Wordperfect Alchemist

"Awesome" is an overused word.  It used to be a forty-gun frigate of a word, the sort a man would utter in breathless astonishment as he watched Krakatoa erupt or beheld the first nuclear detonation at Bikini Atoll.  Now everything is awesome.  Either everything has gotten cooler since Krakatoa (possible), or "awesome" is the victim of word cheapening.  Like cool before it, although I personally prefer cool--it's nicely laid back.

Anyway, I'm not here to talk about anything awesome.  Today's topic is simply wonderful.

Jimmy Stewart on IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

(Thanks to Overlord Johne for the link!)

A couple posts ago I mentioned a handful of movies I love enough that I don't really get sick of watching them.  IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE  has a slot on that list.

It's been called goopy and overly sentimental, and perhaps it is.  But I don't find any of that sentiment contrived or artificial.  You know what, I probably shouldn't wax poetic about how much I love it--I'd risk straying into the goop myself.  So I'll keep my remarks brief.

Life is disappointing.  If you disagree. . .lucky you!  E-mail me with winning lottery numbers.  But for the rest of us, life contains plenty of unfulfilled dreams, failed aspirations, plans that go awry, and endeavors which seem to reap nothing but weeds.  I'm not saying I live a life half as good as George Bailey's, but sometimes it's nice to reflect that a humble life, lived well and with courage, can do as much good or more as the heroic lives which get noticed and glorified.  To reflect that God is watching over us even in despair and disappointment, guiding us to the place we need to be.  Like George Bailey working a ramshackle building & loan and having a bunch of kids who, occasionally, get on his nerves, rather than traveling the world and collecting his personal harem.

It's a tribute to humility, to the men who keep the world moving by simple acts of kindness that might never be recognized or acknowledged in any visible fashion.  It delves into crushing despair, the kind which builds up over a lifetime, and manages to bring hope out of it.

Peace, all!

First, a couple hilarious videos:





The LUIGI'S MANSION one is particularly hilarious to me because of the comments at the end.  To the eyes of the world, sure, the man is simple at best, a raving moonbat at worst.  But to those who are in the know, who possess a kind of gnostic truth, he is a comic genius turning an early Gamecube title into performance art.  I often feel like this when referencing Pokemon or Dune at random--a common pasttime of mine, much to the befuddlement of those around me.

On a more serious vein, there's this:

Dante's Inferno trailer

As an introduction, I should note that I'm a big fan of the GOD OF WAR games.  I'm somewhat hesitant to recommend them, given their ridiculously cranked up violence and bloodletting, but they are masterpieces as far as gameplay and storytelling are concerned.  It might be just me, but I can see some depth and genuine pathos in Kratos' plunge into ever deeper darkness and insanity in his quest for vengeance and, ultimately, a redemption that the gods of his pantheon cannot offer.  GOD OF WAR works as an awesome game, a modern Greek myth--with the tragedy, violence, and monsters characteristic thereof--and a critique of the mythology it presents.

I mention GOD OF WAR because the upcoming INFERNO game seems to run on a similar gameplay engine and share several elements: giant scary monsters, a unique weapon with chain-enhanced striking range, a furious protagonist with dark sins in his past, and an ultimately supernatural evil--Satan in INFERNO, Ares in GOD OF WAR.  Both protagonists plunge into Hell, although Kratos' stay is much shorter.

Now, as a Catholic, I consider Hell a grim reality and Satan as a real figure active in the destruction of souls.  So one might expect me to be a bit taken aback at using it simply as the setting for an action video game.

But, initially, I think this looks like it has much potential for awesome.  Cool gameplay aside, how often is it that one sees a major v-game or movie with this much seeming awareness of sin and its consequences?  Or that makes a Crusader the hero?  Or that uses the cross as such a solid emblem of goodness and holiness?  I even notice in the trailer that Dante's helmet features something that looks very reminescent of the Crown of Thorns.

Only time will tell, but intially, I'm optimstic.  Also, it reminds me that I really shouldn't be claiming any status as a student of Medieval history without having read the Divine Comedy.  Have to get busy on that.

Peace, all!

Are summarized by this image:

Vegans vs. Carnivores

Now, don't get me wrong.  I know and like several vegetarians.  I just happen to prefer warm beef dripping with meaty juices, even better sandwiched in a bun with some American cheese, a couple strips of crisp bacon, and a nice spread of ketchup.

True, though: Even that can be improved with a simple vegetable dish.  My which I mean fries cooked in a sea of vegetable oil.

Oh, yes, and "vegan curious" is just weak language.  Makes it sound like a cult.  Which maybe it is.

First, this absolutely cracked me up:
Anyway, this post will herewith be divided into three sections.

Section the First: Writing

While I'm waiting for some folks to finish reading/critiquing my current revision project (Working title: THE FORKED ROAD), I've started drafting a new novel, featuring a fellow who might be familiar to anyone reading this blog: Shabak.  It'll be a full-length novel that begins at the moment when Drace leaves the Talon Point cave to begin his life in the wider world.  I'm very excited about it thus far. . .although class/work/anime haven't given me as much time to write as I'd like.

002: Shooting my eyes out

I recently re-watched ALIENS, and realized afresh that it's a nearly perfect movie.  Probably goes on my list of "films I can watch over and over without getting sick of".  A pretty short list, that, and is probably the first such compilation where ALIENS is placed alongside Disney's BEAUTY AND THE BEAST.

I'm not really much of a movie-watcher to start with.  This might surprise people, given that I write, revise, and complete 110,000 word novels, but I regard myself as a man with the attention span of a quail.  I frankly have difficulty both setting aside two hours of time and spending every minute of those two hours with eyes fixed on a screen, sitting in the same chair, maintaining a sequence of similar bad postures.  It helps if I have a drink.  It also helps if I'm watching it with other people.  I think movie-watching is best as a shared experience.

I think that's partly because, honestly, I find talking to be overestimated.  Sometimes it's cool to just keep company with people in silence.  Movies are a fine medium for it, providing a shared experience at which to laugh, gasp, sob, and skewer.

I also combat my gnat-like concentration by watching lots of anime, which comes in neat, 25-minute segments.  In the last few days I've also begun seeking TV shows to view on DVD.  So far I'm highly intrigued by Supernatural and Dead Like Me.  Watch this space for a post of what I experience in my dive into the world of people television!  So far, I note that--with Supernatural at least--the writing is extremely tight, tighter than most movies I've seen.

Three:

Kendo proceeds excellent, even if putting on, taking off, and tying the armor into a bundle requires at least seven different knots, none of which I know how to tie.  Knots are one of those areas where I've never had much skill.  Even with mnemonics like, "Okay, so the rabbit goes into the hole, around the tree, into the pub, mixes radish juice with carrot juice, and wakes up with a hangover.  Then pull it tight and there's your knot!", I usually wind up with a mess Alexander the Great couldn't untangle.

Ah, well.  One more skill to be acquired, along with leaping when I strike and "snapping" my arms when I bring the blade down.

Peace, all!

This has been around a good bit already, but its hilarity is undeniable.


Just from his dancing style, you can tell that our president was once a nerd.

Vacationed in Michigan last weekend, alongside some awesome relations who come together every year in the resort town of South Haven.  in short, it was some 72 hours of good conversation, good cousins, sumptuous food, literal long walks along the beach, starry night skies, roaring beach fires, frigid water, and all the other things that make life good.

During that one beach walk, an adventure of over two hours, my brother, cousin, and I managed to re-created a number of Stone Age technologies.  It started when, for some inscrutable reason, I decided to try beating various beach rocks against each other.  I don't remember my exact idea.  Maybe I was in the mood for some primitive music.  Then I discovered one kind of stone that flaked easily, and wound up with a nice, hard hammer stone with which to chip away at it.  Thus began some experimentation with the art of flint-knapping.  Or, in this case, beach-rock knapping.  I managed to get a couple of fairly decent cutting edges within a few minutes--quickly dulled and easily broken, but a crude form of stone tool nonetheless.

Then we came across a deposit of clay and took some time to experiment with different mixtures of clay and sand to create bricks.  My brother tried his hand at a coil pot.  We returned to sleep Sleepy Hollow a filth-smeared, bare-chested, and deeply satisfied band of cro-magnon MEN.

In other news, I started summer class on Monday as part of my Great Leap Forward to graduation.  This includes Biology 101, which I'm taking to satisfy a requirement for my BA degree, as well as a course in kendo, the Japanese art of swordplay.

Of the two, I'm enjoying kendo much more.  No surprise to those of you that know me at all.  It's taught by an 85 year-old Japanese sensei who takes out his hearing aids to lecture but can scream like a demon when his blood is up.  There's also an American assisstant professor to answer questions and help with the more mundane running of class, along with a couple women warriors for the UW Kendo Club.

I just recieved my shinai (bamboo practice sword) today, but have already begun to practure footwork, striking, and screaming techniques, as well as learning some of the finer points of sword ettiqute and the proper way to draw a katana.  One tidbit: Never stick your katana point-first in the ground (or balance it on its point).  Not only does that dull your blade, but to the Japanese it symbolizes death.

And then, on top of class, I'm still working 25 hours a week (desk job which allows time for homework/writing) and embarking on a new novel (Shabak!) as well as continuing revisions on The Forked Road.  Busy summer?  Yes very!

The cherry pit on the cake is that I just got sick with what I'm calling an "exhaustion cold".  Ah, well, such is life.

Oh, yeah, final note: Does anyone else think that the Canadian artist Five For Fighting sounds like a great name for a Viking power metal group?  I can almost hear it:

"Heave up the sails and steady the bow,
Lay out the spears 'neath the dragon prow,
Five for fighting!
Five for viking!"

<mad guitar solo>

<tremulous male voice, speaking>: "Deliver us, Lord, from the fury of the Norsemen"

<guitar ramps up>

"Five for fighting!"

That's all for now, folks!

"Sparks flew as my girlfriend and I clashed blades in a dark alleyway.  Her katana occupied both hands and made use of the full range of muscles wrapped around her narrow frame.  For my part, I had always preferred lighter swords–the weapon currently in my grip was a Cossack saber.  My greater strength and her heavier blade made it an even content.
    Or it would have, if she hadn’t been so damned cute."

Wrote that last night in a few seconds of a well-fed, poorly slept evening.

With the coming of summer and the end of classes I've finally been able to read books out of desire rather than class obligation.  A quick run-down of some of the things I've been reading:

DUNE by Frank Herbert: This was a re-read, and I've now added "teach an English class on DUNE" to my list of dreams.

BLOOD OF AMBROSE by James Enge: Chewed through this in about four days, which for me is a remarkable pace when it comes to 400-page volumes.  Fantastic book with a neat plot, inventive fantasy elements, and sharp prose.  Possibly the most fun I've had reading a book since THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA--which is, from me, high praise indeed.

WHEN I WHISTLE: A novel by Japanese author Shusaku Endo.  One of those books where I didn't see where it was going until the last two pages, and then all the book's themes and emotions came crashing over me at once.  If I had to summarize, I'd call it a somewhat tragic meditation on the nature of friendship, ambition, and the connections people form even in brief meetings.  Not as good as Endo's THE SAMURAI, which might be my favorite spiritual novel, but still worth the read, especially for anyone interested in Japanese history or culture.

TEHANU by Ursula K. LeGuin: The fourth book in the Earthsea Cycle, which tones down the action, adventures, and magic of its predecessors in favor of a quiet, character driven plot.  I was honestly disappointed, although the portrayal of the young king Lebannen was sweet, as were the brief appearances of the dragon Kalessin and Tenar's quiet compassion for a girl horribly mutilated by her parents.  Still. . .I thought it was, overall, too mundane for a fantasy book and not "real" enough for a mundane book, if that makes any sense at all.  I probably won't read the continuations, although I still highly recommend the first three volumes.

I'm currently reading H. Rider Haggard's SHE, which reminds me how much I love a good Victorian adventure story--someday, I aspire to write one of my own.

In other news, I'm almost done with the second draft of my current opus (working title: THE FORKED ROAD).  I've made significant improvements over my rough, and honestly I think the novel as a whole is the best work I've done yet, and will only get better as I continue to polish it.

I've noticed something remarkable, something that could easily revolutionize my life.  Simple, yet elegant, I'd call it.  One of those things everyone knows, but only the wise truly _know_.

Getting the right amount of sleep makes life remarkably happier.

I notice this because, for a few days, I had been getting slightly under six hours of sleep per night and feeling like once-delicious food now devoted to mold agriculture.  Now, today, I'm running on slightly over seven hours, and feeling exponentially better.  A life that yesterday seemed unbearably gloomy is more than manageable today.

Maybe tonight I'll really put my foot in it and try for a full eight hours.  I almost expect beams of light to shoot from my eyes as I awake with a hearty "Yabba-dabba-doooooo!"

On the other hand, I'm wearing a watch.  I've also noticed that too much sleep can be almost as devastating--frankly, after sleeping for ten or eleven hours, I've gotten far too accustomed to it to actually have any desire to get up.  Naps prove frequent on such days.  I think that's how a man gradually morphs into a cat.

Oh, yeah, and as an amendment: The Blood of Ambrose, by James Enge, is the best fantasy novel I've read since Sanderson's MISTBORN.  I can't recommend it highly enough.  Details possibly to follow.

At long last, a writing update!  Rage of the Behemoth  is officially being released in a little over a week, and I highly recommend you buy a copy.  Not only  does it contain what I consider one of my finest tales, but early reviews of the book entire are quite positive.  Black Gate editor John O'Neill--a man well-read in good fantasy--has gone on the record as saying that my story, "Black Water", is his favorite piece in the book.

If you know me personally, I'd be glad to lend you a copy once I get some in my meathooks. . .otherwise, from my past experience with Rogue Blades, I can promise that there will be some fine reads between those gorgeously painted covers.  They're offering free shipping on pre-orders, to boot!

Check thee it out!

I'm not sure what to think of the above. . .on the one hand, I'm a sucker for lace-and-blade/Victorian era adventures (in fact, I'd welcome recommendations!)--it's one of the reasons I've often wished someone would reprint Teresa Edgerton's Goblin Moon.

On the other hand, I've never really thought of Holmes as a two-fisted action hero. When the old boy did get involved in violence (as in the climaxes of The Sign of Four and The Hound of the Baskervilles), it was usually settled with a quick volley of revolver fire. Sure, he grappled Moriarty on the edge of a cliff, but didn't _exactly_ emerge victorious.

On the other hand, if I go in knowing that it's "inspired by" rather than "adapted from", I just might enjoy this flick.

Wouldn't it be crazy if kids were still watching the same shows their parents grew up on--not a slicked-up remake with five times the badditude, but more or less the exact same show, still going strong over the course of more than thirty years?  Look no further than Doraemon, born in Japan. . .and pretty much perfected in Japan, too.

Okay, so I lied.  The animated version of Doraemon started in 1979 and ended in 2005, and a new series (with "updated character designs") began to air a month later and is still going.  Still. . .26 years is a pretty danged impressive run for a kids show, especially given the rate at which young 'uns outgrow things (including TV shows).  The manga--also aimed at children--started running in 1969 and ended in 1996 (when the creator died).  There've also been a truckload of movies, both TV and theatrical release, one of which I've seen in Japanese.

So what makes Doraemon so enduring in its appeal to Japanese kids?  The answer, I think, is simple: Formula.  Doraemon has an awesome formula.

The plot is simple enough to be easily picked up: Nobita is a grade-schooler who fails at life--he gets bad grades, is lazy, gets in trouble with his parents, and is the favorite punching bag of every bully around.  Then his descendents from the future make a move to keep him from screwing up his life (and, thus, theirs)--they send a cat-like robot, Doraemon, back to Nobita to use his wisdom and futuristic gadgets to help Nobita navigate through the ordinary troubles of life (and hopefully learn some wisdom of his own).  In the average episode, Nobita finds himself in some jam, begs Doraemon for help, gets some futuristic gizmo to help him out, bungles it anyway, and learns some important lesson about courage/honesty/integrity/respecting elders/Japanese history/etc.

Let's break that down:

1.) Sympathy for the underdog--honestly, I don't think most kids see themselves as the alpha wolf.
2.) Cool gadgets
3.) Appealing characters--just look at Doraemon!  How can you not like that face?
4.) Creativity--from what I've seen, enough creativity that the show has things for parents to enjoy right along with their spawn.
5.) Accessibility--most of the show's situations are everyday problems with school, family, friends, etc.  Things everyone can relate to without feeling as though they're being talked down to.

In a way, I think Doraemon illustrates the victory of the formula--a solid, appealing, set of bones around which something enjoyable can be built again and again.  Not everything can or should be formulaic--what a nightmare wasteland that would be!--but I don't think a good formula is anything to cry over.  Far from it.

I've often had the experience, when writing, that having an outline beforehand allows me to be _more_ creative during the actual writing, not less.  Having the macro-structure already in place allows me to focus on details, quirks of characterization, bits of interesting world-building, cool descriptions--all the things which make a good plot into a good story.  That's a large part of the reason why my outlines have become more detailed with each novel I've written.  More on this later, probably.

I think formulas serve a similar purpose.  They allow a writing staff to focus on things besides plot--humor or fight scenes, for example, so I'm not surprised the motherload of action movies and comedies stick to some formula or another.  It can become trite or boring, particularly if the writers use formula as an excuse not to do any work, as opposed to a tool that allows them to focus their work on areas besides macro-plot.

With Doraemon, though, I think formula is an enabling element--within the basic formula, they manage a pretty good variety of themes and adventures, and there's plenty of creativity and humor stuffed in for good measure.  No surprise to me why it's so enduringly popular.

Next post: Decaying returns in the Redwall formula

Recently, I've realized that studying in my apartment is an exercise in frustration.  There's just too much in the way of video games, books I actually _want_ to read, manga, comfortable places to nap, and corners to stare blankly into.  And, trust me, my reptilian self would much rather make time with the sleep banker than be hypnotized by marginal cost curves.

So I've taken to lurking in Memorial Library, which, by my rough estimate based on their card catalog, contains two million books--and the card catalog only contains acquisitions made since about 1978.  This is not a small number of books.  And--get this--every single one of them is physically present.  Every card in that catalog and blurb of HTML on the website actually corresponds to a unique brick of cardboard and paper resting somewhere in the jungles of the North and South stacks.  The South stacks are brightly lit with clean, glassed-in study rooms and modernized movable stacks with pressure plates to make sure no one is crushed between Anglo-Saxon chronicles and feminist literature of Victorian England.

The North stacks, however, are dark, and the lights activate with a loud "snap" only when their motion sensors are triggered.  The shelves there are metal painted swampy green, the windows are small and double-paned.  They also contain study cages, just large enough to contain one full grown man, a couple bottles of Mountain Dew, a few books, and a mid-sized tortoise (for a foot-rest).  They shut with a satisfying clang and feature chairs that are sturdy enough not to shatter under one's weight (usually) but aren't nearly comfortable enough for a conversation with Somnus.

Study-time gold!

Nonetheless, my mind gets to wondering, as if often does late at night when the invisible hand of the free market is tightening around my throat.  I think about all those millions of books literally surrounding me, the entire shelf devoted merely to Jung (nay, books on Jung _in English_!  German must have two shelves).  Just thirty feet away books with Arabic letters in fading gold leaf on the spines.  Someone must have actually been able to read Arabic to catalogue those in the first place.  There are enormous bound volumes of government surveys from Communist Russia, Japanese magazines from the 70s, and French books written while Algeria and Vietnam still saluted the red, white, and blue (mostly white) flag.  In randomly poking through the shelves I've found books from as long ago as 1850.

I get to thinking about the sheer number of man, woman, and professor hours poured into those things.  And then I think about how often they get read.  Not very, I'm guessing.  The majority--particularly the novels--are probably just there to collect layers of dust which reseachers in the future will take core samples of to obtain information on library conditions in the late '00s.  And the library copies are the lucky ones--most of their fellows were pulped long ago.

Publishing a book is no gauruntee of eternal glory.  The vast majority of those authors have been forgotten to all but a handful of academics, along with the books they poured so much sweat into.

Of course, this might be just me attempting to console myself for the fact that I haven't landed a book deal with Tor yet, but I think there's much truth there.  The same truth which is captured in the Percy Shelly poem at right.

OZYMANDIAS

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them on the sand,
Half sunk, a shatter'd visage lies, whose frown
And wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamp'd on these lifeless things,
The hand that mock'd them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains: round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare,
The lone and level sands stretch far away.^[1]

Glory in this world is fleeting, whether it be the pride and glow of publishing a book or building a colossus in the desert (dang, there goes my back-up plan!)  Both are worthy endeavors--I've always loved a good colossus--but, IMHO, those pursuing them should do it for the present, not glory they hope to obtain in the future.

And speaking of the present. . .I should really get back to reading Brothers Karamazov, which is 140 years old and still going strong.  So I guess that's the other side of this particular coin.

Which Historical Lunatic Are You?
From the fecund loins of Rum and Monkey.

I'm honestly pretty tickled. . .I've always had a great respect for the Supreme Emperor of these United States.  Congress is hereby dissolved.  And both the Republican and Democratic parties shall come together and resolve their differences via rugby.  Also, anyone found to be using the deplorable epitaph of "Madtown" for my home city will be forced to render monies sufficient for the purchase of five manga to the Imperial Treasury (about fifty bucks, for those uncultured among you).

I've been ruminating recently on the subject of titles.  A title is a story's first hook--even before a reader claps eyes on your first sentence, he's going to see the title, and that constitute's his real first impression of the story (whether he/she be an editor or a consumer).  So naturally it's important and worth some thought.

Of course, there's few things more frustrating than having a killer opening, a tense middle, and a crescendo of an ending, then being stumped as to what phrase to type above the whole thing.  I've been there before.  On other occasions an awesome phrase will come exploding into my head and I'll have to write a story to match it.  My unpublished Shabak story "Black Water" is one example of that.  I've even got titles mapepd out for books I won't write for years, if ever.

I think a great title does three things:

1.) It hooks the reader's attention.  Create a powerful image, suggest awesome content, or present the reader with an interesting juxtaposition.  Or just have something cool.  For fantasy stories, it's probably better to avoid generic words like "king", "dragon", "dream", "magic", etc.  "The King's Dragon" or "The Dream Sword" isn't particularly arresting.  The exception is if you're really putting some new twist on the word's usage or making some allusion; I think Naomi Novik's novel His Majesty's Dragon is well-titled (and it's a great book too).  A similar consideration applies to SF stories: "The Stars my Dream" isn't as attention-catching as something like Dune or Speaker for the Dead.

2.) It conveys information about the book/story's content.  Again, I'll use His Majesty's Dragon.  It tells a reader that the story will involve dragons, but it also hints at the setting in Regency England and the fact that, not only is it about dragons, it's about dragons in the Napoleanic Wars.  The title should generally give the reader some indication of what kind of story they can expect--action, romance, psychological drama, etc.

3.) It hints at theme.  His Majesty's Dragon hints at the themes of loyalty, honor, and duty which underlie the story.  Dune emphasizes the barren landscape of Arrakis.  E. E. Knight's Dragon Champion establishes what the overall arc of AuRon's life is: that of a champion, conquering a series of obstacles to emerge victorious.  Dragon Avenger indicates that--surprise!--the book centers around a revenge story.  Those are also examples of titles which are attention grabbing but use "dragon". . .hm. . .some life left there, maybe.

I'm going to quick try one of my titles at those three categories. . .a semi-Bronze-Age heroic fantasy I call Harpy Slayer.

1.) I think it's attention grabbing.  Sure would grab my attention ;).

2.) It's about a hero slaying harpies, and it also contains plenty of battles.  I think both of those are sufficiently captured by Harpy Slayer, yes?

3.) Hm. . .probably weakest here.  I think what it _does_ do is center attention on my hero, Tarsok, whose conflicts, courage, and choices lie at the book's heart.  I also think the idea of him as a "slayer" is important to the book's overall thrust.  Tarsok would definitely consider himself a slayer.

So, I'm going to risk a jaunt on the borders of egotism and say that I think Harpy Slayer is a fairly good title.  Feel free to disagree :).

In conclusion, I present a list of titles I really like.  Make of them what you will.

Dune (Frank Herbert)
His Majesty's Dragon (Naomi Novik)
Speaker for the Dead (Orson Scott Card)
Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
The Gallows Thief (Bernard Cornwell)
Over Sea, Under Stone (Susan Cooper)
Mistborn: The Final Empire (Bradon Sanderson)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (Scott Lynch)--a great thematic title!
Dragon Champion/Avenger/Outcast (E. E. Knight)
"Wings in the Night" (Robert E. Howard)
The Devil's Novice (Ellis Peters)
The Hound of the Baskervilles (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Feel free to post some of your own!

As per E. E. Knight's recent post, I'm blogging about seven of my interests which he selected from my profile.

Without further ado:

Axe throwing: I don't do nearly enough of this, largely because my surroundings lack suitable targets (like, trees people don't mind me reducing to splinters).  When I get a chance, though, I like to hurl tomahawks.  They're actually surprisingly accurate and powerful.  They are spun, but it's not impossibly difficult to sink the blade in, even from variable distances.  It's all in the wrist.

Foreign accents: Irish is my favorite.  I'm also a fan of Russian, Italian, and Japanese.  I get absurd amounts of enjoyment just listening to people with strong accents--one among many reasons why I love the Clancy Brothers and their music.  I also go in for a bit of imitation myself, when the situation calls for it.

Fullmetal Alchemist: The best manga I've ever read or ever expect to read.  It combines a brilliant magic system, the single best cast of characters I've ever encountered, a virtuoso's grasp of manga art and panel flow, action scenes to rival Jackie Chan, and real philosophical depth.  I tend to get teary-eyed at least once per volume, and I re-read frequently.  The anime is good, but not nearly the masterwork the manga is.

Oh, yeah, and Arakawa-sensei has an awesome sense of humor about her own work. . .she often parodies it in her own extras better than anyone else could.

J-pop: Japanese pop music/rock, often composed in connection with anime.  I'm a huge fan of what I've heard, including the music composed for the Fullmetal, One Piece, and Cowboy Bebop animes.

Here's a couple samples. . .the sixth One Piece opening and the first Tsubasa opening, respectfully.




Musketry: I'm a fan of flintlocks in all their forms.  There's few things cooler than pirates dueling with their pistols, or a band of redcoats loosing a volley.  The lead balls, the powder horns, the wadding. . .it's just awesome.

Sadly, I've never actually gotten a chance to fire one. . ..

Old books: This should probably be "well bound" books.  I'm often disappointed by modern volumes--paperbacks and hardcovers both--for the poor quality of their bindings.  Books from the days when the pages were actually sewn into the spine are far superior.  Paper quality and cover stock are also far better.  Ah, for the good ol' days, far before I actually existed. . ..  I'm a sucker for musty old volumes in generally, particularly if I like the author.

Stylish headgear: Okay, so this one's actually a bit of an in-joke.  I wear a black baseball cap which I purchase with the word "Flinteye" stitched into it with royal blue thread, all caps.  I wear it everywhere.  I use it as a pillow when catching naps in the library.  I wear in backwards during lecture.  I've already worn out three, and am currently on my fourth.  I'll probably keep wearing them until my wife begs me to quit or they pry it off my cold, dead scalp.

Oh, yeah, other varieties of stylish headgear are also neat.  Like that topper Indiana Jones has.  Or stovepipes, from those good ol' days of neckcloths and stockings.

An AMV--Anime Music Video--that I thought was good. I'm a huge fan of VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST--it's a beautifully done movie that captures a lot of what I try to do in my own storytelling. The song isn't bad either.

Note: Possible spoilers for the movie. Be warned!

Recently I've taken to using a booksharing site called GoodReads.  It's pretty cool--create a profile, add books from a massive database (SIX WITH FLINTEYE is in there), write reviews of said books for all your buddies to see!  Well. . .if you have any buddies using it.  I've got several friends from highschool roaming about there.

You need to set up an account to view anything, but if you're so inclined, plug in a search for Sean Stiennon and have a look at some of the stuff I have read, will read, or am reading!  I've got brief reviews for a lot of 'em.

Today I headed down to the local used book shop, the Frugal Muse, to jettison some of my excess Star Wars novels along with a few other volumes I had consigned to the garbage heap. Frugal Muse also has a nice selection of DVDs, and since I'm more in need of watching than reading matter right now, I used my store credit there.

The two movies I got? VAMPIRE HUNTER D: BLOODLUST and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST.

One an R-rated anime about a vampire slayer, the other a hilarious comedy of manners, muffins, and serenades. The cashier did look at me a little funny.

You'll note that my list of favorite movies places EMMA and BEAUTY AND THE BEAST alongside BRAVEHEART and LEGEND OF THE DRUNKEN MASTER.  And I count both BEAUTY and THE LIES OF LOCKE LAMORA in my tally of awesome books.

Does Sean appreciate good storytelling where he finds it, whatever the source, or is he just cracked? You decide!

Whoof, it's been a while since I've done this. . .my only real excuse is a fairly busy, and in some ways difficult, summer.  But mostly I just got out of the habit.  Consider this my first attempt to get back into it.

A while back I posed some writing and reading goals for the summer.  Those were:

Complete revisions, proofreading, synopsis, etc. of Harpy Slayer so that the manuscript is ready to go out to publishers

Outline and complete a draft of The Forked Road (probably 100-120k)

Finish Part 1 of Memory Wipe

Write a short story (yeah, yeah, this one’s fairly modest–I’ve just got an idea which needs to be given form)

Begin planning/outlining for next novel, probably a Shabak book

READING GOALS:

Finish all/most of the books I own but haven’t read

Finish Don Quixote (about 250 pages to go, unabridged) and possibly start reading Les Miserables.

Read more broadly than just fantasy/SF

Well. . .I didn't do all of 'em.  Here's the rundown:

Second draft of Harpy Slayer complete, less extensive third draft + proofreading still to do

Part 1 of Memory Wipe completed

Two new short stories written

About 22,000 words on The Forked Road, with a detailed outline for the rest

For Reading:

I think my number of unread books is about the same it was before--I've been buying almost as fast as I read.  I didn't read Les Miserables.  I did, however, read some non fantasy/SF stuff, which I enjoyed. . .so it's not a complete loss.

The best laid plans of men and salamanders and all that.  16 credits of classes will likely cut down somewhat on my productivity, but I'm going to try and have Harpy Slayer complete by Christmas and my draft of TFR done by the beginning of second semester.