Originally posted on Library of Erana: *Tell us a bit about yourself: My name is Joseph Batzel. I live in a small community in Utah by the name of Brigham City and have lived here since 1980 when I moved…
First, a reminder that Legends of Windemere: Path of the Traitors is live and ready to be read. I did as much marketing as I could with this one, but it doesn’t seem to be exploding like the previous ones. Doubt I’ll reach a Top 100 list outside of the New Releases, which Amazon never promotes outside of the Top 1-10 if even that. So, I’m hoping this changes now that the first week is over and that writing this doesn’t bring a lot of chaos on my head. I’ve mentioned before how the people who want me to quit look for every drop of blood to came at me over. Anyway, that’s that part of the week.
The rest of the week was one of those ‘whatever could go wrong, went wrong’. My son had Thursday and Friday off, which I planned for. What I didn’t expect was him to throw up on the bus on Monday and for his fear of eating to come back stronger than before. I lost Monday to taking care of him even though it was only motion sickness made worse by sucking down a chocolate milk 10 minutes before getting picked up. The rest of the week had me battling him over food and having no patience for it. I nearly put this issue to bed and then it got worse. Before anyone gives advice, there are no foods that he will eat no matter what and he isn’t even listening to his stomach when things get bad. Took him over 2 hours to eat one cup of Mac & Cheese because of this and that was ALL he ate that day. I’m refusing to give him snacks because I don’t want this to turn into him avoiding meals and only eating cookies. So, this sapped most of my strength and mood.
Because of that epic mess, I had trouble focusing on War of Nytefall. I got 2 chapters done, but I wrote at a slow speed. The first chapter was a lot of character intros and interactions to set a few things up. The second was Clyde’s gang having a first mission to see how they worked together and my confidence was shot during it. I can’t tell if it came out bad or my own frustration was making it impossible to see things clearly. Clyde seemed too restrained and tame here, which I was doing to have the other characters worry about there being a problem with him. It didn’t feel natural at all for him, especially after the previous chapters. The whole thing ended with him admitting that he was unsure of himself because of the secret he’s carrying. Even then, I’m not sure if I properly wrapped it up. Looking over the outline, he isn’t going to be in this state again, which might be adding to the confusion. Can a character who is always confident have a single chapter where he suffers from doubt and then realizes it isn’t like him?
On the plus side of things, we got a fun zoo trip in with friends on Friday. That food issue popped up, but my son and I had a fun morning compared to the battling on Thursday. It took a while to get home thanks to traffic, but that’s Queens. At least it wasn’t Manhattan or Brooklyn. Also picked up the pieces needed to make a Green Lantern ‘battery’, which is basically a green lantern. My son picked Green Lantern as his Halloween costume, but we can’t find one. Those we did find had reviews saying that they fell apart with a little running around. So, I’m making the lantern while my wife makes the uniform. Believe it or not, this is something I know how to design even though I forgot how to sew. Made my own Spider-Man costume in senior year of high school to go trick-or-treating one final time. Ended up coming down with the flu that day, but I made a really good costume that ended up disappearing while I was at college.
This week is going to be touch and go depending on the kid’s stomach. Have a night meeting one day, which will kill off writing at night. I’m hoping to make up for that by working tomorrow while the family is out. They aren’t happy I bowed out of the outing, but I lost so much this last week that I need the time. Today is going to be dedicated to writing the Legends of Windemere: Warlord of the Forgotten Age blurbs that I’m hoping to test on Thursday. Been putting that off for too long. Beyond that, it’s going to be War of Nytefallat every chance. All heading into next Saturday, which is:
Yom Kippur, The Jewish Day of Fasting!
Don’t expect much from me next weekend because of that. I’ll make this post in advance, but everything else will be twitches of activity or incoherent rambling. Plan on playing a video game until I’m forced to leave the house for dinner.
So, what are the goals?
Warlord of the Forgotten Age blurbs.
War of Nytefall: Loyalty writing. Really need to remember that book title and not only the series one.
Getting the kid to eat without losing my mind.
Read more One Piece and Black Cat when unable to do anything else.
Try to find other ways to promote Path of the Traitors.
Prepare December guest posts for anyone that asks for one. All I need are topics. Got 25-27 volunteers, which is great.
Do NOT starve on Yom Kippur.
Life stuff that are small, but combine to earn one slot.
Politics, deadly magic, legend, love and the machinations of gods abound in this fantasy tale of immortals, pawns and power. This is the fifth Sacred Band novel and steps aside from the usual locations to a mythic city lost in time. When Nikodemos literally falls from the sky in a god-born storm he must not only save himself from the strange and hostile customs of the place but save the city from the wrath of gods and mages. This book, more than the other Sacred Band tales, is Niko’s adventure and of all the characters he is the one who the reader takes to heart. Whereas most of the others are more than human, demigod, or wizard Niko is the fighter whose courage and honour shine brightly but he is a mortal man, with all the flaws entailed. This is Niko’s tale…
Well, as often happens, this story has taken on a life of it’s own. I’m four parts in and the action is ramping up, but it still has a bit of story left to tell. If you want to catch up and read the first three parts you can click on the links below:
As you may know, my day job was for years web developer. So, I am often asked about the plugins you can use for your WordPress blog/website. That is why this Infographic sent to me by Belle Balace of Visme was of particular interest to me. I hope you find it useful as well!
Top WordPress Visual Design Plugins
So many plugins, so little time…
To save you a lot of time researching and designing – and from the headache of decision making – here are the top WordPress visual design plugins you probably want to install shown in this Visme infographic.
One is the exiled Goddess of Chaos who has been hiding under the protection of the Baron for centuries upon centuries. The other is the young ruler of Shayd who is determined to improve her people’s lives. Yola used to do horrible things to the chaos elves because she didn’t know any better. Trinity has sworn to make anyone who hurts her people pay dearly. So, how did these two become best friends?
It’s actually simpler than one would expect. Most of the other villains treated Yola like a joke and the previous chaos elf rulers were terrified of her. Trinity is the only one to have taken her seriously and this defiance ended up turning into a respectful friendship. She still gets frustrated with the Chaos Goddess who is fairly impulsive and doesn’t always understand how mortals work. On the plus side, she is able to put the pieces back and fix the damage if she moves quickly. You could say that Trinity acts like Yola’s mom at some points, which is fine. The bond is there and they’re more human because of it.
The hardest thing about this is having an immortal be friends with a mortal. Trinity isn’t easy to get along with at times due to living a life where people die every day. This is why chaos elves aren’t the friendliest unless they’ve been away from Shayd for a while. It’s still nothing compared to the issues that come from Yola. Mortals are fleeting blips in her existence, so she has spent all of her years seeing them as either nothing or brief moments of entertainment. She’s messed with them without consequence for so long that she almost forgets that they’re living things. Yola’s friendship with Trinity is what changed her mindset. By the time you meet her, she still does some random stuff to mortals, but she asks about certain necessities first like do they need all of their brain to survive and can the heart be moved into the stomach. Her taking a moment to ask before acting is Trinity’s influence.
This isn’t to say she hasn’t had an impact on Trinity too. Imagine what it’s like seeing your people tortured and killed every day. You don’t make any friends because you never know if they’ll be around for very long. As I said before, this is the life of a chaos elf. Now, say you make friends with a powerful being that can twist reality. This person agrees to protect your people if need be and is more your ally than anyone else’s. That can change your perspective a bit and make you open to relationships. Yola gives Trinity hope that she can have some kind of normal life and that she’s not alone in protecting the chaos elves. This connection comes into play many times later in the series when Trinity finds herself up against the wall and turning to the other side.
This relationship will be tested in Path of the Traitors. To put it simply, Yola is given a chance to reclaim her title and old life at time where she feels lost. The only problem is that she needs to have more power and that comes from absorbing the aura from someone she has cast plenty of spells on. In short, Yola needs to devour Trinity in order to return to Ambervale, home of the gods and goddesses. Being an immortal, she’s never had to consider the consequences of her actions and caring for a mortal makes things even more difficult. What will she do? Only three things are for sure:
Name: Good evening. I’m Sir Edric Greenlock, also known as the Hero of Hornska.
Which book/world do you live in? I live in the city of Awyndel, mostly (obviously I have my estate in the country and some property in Amphios). Many of my adventures and heroic doings occur in far flung corners of the world, but the latest volume of my biography, cunningly entitled Sir Edric’s Kingdom, mostly takes place in Awyndel.
Tell us about yourself: (Name, race/species, etc.) I hope you’re not suggesting I’ve got any elven blood in me. Look at the roundness of my ears, the beard bristling like a lion’s mane. I’m a pure-blood human and I shall shoot any villain who claims otherwise. More importantly, I’m also a knight, and wealthier than half of Awyndel put together. You can’t buy class, you know. Can’t sell it, either, which is a bit of a shame.
Welcome to this week’s edition of Lisa Burton Radio. I’m your host, Lisa the robot girl. Life is hard, and we all go through some rough patches. Some of us go through extraordinary patches, and we aren’t the same when we come out.
Imagine for a moment, you’re the most popular girl in school. You’re good at sports, tons of friends or hopeful friends orbit around. You’re beyond pretty. Then one day, you’re abducted. Everything changes, who you are, who you hope to become, gone in an instant. But it’s worse than that. What happened to you took a turn for the paranormal. That’s the case with my special guest today. “Welcome to the show, Esme.”
“Thank you Lisa, I’m honoured to be your guest.”
“Why don’t you tell our listeners where you are right now, please?”
“I’m trapped in a mirror.”
“Ooooh, tough blow, Esme. Mirrors have been magical…
Let’s be honest. Bad guys can have friends too. You don’t see it very often though. We like to believe that villains are incapable of having a positive relationship. They always have to backstab, betray, and connive against those that are close to them. Is that really the way to succeed as a villain? I beg to differ. So, what are some things to consider when it comes to making two villains be genuine friends?
Give the characters something in common besides being evil. If that’s all you have to go on then it’s doomed to end in betrayal. Sure, you can go that route for comedic effect, but that’s really about it. Maybe the villains enjoy the same movie or the same food. Perhaps they both have an interest in restoring stained glass windows. The sky is the limit for what can spark a friendship.
Write scenes for your villains that do not revolve entirely around them being villains. I know this is difficult because the point of view usually follows the heroes. That’s why they get the better relationships. You can always have things start with discussing the plans or whatever they’re doing that connects to the plot. Yet, you can slip in a mention of doing something later or end the scene with them discussing a personal thing. Maybe one of them has a crush on another character and needs advice. This is character building basics that even villains deserve.
When working with friends, you need to have them react accordingly to other having a victory or failure. Show that they care instead of having them go through the motions or ignore the situation entirely. Honestly, there really isn’t a rule that villains can’t cry. It isn’t like they know the audience is watching them, so they don’t have to keep their guard up all the time. If they do that then you really have to wonder if they suffer from severe paranoia and are worth fearing as a villain in the first place.
These relationships are difficult to do with a main baddie. They tend to be solitary to some extent, so a friendship might work better with the subordinates. After all, those characters are in it together and know that they might be seen as expendable by their leader. Strength can be taken in the knowledge that they are in the same boat. For example, they can help each other on missions and one may come to the other’s defense in the case of failure. Much like heroes bond over fighting side-by-side, the field agents of villainy can do the same.
Never overlook the role of adviser when it comes to villains. They seem to always be conniving, greedy worms that can only say ‘yes’, but that doesn’t do anything to help the characters. It’s fairly empty in terms of story roles. Create a bond of trust where the adviser can be honest without fear of punishment. Over the course of a long series, you can have this person show genuine care for the main villain’s mental state and future. They believe in this person, so they want them to succeed with falling into self-destruction. It brings a fairly human side to things.
Villains who laugh together can be friends. Laughter is a very powerful force. Even if it is maniacal and eerie.
Unless you’re working with a robot or the undead, your villain has a heart. It might be in a different location, shape, or be called something different, but . . . well, we’re not really talking about the organ. Villains may be evil, but they still have emotions. We tend to think of them as beings of fear, rage, greed, and the other negatives because that prevents us from seeing them as ‘human’. Yet, this isn’t always the case and you can make a deeper bad guy if you add a true friendship. It proves that they are merely people who chose a dark path and they can possibly find redemption because there is this one glint of goodness. This is why the friendship should be made to be genuine with interactions that show the bond of trust, loyalty, and respect. You don’t need it to be as stretched out as the heroes, but you can hit these points simply by how they react to each other in conversations. For many villains, these exist before the story even begins.
Legends of Windemere 