Summer Vacation – So This is What Living Feels Like…

What apparently was supposed to be about 4-6 weeks of a nutty workload (think 60+ work hours per week) ended up being closer to four months.  Finally ended are the two annual evaluation campaigns (military and civilian), the strategic intake plan for civilian hiring, the annual learning budgetary allocations, several HR-related studies, work force adjustment (euphemism for the job cuts to the federal public service), and finally, a change of command.  So now that this is all over, I literally have less than a week before summer vacation. 

Until then, I find myself still dealing with the increased stress levels, in some cases, wondering what the heck to do.  Procrastination and mindless activities are relatively novel concepts at the moment!  No doubt my wife and eldest daughter will have some thoughts on this; my youngest isn’t yet old enough to try and determine my daily routine and is content enough that you pay attention to her every once in a while as she plays in the same room.  No doubt, diving back into writing is certainly high on my priority list! 

I have the re-write of Days of Reckoning to accomplish, a project I intend to tackle during the two weeks at the in-laws’ family cabin.  Hopefully copious amounts of alcohol won’t set me too wonky.

I'll be back in 17 days or so.

Book Cover Rant

As an unpublished author, I can’t honestly say this could qualify as anything more than a rant.  I’ve never had the opportunity to wonder how a publisher would approach the cover art for a book written by yours truly; I can imagine a certain amount of trepidation.  Just how important can cover art be?  Well, depending on the genre, I imagine near make-or-break.  Genre fiction would likely be one of the more influenced.  The story is definitely the key ingredient to the sale of a book, but for science fiction, fantasy and horror, I can only assume it would have a certain impact.

I understand series that have been in print for years like to refresh their look with new covers.  I remember reading the David Eddings Belgariad and Mallorean series and years later realizing that they had somehow gone through a total revamp; the same could be said for Terry Goodkind’s Sword of the Truth series or any other that has seen prolonged popularity.  Both publishers updated the covers with something that remained true to the feel of the stories.  You can’t look at them and wonder what genre you’re holding.

Downloading books to my Kobo, I decided to revisit an old Christopher Golden series.  I have the first three in physical form, the latest two in e-book format.  When I bought them, I seriously wondered what the heck I was getting into.

By case in point, I raise the following changes:

Take away reference to the Bram Stoker award (which a non-genre reader may or may not even get), why do I get the impression I’m about to read a Harlequin novel?  Here’s the latest cover, a continuation of the ‘new and current’ cover art.  I understand it is the publisher’s responsibility to make the book as sellable as possible, yet I have to wonder what possible paradigm brought this and the remainder of the current artwork as the cover art for a horror novel.  Sometimes I really wonder WTF is going through their minds….. 

Really, the scariest thing about this whole scenario is that they (the publishing house) somehow sought and received approval to place these on the cover of a vampire novel.

The most recent book I’ve completed reading is Throne of the Crescent Moon.  Very good read, highly recommend it; great pacing, fantastic dynamic between characters and a refreshing and new spin on the genre.  One look at the cover I knew what was what: main characters are there, action is defined and bad guys are suitably hinted at.  I view this cover as a 10/10 for content and presentation.  Hopefully the author had some play in its concept.

Golden Movie Review

While debating the veritable ‘merits’ of the Phantom Menace (I couldn’t put enough quotations around merits), I was shown this link to what I believe to be the most accurate and in-your-face review of its kind.  If only George (Lucas) had made any attempt to heed the salient points of this 70-minute movie review, we might have had something other than a best-forgotten trilogy.

That said, I segue into the relevant point of this post.  From a movie critique perspective, this guy made a top-notch (remember, I said 70 minutes!) effort; funny in spots, coherent on the whole.  The points he made critiquing, however, make a great lesson for prospective writers and demonstrate how things could get off the rails.  It is directed at movies, but can easily be applicable to writing, especially in our relevant genres.

(Language warning)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxKtZmQgxrI

Part 1 – Characters:  Relatable and help the audience through the story, faced with an obstacle and the drama it creates.  I love the test comparing characters between Star Wars: A New Hope and Phantom Menace without mentioning appearance, costume or their role in the movie to a person who has never seen Star Wars.  How applicable is that writing, especially a first novel!

The following parts just increase the goodness.

Part 2 – The Story:  Compared to the simplicity and awesomeness of the Star Wars opening scene, how can you argue with the guy?  Homage to the classic adventure serials compared to, well, whatever the heck the new stuff was about.  Keep the story simple enough from getting too complicated and losing the audience.

Part 3 – The Story (continued):  Still trying to get to the plot.... Who’s doing what, where and why?  The dizzying issues with connecting characters and what goes on in this movie is examined.  How does this apply to writing?  Pretty straight forward.

Part 4 – The Story (continued):  Picking apart the whole invasion of Naboo and escape from planet boring.  Writers should take into account the leaps of logic and how this applies to the plot and effect on their writing.

Part 5 – The Story (continued):  Breaks down the Qui-Gon Jin and Anakin characters and how his actions apply to the plot.

Part 6 – The Story (continued):  So we go back to Naboo, which is a war zone, and yeah, we brought the kid with us.  Oh yeah, no plan either, but the blockade is gone – yeah!  Compares the Luke v. Vader arc to the Jedi v. Darth Maul and the depth involved in the first, the lack of it in the latter.

Part 7 – The Ending “Multiplification” Effect: How the plots get too complicated and confusing = distracting.  Focus the plot and keep the story focused or you end up with (in the case of the Phantom Menace) what the reviewer calls “The worst case of cinematic blue balls in history.” The case is made for external reviews, which could be paralleled with Beta readers.

Pure gold as a movie review and critique.  Absolutely brilliant advice for genre writers to help keep things from spinning and spiraling out of control.

Betas, Background and Blood Bowl

Beta:  I went back to the drawing board with the “final draft” of my first completed novel.  After some in-depth research for future books, things weren’t quite complete, a few secondary plot points and arcs required to drive the story in further books and reinforce the plot of Days of Reckoning.  A few additional characters and their influence on both the main characters, Soki and Tagaretsu, were in dire need of inclusion.  To keep the word count under control, I went back and started trimming things even tighter; some of the cuts were relatively painless, others downright gutt-wrenching.  The overall effect is one that I am very happy with, which is all in preparations to get this out to some Beta readers, which in and of itself is both motivating and scaring the crap out of me….

Background:  One of the side-projects I’ve been working on is a series of short stories.  The first I’ve completed is actually the background story that explains what happened to Tagaretsu.  I always thought it an important story, one of epic impact on him as a character.  Much of the motivations that drive him in Days of Reckoning can be traced back to the specific events detailed herein.  I’ll be submitting this short-story to a number of competitions in the hope this will help launch the Ochra series.

Blood Bowl:  Huh?  Yeah, this is nothing relative to the writing genre, at least not directly.  Blood Bowl is a Games Workshop product, where models are used to represent players on teams that play something akin to UFC-meets-rugby.  Set in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, there are 21 different teams with individual strengths and weaknesses.  Not content to just collect and paint models, I’ve actually plot-pointed a series of short stories that could be extended into a novel.  It’s a fun diversion from the slogging of Beta-prep and editing the final version of my short stories for submission.  With the release of the video game and the recent Super Bowl, it’s a timely outlet.  It is a total piece of procrastination, yet something that keeps me from going absolutely insane and bug-eyed from staring at the screen too long.

deviantART Spotlight

The artwork below is copyrighted to Viktor Fetsch.  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.  Each week I will endeavour to spotlight a certain artist, as well as the particular piece that caught my attention.

Tyrant Dragon

Tyrant Dragon really catches a piece of action, conveying layers of detail in a snapshot that I can only hope my writing is able to emulate.  The obvious draw is the dragon, which deviates nicely from the standard form we seem compelled to repeat; this great horned beast is akin to the wild boar of its species, and it is angry!  The interplay between the dragon’s breath weapon and the shield thrown up by the magic user is superb; the weapon effects coalesce to a point where they are rebounded and directed by the shield.  The secondary effects used for rendering rocks flying and the mists coming from the snow through lessening the definition make it an all around masterpiece of action.

The scene itself also renders a clear example of a scene I envisioned within the Ochra Cycle.  Although the dragon’s physical appearance differs, the power and overall feeling this piece generates inspires the scene I intend to write.

This is by far one of the more potent and impressive pieces I’ve seen under the Painting and Airbrushing sub-category in some time.  I hope others find it and the other works by Viktor Fetsch to be equally inspiring.

Viktor Fetsch's Blog

deviantART Spotlight

One of the many things I do to stem writer’s block and keep the creative juices flowing is surfing 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.  Each week I will endeavour to spotlight a certain artist, as well as the particular piece that caught my attention.

Gorgon Medusa, Mirror of Memory

Gorgon Medusa, Mirror of Memory is one of those pieces that really sparks the imagination.  Aside from the obvious quality of the work, it speaks to an idea that I keep trying to incorporate into my writing.  Fantasy, in particular epic and sword & sorcery fantasy, can easily dive into the tropes and stereotypes that set the groundwork for the genre decades ago.  A magic object needed to slay the Big Bad Guy or some such is pretty obvious and generally over-done.  Treasure is sought, often found at the far end of a quest, under a mountain or protected by some monstrous creature.  What could a Mirror of Memory be worth?  What kind of creature and/or person would make us of it?  How could it be used?

This piece really set me thinking about quests and the like.  What if this Gorgon was someone the protagonist had to appease by presenting this mirror as a gift?  What secrets could a Gorgon possess?  Who would you have to retrieve it from in order to gift it to the Gorgon?  What enemies would be made?

Aside from that, it also lends itself to something ‘outside of the box’ for normal treasure and quest items.  The magic sword of all-slaying, the orb of super-magic, what have you, it all seems to be pretty straight forward.  What if the item provided a secondary effect, such as providing the Gorgon the chance to see itself before changing into a monstrosity?  Even there, it implies the Gorgon was a woman changed, subject to a curse or magical effect.  What benefits could be rendered by changing the stereotype, by escaping the trope?

As far as photo manipulations go, this is also one of the more seamless I’ve seen in some time.  I hope others find it and the other works by liliaosipova to be equally inspirational.

TV Shows That Were Too Good to Cancel

For anyone familiar with the history of science fiction television programming, the cancellation and subsequent re-launch of Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek (Shattner, Nimoy, et al) is something of an outlier.  Television programmes are in the business of selling advertising to subsidize network expenses; the higher the rating, the more people watch and the more you can charge for ads (akin to the Superbowl, to a much lesser degree).  When it comes down to the wire, networks may cannibalize their own shows to allow more successful show to flourish, or throw out a sacrificial lamb to compete against another network’s super-show. Those that fail to make the grade of some arcane advertising revenues less expenses and any number of other factors get cancelled, sometimes rescheduled to another time slot (sometimes akin to cancellation). Then there are the half-season shows, thrown into the mix in January; concept programmes that perhaps didn’t make the September line-up but stand a chance, if small, later in the season.

Now, I understand the business model of the networks (several case studies during my MBA certainly help).  Science fiction programmes are a tricky breed to sell to the masses.  Star Trek has its fan base, an extremely dedicated one, making that show a relatively easy sell.  Shows that start from scratch make for a dicey start for executives to swallow.  Outside of specialty channels (SciFi, Space, ShowCase), getting a science fiction programme in Prime Time is up against stiff competition; fantasy is in an even worse jam.  The masses typically go for standard fare programmes: reality TV (personal hatred for this type), legal/police drama (which I like, yet how many Law & Order, NCIS and CSI clones do we really need?) or comedies of one type or another.  Science fiction and fantasy programming doesn’t take well to network television - we'll see if Grimm and Once Upon a Time  have the legs to prove me wrong... I hope so.

In some cases this problem transcends from network TV over to the specialty channels as well.  Lack of adequate viewers fails to justify the advertising space charges to companies buying commercial time.  Two particular shows that suffered this fate were Firefly and Stargate: Universe. 

Firefly lasted a half-season before getting cancelled, something that sat very poorly with the show’s fans.  I actually didn’t get to watch this show until it came out on DVD, and only after the movie-conclusion Serenity.  Firefly was something quirky and completely different than what was on TV at the time; a western-style show set in outer space that didn’t sell well with the executives.  I can honestly say this was a travesty to television.  The pacing was great, the characters wonderful, the acting and graphics superb.  The follow-up Serenity made due by wrapping things up in a way that makes Firefly one of the more endearing shows cancelled before its time, in my humble opinion.

Stargate: Universe was another breed of show that didn’t quite make the cut either.  The third outing from the Stargate franchise, it departed from its campy predecessors in both setting and style.  Sure, there were enough similarities to ensure it fit the mould, yet far enough that it didn’t keep enough people tuned in to be renewed.  I’m just finishing the second, final season and I can’t say enough about how well this show could have gotten.  After getting away from the Lucian Alliance threat, they inserted two threatening enemy races that could have easily pushed into a third season.  Like Firefly, they rushed several of the final episodes to close the arcs out before the show ended.  A gritty and edgy programme, the loss of Universe is untimely and ultimately a loss for the franchise as a whole.

 So ends my obituary/rant of sorts for two fine programmes and the loss of soul Prime Time seems headlong rushing to embrace.  Someone hand me another scotch and give me the one-liner response to who won Survivor and Dancing with the Stars, which CSI or Law & Order cast should be axed and “who did it” in the most recent cop/legal drama .  It appears this is the only programming safe for water cooler discussions.