Soul Sucking

There is simply no other way to describe it - moving can be an absolute and utter soul sucking exercise.  

Despite taking three days to pack, bag and box things with the help from my inlays and my wife's aunt and uncle, the process of dragging my family's stuff from one house to another was an effort I'd rather never repeat again.  I do believe that if ever there was an experience that would resemble the ripping of one's life essence from their body, I daresay I could now relate to it.  Vampires and soul leeching entities beware, I can now sense it happening before it is too late!

After living in our first home for eight years, we finally decided that, two children and their accoutrements and toys later, we had outgrown our semi-detached.  After four months of searching and dealing with the sale of our own house, we finally committed to and bought a new house.  I dare not say home, as I can't quite relate to it as "home" just yet.  Home is more the sense of belonging and familiarity you develop with your surroundings; you've developed your habits, tendencies and instinctively know where things are and when they out of place.  Less than a week in, we can't call it "home" yet.

My two girls took to the change remarkably well.  The first night was an absolute gong show, more so because of the fast food, lack of sleep and general over-tiredness that makes little kids into demon-djinni of immeasurable reserves of energy and equal amounts of dim-wittedness.  Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, they just picked the wrong two days to bananas on me.  I mean full blown B-A-N-A-N-A-S.  Parents with two kids under the age of five will instantly relate.  For those of you about to start, beware.  For those of you without kids, I have only scowls.

My wife had a more emotional response, which she is apt to have when lacking sleep.  For her, the old house was a near physical thing she had to detach from.  We bought the house, got married and raised our two girls there, making wonderful memories along the way.  To her, the move was more than a step up to a newer, larger home.  It was like ripping out a part of herself.  During our final clean and inspection, I found her crying no less than three times.  My consolations only went so far.

All this said, we now have many more memories waiting to be created, new discoveries and challenges to overcome.  For myself, I can't wait to make my house into a home, particularly the little niche in the basement I carved out for myself as my man-cave slash inspiration and typing room.

SFWA World Building Questions - Part 2

A continuation of this previous post, I decided to tackle examining the second portion of this exhaustive (daunting and exhausting if you try to answer it all) list of questions to help formulate an author's world building exercises.

SFWA World Building Questions

Part Two, Physical and Historical Features

Map of the Belgeriad & Mallorean

General:  The geography for the Ochra Cycle is fairly expansive.  It's certainly not continental spanning, like the Belgariad and Mallorean series, or quite as large as the Song of Ice and Fire series.  It covers a large enough region that travel from one side to the farthest expanse certainly takes weeks on horseback; I haven't bothered to account for precise distances, mostly because it hasn't enough of a direct impact on the story to bother.  The region is largely a fairly flat expanse, surrounded by a ridge line of mountains to the south, west and along the northern edges, while the eastern edge is dominated by the coastal line and islands.  There are certainly mountains, rivers, expansive forests and whatnot therein.  Like the map of Middle Earth, only the most pertinent locations are specified.

Map for A Song of Ice & Fire

The questions of other races has already been described herein to some degree.  The humans are largely divided into three kingdoms, for lack of a better term, while we have the orcs on their island off the coast (think of Japan, just off the Asian continent), the dwarven region of Naro nestled against the foothills of the southern mountain ranges, the ratmen in the southern reaches in the Swamps of Shenim, the goblin herds and other monsters of their ilk in the Kevian Ranges, also along the southern edge of the map.  To the west and off the map are the elven lands, purposefully left undefined; they after all vacated this entire region centuries before to allow these races, particularly humans, the chance to settle and thrive or succumb to their own devices.  This left several ruins spotted throughout the lands, ancient elven settlements and cities abandoned, nearly all of which are decayed to ruin and lost to the annals of history.  They of course remained behind with a token force, advisors to keep the peace and nudge "the new kids around the block."  This advisory role is still present, simply much more behind the scenes, much less prevalent.

Since the elves have not visited the Imperial Courts of the J'in Empire in centuries, much myth and mystery surrounds them.  The events surrounding the elven emigration out of this region of course led to the creation of a particular secondary character, a guy by the name of Masaki.  Masaki is the pre-eminent archaeologist and ruin diver of the J'in Empire; a guy with a bad attitude and ego to boot.  Since he is a character that deals with digging up corpses, let alone the remote possibility of touching dead flesh, he is a rather repulsive individual to the samurai.   He reminds me a little of the french archaeologist in Raiders of the Lost Ark, La Roche.  Of course I now need a holy grail of sorts for Masaki to go diving into, as well as a treasure worthy of his motivations.  This further led to the creation of a setting where the elven city has fallen to ruin and been buried under years of dirt and sand, yet underground ruins and basement complexes remain.  Creating challenges therein was a simple matter of thinking it like a Waterdeep scenario for AD&D; traps, monsters, baddies, treasure, etc.

Climate and Geography:  The hand drawn map I've been working from defines the major regions, revers, mountains and forests.  The climate is essentially equitable to that of the Japanese / Korean / Chinese portion of Asia; temperate warm with high humidity, colder winters with a fairly abundant snowfall in winter, much more so in the mountains and foothills.

Natural Resources:  Aside from that, flora and fauna are the same, providing at least some semblance of familiarity for the reader.  Of course there are a number of beasts and nasties that are unique (this is a fantasy environment after all).  Since this is a fantasy setting, magic has largely displaced any advances into sciences and engineering to a scale reminiscent of Renaissance Europe, and we certainly won't see any steampunk / diesel punk in the Ochra series.  The style of the architecture for the primary kingdom involved is based on the Sengoku Period of Japan, so the 15th to 17th centuries.  Given the scale and scope of the region, natural resources for construction (timber and stone) are relatively common enough, methods of extraction and refinement advanced enough to allow for the architecture you would expect to see in 16th century Japan or so, castles included.  There is an abundance of farmland; essentially a breadbasket region.

Certain regions certainly play host to more abundant resources than others.  The dwarves of Naro obviously have a mountain range at their back, providing for massive stone works and mining (oh, the cliche).  Not far from them, the Swamps of Shenim, a region teeming with life and unique natural remedies, yet otherwise fairly agrarian.  The Plainsfolk are essentially the stewards for the massive herds of wild beasts that resemble a buffalo, which serve as a primary source of meat and food, while defining their way of life and customs.  The J'in Empire is as closely akin to the Japanese / Korean / Chinese of the Sengoku period as one could imagine; they've settled in their regions, replete with arable farmland, cities and castles built up and developed to protect and support their way of life.  The orcs rely on piracy and slavery to maintain their holdings on the islands off the continental coast, while the Free States, the closest human kingdom and the most victimized by these attacks, is a military power in their own right, their mercenary companies the best available.

World History:  Not much of the ancient history is directly dealt with.  Tidbits of pertinent info are provided, largely to avoid info dumps.  In a nutshell, there was a war between the two pantheons, with the eldest and their creations (goblins, giants, leviathans, orcs, etc) against the younger and their creations (elves, dwarves, dragons, fairies, etc).  In the end the elves led the younger pantheons' forces to victory as the gods stalemated themselves; the elves remain the dominant superpower.  Humans were created thereafter as a neutral party, a buffer species to keep things honest, so to speak.  This ancient history is known and recorded in detail by the elves, remembered by most other races of the times through oral tradition.  Humans know only of this era by way of myth and legend; Masaki, of course, has some further insights through his journeys.

I won't go into any of the specifics for the World History and the Kingdom-specific histories.  There simply isn't enough room for that massive a wall of text, nor much motivation to reveal it all.

In the next instalment, the SFWA World Building questions tackle the magic system.

Show Review: Helix

Given my day job, two kids and the various demands of daily life, I typically find myself with only a few hours of spare time to devote to watching television. That's why 'New Show' season is typically a fairly hectic time of research, thinning the list of potential candidates and then PVR-ing a few to determine which make the final cut for long-term (read a season) viewing.  Every once in a while I'll drop some of these shows part way through the season.

One of the shows that caught my attention early on was a program that didn't even launch until this year: Helix (links to IMDB).  The commercials were suitably vague enough to pique my interest.  I knew it involved medical viruses, had some horror/suspense elements to it and took place in an Antarctic station.  The cast isn't a list of well known actors, which can sometimes make or break a show.  The production quality and complexity of plot lines are typically high on my list of requirements before I follow a prgram; this I found in Helix, in spades.

The idea of a medical based horror/suspense is certainly nothing new, and it brings with it many of the common tropes and ideas expected from a medical suspense-thriller/horror.  The concept was popularized long before the more recent Resident Evil computer games and cinematic interpretations, I Am Legend, 28 Days After, et al.  Helix has a production quality that matches anything on television.  Set in a sub-terranean base located in the Antarctic, the distant and remote locale a character in and of itself.  The music and background sounds are exceedingly similar to the Resident Evil score, which really adds to the eerie feeling to each episode.  

The driving force behind the complexity of the plot is the mystery behind the medical pathogen that is infecting the base.  A team from CDC is sent to deal with the outbreak, facing a series of complications, and personnel with their own counter-motivations.  Since there are so few of the viewing audience that have the medical and bio-chem expertise to really critique the science or techniques behind the show (which certainly includes me), the disparity of the science and that level of knowledge makes the pathogen akin to a sort of magic.  We see the effects, we understand there is a scientific reasoning behind the infection and are shown through the research the characters conduct just how it works, yet for all we know of the machinations of a pathogen and vectors, it may as well be magic.

I find the concept of the show as incredibly interesting, the production and the acting engaging.  The concept and execution behind the Resident Evil film (the first, none of those follow-ups) was one I thoroughly enjoyed; I Am Legend is another film I enjoyed.  Both of these films were based on heavy use of computer graphics and violence.  The television series Helix has the same medical background and conspiracy, yet after two episodes, the majority of the action and suspense seems to be based on the threat of the pathogen and the interaction of the incredibly frightened personnel of the base, and the hidden agendas that are bit-by-bit being revealed.  Thusfar, I find worth Helix to really be worth my investment of time.  I'm really looking forward to the following episodes.

 

Have you seen Helix?  If not, I recommend you give it a try.

 

deviantART Spotlight

The artwork below is copyrighted to ranoartwork. I make no claim to this work as my own.

One of the many things I do to stem writer’s block and keep the creative juices flowing is surfing (insert link) deviantART. Just by checking out the most popular submissions over the last eight hours every couple of days is more than enough to give some flash of insight into a story arc that may be waiting to burst, or un-stall one waiting to carry on. It may not be a full-fledged story, but a component on one I’m currently working on – scenery scenes are spectacular for this. In my own way, I’d like to recognize these artists for truly amazing artwork, be it photography, ink on canvas, or manipulated photons in digital form.


Canaan by Ranoartwork


In doing the research for the upcoming novels in the Ochra Cycle, I'm always on the lookout for good, thematic scene pieces like this one.  In this particular case, it provides a stunning visual for a part of the plot that had thusfar been very vague.  I know I want to "go there," and yet the "there" that I'm referring to was never fully realized; it is much later and not a priority.  That said, this piece nailed the spirit of what I was looking for.

When my eldes daughter first saw Canaan by Ranoartwork, she immediately squeeled "Aladdin!"  Truth be told, this was one of my first thoughts as well, until I started overlaying my story's plot points.  The rendering of the colours and the scale are utterly gorgeous.  It shows a city in the midst of an utterly desolate landscape, a sky with no clouds.  The buildings in the foreground enhance the perspective that this is all part of a larger city.  What we see here is perhpas a central religious site, or a caliph's palace.  The people in the foreground are small, lacking detail and seem to be either observing themarvel of this palace, or heading towards it as if on a  pilgrimage.

In my story's case this is no longer a place of safety and security, not a place for a pilgrimage, certainly not a setting for anything from Alladin.  It is one of the focal points for the overall plot lines, a city far removed from the main setting of the storyline, a city state with a deep undercurrent of something dark and sinister - a trope that could be applied to any epic fantasy!  This piece helps reinforce that imagery for me.  The grandeur of the palace is a symbol of power and dominance, a will to overcome the elements and create something where humanity would otherwise never survive.  There is beauty to be found as well, of course: the architecture, the grandeur, the people and their culture, not all is corrupt and malignant.

I simply find Canaan to be a terribly well executed scenery piece, depicting a foreign culture and architetcure.  It draws you in and makes you want to tell the stories that occur in the back alleys, the politics and trading of favours and goods that make this city equally the cesspool it may be forced to be, as well as the oasis it strives to be.

For anyone interested, here is the link: Ranoartwork's DeviantArt gallery.




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Trip to New York City

After much planning and some management of expectations, my wife and I joined two other couples for a long-weekend trip to New York City.  Leaving from two cities, the plan was to meet in NYC on the Thursday afternoon and run through a few pre-planned suppers and shows with ample free time to do some shopping and generally just take in the city.  With all our children staying behind under the supervision of their grandparents, three sets of moms and dads blissfully recalled/relived life prior to becoming parents.

Fog and Delays:  The two other couples were lucky enough to leave and arrive prior to the fog getting really bad.  A spike in the temperature basically fogged in the airports at Newark, La Guardia and JFK, delaying a lot of flights and cancelling many others.  After three abortive attempts to reschedule into later flight (along with everyone else), we finally opted to catch the first flight the next day.  We got the last room in the hotel at the terminal.  After showering and relaxing a bit, we ended up getting drinks at the hotel bar and supper at the restaurant.  Needless to say copious amounts of alcohol finally settled the nerves; we really needed those drinks, at one point both my wife and I nearly pushing one of the American security officials a little too far with our attitude.  Travel Tip:  Call the cancellation service for your airline before you reserve at any hotel.  They can save you a fortune on the room rate, something they can’t or won’t do after you’ve checked into a room.  In our case, we could have saved over $200 on the room.

9/11 Memorial Tour:  We finally made it and hooked up with one couple at Macy’s, which was blissfully empty on Friday.  Collecting at the 9/11 Memorial site for noon, we took the tour.  Being a member of the CF, I can say this was a humbling experience, akin to visiting the Canadian National Vimy Memorial, the memorial at Thiepval or the MeninGate Memorial (Note 1).  The site security is just like entering an airport, something my wife and I were terribly familiar with at this point (bag in tray, empty pockets, remove shoes-belt-watch, display dog tags for scanning).  Once on the sight, memories of that tragedy take on a whole new meaning, particularly when you look up-up-up at the Freedom Tower and imagine two of those crumbling down around you.  Travel Tip:  Definitely pre-register for the walking tour, as you bypass the hundreds of people just looking to get in; prepare for some dagger-like stares as you walk down the express lane.  You also get the survivors’ experience and insight on the events that took place after the impacts.  In our case, we had a woman reduce the majority of our group to tears.  Bring tissue for the Memorial Exhibition – you’re gonna’ need ‘em.

Note 1:  During a Canadian Forces sponsored battlefield tour, I had the honour and the privilege to not only witness but participate in this daily ceremony.

FAO Schwarz:  Honestly and truly, I got nothing.  This place is so over the top of a toy store, yet in a good way.  Take the largest Walmart you can think of, divide in two and place one half on the other to make two storeys, replace **EVERYTHING** with toys and candy, and that may give you an indication of how overwhelming that experience could be.  So close to Christmas, it seemed obvious we should get our children and niece something.  The gargantuan problem was what to get and still have room in our bags for anything more than a toothbrush.

Club 21 / Nutcracker / Campbell’s Apartment:  Only the second time to NYC, we recommended Club 21 to our friends and the experience could not have turned out better.  The ambiance is amazing, the staff incredibly accommodating and easy-going.  Our sommelier was an absolute hit, recommending a few wines off the list we were looking at.  After asking what everyone ordered, he paired us with a white and red that sang with our food.  Travel Tip:  If you are visiting NYC and can meet the dress code, which isn’t anything extraneous, make yourself the time to eat here.

After a great meal and lots of liquor, my wife and I went our own way to see the Nutcracker at the New York City Ballet.  Our taxi driver got us to the Lincoln Center exactly three minutes prior to the show.  Once seated, we realized maybe enjoyed a smidge too much liquor; that said, the show was phenomenal!  The production, outfits, the dancing, all of it was top-notch.  Definitely something we will be taking our two girls to go see once they get a bit older.  Travel Tip:  Friday night traffic means long wait times to get a cab, and long drives.  We were lucky not to have to wait for the first scene to end and the lights to dim before we could go in.  By the way, don’t try to take pictures in the Lincoln Center; they politely but firmly remind you of their policy.

After our ballet, we met our friends at Campbell’s Apartment for a final couple of cocktails.  It was later at night on a Friday, so I was not too surprised to see it was well occupied.  We lucked out and got a table up in the balcony overlooking the bar proper, which meant we were both secluded from the throngs and somewhat muffled from the massive decibel output from below.  I tried a couple of single-malts I was looking at, quickly striking one from my 'Buy and Try' list; just not worth buying the bottle.

Last Day:  Our final day was largely relaxed, dropping by Macy’s (Travel Tip:  Macy’s on a Saturday near Christmas is simply foolish, with scenes resembling Black Friday) and then going through the Bryant Park Christmas Market.  We did a walking tour of 5^th avenue and the Christmas decorations, the tree at Rockefeller, followed by a nice supper before retiring to the hotel bar for a bit.  Only thing left was packing for out return trip and ensuring the two alarms and wake-up call were set.

Omnibus Post

Since I don’t have one all encompassing subject, I thought I’d throw down a few things to catch-up.  

Sickness Absolutely Sucks:  First and foremost, the last twenty days have sucked.  A dry, hacking cough that comes in spells, they last for upwards to two minutes straight.  At the end of it, I’m curled up into a ball, my stomach crying out like I just finished 500 sit-ups, face flushed and eyes bloodshot.  Sounds like fun, right?  I wouldn’t wish this on anyone.  It got so bad that I started scaring my girls; while I was on all fours trying not to die, my youngest got the courage to come and rub my back, consoling me that ‘everything will be alright.’  Cute, right?  

One particularly bad night found me bruising several ribs and straining my diaphragm, making it pretty hard to breathe and near impossible to sleep.  After watching one of my bouts, the doctor pretty much just confirmed I didn’t have pneumonia and prescribed a narcotic cough suppressant (goodness doesn’t methadone work like charm); sure made going to work an unusual experience.  Three doctors later and I am still coughing like an idiot.

Frustrating NaNoWriMo:  As a result of the previous issue, my NaNoWriMo has so far been a bust.  Its pretty hard to commit to writing when all you want to do every waking minute is go to sleep.  And stop coughing.  It’s not that I don’t have the material to work with, just neither the will or the physical capability to concentrate long enough to capture what I would.  Things have improved enough for me to work on this blog post, which means I will soon be addressing my significantly deficient contribution to NaNoWriMo.  Do I think 50k is doable?  Likely not, but I’m gonna’ give it my damndest, despite work.  I may have to cut back on the cough suppressant and just hope my body is near done fighting this bug off.

Work Life:  Normally fairly hectic and occupied throughout the day, there are bouts of time where I’m suddenly without anything critically occupying my time.  Under these circumstances I typically open up whatever I’m working on at the time and throw down whatever I can in the time I have.  Most recently a rash of documents and administration seems to have eaten away these pockets of time.  Next week I’ve been requested/tasked to run a Base-wide security training exercise.  It’s been a while since I’ve been in an operational context and I’m looking forward to getting back to tradecraft and pointy-end of stick activities.

Queensryche:  I’ll admit that the Empire album (released 1990) had some absolutely spectacular tunes.  The depth and impact of the lyrics, combined with the soaring (and sometimes haunting) voice of Geoff Tate made this one of my favourite bands during that era.  For almost two decades though, I completely lost touch with their music.  Not until a recent trip of reminiscence on YouTube did I come across Silent Lucidity, one of their greatest hits.  I then did a quick search to discover the factions that split the band.  That said, I spent some time searching for the songs on their recent albums and have to say that the addition of Todd La Torre has rekindled the older vibe, and quite frankly, rekindled my interest in the band and their music.

One Down: Two to Go....

Lord of the Rings – The Fellowship of the Ring

A short while ago I found myself with a fairly light reading stack and decided to tackle a project I had been contemplating for some time, yet never got around to.  The task was daunting and I was biased against re-reading the Tolkien classic, Lord of the Rings, because of how difficult I remembered it.  Let me be honest, the thought of skipping over parts to simply immerse myself into the film adaptation was incredibly powerful.  Each time I consoled myself that it would get better and the accomplishment of reading the trilogy would compensate.  I can’t say I was wrong.

This certainly won’t be a critique of the work, because the plot is well known and been reviewed in far better detail by far more qualified people than I.  Instead I’ll concentrate on what I took out of it and some key notes.

Scene from Bladerunner, a movie
that added to the written work

First things First: Comparisons of Tolkien’s prose to Steve Jackson’s films are obvious and in many ways an entirely appropriate filter for the reader.  The imagery conveyed was incredibly complementary to the written works, an achievement I would think both Jackson and the Tolkien family are immensely proud of and happy for.  Having seen the film trilogy, it is impossible not to make the visual reference to the cinematography as you read.  The only other SF/F film adaptation I can recall off the top of my head with any kind of success and relevance to the original written work is Bladerunner; despite deviations from Philip K. Dick’s written plot, the movie itself was an absolute masterpiece.  As an aside, the most astounding failure would have to be Starship Troopers <shudders>.

Scene from a movie <cough> that failed
in almost every respect compared to the written work

The prose for Fellowship of the Ring is dense and takes a while to get accustomed to.  Written in Third Person Omni, I liken it to The Last of the Mohicans, which appears to be written in a way to be read out loud, the descriptive elements almost better spoken aloud than simply read.  It is relatively easy to see why a new reader to epic/high fantasy would turn their nose after trying to read one of the most revered books of the genre.  Tolkien’s work is certainly not for everyone and I could sympathize why new-to-the-genre readers would turn away.  The pace at the beginning of the novel is slow, introducing the Hobbit worldview and way of life.  Combined with the style of prose, it can be a tough read.  This said, once the ‘code’ is cracked, the prose becomes a character in and of itself, an innate luxury to the plot that draws you further into Middle Earth.

Some key elements to the Fellowship that made specific impact:

Tom Bombadil:  Apparently removed from the film version, largely due to pacing, film length and budgetary reasons, I can see why.  Frodo and gang leave The Shire escaping the dark riders only to be forced into a nasty little forest, complete with Hobbit-eating trees; Tom sings to said tree, setting them free.  Tom also assists in dealing with the Barrow Wight, once again through song.  For Tom everything is a reason for a sing-along jingle, like a guy desperate to get to the nearest karaoke and just decided to sing along while he went to one.  Most shocking for me was the fact Tom Bombabdil knew Frodo had the ring, and then placed it on his finger to no effect.  Elrond’s reference to Tom also makes for somewhat bizarre reading; one of the ageless and most wise has little other than to add Tom’s an ‘odd sort.’  One of Tom’s most evocative lines does get used, spoken by Treebeard as he describes his wrath for the Orcs in the cinematic version of The Two Towers.  In Tolkien’s own words, Tom is more a concept, a characterization of pacifism in a post-WWII world.

Flight from the Village of Bree:  In the cinematic version, the Nazgul send four of their kind in to assassinate the Hobbits in an incredibly stirring sequence.  The book draws out some shenanigans with the residents of Bree and has Aragorn lead them to Amon Sul, but not before getting lost in the woods and eventually heading back to the East Road and finally meeting Glorfindel at the Ford of Bruinen near Rivendell – notably not Arwen.

The Mines of Moria:  In this case, I completely believe the cinematic version outshines the written original.  The visuals, the pacing and tone were excellently done.  From the deep dark recesses throughout, to the Cave Troll battle and ultimately the fantastically rendered “You Shall Not Pass!” sequence and sense of loss the party suffered as they fled was terribly well conveyed.  Some parts of Jackson’s work I found entirely forgettable: the Frodo/Aragorn balance beam-bridge sequence, as well as the way the goblins literally spider their way down the columns in the Second Hall.

Lothlorien – Tale of a Dwarf and an Elf:  One of the pieces of Tolien’s work I found infinitely more enjoyable was the relevance of Galadriel’s presence on Gimli.  She profoundly impacts Gimli, and he her.  Although a generally sheltered time for the party, it allowed a much needed convalescence after suffering the loss of Gandalf, their guide and defacto leader.  The connection these two formed is relevant in further portions of the trilogy and helps form one of the key points that build on Gimli and Legolas’ friendship.

Death of Boromir:  The end faced by Boromir was tragic and wrenching.  A proud man looks to find a solution to the impending doom his people face, the raging bull behind the Iron Curtain, so to speak.  So greatly portrayed by Sean Bean, the cinematic version was true to the emotional impact of Boromir’s sacrifice.  A flawed Man who saw a means to an end that was too much for him to handle, he redeemed himself in as glorious a fashion a man like him could have.  I was ecstatic to hear Sean Bean would play Boromir and could not have been happier with the acting. Along with Gandalf’s fall, I think Bormir’s sacrifice is one of the two most poignant and moving parts of the film.

Overall, I really enjoyed reading the Fellowship of the Ring.  After a slow start and a bit of a slog through to the village of Bree, the flow really picked up after the council of Elrond.  I actually breezed through the last part of the book and headed straight into The Two Towers right after.  I’m finding that the experience of reconnecting with one of the quintessential books of the genre as really invigorating.  I will never attempt to meet the level of complexity Tolkien achieved in his world building and use of language, whether it is English of something entirely made up; it would be a disingenuous and, no doubt, a truly disastrous affair.  

As I write this, I’m actually already halfway through The Two Towers.  I can’t wait to get back to it.

An interesting link to the NYT review of the book’s American release in 1954.

Hell Weeks Are Done!

The recipe to my current level of glee (or at least as of last night):

Francois' Martini:

- 2 parts Citrus Vodka (chilled)
- 1 part Regular Vodka (chilled)
- 1 part Cointreau
- 1 part Triple Sec
- 1 part Vermouth
- 6 drops of Aromatic Bitters

Mix into shaker and serve.  Have a second one.  Life is grand.

Note:  Decorative fru-fru to your own tastes and preferences.

Not much at all happened in the way of writing these last two weeks, at least not creatively.  I wrote a lot, but all in the context of assisting in a series of harassment allegations in an incredibly complex and delicate scenario involving over a dozen possible people in another unit.  Needless to say, this was my sole focus from start to end of my days.  The only respite came from continuing my reading of The Lord of the Rings to relax before going to bed; currently the Company is set to enter Moria and they're trying to figure out the gate.

After completing the documentation and handing it in, I finally have some respite.  Now it's time to get back to some creative writing!

Orphan Black

One of the few diversions I’ve recently allowed myself from a bizarrely hectic work schedule is a small handful of television shows.  These typically get recorded on my PVR and watched en masse after about 6+ episodes get saved.  To make sure I don’t lose the shows through, I have to run through a manic obsessive blitz to make sure I erase enough episode for future recordings.

One of the new shows that I thought I’d give a shot was Orphan Black.  The concept that I gleaned from the heavily subsidized previews on the Space Channel was enough to get to me commit to the pilot; I typically make a judgement call to see if I’ll give the next three episodes a try, which either impresses me enough to commit for the season (for better or for worse) or drop the show altogether.  Orphan Black’s pilot was more than enough to keep me interested into the seasonal commitment.

Starring the very talented and stunning Tatiana Maslany (also a fellow Canadian), it follows the hectic and disjointed life of Sarah Manning.  Sarah returns to reunite with her quirky (and outlandishly gay) step-brother, as well as try and reconnect with her estranged daughter, currently under the care of Sarah’s foster mother.  This return quickly gets sidetracked by the suicide of a woman who looks exactly like Sarah.  Thinking to make a quick score off the woman’s purse, she finds more just like her, discovering she is one of several human clones.

The many faces that are the main characters of Orphan Black

Thankfully this is where some clever writing and some brilliant acting keeps the cliché from overpowering the show.  The story develops into a compelling web of storylines, portrayed by the very talented Tatiana.  Through the use of modern camera tricks and special effects, as well as some recognizably old-school methods, we see Tatiana portray no less than 4 completely different characters, each with their own idiosyncrasies, never with an overlap making you think these aren’t unique personalities.  In some bizarre and completely comical scenes, she imitates or mocks the mannerisms of another.

The more the clones discern of their past, the more complicated the plot gets.  Who created them and why?  Is someone out to kill them, and if so, why is one of the clones being used as the assassin?  Who can they trust, other than each other?  It is quickly evident that there is a creator entity (think corporate science, not biblical) versus a religious zealously that opposes everything the clones represent.  It is this subtle complexity to the story that really has Orphan Black appealing to me; in the middle of two opposing forces are the many versions of Tatiana, as well as a plethora of supporting actors and plot avenues that can contribute to future episodes.

Thankfully this series is getting better support and reviews, notably different from other equally done shows like Firefly.  Orphan Black has been cleared for a second season, much to my pleasure.  I have yet to complete the first season’s PVR round-up, but I am really looking forward to how this will set up for future installments.  My fervent hope is that the first 10-episode season, which brilliantly executed the four character point of view discovery of their predicament, can fully flourish into a 20-22 episode installment.

Can a Guy Have Too Many Hobbies?

I’ve spoken a number of times about some of my hobbies: Warhammer 40k (both painting the miniatures and playing), writing speculative fiction, science fiction and fantasy movies and television (well, good television of all stripes really), among others. A short while back, I was having a discussion with some colleagues and the topic somehow turned to television shows, who was watching what and whether a series was worth continuing or not, to be replaced by an interesting newcomer.  This got me to thinking about hobbies in general.

We all recognize that we can only watch so much television per week; there simply isn’t enough time to watch **every** program that interests us.  So we prioritize our time based on whatever arcane or heuristic methods we convince ourselves of using.  The advent of PVR certainly makes things easier, but it can lead to a steady and daunting accumulation of shows to watch.  You have to make time somewhere to watch them.  So, if we extend this to all hobbies, creative writing included, at one point you just reach a critical mass where something takes a hit – we reduce or replace a hobby to make room for another, or we start permeating our hobbies into other parts of our lives.

My life includes a number of roles and duties: officer and employee for the Army, husband, father of two children, son to my parents, and brother to my sister.  I must sleep, I must eat, I must work to support my family, I watch television and movies to relax, write to express myself, play games to enjoy my time off, et cetera.  All of these come with an elemental requirement of my time.  Could I sacrifice some family time to devote more to my hobbies?  What about sleep?  Maybe I could sneak some writing time in at work?  Those certainly are options, yet at what cost?  Spending more time writing means more chances to complete the works, get those submitted more often, thereby increasing my possibility of success and recognition.  Less sleep makes me more creative anyways…. Unfortunately it affects my family time, my productivity at work, makes my appetite go out of whack.

I say all this because I spent some considerable time re-editing my fantasy manuscript and started getting it vetted over at the Absolute Write forums.  What a great venue.  Then I started hearing things about a couple of games from the local gaming store.  I checked out both EveOnline and Warmachine.  Let me tell you, these stoked my curiosity enough that I completely ignored the writing aspects of my life for about a week.

EveOnline is a futuristic, sandbox, real-time strategy game; the science fiction version of World of Warcraft.  The irony that I would be more interested in a science fiction game versus fantasy is not lost on me.  But it wasn’t the space combat, or even the levelling up and commanding great fleets that caught my eye.  It was the option to be the economic and industrial powerhouse, working the in-game economy and markets to your favour.  It is the function as the facilitator that appealed to me, the guy who moves the pieces from the background.

Warmachine is a steam punk tabletop miniature game whereby two armies fight against each other.  The differences between it and Warhammer 40k are relatively extensive and the models are, in some ranges, top notch and really support the steam punk genre.  That the objective is to ultimately kill the opponent’s warcaster and/or complete the mission objectives is a new and refreshing twist.  That it follows a streamlined system and is from a fledgling company that, to be honest does not have GW’s previous history of “questionable” decisions, is a significant point.

When I look back on it, there are a number of hobbies and other activities that I have simply given up for newer ones.  Just like TV programs, a number simply weren’t interesting enough to maintain my interest, while others went by the wayside for other reasons; the life of a bachelor is certainly different than when married, more so after you have children.

Examining the cloud of activities above, I can honestly say that time management is almost an activity in and of itself.  To say that creative writing will remain one of the primary activities is an understatement.  In fact, I’d say it has become the newest and primary of my hobbies.  With the fantasy manuscript finished and now under review, I’ve the follow-on novels and a few new projects I’ve committed with verve and enthusiasm.
 

DeviantArt Spotlight - Inetgrafx

The artwork below is copyrighted to inetgrafx. I make no claim to this work as my own.

One of the many things I do to stem writer’s block and keep the creative juices flowing is surfing (insert link) deviantART. Just by checking out the most popular submissions over the last eight hours every couple of days is more than enough to give some flash of insight into a story arc that may be waiting to burst, or un-stall one waiting to carry on. It may not be a full-fledged story, but a component on one I’m currently working on – scenery scenes are spectacular for this. In my own way, I’d like to recognize these artists for truly amazing artwork, be it photography, ink on canvas, or manipulated photons in digital form.




Chinese Monestary by Daniel Kvasznicza

Chinese Monestary by Daniel Kvasznicza (inetgrafx on DeviantArt), really emotes and epic scale, a scope to the structure and its position in the mountains, overlooking and protecting the valley below.  The multiple pagodas and towers hint at a series of structures built upon the next, demonstrating the structures age.  The lower levels show smaller sub-structures for logistical functions, storage and for the peasant caste.  The high ridges on either side protect the structure from the flanks, the only real approach hinted at from the far side, under the watchful eye of the parapets and upper pagodas.  You may not have noticed how deep the structure is; truly near city sized.  If you look hard enough at the smaller structures dead center you catch glimpses of people moving about, providing a reference for just how massive this castle truly is.

The emotional connection with this picture is quick and deep.  My fantasy manuscript is set in a quasi-Japanese setting with heavy influences from Chinese and Korean culture and history.  The samurai that rule the J’in Empire would very likely have constructed something like this in a crucial mountain pass, or a high feature overlooking a key valley.  A structure such as this was the inspiration for a castle that was attacked by a goblin invasion force, the results entirely lop-sided and favouring the goblins.  The result of this begged the question:  How would a herd-like race typically favouring stampeding charges en masse have the capability to destroy such a formidable structure?  The answer to this question is the subversive and driving force behind the antagonists and their agenda.

The inspiration this piece provides is just spectacular.  The majesty and detail of the work takes you right into it.

Check out the other works, professional and personal on his website, linked in the comments below the DeviantArt piece.  He also has quite a varied and impressive list of credits!  Working with a company out of Montreal, Quebec, Meduzarts has a series of works that will inspire and impress, with a client list and project files that will equally raise your eyebrows.  If I were ever to translate my fantasy setting into a book or role-playing game, I’d love to see this artist’s artwork play a major part in it.  The fact he’s also from Canada doesn’t hurt either....

Sources of Inspiration

Weird news reports more imaginative than anything you could imagine.  I remember hearing a famous personality (singer, actor, politician, whatever) say that they never read fiction, they read biographies and documentary non-fiction exclusively – fiction wasn’t nearly as entertaining and engrossing as real life.  I recall my initial thoughts were “How narrow-minded.  Fiction is a way to escape and let your imagination take flight.”  As an aspiring novelist, I now fully realize just how exceedingly short-sighted and paradoxical my original opinion was.  One of the things I’ve been striving to accomplish is a clear sense of realism, insofar as it is set in speculative fictional serttings.  What I mean is the reactions and emotional drive of the characters should match their personality, given the choices they have and resources at hand.  Personally I find nothing worse than seeing a character saved from the frying pan by some magical stone they just happened to pick up, or some mega-character swoops in and saves the day.  The tropes that have permeated fantasy and science fiction novels are many and often repeated.  How to make it different?

 

A prime example might be George R.R. Martin’s series, A Song of Ice and Fire.  The magic is minimalistic, the dragons number three total, and not until well into the series.  The majority of the action is based on high political drama set in a medieval setting, with a brutal war ravaging the main continent told by about 21,238 different points of view (I exaggerate, but maybe we could round down to 21k).  Don’t get me wrong, this series had me hooked and I can’t wait to see how it and the television adaptations develop.  What had me hooked were the engrossing (in some cases just plain gross) character developments and the way he shows them adapt and react.  There are winners, there are losers, and the losers are typically given the dubious reprieve of losing their heads.  Whatever the case, it appears that most reactions are based on what a person would reasonably come up with, given the scenario.  There are tropes to be sure, yet it is political fantasy that grips the reader like the snappy dialogue of the television programs the West Wing, Battlestar Galactica and other high calibre shows.  I suppose GRRM’s background writing/producing for television might be something of an influence.

 

So how does one escape the trap that is fantasy tropism?  One method typically pushed is to read widely in your field.  I read reams of science fiction and fantasy, which provides a gauge for what the industry would or would not accept; at the very least, how to differentiate myself.  Another method would have to be reading outside of your field, to get an idea for different ways of showing a reader what you wish to explain.  Reading non-fiction and auto/biographies certainly gives another basis from which to draw upon.  Finally, just plain real life in general can provide some invaluable clues or triggers for a story.  Some of the really bizarre news articles are you just couldn’t come up with yourself.  I know, I’ve tried it, and I’ve got a particularly vivid and flourishing imagination.  Cases in point:

 

Slave to Technology

 

Fish Story to Beat All Fish Stories

 

I Wonder If He Has a Green Thumb? 

2012 – Books Read in Review

Something I picked up from another site, I thought I'd take the chance to review all the books I've read over the passed 12 months.  It appears a fair amount, and an acclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction.  Who knew?

1. The Eisenhorn Trilogy (Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus), by Dan Abnett (8/10 each).  One of the seminal series for the Warhammer 40k novels, Dan Abnett takes us away from the grand armies and elite Space Marines clashing against titanic enemies and world-spanning conflict.  This espionage, crime thriller set in the far future does a marvellous job of expanding the everyday setting that the tabletop game is based on.  A really fun read with a great cast of fallible but supremely dedicated characters.

2. D-Day to Carpiquet (The North Shore Regiment and the Liberation of Europe), by Marc Milner (7/10).  This one was something of a professional development read.  It accounts the history of my Regiment’s advance through the landing at Normandy, through northern France and up into Belgium/Germany.  There are a lot of great stories within that frankly translate very easily to fantasy and science fiction.

3. The Way of the Samurai, by Inozo Nitobe (8/10).  Another notable review of samurai history, customs and culture of the era.  It covers content ranging from bushido as an ethical system to the samurai concepts of politeness, duty and loyalty, sincerity, as well as training and education of the samurai, to a woman’s place in society.

4. The Samurai: A New History of the Warrior Elite, by Jonathan Clements (9/10).  When writing about a fictional world based on samurai and ancient Asian myth and history, it behoves an author/prospective author to bone up on history.  This book was a great read and a treasure trove of ideas.  It also demonstrated just how much political manoeuvring played into samurai culture before and leading into the Edo period, which largely defines what we currently think of when we think of samurai.  A definite score and forced an entire re-write of my manuscript, which brought it leaps and bounds forward in terms of quality, complexity and characterization.

5. The Warrior’s Way: A Treatise on Military Ethics, by Richard A. Gabriel.  Another professional development read, this was primarily to reinforce some of the ethics lectures I’ve had to present throughout the year.  Adapting this textbook like reference to spec fiction sometimes provides a springboard for more in-depth characterization, particularly how to reinforce villainous activities.

6. Starship Troopers, by Robert A. Heinlein (10/10).  This was almost a dare from someone on the Writers of the Future boards.  I couldn’t help but admit that, after watching the film, the book held relatively little interest.  Once I got past the first page, I couldn’t believe my folly for not picking this up sooner.  Heinlein got both the military training atmosphere down to a ‘tee’ and he developed the character’s motivations in ultimately believable ways that anyone in the military would immediately identify with.  The over-arching themes and story arcs blended beautifully into an instant favourite of mine.

7. The Throne of the Crescent Moon, by Saladin Ahmed (8/10).  Off another recommendation, this book literally took me three days to read over summer holidays.  It was that engaging.  The Arabic style setting is richly detailed and the characters involved play off each other really well.  The magic system and the main character (a fat old man desperate to retire) are very different from the norm.  I can’t wait to see if a follow-up novel is offered.

8. The Hunger Games Trilogy (Hunger Games, Catching Fire and Mockingjay), by Suzanne Collins (9/10 for the first two, 6/10 for Mockinjay). I’ll be the first to admit that YA is not typically my thing; I bought this post-apocalyptic trilogy for my Kobo on sale.  I couldn’t put it down.  The play involved within the arena and the characters building up to the conflict were outrageous but well characterized.  The first two books were incredibly well done, while the third is something of a let-down.  Of note, I was impressed in the film adaptation, and equally surprisingly, so was my wife.
 

9. Ashes of a Black Forest, by Chris Evans (7/10).  Completing the escapades of an Elf leading a human regiment of musket bearing soldiers against a magical enemy threatening to take over the world, there are some really great characters herein.  A good twist on the norm, it’s 19^th century technology and strategy meets Lord of the Rings.  A satisfying conclusion to the trilogy.

10. Helfort’s War Book 4: The Battle for Commitment Planet, by Graham Sharp Paul (7/10).  Not a huge fan of space operas and grand space fleet conflicts, this series was a definite and refreshing surprise.  The fourth book really departed from the first three, which I know upset a lot of his readers.  Personally I thought it was a brilliant departure and the tactics and politics involved in the insurgency on Commitment Planet, as well as Helfort’s involvement, were well played.  The only critique I must agree with is the Mary Sue-ism that Helfort’s character seemed to fall into.  That said, book 5 is on my ‘To Read’ list.

11. The Gathering Dark, and Walking Nightmares, by Christopher Golden (8/10 each).  After the initial trilogy, which I admit to rereading and enjoying much less than before, thus starts the new adventures of Peter Octavian, former vampire turned mage.  It builds on the original trilogy, taking the vampire mythos and turning it sideways in a very refreshing twist.  The new demons and enemies encountered are really wild and unique, each more than a match for Octavian alone; and there are still rogue vampires out there to deal with.