It was with a heavy heart that I decided to retire my House of Markov deck. It simply wasn’t performing up to my standards. There wasn’t much good news following the Avacyn Restored release events, either. My notion for a white-green Humans deck had little to distinguish it or make it truly competitive, and other… Continue reading Unlikely Allies
Month: May 2012
Wordbender: On Toph and the Earth Kingdom
Book 2 of Avatar: the Last Airbender is even more tightly constructed than Book 1. As Team Avatar depart the North Pole to make contact with the vast but troubled Earth Kingdom, each member has individual goals and conflicts as well as the overall “saving the world” thing. Sokka continues to feel overshadowed by the… Continue reading Wordbender: On Toph and the Earth Kingdom
Flash Fiction: One Random Sentence
Chuck’s challenge gave me the following: “The actor biases an applicable troop.” He stared at himself in the mirror, taking a deep breath. This had been his plan, arranging all those extra ticket sales down at the precinct house. It wouldn’t be that hard to play up certain angles of his performance, and if he… Continue reading Flash Fiction: One Random Sentence
In Memoriam 2012
I know it may seem a bit lazy to rehash an old post, but this one is special and my sentiments towards our veterans has not changed. It’s likely I’ll do the same this Independence Day, but we’ll set off those fireworks when we get to them. In the meantime, please read, enjoy, and remember.… Continue reading In Memoriam 2012
Rewrite Report: Next Steps
Courtesy Floating Robes Weighing in at 39,574 words, the rewrite of Cold Iron is complete. I’m going to be inviting test readers to take another crack at the work. Invites will go out over the next day or two. The goal is to only have some minor tweaks to make here and there throughout the… Continue reading Rewrite Report: Next Steps
What Characters Feel
As much as I like to judge the ultimate merits of a character by their relationships, we also learn a great deal about a character from the way they deal with, or ignore, their emotions. We may put up a brave front in the face of friends, competitors, or even close relatives and spouses, but… Continue reading What Characters Feel
The Call of Diablo
It’s been a week now, and so far I’ve resisted the call of Diablo. Diablo III continues to make headlines, and not always in a positive way. I’ve been trying to curb my extraneous spending a bit since PAX, both to recover from that phenomenal trip and to save for the upcoming move. But I… Continue reading The Call of Diablo
Bond Basics
You know what I like about this Skyfall poster? It juxtaposes the classic image of the camera lens/gun barrel of Bond’s films with the stoic, no-nonsense stride of Daniel Craig. It indicates to me that the filmmakers are taking extra steps to connect this 21st-century iteration of the British superspy with his roots. Since my… Continue reading Bond Basics
Flash Fiction: Flint Smoke
For the Terribleminds Paint Color Title Scheme challenge. “Whiskey. Best make it a double.” He didn’t always start his time in the saloon this way. Most days here saw him talking with one of the girls, or hitting up the poker table. But today was different. A lesser man might have ridden for an extra… Continue reading Flash Fiction: Flint Smoke
Rewrite Report: The Home Stretch
I haven’t taken an exact word count of Cold Iron, but I know I’m near the end. I’m currently working on the last ‘new’ bit of material. It smooths over one of the truly clunky transitions in the story and allows more character growth and interaction. From there, a couple scenes get rearranged and the… Continue reading Rewrite Report: The Home Stretch
