Want to be closer to your kids? Here’s the perfect solution:
Happy Father’s Day to all you fathers out there. Being a dad is by no means an easy job, but it’s increasingly obvious that there are few–if any–jobs more important. The world needs more fathers and mothers who are there for their kids, to help them learn how to be intelligent, responsible, independent people. To all of you out there doing your best…thank you!
I know the media is under a lot of pressure to provide updates on exciting news, but I was a little annoyed to see a headline about the shooter in South Carolina reading “Suspect in deadly Charleston shooting apparently introverted with few friends.” Really? We need to have an article about that? Why would his being introverted headline news? Do we see headlines like, “Donald Trump, extrovert, running for President”? I know, it’s probably an overreaction, but seriously: why is this important?
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For that matter, did we really need the article from another site stating somberly that there are Aryan and KKK groups active in S.C. and nearby states? Uhm…duh? I’m pretty sure you can find a group in any state that hates any group you care to name. What does it matter? Usually these sorts of things are “lone-wolf” operations anyhow.
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In other news, someone posted a meme pic on Facebook yesterday. It depicted a picture Obi Wan Kenobi, captioned “How you see your candidate”, a picture of Darth Vader, with “How you see their candidate”, and lastly a picture of Jar Jar Binks with “What both of them are really like”. I guess I’m feeling rather jaded, because my first thought was, I WISH! At least Jar Jar is clueless, clumsy, but largely harmless. That last picture should really be Jabba the Hutt, Nute Gunray, or Palpatine himself.
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Then there’s this. Back in 2002 a family of kids put together their own recreation of “Jurassic Park”. In short, this is awesome. My brother and I did our own radio play of Star Wars, but this goes well beyond anything we did. My hat is off to their ambition and creativity. (Just don’t ask me to watch the entire thing, please!)
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And finally, how would it be to be singing one of your favorite songs in a fundraisers at the mall when the artist whose song you’re singing show up and joins you? Ed Sheeran pops up out of nowhere to sing a duet with Sydney Bourbeau in Edmonton, Alberta Canada, then slips back away so she can finish on her own.
As an regular RPG-er, this particular YouTube video caught my attention: How to check the balance of your D20:
Sometimes it’s not the dice-gods that are against you. It’s the dice manufacturer! Although as long as you know which one it is, a D20 that always rolls a 20 is a feature, not a bug…
You all know how down I can be on social media at times. Well, there are definitely times it can be a wonderful thing as well. Konner Suave, a newly graduated high school student from Spokane, Washington, is my exemplar:
“It is easy for people to be cruel over social media, so I decided to make an anonymous account on Instagram that would counteract the negativity seen today by posting a picture of each student and a paragraph of what makes them great, and how other people should see that too,” Konner explained in a post on the account, aptly titled “thebenevolentone3.”
Slowly but surely over the next 11 months, Konner found something kind to say about all 657 of his schoolmates. He posted the notes along with a photo of each student. Instead of just highlighting his fellow seniors, Konner gave the spotlight to students in all four grades, Today reported.
Once he got the ball rolling others would join in to say positive things about their classmates. And it’s reported that at least two similar accounts have popped up since graduation to carry on what he started.
This is a fine example of something that would appear to not be a big deal, but really adds up to one. I’m also sure that for some kids it was a big deal to them. I remember how I felt in high school when one of my teachers sent me a kind note one day after seeing me perform in an assembly. 657 similar expressions is a lot of positive energy, a lot of days lifted, and perhaps even lives changed.
Konner, you rock. With people like you in the rising generation I have reason to be hopeful.
I’m a pessimist and a worrier–or at least that’s probably how it looks to people as I come to terms with a large amount of input. Probably one of the worst things you can do is throw me into a new project under pressure if you want me to be coherent right away. I need time to take it all in, work through it, and come up with a way forward. But at first my anxiety levels spike as my mind races off looking for all the things that can go wrong, or why the schedule I’m forced into is unrealistic.
One of my abilities is to make order of chaos. But I go about it in my own way, and it’s probably not a good idea to look too closely at the front end of the process. It’s like making sausage. Eventually I’ll present you with nice, orderly links flowing smoothly from the machine. But leave me alone before then unless you want to see something ugly.
I definitely need to learn how to be less ugly in those earlier stages. It’s probably the closest I come to an “artist’s temperament”, and it probably doesn’t fly well in my line of work. I don’t do it intentionally, but at those points I tend to think aloud too much if given the chance. Probably best to lock me in a room and not let me come out until I can state my concerns and questions calmly and rationally.
As you’ve probably guessed, I’ve just been given one such project, and I’m feeling pretty stressed. There are up-sides to it, of course. This will probably be about as high-profile as I’ve been. Do well on this, and it could lead to all sorts of opportunities down the road. (Of course the flip-side is what happens if I screw it up.) I’m hoping that once I get out of the “what goes into the sausage” stage this is going to be the most fun I’ve had yet in this job and I’ll be able to really show them what I can do.
But for the next month, at least, posting may be more sporadic than usual. Please be patient…all four of you.
I’ve been listening to the audio book version of “Heir of Novron”, by Michael J. Sullivan, but I had to stop. Audio books are my commute entertainment, which is fine most of the time. The trouble comes if I finish my work week at a tense spot in the book. That happened to me a couple of times during this book, and I ended up turning to my hard copy to keep going during the weekend. I ended up reading the last hundred pages last weekend because I couldn’t possibly wait until the following Monday to find out what happened.
So yeah, good book. I’m a Michael J. Sullivan fan to the extent that I recently contributed to his Kickstarter campaign. But let me attempt to address why. Sullivan writes stories I like to read. I know that’s nothing profound, and yet it is. let me see if I can explain why.
The more I read of contemporary fantasy, the more these points are more pronounced by comparison. Sullivan, in many ways, is the anti-George R. R. Martin. Sullivan goes against the trend, and I’m glad. I need protagonists who are heroes, not merely less evil than their opponents. I need reassurance that goodness is a desirable trait, not a liability. I want to be told that right can prevail if they work very, very hard at it. Sullivan provides this in spades, and may he never change his mind.
“Heir of Novron” is a fantastic conclusion to a well-constructed series. The story picks up where it left off after “Rise of Empire,” with Arista imprisoned, Royce and Hadrian licking their wounds after being tricked into helping overthrow a major stronghold, and with the general situation looking grim for everyone. Now our boys have to try and rescue Arista and the Heir of Novron while navigating the treacherous politics of the growing Empire.
Nothing from beginning to end is wasted in this series, and I can’t think of a loose end that wasn’t tied up. Both the resolution and the ending are as satisfying as any I’ve seen. The tension is ratcheted pretty darn high as the stakes keep increasing. And all the favorite characters and supporting players get their moments to shine.
He also leaves things with little room for Royce and Hadrian, our main protagonists, to have future adventures together–something Sullivan acknowledges and doesn’t try to work around. I’m okay with that, though frankly I’d love to see a new series with the adventures of Breckton and Myron someday. I trust Sullivan could find a way to put them through the wringer while dimming their awesomeness not the slightest.
Update – 11/17/2017: I just finished this book for the second time, and would gladly repeat everything said above with one addition: not only does the series hold up under repeated reading, but a second read dispels any notion I once held that Sullivan didn’t know where it all was headed until later. On the contrary. The very first chapters of the book divulge information in passing that bear fruit half the series later. The seeds are sown for many of the primary characters to become what they are and to play the roles they eventually grow into. It’s all there, and I’m convinced now that none of it is accidental.
I’m working hard toward my goal of becoming a published writer. Technically I already am, but I don’t really count my one story in a college literary magazine that I didn’t even submit to. My creative writing professor liked one of my stories and asked if she could include it. I suspect, being their debut issue, they weren’t exactly long on submissions. The magazine didn’t survive long, and that was close to twenty years ago.
But it’s been a long, long time since I actively submitted my work for publication. That really needs to change. I like to hide behind the “mature realization that my work just isn’t up to par yet”, but I suspect it’s really just fear of rejection, just like anyone else. And yet how will I ever really know if my work is up to par? I’ve proven on several occasions that I can’t be objective about my own work. The only way to really know where I stand is to submit.
And so I’m starting to look at submitting, starting with one of the friendliest venues I can find. A writer I admire is offering one undiscovered writer a chance to have their short story included with his next self-published novel. Although only one person can win, he’s promised to give everyone feedback on their cover letter. Feedback is a benefit in itself, so I’ve really got nothing to lose. And so I’m scrambling to get a submission ready before tomorrow night.
I believe the next step is to set a goal for myself to begin submitting regularly. That will mean setting aside my current novel projects for a time in order to write a short story now and then, but I suspect it’ll be good for me. I think it’s time to start testing the waters, building a thick skin, collecting rejections, and perhaps even get some feedback. And yes, I suppose I could be pleasantly surprised.
On this is for certain. I will never achieve my goal, no matter how good I get at writing, if I don’t start submitting my work places.
I saw this video the other day, and it struck me how disasters have a way of focusing us on what’s important. When everything can be taken away from us it’s the people in our lives that matter most, more than any of the things we accumulate. We all deal with complications and chaos in life, but when things get dangerously chaotic our priorities simplify dramatically.
I’m a fan of Michael J. Sullivan, both his work and…well, him. I think he represents the professional writer of the near future, a hybrid between traditional and self-publishing, and seems to be a generally good guy. He’s built a strong following–strong enough that his Kickstarter for his next self-publishing project set all sorts of records for fiction publishing projects in the first four days. One of the keys to his success is his accessibility to his fans, as marked by the fact that of the 140+ comments on the kickstarter project page, his responses to questions and comments account for at least 30-40% of them. But one response that leapt out at me was this one:
@Stephen – most of my early works (about 8 or 9) weren’t written for publication. They were me teaching myself how to write. So, no one sees them. My first published work was number 14. There are a few decent stories in 10 – 13. But they never got picked up by a publisher and I’ve never taken the time to polish and self-publish them. Here is a complete list of my books since #14:
14. The Crown Conspiracy – Riyria Revelations #1 – released in Theft of Swords Omnibus
15. Avempartha – Riyria Revelations #2 – release in Theft of Swords Omnibus
16. Nyphron Rising – RIyria Revelations #3 – released in Rise of Empire Omnibus
17. The Emerald Storm – Riryia Revelations #4 – released in Rise of Empire Omnibus
18, Wintertide – Riyria Revelations #5 – released in Heir of Novron Omnibus
19. Percepliuis – Riyria Revelations #6 – released in Heir of Novron Omnibus
20. Antithesis – not yet published – no pending release date
21. The Crown Tower – Riyria Chronicles #1
22. The Rose and the Thorn – Riyria Chronciles #2
23. Hollow World – science fiction
24. Rhune – First Empire #1 – release date scheduled for summer of 2016
25. Dherg – First Empire #2 – release date TBD
26. Rhist – First Empire #3 – release date TBD
27. Fhrey – First Empire #4 – release date TBD
28. Phyre – First Empire #5 – release date TBD
29. The Death of Dulgath – release date Nov 2015.
Thirteen books just learning to write. If that doesn’t discourage you, you’re probably a real writer. Of course everyone’s story is different. Some publish their first novel. Some get in on their sixth or seventh. And some never do. Would it be a good or bad thing if we could see the future? Would Sullivan have taken ten years off from writing (during which he essentially gave up) had he known that someday the number of his sold novels would surpass the number of ones he would have to write to get to that point? Would he have come back to writing if he knew it would take thirteen tries to sell one?
I’d like to say that I don’t care if I ever sell or not, that I’d write anyway just because I love telling stories. But at the same time I hold on to a belief that I’m going to get there someday, that I can build the skills to write books people will want to read. Part of that is just the internal drive I’ve always had that if I’m going to do something, I want to do it well. And having people buy my books is apparently my metric of “doing writing well.”
But for now I have to deal with the growing list of novels I’ve written that I’m pretty sure…well…stink. For the moment that doesn’t seem to be a problem, since I can still somewhat tell why they stink. That might change if I get to the point where I feel I’ve done the best I can do and it’s still not good enough. But for now I find posts like Sullivan’s motivating. Yeah, I may write 13 duds. But someday I may have 16 that rock. Heck, I’d settle for one at this point.
Take care of your teeth when you’re young, folks! You’ll thank yourself later when you’re the one paying for your own dental care.
I cracked a tooth over the weekend. It could certainly be worse, but it’s still not particularly fun. It doesn’t hurt, exactly, but it’s growing increasingly sensitive. And my tongue is sore from having to rub against the sharp edge. And that, in turn, makes it increasingly difficult to talk. Fortunately I’m in IT, not sales. I don’t have to say much in the course of a day.
Unfortunately, our family’s dentist decided to take a long weekend this week and won’t even be in the office until tomorrow. And, being the first day after a long weekend, I’ll bet there are no openings tomorrow, either. I may be living with this for a while.
Your teeth: easy to take for granted, impossible to ignore once something goes wrong.
