I live... again!

Well, not really. I've just let this particular blog lie fallow for a while.
Stuff's been happening. You know: life.

But I'm trying to grapple with that and maybe, just maybe, I'll come out on top.

First order of business: I'm still collecting RPGs. My favorite is still White Wolf Game Studios' "Mage: The Awakening", and my heartbreak from the announcement that the line was being ended has almost healed. Perhaps some time soon I'll be able to look into their re-worked Mummy RPG, or even expand my GURPS library.

Secondly, I wrote a bit of fanfiction a while back. Twelve chapters, at least two or three of which I'm still not completely happy with, but I'll get back to them when my writer's muscles are better-developed, based on characters and situations created by another online writer. They're under a pen-name, but I'll pass along links to anyone who expresses any interest. And this leads to...

Thirdly, the fellow whose characters/situations I borrowed in the previous paragraph was sufficiently impressed that he asked me to help him with not one, not two, but three "trunk novels" (writer-talk for "big ol' projects that I haven't managed to finish yet"). As this was, for me, something like Jim Butcher (of "Dresden Files" and "Codex Alera" fame) offering me a beta-reader position for some new novels based in worlds other than the previous two series, I jumped at the chance and had an absolute blast coming up with themes and variations on the first draft of the most outlandish one, "A Million Tomorrows". Key elements include an artificially-intelligent house, virtual reality, murder mystery, and a talking dog. That was about four months ago. Not that we've made no progress, but I find that the world is fascinating and the story possibilities are very strong... but we're still stumped on execution.

To deal with that, I've naturally turned to the vast collection of books on writing advice I already have, and added a few extras. One is Chuck Wendig's "250 Things You Should Know About Writing"
His website is here: "Terrible Minds" and the specific book is here: 250 Things You Should Know About Writing

I recommend it for a number of reasons, not least of which is the price. It's hard to beat $0.99, right? Also, it's definitely written for writers who didn't get degrees in Literary Criticism, including "Take It For A Test Drive". Meaning: take the protagonist or other major character out to lunch (on paper, of course), or through a story or even a full-fledged adventure that may or may not have anything to do with the main story, but will give you some idea about how he/she/it/they/whatever thinks, feels, acts and so on.

He also offers a blog with writing challenges, which I fully intend to take up as part of my "writer's exercise regimen" to make writing a more regular part of my life.

The other one I'm working with is from Lisa Cron, and the web presence is here: Wired For Story
This includes a series of twelve "checkpoints" for any given story. I was going to use them as a "live" discussion of "A Million Tomorrows", but I think I'll keep it private for now. Legalities may apply, after all...

With the original writer's permission, I allowed another writer-friend of mine to give a critique, which seems to have drawn blood. Not "knife-to-the-guts" kind, but "knuckle-sandwich-to-the-cakehole" kind: it hurts, but I'm still of a mood to wipe my mouth, look the other writer in the face and say, "Thank you, sir, may I have another?" This is important, folks, because whether or not "A Million Tomorrows" is "mine", I took that editorial shellacking and I'm happy to come back for more. There was a time when I would have just slunk back into my hole and pulled it shut after me... but this story has gotten its hooks into my heart. And by all the gods, I will finish what I have started on it.

Who knows, maybe sometime soon, I'll have my own domain name with announcements about our book being published. Stay tuned...

Credit where it's due

The "photo" attached to my blog is just one of several examples of the intersection between how I wish I looked, a costume I might someday be able to assemble, and a bit of how I actually look. My beard's a bit fuller and my hair only recently got trimmed to approximately this short length in the back; it's normally a bit more visible around the base of my skull. Overall, though, you could print out a picture of this character's head and my friends and relatives might see the resemblance. Or not.
The image is a sample of a 3D character called "Dark Guardian", available for purchase through Daz3D. Search for the specific phrase, or the general theme of Steampunk if you'd like a few other interesting things to play with. The Dark Guardian is a variation of the "C.I.S. Operative for M3" figure, created and likely copyrighted by Lourdes Mercado
http://www.daz3d.com/i.x/shop/artistlist/-/?artist=5635
The intellectual property rights in this instance are a little fuzzy, as far as I can tell, but I figure that as long as I'm not generating any money off the usage, nor am I costing the copyright holders any money, I should be safe.

Bringing my interests in 3D art into play, I wish very much that I had the time, equipment and skills to work on CGI. Daz3D has done a bang-up job in creating a graphics program and business model that brings the software and subsequent tools to the masses in a reasonably priced package, along with open forums for users to swap tips and finished products. G'wan over and look over the galleries, then look through the 3D Software section. Hint: Daz 3D is Free, no charge, nothing. Bryce, Carrara, Hexagon and Mimic will set you back a bit, but the whole shebang will give you the kind of CGI tools and toys that most Hollywood effects houses could use very well.

Futures: changeable or locked?

Today's oddment comes fresh from an odd sort of bush that sprouts rich, blue foliage that faded... and shrank... slowly before my eyes. The fruit was a double-bulb of dry, leathery rind, and the fruit (which filled both lobes and had a thin spread in the tissue connecting them) tasted differently: there are no words to precisely describe the taste of the upper bulb, as it might have tasted of sparkling sweet or heavy bitter, while the fruit of the lower bulb had a consistency of flavor highly unusual for such things. I sucked on a few small, granular seeds for a moment, but they melted in my mouth with only the flickering memory of their texture and... something else. A fruit of time, the past and the future. Perhaps if properly prepared, it might grant a vision of times to come, or clarify the perception of times gone. I'll soon see...

Idle thoughts wander through the mind of a fellow in search of a job. Thoughts like: "If only I had a guaranteed-accurate ironclad date of exactly where and when my next job would be, along with the salary and the nature of the job."
Followed with questions like, "What if I knew for certain that I'd get a job that I knew would suck?" or "What is the range of accuracy for a prediction?"
Ran Ackels (author of Immortal: RPG, currently published by Jikkarro Enterprises) once opined that prophecy had a range, with murky but changeable on one end, and diamond-clear and utterly unchangeable at the other. So, when folk go to a medium or other such folk who claim to see the future, should the accuracy of the forecast be selectable? A certain Mr. Deegan (www.dominic-deegan.com) allows his clients one question, which most of them waste by phrasing them to allow Deegan to accurately answer "Yes" or "No." And if there's a sliding scale, how should the consumer and the merchant establish the nature of that sliding? Hard-driving executive might be willing to pay top dollar for the clearest possible view of his future (which includes such delights as embezzlement, bankruptcy, a media-circus trial and a long, glamor-free stint in jail), but would he be willing to pay more for signs and hints about how his future might take another tack?

Might be an idea for a couple of stories in there...