Category Archives: Personal

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[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.]

I woke up and found Noah hard at work in my front yard, building something he refuses to discuss in any detail as the rain MONSOONERATED down all night. Fall has arrived, perhaps a week early.

Seattle weather is ^generally^ predictable. Dry season usually starts around noon on the Fourth of July, just in time for the fireworks. September tends to be dry and nice, with the rains starting on October 1. Seriously. I’ve been here twenty-six years now, and that’s a thing.

This year was hotter than normal, and our usual “Junuary” wasn’t as bad as it could be. My apples never recovered. I have a Fuji and a Honeycrisp, because that’s a combination you need in order to cross-pollinate. Fuji flowered early with heat. Honeycrisp flowered late. I got five apples from the honeycrisp and none from the fuji. No quince. Half a dozen pears. About a half-gallon of grape juice. Few cherries. Not a lot of blueberries. I have seriously considered cutting down the cherries, but I’ll let the next homeowner deal with them.

Figure I’m going to sell this place by 2030 and move into town somewhere. I’ll be sixty in 2029, and this place is a lot of work. Served its purpose, though. And continues to.

Gray, drizzly, yucky kind of Monday, which puts a smile on my face, because I moved to Seattle for the rains. They hardly get rain here. A horrible, terrible, OMG!!! Pineapple Express might drop several inches of rain over a twenty-four hour period. Trains have to stop because the hillsides slump (poor design and cheap railroad companies).

I’m from Kansas originally. I’ve been outside in storms that dropped several inches of rain in an hour, instead of a day. Knock you on your ass amounts of rainfall coming down. This is a gentle shower, a little too cold to stand out there naked, but about as much force hitting you.

Writing is going well. Finished the Gator novel. Still don’t know what I’ll call it or the series. Gator is good enough for now. Got a block of thriller stuff written now, so I’m ready to make a bigger push next year when the Chase Haig stories come out in Thrill Ride magazine (I hope).

Started the fifth Marrakesh novel this last week. Going a little slow, but that’s how crappy my August and September have been, with a hope that this time next week things will have hopefully finally recovered some. (I’d like a normal week for once, going back to at least May.)

Along the way of working out this plot, writer brain decided to spin off one of the second-tier characters into a new series after this, the so-called Survey Corps Tales that I’ll work on later. It’s nice having an entire universe designed and built. And four full novels completed, so I have things in reasonable detail. Plus, because it is space adventure instead of space opera like Corsac Fox or Auberon, I can shift over and not worry about saving the galaxy every episode.

And it lets me confront an element of military science fiction that most authors get wrong. (And I’m as guilty as the next nerd.) In a real military, officers will frequently be promoted and/or transferred on a regular basis. Call it two or four years, then you move on to something else. It requires a lot of personal and bureaucratic sacrifice to keep a ship’s crew together for a long time, in spite of what the writers of the show or series want.

So I’m taking out one guy who is at that point in his career where he could get a major promotion in terms of responsibility. A minor character in Captain Boru’s narrative, but he’ll become the hero in his own story. As they should. And I’ll widen the overall IP, by being able to tell stories that are outside the realm of many of the others (and series I have) because these will be survey and exploration sorts of things, instead of tramp freighters, pirates, or military warships.

And a much smaller crew, because I’m looking at the new USCG Legend-class boats and working that way. I’ve even gotten permission to tuckerize a friend of mine as the person the ship is named for. (Mad cackling approval, even.)

Coming up, I’ll be working on more Holden and Riley. The next Corsac Fox (with #2 delivered to kickstarter backers and going up for pre-order everywhere. I’ll be starting #5). More Beckett Fernsby. The next Heather Lau book. Possibly the third and final in Kincaide’s War. At some point, the 14th Science Officer, so I have something for NEXT December, with Dragoon’s Honor coming out this year for the holidays.

Lots to do. Two anthologies to complete and deliver this week. Planning for more. More books. More everything.

Mostly, just trying to let it settle down, ya know?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

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If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20230828

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[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.]

Monday. Drizzle. Lots of drizzle.

Spent the weekend sitting down. Normally, I stand to work on my computer, but I ate something Friday night had got poisoned pretty bad. Was okay by Saturday afternoon, but ZERO energy or endurance. Just walking down to the mailbox and halfway back up the hill left me winded. Took a nap Sat afternoon, which I almost never do.

Much better today. But it’s a funky week, so I don’t have to wind up.

Going to San Diego on Wednesday. Bouchercon is a thriller/mystery convention that moves around. Matt and the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ are far better known in that genre than I am, so I’m kinda a Plus One here, but I plan on writing and publishing more Action-Adventure stuff over the next few years. Fatima and Boston in the first four issues of Thrill Ride. Chase and a few others in Year Two. Even have the first Chace novel done, and plan at least two or three with this arc.

Still keeping at the SF, but I need to expand in other directions. Urban fantasy with Labyrinth. Derlyth and the gang. And modern thriller.

Spent last week working on Beckett Fernsby. You’ll meet him next year. I’ve got the first four done, and ideas for 29 and 30 already, plus 31 will call back to 27 in silly ways when I get to it.

  • 25 Gulliver’s Other Travels (done)
  • 26 Future Crime (done)
  • 27 Cold Steel and Hot Blasters (done)
  • 28 Space Horror (done)
  • 29 First Contact
  • 30 Fading Empires
  • 31 Swords and Sorcery and Starships
  • 32 Zeroes and Ones

Because it is the end of the month, I have already hit my writing goal, so I can take off and goof around. Useful, with flying on Wed and doing a con for the weekend, as I don’t have to worry about word count. Just have fun. And backbrain a lot of ideas.

They say you should read lots and lots of things if you are going to be a writer. And practice by typing out pages or chapters from your favorite writer. I suppose so, except that I don’t intend to sound like anybody else. And I used to have a stupendous number of books. (I think I got rid of about 3000 books when I downsized. Only have about 500 left at this point, and I keep recycling things out or buying ebooks instead.) In the old days, I’d read several books a week, when most Americans read a few books per year.

I got lots of ideas percolating. Plus, I am constantly editing for BSQ and other projects, so it’s not like I’m not reading all the time, too.

Woke up this morning with a cool idea for Beckett’s “Fading Empires” story. Stole from someone, but you’ll probably have to ask to identify the concept. Same as the Cold Steel and Hot Blasters story.

“When you steal from one person, it is plagiarism. When you steal from everybody, it is art.”

I’m committing art. Heh.

Only other thing to write in the short term is my newsletter for Friday, and I can do that and post it on a timer, so maybe today. Maybe tomorrow.

After August (and July. And June) I’m looking forward to next Tuesday, after Labor Day. Kinda a hard reset on things, going into the autumn.

That, and I gotta fix the washing machine again. We got hard water here, so it builds up crud in the intake filter. Turn the water off, pop the hoses, and use vinegar and a handful of q-tips to clean, and all will be well. Good thing my day is already kinda meh, ya know?

It’s Monday. What are you folks up to?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

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Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

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[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.]

By the time most of you see this, the Kickstarter Campaign for Corsac Fox #2 Mistaken Identity) will be done, as it only runs to August 22. Then you gotta wait.

However, more music up everywhere. Time To Say Goodbye.

Monday. Chewy air everywhere. I haven’t checked, but someone said East of the Mountains was on fire, as usual. Air has a brownness to it this morning, but it finally cooled off. Hit 98F on Wednesday, after 94F Mon and Tues. 47F when we got up Saturday morning and went for a long walk because Sifu had a personal emergency and canceled class.

72F, a little after noon. Gonna be warm, but not stupid.

I planted three trees yesterday.

Down at the bottom of the hill there used to be a lake. One of the neighbors on the north side apparently backed a machine up in the mid-1990s according to the story, and tried to mine peat moss. They pierced the lining of the lake and it drained some eight feet as a result. I have a bowl with several distinct lips, and the bottom was classified marsh in a 1988 survey the former owner had done when he bought the place.

Fifteen years ago, I started clearing out all the blackberry, but then got sidetracked and let it go feral for a while. This summer, I have been clearing it again. At the top, I wanted to put up a hedge to create a visual barrier for folks out on the cul-de-sac, so we got three cypress trees. Two gold and one green. Got them in and will water them until the rainy season starts up again.

Eventually, I want a hedge all the way across, but there are easements, so I have to move precisely. But clearing that bottom and turning it back into a meadow adds significantly to my property value when I get around to selling the place. Plus, it keeps me in good shape, because this is all machete work for now. Later, I can go in with the brush cutter and the mower and keep it down, but neither work with a 6’ tall wall of thorns.

I’m in better shape than I’ve been in at least 25 years as a result. That is its own benefit.

Writing: I finished the first Chace Haig novel over the weekend, mostly because I wanted it done and out of my way. We also published the first/origin short story: Assumed Identity.

At present, there are three more short stories done and in the can, for submission to Issues 6-8 of The Thrill Ride Magazine. Specifically, Gadgets, Adventure, and Lone Wolves themes.

Personally, I enjoy action-adventure stories, but have been talking with Matt and most of the genre right now is filled with Ex-Special Forces trooper burned by the government and gone rogue. Then the President calls them up and secretly reactivates them to save the day because they can’t trust their own government to do the right thing.

Wish fulfillment, for a genre of men (4F, older, white, conservative, overweight, and riding around in a mobility scooter I presume) who want to be that asshole anti-hero who shrugs off bullet wounds and keeps going. Think Batman, without the cowl and more guns. Ultra high-profile, for being secretive assassins being hunted by everybody.

Yawn.

Personally, I enjoyed Bond growing up, both books and movies, but I can’t find any major series about professional spies/troubleshooters like that. Only burnout killers who somehow will throw everything away to help an old woman across the street, even in the middle of being hunted by every government on the planet.

Question for you folks: Anybody recommend me some books where the main character is a spy, rather than an ex-special forces assassin rogue bully killing machine? You know the character. And the formula. I’d like to wander outside that as a reader and a writer. Someone with style and elegance, who isn’t a punk or a bully in the real world. And a professional, rather than a wish-fulfillment amateur who somehow overcomes the entire world twelve books in a row. And counting.

Lemme know what you have in the way of ideas.

Anyway.

Started on the third Beckett Fernsby story this morning. Had been planning to write four in a row for Boundary Shock Quarterly, but might see about hitting eight as a challenge.

  • 25 Gulliver’s Other Travels (done)
  • 26 Future Crime (done)
  • 27 Cold Steel and Hot Blasters (begun)
  • 28 Space Horror
  • 29 First Contact
  • 30 Fading Empires
  • 31 Swords and Sorcery and Starships
  • 32 Zeroes and Ones

I mean, seriously, I can fit him into all of those situations without a lot of work. Got my notes for Space Horror roughed out, with a lot of world-building that I might spin off. The other four all lend themselves to a slightly cranky Apothecary on an exploration ship. And it lets me roam a bit with the novels, knowing that I have the short fiction largely covered. Plus, I want to spin back and write the rest of the first Holden and Riley novel. And a bunch of others.

So it’s Monday. What are you folks up to?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20230807

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Reminder: the Kickstarter Campaign for Corsac Fox #2 Mistaken Identity) is live now and runs to August 22. Then you gotta wait.

Got up to drizzle this morning. And rain Saturday night, too, so Sunday had been humid and Monday is kinda fall-like.

We did a bbq over the weekend. Invited a bunch of artists to eat meat and bring sides and cross-pollinate. Writers, painters, lawyers, strippers, musicians, etc. Brisket, pulled pork, chicken, and one bacon explosion. (The other bacon explosion went home with my bass player to taunt the rest of the Stackable Clowns for missing the party.)

Lotsa fun. I enjoy doing this, because there are so many multi-hyphens involved when people start talking about their art. And the breadth and depth we’ve got is amazing. Plus, strangers get to connect with one another outside this and become dangerous combinations.

This is the summer thing, out at the farm. In the winter, we do the Wine and Chocolate Party at a friend’s house and get many other people together (Often, lots of overlap, but scheduling plays into it, as does geography, since that party is as far northeast as I am normally southeast.)

This morning, up early and haul the rented tables and chairs back to the place in Fife where we rent them.

When I first moved to Seattle in 1997, I lived in Federal Way, which is south almost to Tacoma, where I-5 and 18 intersect. I lived there until 2001, when I moved to Fairwood (a suburb east of Renton, up on the hill). Sold that place in ’14 and moved to the farm in ’15.

I don’t get down to Federal Way anymore. Like, ever. Special trip, because about a half-hour drive if no traffic, and there’s not really any there there. Just long strips of genericas that go on kinda forever. Fife, on the other hand, has gone to hell over the last however long since that used to be in my backyard. FedWay has gentrified hard, and Fife has turned into weekly hotels, homeless folks, and boarded up businesses. Sad, really, but life.

On the way, we skipped I-5 and went down 99, also know as Pacific Highway. (Not 101, but a spiritual descendant, of sorts.) You pass through Milton and there is a dive bar (Milton Lodge Bar and Grill) on the east side of the road, in the middle of nowhere. Back 20+ years ago, it was a restaurant/bar that didn’t mind us coming in for dinner on a Monday night and gaming over in the corner after we ate, because it was otherwise kinda dead.

Hadn’t been back in 20+ years, because we found better places to game. (More central to everyone.)

Drove by it on the way down and it was open. And new name. Looked them up and they do breakfast, so more diner/bar and less dive. On the way back, we stopped in.

Interior has been redone, but there is a sign on the door. “No gang patches or colors allowed.” so we knew it wasn’t that gentrified. Still, nice inside. Group of old farts drinking at a table. Woman tending bar was on her second day working there, so still learning everything, but way friendly.

Lots of food for the price. Pretty good, too. If it was closer or on my way anywhere, I’d probably add it as a regular stop, but hell of a haul for a dive burger.

But, the whole point of life is to have adventures. We had a 7-year-old and her twin 5-year-old sisters at the bbq and they had grand adventures with the various trails I maintain through the trees. Had to explain Anti-Stodgy to a couple of folks, because they knew the life, but never quantified it as a term.

So Monday. Fed and home. Back yard mostly clean, save for the pavilions. Smiling. Skipped shooting, but that’s “one thing too many right now” and I’m okay with it. Winding slowly up with non-fiction, because exhausted on a couple of dimensions and need to work into it.

Finished one Five-WuXia-Band story last week and got hung in the middle of the second. Put it aside and started a novel. Thrillerish/Action Adventure. A full Chace Haig novel, which seems to be what writer-brain wanted to write, so I’m running with it. I think I was too many ancient China things at once with the rpg design, so breaking it up into digestible pieces. Gonna work on that for a bit.

Also gotta write the next Milestone Indie Publishing Newsletter. The work never stops, but that just means I stay focused and stay on top of things.

How’s your Monday?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

Last Week for the Corsac Fox Kickstarter

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Corsac Fox, Book Two. Mistaken Identity

I’m lagging a bit here, but it’s summer and things happen. As I write this, we’re in the last week for the Corsac Fox kickstarter for Mistaken Identity (Book Two).

Hopefully, y’all have ready Flight of the Corsac Fox and enjoyed it. Certainly, the reviews have been lovely. Right now, I need your help getting unfrozen.

We’ve made it to postcards for stretch goals, which is utterly cool, but I need everyone to tell all their friends. Some of the folks who have read both books (first readers, etc.) have said that they think it is my best stuff since Science Officer, which makes me blush.

I think I’ve gotten better as a writer over the years. And, like Science Officer, Uly and Dan have been deep in my head for a long time, so they’ve developed. And this is a story about found family and how it goes beyond merely shape. People are people, regardless of species. Uly lives that motto, and has drawn together a mass of folks who support him. Who will help him in the coming war that he intends to fight, because he can’t stand bullies.

Along the way, he’ll need allies. Lots of them. The Khet. The Ononguli. A whole bunch of others, because Uly intends to declare war on the entire Auga Empire.

Right now, he’s got one stolen Heavy Interceptor. And a plan. They’ve got thousands of star systems. Millions of ships. Trillions of citizens.

But nothing is going to stop Uly from trying. From reaching out and making friends.

From trying to save the galaxy, when nobody else will.

Come join us for a case of Mistaken Identity.

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[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.]

Got the Mondays. Behind me, the pantry is closed up with a couple of big fans and a dehumidifier that have been going like hell since Thursday, so I’m reasonably confident that the floor is dry on top. Spare fan blasting the other side of that same wall since Friday. More gear in the crawl space. Sometime in the next few hours, I expect a call or text from the gang letting me know that they are inbound to inspect and probably collect everything.

It would be nice to have peace and quiet again. And figure out how soon I can finally start rebuilding everything. I still have bits and pieces left over from the bathroom remodel that keep getting pushed out by circumstances, so the house is a mess.

Been newslettering this morning instead of anything else. Got the BW monthly newsletter on publishing. Got the quarterly BSQ newsletter reminding folks that we put out another issue. Got this little tidbit of things. Probably won’t actually write fiction today, on account of it’s the last day of the month and I’m at about 96k words with what I’m writing here.

Last week, I finished the fourth Corsac Fox novel: Warlord of the Spinward Reaches. I am having a tremendous amount of fun with these. At some point (TBD), Kickstarter will finally approve the campaign for Corsac #2: Mistaken Identity and I can launch that.

At this point, I’m planning to drop 3-5 as part of the regular schedule, then save up ideas for #6 (or 7, if it ends up running that far) and aim for a big KS with a lot of swag. Mostly, that’s folks really liking this series and giving me great sales and reviews of #1, so I don’t want to stretch them out as long as I had originally planned to by only doing 2 KS campaigns per year.

After that, I have been working on the rpg. Got a lot of notes, and am slowly expanding things as I come across bits and pieces I need. The game is going to be set in a mythical Tang Dynasty China where all that magic that you read about in those stories is real. Gods, demons, whatever. At the moment, I’m working my way through a magic system that is not European/Tolkien/D&D in nature or scope, because I honestly expect everyone coming out with a new rpg to be making variants of Dungeons and Dragons (whichever edition was most formative for them) as WOTC pissed off a lot of people, first with the OGL debacle, and now by announcing that there will be no rule books.

Instead, you apparently have to sign up for a monthly subscription that lets you access the books. And lets them turn the books off whenever they want to. Sure, they promise that they won’t, but they make a lot of promises, and unless you own the book, you don’t own anything.

“The Cloud” is just a fancy way of saying “Somebody elses computer you don’t control.”

F#$% you very much, WOTC. I still have my 1st Edition books. I don’t play them, but I have consulted them in the last month for certain details. And my 2nd. And 3rd. Etc.

So I’m deep into Tang history. Wrote the origin story for Wan-Xian and her sister. That’s pure Action/Adventure, so no magic, because these are for The Thrill Ride Magazine.

However… (and I get to blame the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ here)

We are training for a long walk in England next year. Hadrian’s Wall. 80+ miles in a week. We walk trails here to get into better shape. We also talk about something other than sportsball.

Saturday morning, we talked about the game, and Chinese history (she hitchhiked from Beijing to Hong Kong in the early 90s, after taking the Trans-Siberian Railroad across.)

She reads a lot of fantasy, both modern as well as historical/epic. She suggested that I look at some WuXia books and see what tropes they use and how they run them.

Writerbrain engaged. It’s all her fault.

So I have a plan for perhaps some short novels or novellas in a series, vaguely inspired by Hua Mu Lan (Disney did not invent Mulan. They merely made the 179th movie about her, and did it animated with a dragon. She’d Robin Hood or King Arthur to the Chinese. Maybe both.)

In this case, I will be writing directly into this new game world, to provide an expanded universe of world-building. Hell, I planted a seed in English Paul’s ear for a musical soundtrack, so I’m hoping I can convince him to write me a short symphony and theme music to game by.

Welcome to my Multimedia Publishing Empire.

Speaking of Paul, sometime in the next day or three, song #2 should go live everywhere. Time to Say Goodbye. I should have links by next week, and will add it under the music tab on my website. All I ask it that you buy it, because the 30 cents I make from you 99c purchase is the equivalent of you streaming it every day for the next decade or so. Seriously.

Next song is a Scottish folk tune. I sent him the melody and demo vocals and instrument list. He’s noodling with composition at this point, and then I’ll rerecord my vocals when we have something better. Hopefully, it won’t take a year this time. (He got sick, then moved to Los Angeles since last September when we recorded the final vocals for #2.)

More news soon. More silliness.

More Monday.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

20230717

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[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.]

Monday, middle of summer.

Fabulous Publisher Babe™ wanted to get up early this morning to start a writing marathon. Half-marathon. Something. Lots of words this week. Got up at 6.

Krain Corner doesn’t open until 8, so I went down to The Kettle in Enumclaw instead. Under new ownership, so still sorting out their menu. I’m working my way through it finding things I like. Lots of food. A bit overcooked, which was odd as I was the only person in there at 7am. Granted, Monday morning, but eggs over easy are supposed to be runny. Barely, today. Chicken fried steak was decent. Reds were overdone.

Still, good breakfast. And their scrambles are both huge and pretty good.

It’s the muffins that rock. Cranberry/Orange this morning. I still prefer blueberry, but damned good.

Then home and writing. About 47k into Corsac Fox #4. And mostly set up on the kickstarter for Corsac Fox #2. Need to write and record my video, and finish a few things over the next few days, then I’ll share links everywhere for folks that want to sign up for the launch.

This one will run about 80k. Like the other three. Still not sure if this block ends after five, six, or seven. Got a lot of notes, and it’s not like the story ends there. I could keep telling stories about Uly and Dan for decades of their lives. Might, since I’ve been getting nice reviews and comments from folks.

Don’t want to burn out on Uly, like I did Lazarus and Jessica Keller. Hard to think about continuing those.

Also, my game-designer partner went shiny/squirrel on me last week. I kinda knew it was coming. He’d found this new fantasy rpg called Shadowdark, which, to hear him explain, is a lot like D&D 1st edition, with elements of 2nd and 5th.

Much more grim, dark, and gritty game play, as you have ten slots for equipment, and a torch takes up one of them. Go in, do your thing, get out before the lights go out. Go back to town, buy more torches.

Or something.

He’s distracted, and let me know he’d be distracted, so I’m not upset.

Instead, I took everything he and I had done and put it aside for now. Went back to the “other” original idea I’d been pursuing, and went from there.

Because Wizards of the Coast announced that they won’t be printing rule books for “6th Edition” when it comes out (whatever they call it), you’ll have to rent those books. Monthly. Until hell freezes over.

As in, you don’t own them, and they can turn off their server any time they want, leaving you no recourse. I’m not opposed to spending money for books that last. I still have my first edition rule books from 40+ years ago. A few second. Some third. MOST of fifth.

Not renting Sixth.

And I’m not alone, because a lot of folks are coming out with their own takes on OGL and other rules to replace D&D 5 and 6. Lots of them will be Tolkien based, because face it, D&D is LOTR with just enough serial numbers filed off that the estate couldn’t sue. (They tried, btw)

I’m taking a different tack entirely. Setting it in a 7th Century Tang Dynasty China with magic, like a good wire-fu WuXia movie. And using only d6 instead of the d20 stack.

I’m always surprised when people talk about how much better games have gotten. Compared to 1990, D&D is much better these days. Compared to what I was playing in 1990, D&D sucks. Even 5th edition, which I like.

There were other games doing things. They fell victim to the usual bankruptcy problems of expanding too big too soon, and then crashing when the market turned. Or getting onto the treadmill of content and and and…

I’m going to build this, finish it, and publish it as part of my larger, multimedia empire. And it is an engine with a context and a setting, so I can do other settings and then branch out into other contexts. (Setting = Tang Dynasty China. Context equals Fantasy RPG. Modern Thriller Espionage would be another context, with James Bond being a Setting. Make sense? Good.)

Because I’ve thought about this a lot, I’m making good progress. Will probably sit down with Rich later this week and have him poke holes in what I’ve got. He’s good at asking piercing questions that way.

Then he and I will do some dicing at some point. And work out numbers. And and and.

Do I know any artists that work reasonably cheap? I’m looking for a bunch of Chinese fantasy type pencil line drawings. Eventually one cover wrap, but I need line art for the interior mostly.

Reach out. Or forward me to your friends. I’ll have a budget when I get there, but not for $100 per piece when I need fifty or one hundred pieces. We’ll do a second edition or special edition or something if the game takes off like that, and get some serious cash into someone’s hands, but I’ve got to keep this cheap today.

Not much past that. Still doing Kung Fu (Tai Chi Chuan plus Hsing-i at this point with Bagua coming in the fall, I think) and weapon forms. Learning lots. Staying in shape. Having fun.

Working with English Paul on song #3, and need to see what’s holding up song #2 (Time To Say Goodbye) from release.

What’s your Monday shaping up like?

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

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[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.]

Woke up to drizzle. Not much. Mostly a heavy marine layer more than anything, but nice, after several hot days. Enough to skip going out. Plus, the Fabulous Publisher Babe™ and I both work up at 5am Sunday, and ended up going out to breakfast at one of those farmer joints down in Enumclaw. Ate a third, had a third for dinner, had the last third for breakfast. Still have a muffin to go. Damned good food. Place called The Kettle, if you are local or traveling soon.

Working on a new project. This one has a deadline, so it might slip in somewhere shortly. The Thrill Ride magazine has posted the Year Two themes already. Those of you paying attention know about Chace Haig. First Chace story will go up in a few weeks, then I have three more for submission.

Same with a new project to fill that elusive fourth slot with Thrill Ride.

The “Five Man Band” is a common trope in adventure fiction. And boy bands, but we won’t go there today. Leader, Lancer, Heart, Brains, Brawn, and everybody fills a role.

I asked Matt about “low hanging fruit” for “Sisters In Arms” and he expected most of his stories to be female special forces troopers, or maybe cops. My original idea would have been slightly to the weird of that. The new idea is well to the weird of that.

The T’ang Dynasty ruled China from 618 to 907 CE. Often considered China’s Golden Age, and perhaps the most culturally advanced in their history. Certainly the most sophisticated place on earth at the time.

So, Five Man Band in 680-690CE. In T’ang China. No magic, but one mad scientist inventing things for the leader and lancer to use. Action/Adventure with a historic beat.

I’m having WAY too much fun studying history, and how all the pieces go together, because this is the end of the Merovingian Dynasty in France. And there is a Jewish trade network running from the French coast to the Chinese one. An early Silk Road before it collapsed for centuries.

So all sorts of crazy silly ideas, plus I get to read history in depth and pull up my martial arts studies as well.

Gonna write an origin story soonish. Got most of it in mind. That lets me settle the voices and the setting, then I can write a Sisters In Arms story. And more.

I’d like to have more Action/Adventure/Thriller in my catalog. Add another leg to my income. Derlyth doing well means I’ll write more Occult Detective stuff soon. Historic Thriller means that I can write exotic stories and most of the folks reading won’t be experts on most of it. (and if they are, I’ll recruit them as editors. Any of you into T’ang Dynasty or Migration Period history? Heh)

Better? I’m not the weirdest story he’ll read. The Babe™ is working on a story about a team of modern-day crime-fighting drag queens using Chinese Fan fighting forms.

Because why the hell not? Matt’ll never know what hit him, that’s for sure.

So it’s a Monday. And a weird one. I’m about to dive back into Corsac Fox #4. And I need to get my ass in gear on the second Kickstarter, but I’ve been a little overwhelmed with other projects that still aren’t settled. It’ll get there. And I’m having fun with my writing. Folks seem to enjoy #1, so that’s a bonus as well.

Y’all stay out of the sun. and the drizzle. Go walk around the block and get some exercise.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

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Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

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[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.]

I need more something. Sleep possibly, though I slept. Energy? Something.

Friday night, went to a 60th Wedding Anniversary party. Saw some folks I haven’t seen in ages. Ate, danced, talked, celebrated. (I might be almost too feral for that sort of thing these days.)

Saturday morning, got up and did three hours of Tai Chi et al. (Martial, movement, sword form, etc.) then drove way up north and sat in on a one-shot D&D game with some old friends. Ran kinda late on the back porch, then moved inside and they all ended up talking martial arts (which is usual with these guys.) Fourth Degree Black Belt in a Chinese set of folks (Taiji, Pa-Kua, Hsing-I). Fifth Degree in various Karate forms (mostly Isshinryu). Eighth Degree in Isshinryu. Serious big players with some combined century and change of experience in the arts. Ya learn a lot. Didn’t get to bed until 1am.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 6, like usual. Went out and sat in Johnson Sensei’s living room and had some coffee while the cat was on guard duty. (Seriously, 6 feet away, sitting up with her back to me, in case someone snuck up on her.)

Johnson Sensei woke up around 7, so we talked stuff. Sifu Stone woke around 8. Crane Sensei around 9. Eventually, we all went out to the dojo and worked until around 1, then drove home. Lots to do here because Fabulous Publisher Babe™ is having a long girls’ weekend. Spent all afternoon doing all the little things. And dealing with a grumpy, teenage (18yo) cat.

Still catching up this morning, but been busy. Went and had breakfast at Krane for some normalcy. Then answering some of the questions from the various senseis that were left over from the weekend.

I finished the fourth Marrakesh novel last week, then started the second Beckett Fernsby short story for BSQ. This one is a murder mystery whodunit, which is a new thing for me to learn to write. Practice. Always try something new with your craft.

Will possibly finish it today. Or tomorrow at the latest. Not sure what’s after that. Got a list. Need more caffeine.

Hope y’all enjoyed Reilly. I’m having a lot of fun with that series, and will catch back up with it soon, but June was kinda a wash in terms of writing. Did okay, but not great. Had too many other higher priorities, which is just weird to say but true.

More music coming. English Paul is waiting for me to finish the art to release song #2. And he’s working on instrumental tracks for #3, which will go pretty quickly. I need to record audio for 4-6 over the next month and get those whipped into shape.

Lots to do. Not a lot of energy this morning, but I have a mystery to solve and a villain to catch. Then a bunch of blackberry bramble to chop up with the brushcutter.

Hopefully, it doesn’t end up being stupid hot today, or I might just sit on the couch with the kitty and nap.

Y’all have a good week and don’t blow anything off you might need later.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

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Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.

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[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.]

Monday. If you’ve been paying attention elsewhere, we’re sixteen days into the bathroom remodel. I’ve written one of those days. And this morning.

Did go out to Krain for breakfast. Had an almost normal time. Then home and about 3000 words on the fourth Marrakesh novel. Which was impressive, considering. Took most of the morning to find the groove again, but that’s the disruption of the reno.

I’ve written 23k words this month. Plus this blog post. That’s it. On the 19th. A little less than half what I might normally have at this point. And I won’t catch up, but I will likely return to something of a normal pace starting forward from here. Hopefully.

Dunno.

There will be more pics. Over the weekend we got the tub framed with baseboard and about half caulked, with the remainder happening in a bit. Got the vanity assembled, tiled, grouted, and caulked. Will turn the water on in a bit and make sure everything is good there.

Hung the two doors today and didn’t have to shave them. Did discover that both had little footies on the bottom. About the size of nickels. About a quarter inch thick. One set kept the door to the tub and shower from closing. Then I realized that they were there and removed them, and the door shuts. Front door already shut, but doesn’t yet have a threshold, so I expect I’ll have to pull the door again and remove them.

Today, we touch up the purple paint and caulk the rest of the tub. And that’s it.

Seventeen days of labor, taking off only this past Saturday. I’ll write about Saturday in the next Anti-Stodgy newsletter, because it was simply amazing beyond words. And Sensei Jon got one of the greatest compliments ever from someone he deeply respects.

Stay tuned and go “awwwww” next month.

Marrakesh 4 is at 13k words. Warlock At Large is about a third done, and I’ll circle back to it next. Need to work on three more Beckett Fernsby stories for the next four BSQ issues, because I had to much fun with the one for “Gulliver’s Other Travels.” Got themes and silliness to explore.

Next month’s story is also part of Warlock at Large, but the other main character, where things bounce back and forth between Holden and Reilly for a long while, before other POV’s come in. Gonna be fun.

This week is mostly recovering my sanity and my house. Getting back on track after being utterly discombobulated.

Vacation, of sorts. I’m just glad I chose to take off from the streak last summer, so having a month of 50-60k words didn’t freak me too badly out. That’s what June will be like. Might catch up some in July. And might not. Got a lot of other things that got put on the back burner in the process. They need attention next.

Y’all have a lovely week and don’t let the bastards grind you down.

shade and sweet water,

blaze

West of the Mountains, WA

—————————-

Thank you so much for being my patron and for funding these essays!

If you’re reading the free version (which is published two weeks after the Patreon version), please consider joining the ones who do pay at https://www.patreon.com/blazeward. It’s only a buck and helps keeps the lights on around here.