[As usual, two weeks lag here, if you aren’t reading this on my Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/blazeward). If you’d like your news fresher, and the monthly Anti-Stodgy/Redneck Chef newsletter, all I ask is a buck to help keep the lights on around here.]
OCTOBER!
Newsletter went out this morning because I’m being a little lazy. Story will go out tomorrow, because I got a D&D game tonight and don’t feel like cramming it all in this afternoon.
I’m hoping that summer is officially over. From basically Memorial Day on I have been going like hell constantly. Grinding in a bad way. Plus a dry cough only slowly fading from that damned head cold. Been running on about 8 spoons per day, instead of my usual 10.
Yuck.
However…
Brain kinda woke up on the table-top rpg I’ve been working on, with a whole slew of new ideas, clarifications, etc. Feel like I’m getting close in my head to being able to explain it to someone and maybe start some rough engine testing to make sure it all works. I mean, the concepts are based on things I’ve done. Games I’ve played. Shit should work, but I have to get it all out of my head and onto paper then get someone else to read it.
Engine is solid. Context is Fantasy. Setting is a place I’m calling The Five Duchies. Working out a lot of history of an area. Maps. Monsters. Peoples.
I will go on record as saying I dislike level based games with a fire bordering on loathing. I understand and appreciate that they make it easy for new players to learn and understand, but they limit the ability to really create interesting concepts. There are only about 6-8 paths for each of ten or so classes, so you can actually build every possible combination. It’s like chess that way. Or go. I prefer wider-open table top games, like Warhammer 40k or Flames of War. You have a million times more possible combinations, because its about points.
This game will be about points. Spend them as you see fit to build the character you want to play. If you ever played the Hero/Champion system in the wayback, not that messy, but still open to your creativity.
So getting there.
On the writing side, I’ve gotten really close to finishing the fifth Marrakesh novel. Right at 37,000 this morning. Probably 42-45,000 when done. Maybe a bit more, depending, but done this week easily.
Reread the 11 Scattered Tribes stories I have written so far, and am getting ready to push forward with some more. I’ve got around 55k words here, and Book One feels like it should be around 150k, if I want to be in the realm of Epic [SPACE] Fantasy. Because swords, sorcery, and starships. Why the hell not?
And it gives me a lot of space to wander with, and new ways to tell story. Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying what you’ve seen so far. If you have questions, please ask, because you are the only people who have seen any of this to date.
After I write several more stories of Holden and Reilly, I’ll circle back maybe to some Beckett. Maybe Corsac Fox #5. Heather #2 also, but that will require a bit of planning, because again, huge, and I have to center it all in my head before picking that thread up.
Autumn is upon us. (I’d say the fall, but then I have to specify that I’m not talking about the end of human civilization as we know it. At least as yet.) Weather had turned cool drizzly this morning.
Fabulous Publisher Babe™ made a fantastic brisket yesterday. Just sliced it up a few minutes ago. She has a pork roast going today. Her diet has transitioned to 99% meat, so we’re using the new pellet grill to make big things, then munching on them for days at a time. I have more flexibility, so I keep frozen chimichangas, salad, and ramen handy to go beyond just MEAT! as a lifestyle.
Pushed publish yesterday on Boundary Shock Quarterly #24 (Science Fiction Holidays) and Blaze Ward Presents #7 (Every Tomorrow Worse?). I’ll update both websites as soon as the distributors get back to me with confirmations. Links next week.
Past that, more reading for BSQ 025 (Gulliver’s Other Travels) and more writing. More musical work. More rpg work. More Kung Fu. Keeps the body and mind sharp, and that’s really want I ask for as I get older.
Hope your Monday isn’t gnawing too badly on your leg.
shade and sweet water,
blaze
West of the Mountains, WA
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