Tip Lists, but those seem to get a lot of praise.  Anyway, Coming back from February 20, 2019!

Lord of the Rings

You might think it’s easy to simply plop an army into a story and watch the soldiers clash in the background.  Well, it can be done that way, but that prevents you from doing some world-building.  You can learn a lot about a world and its kingdoms by the military forces that exist in there.  So, it’s a good idea to put a little more depth into these creations and here are some semi-serious tips to help.

  1. Uniform uniformity is important.  Bandits and a mercenary force can have a variety of looks, but an organized military needs some commonality among its members.  This is because your rank and file soldiers have probably been given the same gear with only a few having unique looks.  It’s the officers that might stand out with flashier weapons and armor, but even they might have a common theme.  This can show the smithing culture and technology that exists in the kingdom as well as direct the tactics that they will use.
  2. Study some real world military systems to get an idea about how such hierarchies work.  This really helps with knowing how to use the ranks and lingo.  Call an army leader an Admiral instead of a General and you’ll get lectured.  Only way out is to make it clear that your world uses the terms in this way.  That means you can’t use them interchangeably.  A great source for this would be to talk to a veteran or someone who is currently serving.  You might get more info than you expected.
  3. It’s always fun to create some unique forces for the army.  This can be a humanoid squad of specially trained soldiers or technological wonders.  The former can be useful for heroes/villains that are pushed as threats that go beyond your basic enemy.  The latter really only comes into play with large scale battles and sieges.  Consider the environment that the army operates in for the most part to help.  Can’t have war elephants in the arctic, but you can have mammoths.
  4. Remember the size of the army.  They can’t march through an area without leaving a sign of their passage.  You can see them coming from far away as well because you have hundreds to thousands of soldiers. Stealth is not an army’s strength, so don’t have them suddenly appear.  I mean, it could work for humor if a hero wanders out of a tent or hotel to find themselves surrounded.  Then again, they still see the army and it was only them being unaware that led to the incident.  Doesn’t really work this way without author intervention or magic.
  5. Flags.  Can’t have a fantasy army without flags.
  6. People talk about armies in fantasy worlds, so create some rumors or facts to help give the reader a sense of their reputation.  This can reveal information about the rulers as well.  Maybe people fear the soldiers or think they are champions of peace.  Perhaps they are proud of never losing a battle or some other kind of record.  It’s your choice on how much you show here, but just consider how we respond to our own military and work from there.
  7. If you put a lot of work into designing your fantasy army, try to use them for more than a quick scene of carnage.  As tempting as it is to build up this amazing military force and then have a hero or villain crush it, you might regret making them a throwaway gimmick.  First of all, the ‘one destroys many’ thing has been done, so it won’t have the shock value that you expect.  Second, you can find more to do with them such as an extended battle or potential allies.  In the end, this is the author’s decision, but it’s one that should probably take more thought than is usually given.
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Immortal Wars: The Summoning Part 4 #fiction #throwback

Posted on January 30, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

(Previously on Immortal Wars.)

Disclaimer: Immortal Wars was the book I came up with and wrote in high school.  I hadn’t even hit college by the time I wrote the first two books.  That means I hadn’t developed my style yet, wasn’t good at self-editing, and the story was fairly basic. So, you’ve been warned that this is the ultimate author throwback segment for my blog and will show my author origins.  FYI-  I put the first book (The Summoning) through a Print-on-Demand publisher and the second one (Light, Blood, & Tears) never saw the light of day.  Enjoy!

The game goes on for about an hour before the girls start fighting again and the game is stopped. Halfway through the game Kelly trips Delila, who in turn smashes her heel into Kelly’s shin.  Before the fight breaks out, Ed gets in-between them and is hit in the head by Kelly’s fist and in the gut by Delila’s elbow.  He collapses to the ground and neither of the girls seems to notice him wheezing between them.

“Game over.  We win,” gasps Ed.  Kelly finally bends down to try and pull him up to his feet while Steve starts laughing at the accident.

“It isn’t funny, Steve,” says Kelly.

“Yes it is.  I mean, you two just floored him.”

“Can you help me get him up?  Can’t believe someone so thin can be so heavy.”  Steve walks over and helps Kelly get Ed up to his feet.

“Serves you right for getting in the way of me, Blondie.  Why don’t you start thinking with your brain instead of another part of you body?”

“Do I have to beat the shit out of you or are you just gonna cry and run away, bitch?  Cause I’m ready to lay you flat right now,” exclaims Kelly.

“Knock it off, girls.  I’m fine.  Just got the wind knocked out of me.  It looks like Delila and Steve are paying for lunch.  Or do you guys want to play another game?  This time without making my teeth rattle,” taunts Ed.

“No thanks.  But next game I want a different teammate,” says Steve.  As soon as he says it, he knows he will regret it for at least the rest of the day.

“So I’m not a good basketball player.  Who cares?  It’s a stupid game made for jocks anyway!  All you do is try to get a silly ball into an even sillier basket!  I don’t see why you would pay anyone so much money to do something that a trained seal could do!” yells Delila while shaking a finger at Steve.  Kelly decides to stay out of this argument, so she isn’t tempted to slaughter Delila.

“First of all, this sport is a lot harder than you think.  It takes a lot of stamina and aim to get through it.  Second of all, we might have put the ball in the basket if you had stopped complaining about your stupid broken nail!  Nobody cares about it!” screams Steve as a sudden surge of anger erupts from inside him and leaves him feeling a lot more relaxed than when he started the day.

“Does it really matter? You both lost and you’re both paying for lunch.  So there is no reason to argue about it,” Ed interrupts.  Behind Steve and Delila, Kelly starts shaking head and putting her hand to her forehead.

“You keep out of this, Blondie.  I don’t remember hearing anyone asking for your useless opinion.  Steve and I are going back to my house.  Come on, Steve,” orders the rich snob with a loud snap of her fingers.

Steve gives about twenty dollars to his best friend, so Ed can buy a decent lunch for himself and Kelly.  As the two teenagers start to leave the park, Steve’s expression tells Ed that he’s sorry about the redheaded snob’s actions.  Steve and Delila walk toward her house and leave the other couple behind.

“I know I don’t have to say this, but you should have kept your mouth shut,” whispers Kelly.

“I know that I should have kept my mouth shut.  At least she left and didn’t stay to make me permanently deaf with her screaming,” says Ed as they leave the park and head toward a pizzeria across the street.

“I still want to know how Steve can put up with her.  She is so damn annoying and egotistical.  And she is like that when she’s being nice to us.  That girl is stuck her own fantasy world where she thinks that she is a princess and we’re the peasants.  Just once I’d like to shatter that pretty little mask and . . .  ”

“Behave, Kel.  The two of you used to be good friends.  Before I moved to Oceanhead five years ago, Delila was a good friend of yours.”

“That was before she stole my first boyfriend.  We were friends, but she wanted something that I had and Delila Mandervale III always gets what she wants.  Before you showed up, I was dating the captain of the lacrosse team.  Things were going pretty good considering he was my first boyfriend.  Then I heard that Delila was seen kissing him in the park.  When I confronted her about it, she suddenly took on the bad attitude that she has now.  And it was mostly aimed at me.  Needless to say, our friendship ended there.  Still, I do kind of miss hanging out with her like we used to.  I’ll admit that the friendship had a lot of positive moments.  I got to do sports on her family’s huge lawn and the workout room in that mansion is fabulous.”

“I’ve heard this story a thousand times, Kelly.  Why don’t we just forget about her for awhile and enjoy the rest of the day?”

“You’re right.  I’ll stop talking and thinking about her.  I promise.  Still, she. . .”

“Kelly.”  Eddie grabs Kelly by her waist and begins tickling her until she collapses onto the grass near the park entrance.

“I know.  I know.  Just stop tickling me or I’ll smack you right upside the head.  Let’s get something to eat.  I’m starving.”

With that said, they walk into the pizzeria and order a large pepperoni pizza with two large sodas.  They leave the restaurant about two hours later when the park isn’t as busy as before.  For the rest of the day the couple walks through the quiet forest and spends their time talking and thinking about their own future.

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Tim’s Tournament Preparation Shop: Buy 3 Pavilions and Get a Free Hot Dog Vendor

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Grand Magic Games of Fairy Tail

Welcome one and all!  I see you brought some of your fighters to help you shop around for supplies.  Please note that we do not provide the venue.  Too many regulations in selling arenas, open areas for explosions, and whatever else you need.  This must all be locked down and the paperwork provided prior to doing business.  So, do you have everything that I need to know you’re a serious customer?  Thank you.

Now, we need to discuss the type of tournament you’re having because that will direct the rest of our conversation.  Is it fighting?  Perhaps magic or chariots?  We recently helped set up a tournament of professional sand castle makers, which was exciting.  The choices are endless, but I do see that you have fighters with you.  Swordsmen to be precise, which means you will need a few medical tents.  We provide all of the medical supplies, but only assistants.  It’s best that you hire your own doctors and we can give you a list of people for you to call.  May I interest you in a blacksmith station?  Three of them can be arranged since the arena you have reserved is fairly large.  We have various freelancers, so they will be asking for tips.  Nice to see us moving along so quickly.

You don’t have a roof, so I would recommend our rain protection package.  It is a set of tents that can house one hundred fighters and staff members.  For the audience, we can connect retractable cones to these buttresses.  They will rise up to cover the seats and are curved in a way that has the water roll to the outside of the arena.  I will warn you that this leaves the fighting area open, but we can provide a clear tent.  The only problem is that it can have glare and it can make ring outs more difficult.  It really depends on if your fighters mind getting wet.  I know this is all about one situation, but the weather is the biggest enemy for tournaments.  That being said, we can provide heaters if it’s cold and fans if it is hot.

Speaking of being hot, we have a special on ice cream vendors.  For every fifteen that you hire, you will get a hot pretzel or popcorn stand for free.  Our drink vendors come in groups of ten as well, which sounds like a lot, but you would be surprised how thankful people are for easy beverage access.  Cotton candy?  What kind of business would we be without those?  Peanuts is another story though.  Due to a higher rate of allergies, you need to sign these waivers and hire our allergy reaction eagle.  This bird is trained to respond to any signs of a reaction and arrive to deliver medicine.  Trade secret on how this was accomplished and we do have an owl for night events.  Here is a list of other food and souvenir vendors to choose from.  I will assign you a planner to help you with the placements.

Decorations is another area that we excel at.  You say that you want balloons, but outdoor areas make that a risk.  We can have some that are tied down and keep a room filled with extras in case of escapees.  I believe banners work better since they cannot fly away and work better with the wind.  Each of your fighters can have a banner and this can also be used as your standings board.  If they don’t want to use their faces then they can come up with a symbol.  Either way, these will be personalized and they can keep them after the event is complete.  Speaking of prizes, we have a vast collection of trophies and medals if you are in need of such things.  I could list them all, but we only have so much time on this planet.  Yes, we have an in-house artist who can make an entrance sign as well as murals if you want to decorate these walls.  It would be nice to add some color, but not so much that it distracts from the competition.

Those are the big pieces, so let’s get down to the details.  Not in public, so we’re going to have to go over here.  Who are all those people listening in on us and why are some of them typing?  I’m sure all of those people are figments of your imagination.

Posted in Olde Shoppe Stories | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

Teaser Tuesday: A Sun-Blessed Traveler #fantasy #vampires

Posted on January 28, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

War of Nytefall (CLICK ON IMAGE FOR AMAZON SITE)

Here we go.  The first teaser for War of Nytefall: Eradication.  No better place to start than the very beginning.  Hope people enjoy these as they’ll be going from today through February and March.  Plenty of time to see all the fun.  As usual, there may be some minor spoilers behind the cut.  No problem with this week and next because I’m grabbing from the prologue first.  Enjoy.

Continue reading →

Posted in Teaser Tuesday, War of Nytefall | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

7 Ways to Keep a Gathering Quest Interesting

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Jackie Chan Adventures

One of the most common types of adventures is the ‘Gathering Quest’.  This is where the main characters need to collect a set of something over the course of the adventure.  You see it in cartoons, video games, and other mediums with a bigger focus on kids than adults.  This is because they can be very repetitive because it’s usually:

  • Hear about one of the items.
  • Investigate area.
  • Adventure occurs with either gaining or losing item.
  • Continue on to next object.

Doesn’t sound that interesting, but it can be livened up at times.  Someone is going to mention Pokemon, which is a ‘Gathering Quest’ at the core.  Yet, it tries very hard to do other things and that is the key.  Let’s look at some tips.

  1. While the characters are searching for all of the items, they need to have more motivation than that.  Even if it’s something they develop along the way, they need to think about what they will do when they are done.  It can involve the full set or not, but you need to give them more than the basic plot as their driving force.  It could be to help a loved one, gain power, become famous, etc.  This can also create side quests to break up the repetition.
  2. You don’t really need a rival gathering group, but it can help.  The difficulty here is that most readers assume that the ‘bad guys’ are going to lose.  Even if they get a few pieces first, they’re going to lose them near the end.  So, a rival group can draw out the story and raise the stakes, but it comes at a cost.  A way around this could be to make multiple groups and various paths to the end.  Maybe you only need 5 items from a list of 100 or there’s more than 1 of each thing.  This means that you no longer have the predictable ‘lost our pieces’ plot twist.
  3. Not every adventure has to revolve around getting a new piece of the set.  It could be that they learn about the history of the items or that one of them has a power that can solve another problem.  Keep these objects involved, but they can always step aside for a character building tale.
  4. Using multiple protagonists can help divvy up the collection as it grows, so they can use it more often.  This way, you don’t have one character trying to utilize all of these items or simply carrying them the whole time.  It’s too many toys on one hero, which can make it predictable that he/she saves the day.  If everyone has part of the set then they are equally important and the reader won’t know exactly who will step up to the plate when a problem occurs.
  5. If you’re going for a long series then you can gradually work away from the gathering quest.  It can be what sets events in motion and requires completion, but you can have it lead to something bigger.  The character may learn that the objects/beasts are desired by a warlord who they now have to defeat because he can destroy the world with them.  The collection is still important, but now it’s all about protecting the pieces and saving everyone.  Going even further, it could be that the heroes unearth a truth about their world during their adventures, which overshadows the collection entirely.  They are merely the keys to the bigger adventure.
  6. You can always make things go quicker by having some of the pieces get collected together.  It could be that they are bonded or are opposing forces, so they are connected.  Maybe another character gathered a bunch behind the scenes and the heroes find a storehouse.  This shrinks the amount of stories you have to tell to reach the end, which minimizes the chance of repetition.
  7. This might seem easy, but I figure I should say it.  DO NOT make the collection too big for what you’re planning.  Pokemon has hundreds because it’s a video game that revolves entirely around collecting and battling.  If you tried to make it a book series where each adventure was Ash gaining a new Pokemon then people will get bored fairly quickly.  Consider your medium, audience, overall goal, and how many varied stories you can come up with.  It can even help to create the finding scenarios before you get down to create the full collection.
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Cover reveal and Pre-Order for The Reckoning Squad by Susanne Burke

Posted on January 27, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

John W. Howell's avatarFiction Favorites

I am pleased to be part of the announcement and cover reveal for Suzanne Burke’s latest thriller. The regular Top Ten feature will be back next week.

I was fortunate to be part of the beta reader team for The Reckoning Squad and can say this is another great example of Suzanne’s talent for writing thrillers. Here is Soooze to fill you in.

Hello, and welcome to the Cover Reveal of my New Psychological Thriller.

“The Reckoning Squad.”

The Reckoning Squad Cover Reveal Banner.

The Reckoning Squad

By

S. Burke

Available to Pre-Order NOW.
Release Date: Monday FEBRUARY 24th, 2020.
Mystery>Psychological Thriller & Suspense >

It is such an exciting time for an author when releasing a new book! I would be remiss in not sharing my heartfelt thanks to the marvelous people who gave of their time so readily to beta read my latest book. Their valuable insights helped me enormously when crafting “The Reckoning…

View original post 1,181 more words

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A Problem with War of Nytefall

Posted on January 26, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Okay, I might be exaggerating here.  The truth is that there’s probably an easy way out of here and I may have stumbled onto it a few times.  My head is so fuzzy from fatigue and the remnants of a head cold that I can’t focus.  Figure I’ll toss things out here and see what happens.  Keep in mind that this will be vague because I don’t want to spoil any of the War of Nytefall stuff.

So, I’m in the third act of Ravenous, which I hope to release later this year.  I also take a look at the outline for the next volume when I get close to the end of the previous installment.  I do this because the changes that occurred are fresh in my mind, so I can begin revamping the path.  Not as difficult as one would think, but I’m having trouble right now because of focus issues.  So, I’ve run into two problems:

  1. It looks like I kill a character in the original outline, but I didn’t mean to.  I have this one showing up again later with some important stuff.  This death is done as a show of power by the new villain who can overpower Clyde.  It’s not an essential scene, so I might put a different one in there that’s either expendable or can survive the otherwise lethal blow.  Yet, that leaves me with this one having nothing to do.  Another option is to fake their death.
  2. The bigger problem is that I gave an important mission to find the new villain’s origins to a character who shouldn’t be on it anymore.  I do something to them in Ravenous that can’t be shrugged off so easily.  They need to either still have this issue or be battling a really big side effect while pulling out of it.  I considered having them do it while maintaining the issue, which is feasible, but it would put it all at risk.  Another option would be to take the accidentally killed one and put them on the case.  There can be a switch at some point too if this one starts it and the one that people think are dead takes over.  A really big factor here is that the original ‘hunter’ had some very specific skills and the other one has different abilities.  I could hand it off to someone else entirely too.

Okay, I should be fair here.  The issue in #2 is that I’m giving a character a drug addiction that they will either still have or be battling withdrawal in this volume.  It makes it difficult to have them on this important mission.  This problem will cause a lot of chaos in Ravenous, so it’s hard to believe they’re back on track by Savagery.  I considered having the two characters in question here work together too, but they don’t really work well as a team.  Replacements for the drug addicted character aren’t easy to find either because 2 are busy elsewhere, one is incapacitated quickly, and another hasn’t been a big player for a while.  Maybe I can put that one in with the ‘dead’ one actually.  Am I figuring stuff out as I write this?

I’m doing this backwards like an idiot because I’m tired and too lazy to switch things around.  The story of Savagery is that a new villain shows up and manages to conquer both vampire kingdoms.  This person overpowers Clyde who then disappears to go through a training path to get stronger.  It leaves the other characters captured and at the whim of this new character who wants a fight to the death with the ‘Monster of Nytefall’ to prove he is the strongest being on Windemere.  The side mission I’m talking about is to find a weakness in the hopes of helping Clyde when he returns.  Well, this has been rambling enough.  Thanks for any help and maybe just writing this out will clear my head enough.

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Goal Post: What Does It Mean When You’re So Tired that Your Eyes Keep Crossing?

Posted on January 25, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

That’s a genuine question.  As usual, I’m writing this Friday night, but I’m finding it difficult because the white parts of the screen are overly bright.  Makes me want to shut my eyes and I’m noticing that my blinks are taking longer to pull out of than normal.  Funny how this week has left me exhausted and it wasn’t even a full one.  Four days that were all mid-terms, so the students I worked with went home early because of the track they are currently on.  So, why am I so drained?

  1. I did go to a party on Saturday night and something I ate didn’t agree with me, but I pulled out of that by Sunday afternoon.
  2. Nailed by a head cold on Monday, which left me out of it.  Had to use Nyquil to get some sleep and that’s never a comfortable snooze.
  3. Moving all of my books and dvds into the basement to prepare for the carpet removal in a few weeks.  This was done with the head cold.
  4. Freezing mornings are draining.
  5. Ex-wife stressed me out a bit.
  6. Nearly got into a really bad car accident.  Somebody stopped in the left hand lane and the person behind them swerved into my lane.  Only had about 10 feet to react and stopping wasn’t going to happen.  I swerved into the right lane (I was in the middle) and went around.  Didn’t have time to check, so I would have been smashed on both sides if someone was there.  Left me with a really bad adrenaline rush that ebbed out and I was out of it afterwards.
  7. Stressed over not being able to do book writing until March.  Maybe I’ll get some in during Winter Break, but I won’t have a desk, room, or any level of privacy.
  8. School cafeteria was closed, so I ate a lot of fast food.  This wasn’t a good idea and I tried to curb it halfway through the week, which resulted in me eating less.  So, I’m kind of hungry too.
  9. Started a career development program, but I have until June to do that.
  10. An insurance issue in the final hour.

Needless to say, I’m exhausted and out of it.  My anxiety is making me worry about it being something else since me fighting sleep is causing me to feel dizzy.  Was talking to a coworker about eating healthier, so I’m going to try to do fruit for lunch now.  I tried to stick to a thin sliced chicken panini with pickles and mustard, but I don’t know how healthy that is.  Water and a simple fruit thing might be best.  The problem is that fruit is expensive and goes bad fast.  Leaning towards grapefruit slices, but I don’t know of any other options.  Salads never fuel me for long too, so I’m hoping this is a better option to get me through the day.  Dreading when people around here find out too because then I get bombarded with suggestions, criticisms of my plans, and enough badgering for me to crawl into the nearest McDonald’s for comfort.  Another big step is to cut down non-seltzer sodas and serving size.  I say after having had 3 Pepsi’s today.

Well, this turned into an odd post about my dieting plans.  My exercise bike is going to be stashed away at some point and won’t return until after the new floors are down.  I’m not sure if I’m going to be told to keep it in the basement too.  Problem with that is it’s freezing down there in the winter and I’m not using it bundled up like I’m about to shovel snow.  I push myself to do 18-20 Miles Per Hour for 15 minutes, so I start hard and maintain that since I can’t go for long.  It’s a tactic I read online for people who don’t have a lot of time to exercise.  This means, I get off with aching legs and covered in sweat.  Walking to the bathroom next to my room for a shower is easier than trudging up two flights of stairs if it’s in the basement.  Found some weights in my closet too, so maybe I’ll start using those in the morning when I wake up.  I can put them in a better location for when I roll out of bed.

Again, I’m sure the comments will be filled with suggestions and criticisms, so please remember that I’m easily frustrated when it comes to this. Only time I successfully lost 20 pounds by biking 30 minutes a day and eating better, I gave up because my proud declaration was met with those two things.  One person told me how I could improve by changing everything I was doing.  Another simply told me how much more weight I needed to lose to no longer be obese.  Then winter struck and the bike was in the basement, so I shut down on the idea completely.  So, think before you leave a comment on this topic please.

Okay, this is a writing blog most of the time, so I really should do something about that.  I won’t be working on War of Nytefall: Ravenous for a while.  The carpet thing and me having my son for the next 3 weekends means I can’t be sure of author time.  I might slip a section in from time to time if I have the energy.  Got 5 chapters left and things are heating up, so I might wait until I get a sure run of time for it.  I’m hoping to release War of Nytefall: Eradication in that time too.  NEVER TOO LATE TO VOLUNTEER TO PROMOTE IT!  I’m dancing around all of these ideas, but I have run into one issue that I might post about tomorrow.  I’ve got a poem scheduled now, but I can push that back to Super Bowl Sunday since I’ll be busy then.  Yeah, that might be a good idea even though I have to be vague.

Goals for the week:

  1. Clear more stuff out of mine and my son’s rooms for the work.
  2. April blog post scheduling.
  3. Get some sleep.
  4. Prepare for Super Bowl party next weekend.
  5. Try to look at the outline for War of Nytefall: Savagery because that’s where the problem is.
  6. Eat fruit for lunch.  Maybe with yogurt too?
  7. Work on a puzzle that I need to finish before the floor thing.
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Top 5 of 2019: 7 Tips to Writing Characters with Healing Factors/Regeneration (#2)

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Charles Yallowitz

Coming to us from June 6, 2019!  Not much else I can say about this one.  Doesn’t have the same controversy factor as the previous 2 and compared to #1 it’s . . . Well, you’ll see next week.

Wolverine

One power that I use a lot in War of Nytefall is the regenerative powers of the Dawn Fangs.  They can heal quickly and keep fighting as long as their head and enough limbs are attached.  That second part is debatable for some characters too.  Parts can be reattached if pressed to the wounds as well.  It means that their fights can be very bloody, but only because of how I use this power.  I consider every usage to make sure it still fits, which makes me realize how healing factors might not be as easy to write about as I thought.  It can fall into abuse before you know it.  So, what are some things to consider?

  1. Consistency of the healing factor is key in terms of rate and severity of wound recovery.  You can’t have them struggle to heal a small knife wound to the arm while rapidly healing half of their body getting blown off.  Not without explaining why small wounds take longer than large wounds.  You would also need to make sure it stays that way.  Otherwise, it comes off as a power that works only as well as the story needs it and readers will lose interest in the character.
  2. Not every character with a healing factor is the time to rush into battle and take on damage.  Being able to regenerate doesn’t mean they don’t feel pain.  They still need the right kind of personality to be like Wolverine or Deadpool.  For example, a hero who doesn’t like getting hurt will be more inclined to avoid damage even if they can heal it.  Have them act accordingly.
  3. Leaping off #2, you have to be careful in making a clone of popular healing factor characters.  The rest of the powers and the name might be different, but you need to avoid giving them the same personalities.  Not easy when you have them revel in being hard to kill.  You can still go this way, but you have to prepare yourself for the comparisons and find some other way to make them stand out.
  4. Consider downsides to having a healing factor because they come up more often than you think.  Your audience has thought of them though.  Can someone with regeneration lose a tooth?  If not then do they still have their baby teeth?  Giving blood or anything with an extended piercing of the skin could pose a problem.  Has the healing factor made it that they are subconsciously less careful?  This could lead to them taking unnecessary risks.  Can they shave since hair can be regenerated as well?
  5. If you do have a combat-oriented character with a healing factor then really have some fun with it.  Downplaying it can work at times, but there should be at least one time where the power gets a ‘spotlight’ moment. Fighting heroes will have these much more than others. They love the thrill of battle, so have them abuse their power.  As long as it’s consistent, of course.
  6. While not something to do a lot, regeneration and healing factors can open the door for some extreme physical comedy.  There’s no worry about permanently hurting or killing these heroes.  So, accidents can happen or another hero can lash out in comedic rage with no concerns.  Much of this requires certain characters, story tones, and author preferences.  So, do this only if you’re sure it makes sense.
  7. At some point, you need to establish a threat to this character.  They can’t spend the entire adventure feeling invulnerable and the audience shouldn’t think they are either.  It can be anything that bypasses their hardiness.  You can have special weapons, magic, psychic attacks, devices that block the power, and any number of things that forces the character to think with more caution.  This is how you can evolve the hero or villain beyond their regenerating starting points.
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